Is Drake's MARKETING STRATEGY the right one?

We live in a world where information travels very fast and with the power of social media, it reaches a large amount of people who are bombarded with new trends every single day... Let's take Migos' "Bad and Boujee" for example. That song has been memed sooo many times... even the elderly know about the song a will probably say "drop top" after you say "raindrop" to them first. Should Drake implement new marketing strategies to his game or is he already the biggest thing in the rap game right now?

Personally, I think Drake should be more "generous" in his approach to music. Apple Music, paying for every single, no interviews on YouTube, no strong social engagement with fans... I mean look, if you're Drake, you can obviously afford doing that, without losing any fans, but I think he should be more out there for the fans. He should put out some singles or freestyles here and there for free on Soundcloud or put it as a free download, like Logic or Migos do, for example. XXXTENTACION puts all his music on Soundloud and everyone can listen to his stuff, which is one of the main reasons why he blew up and became extremely popular in a short period of time. Drizzy is going for "less is more" and wants to keep his fans excited all the way through, but I would like to see him getting more involved in interraction with fans. His short film "JUNGLE" is something I really enjoyed as that was really a step out of his comfort zone, and I think fans want more of Drizzy involed in not only music, but also in every form of art, films included. Oh, and he should allow more of his songs on YouTube, as well... I mean, why not? There are a lot of moments when you have a 16gb iPhone and want to play a Drake track to your friend, but... there aren't any on the internet :(.


What do you think? Do fans appreciate when the artist is generous and gets engaged with the fans or do they just care about the music, and are willing to buy the music on iTunes?

Drake - Free Smoke (More Life Track #1) Review

"Free Smoke, Free Smoke ayyy"... Now, this song is a nice introduction to an album (at least for me...)! It's catchy, it has elements of everything and it's not too long to bore you right at the start of the album, but it's also not too short to show you too little. The song starts rather interesting, with clean vocals from a lovely lady named Nai Palm. At first, I thought this track was going to be just a short interlude, without Drake on it, just to set the mood for this record, but after the clean vocals right at the start, the bass started poppin' and Drake came out with some fire! I was pleseantly surprised as I was not expecting that at all.


He starts the track with some fire, as always...

Though, I feel like chorus could have been a bit better and contain a few more interesting rhymes rather than just being "Free smoke, free smoke ayyyy"...

The high point of this song is this verse, which is absolutely ON FIRE! I especially like those KD references.

All in all, a pretty solid start to this "playlist", I would say...

"MORE LIFE" - First listen

I gotta say, after "Views", we all thought Drake became a lot softer and that his "If You're Reading This..." days are over. I mean, I really dig "Views" as the album is a lot different and has a really lovely vibe to it, as Drake said, it represents Toronto during different seasons, so that's why there are a lot of mood changes. But, hearing the first track from "More Life", I immediately thought: "Old Drake is back". The first track "Free Smoke" (which I actually thought was going to be a short interlude, like an introduction to this album) turned out to be a real banger and I was smiling throughout the whole song. The second one, "No Long Talk" was also a banger and the bass was just poppin'. The following few tracks were definitiely a bit Views-esque, which I really liked, personally, with a few interesting short interludes. I really like the beat on the track "4412", but I was dissapointed Drake didn't even have a single verse on it. Personally, I think Drake's high pitch singing would fit in really well in that beat. Then the song "Gyalchester" came on and we were back to the same vibe we had on the beginning on this album. The song "Portland" contains two great collaborations (Quavo & Travis Scott, but hey it's Drake, he can get anyone he wants on his song...) and the beat is off the charts (I really recommend checking it out). Generally, I'm really surprised by the beats on this album and the next few songs prove that ("Sacrifices", "Nothings Into Somethings", "KMT").  Another thing that stood out on this album for me was the track "Can't Have Everything" which has the same beat as the track "Back To Back" Drake did a few months ago while that Meek Mill beef era, which is not a bad thing, of course, the beat is powerful AF. The track near the end of the record called "Ice Melts" ft. Young Thug also caught my year and I was just smiling throughout the whole track... It's just very relaxed, funny song that was record purely for fun with zero expectations (at least that's what seems to me...) And that would be it for the first listen, I'm definitely going to listen to this thing a loooot more and I'll definitely be enjoying it throughout the year. There are many songs (22 to be precise) on this record and I think Drake has really put out an album which will keep the fans satisfied for at least another year.

Really "Started from the bottom" or nah?

Remember that music video where Drake states that he started from the bottom, like 50 times? Well, many people will tell you that's not true, at least in the comment section... But, is it? Or maybe, he doesn't mean that he "started from the bottom" in the financial context...

So, Drake's mother was an English teacher and it is well-known that he comes from a nice and educated family, unlike many rappers who came from the street and didn't even have a family. Many of them used their poverty as a motivation and that can be a big plus simply because when you are at the bottom, you have NOTHING to lose... You can only go up and it can only get better for you. However, Drake had to find his motivation somewhere else as he was already living a decent life and he didn't really have to hustle so hard. Many people say that the phrase "started from the bottom" means that he started from the bottom of the rap game, not in life. I mean, that's probably true, and it turned out really well for him as he used his, let's say, "uniqueness" to gain attention and make him stand out. There was once a study that showed Drake was one of the most "non-lyrical" rappers out there, with one of the most necessitous vocabularies in the rap game, using a small amount of words in his songs. Or maybe, he just wanted to prove that everything's possible in life and you can achieve everything you want, if you work hard enough... And Drake's success is undeniable, whether you like him or not.

"Take Care" - The most emotional album ever?

Drake is, without a doubt, one of the most emotional rappers around. That old YouTube joke people love to make goes something like "Drake made me think of a girl the smiled at me while I was buying groceries today," and is still funny even to this day. That started in the "Take Care" era, as the album expresses some very strong feelings Drake had towards women. And that's exactly what I like about him - he is real, he raps about things on his heart, not something that would please the audience and sell well. Especially during 2011, because that was his "emotional era". The albums before "Take Care" were kinda like "I made it, look at me now, haters," as well as the albums after that (except "Views", which was also very atmospheric and emotional record, at least to him, with the main focus being on his city, Toronto), so "Take Care" is really special in many ways.

The album starts with the song "Over My Dead Body" and contains one of my favorite verses "Jelaousy is just love and hate at the same time." Again, very slow, atmospheric, it kind of drags you in the record very well, prepares you for the rest of it. Piano with female voice in the background - that's the mood I'm talking about. There are also songs like "Headlines" on this record that are here for the turn up, with a very motivational approach to it. Drake here talks more about the materialistic things ("Money over everything, money on my mind"), so there you have the adversity and contrast, as well. But the songs I want to focus on, are the ones like "Marvin's Room" and "Crew Love" - true masterpieces in their own ways. "Marvin's Room" is one of the most honest and raw songs out there, even to this day. Zero compromises, not going commercial in any way, no producer entanglement... It's like Drake just picked up a paper and a pen after an emotional breakdown and spit out these words. "I'm just saying...you could do better..." - you can't make that for the audience, you can't put these words into a song just for it to sell well or to make other people happy... you put it out there for yourself, to relieve your soul, to ease your pain. And that's why Drake is one of the greatest musicians around. He is so versatile and honest. He is dominating the music scene with songs from "Views" made for masses, like for example "One Dance", and for those who don't enjoy "Views"... there is still this old Drake for us.

           

        I mean, listen to those lyrics...

Cups of the Rose
Bitches in my old phone
I should call one and go home
I've been in this club too long
The woman that I would try
Is happy wit a good guy
But I've been drinking so much
That I'ma call her anyway and say

Fuck that nigga that you love so bad
I know you still think about the times we had
I say fuck that nigga that you think you found
And since you picked up I know he's not around

But, let's come back to the main topic here - "Take Care". Another thing I want to point out is - perfect, perfect featurings on this record. We have completely unknown The Weeknd at that time, a real refreshment on the record with his lovely voice, blending beautifully with Drake's voice and the instrumentals. I really enjoyed having him on the record. I also enjoyed Rihanna on the song "Take Care", because it was a really nice departure from the general idea of the album and something very different. You can't go wrong with Rihanna, she always makes things way more interesting... Then we also have Kendrick Lamar on the track "Buried Alive Interlude," which was very interesting and unexpected, probably because he actually sings the whole track, so there's no Drake here. Another interesting guest artist on the album is good old Lil Wayne in the song "The Motto" with probably the best verse ever - "Almost drowned in the pussy, so I swam to the butt." The song gained a lot of social media attention with that "YOLO - You Only Live Once" thing, but that Lil Wayne verse is what made the song for me... We also have to point out the Nicki Minaj feature on the track "Make Me Proud" in which she blended in perfectly and gave the song such a nice flavour. Even in 2011, Drake had some really good connections, because having Wayne and Nicki on your album is not easy to get. Anyways, if there is one thing that makes this album stand out, that would be the honesty of these lyrics, because you don't see that very often today. Rap songs are becoming more similar and similar, more repetitive than ever, with catchier choruses than ever. It's not very often you see a rapper opening up so publicly, especially with some really risky verses like on the song "Marvin's Room" that go like "I got some women that are living off me", in which Drake clearly says he pays everything for a couple of girls for who knows what reason. It could be blackmailing and he is being very open about it on this record. And that's what makes this record one of the best rap records of the decade for me. It stands out in the sea of very similar soulless rap albums of today, with such a special mood and emotional approach, with honesty.