Spotify’s twentieth anniversary initiative recently informed me that Kanye West is my “all-time most-streamed artist” at the service. Earl Sweatshirt’s “Burgundy” is my most-streamed song. Rap and hip-hop tracks make up almost half of the “Your All-Time Most Streamed Songs” playlist Spotify generated for me.
Drake and Kendrick Lamar are on the playlist. Because I don’t have the timorous mindset of a fifteen-year-old, I tried to ignore the intrigues of the stars’ notorious rap beef. To reiterate the obvious: the dissolute Canadian pop-rapper Drake is obviously “not like us.”
In fact, lawyers representing the villainous Drake threatened to sue me in 2007. Yet unlike the hordes of malleable fans and critics currently dunking on Drake, I gauge art strictly on quality rather than fleeting fashionability.
The three albums Drake released on May 15- Habibti, Iceman and Maid of Honour- light up the pleasure centers in my brain. While each features the elite production and smooth flow that made him one of the ten most popular artists of the past twenty years, a retro electro-funk orientation makes Maid of Honour my favorite.
Dreadful lines like “why do you save all these shots of your screen? Are you a goalie?” just add to the fun. The vulnerability that invites listeners to laugh at Drake’s faults and weaknesses has always been an integral part of his appeal. Schadenfreude has rarely been more rewarding than on Habibti, Iceman and Maid of Honour.