Correct me if I’m wrong, but Drake was really the first artist I noticed that embraced that style of music in his own work and collaborated with the likes of Wizkid.

Beyonce and Chris Brown eventually put their own twist on it, but it was really Drake who took that artistic leap of faith.

Obviously, I am referring to the genre’s prominence in the US, as it was already established in certain parts of Europe.

But I also understand the "culture culture" type of rhetoric that gets thrown his way, which may diverge him from receiving acknowledgment.

They'll never give him that credit lol

One Dance/Controlla was the obvious shift

Facts.

Views definitely solidified it but even the song Take Care even had hints of it

People thought it was corny at first but I guarantee when his career is done people will give him the credit for bringing afrobeats and uk rap further into the mainstream, especially as those genres become more popular and all of the artists credit Drake as a piece of it

And he still makes the best version of it out of all the artists thats attempted to do it. But like you said, he'll never get the credit for it anytime soon

100%
He single-handedly shifted the paradigm of the entire music industry. To have the power to skew like that is INSANE. Even if it wasn’t necessarily “afrobeats,” ignorantly, I’ll say he at least influenced the entire industry to sound more “dancehall” “tropical” or “island-esque.”

ramriddlz did it first see sweeterman

Before I'm gone outta this place, yeah
Put some flowers in my face, won't you?
Let me know that I did okay, yeah
Don't wait 'til some other day, no, no
They love to wait 'til it's too late, it's too late

He put me on that’s for sure

I'm sure some dweeb will say rapper x or singer y did it first in 2015 / 2016

But truthfully, it's different when you're one of the 3 biggest pop stars in the world. It's a huge risk to make One Dance or Hotline Bling a lead single.

He for sure should get more credit for that. I'm going into parties where they're having full on afrobeats / dancehall segments and like...yeah, Drake did that.

I'm sure some dweeb will say rapper x or singer y did it first in 2015 / 2016

But truthfully, it's different when you're one of the 3 biggest pop stars in the world. It's a huge risk to make One Dance or Hotline Bling a lead single.

He for sure should get more credit for that. I'm going into parties where they're having full on afrobeats / dancehall segments and like...yeah, Drake did that.

Mr Ramrod would like to speak with you

I'm sure some dweeb will say rapper x or singer y did it first in 2015 / 2016

But truthfully, it's different when you're one of the 3 biggest pop stars in the world. It's a huge risk to make One Dance or Hotline Bling a lead single.

He for sure should get more credit for that. I'm going into parties where they're having full on afrobeats / dancehall segments and like...yeah, Drake did that.

I love it when I find new niggas to block on this s***

lol. hilarious of you to think drake will get his due credit for anything. sweet summer child

inspiring and never taking credit
I know I deserve more, I just never said it

True, guy had a lot more reach than Ram tho. I'll also give credit to Mixpak records for putting in time and money to produce commercial albums with Vybz Kartel and Popcaan, I remember that getting a lot of American blog attention on Caribbean, and consequently, Afrobeat music (I consider these genres interchangeable for the purposes of their American iteration- when Drake and other artists were doing a tropical-esque sound in the 2015-18 era, it was really inspired by the both of them).
Kinda irritated Drake dropped the sound with Scorpion and every album since. Guess he lost interest in it but after he dropped it everyone else did (sans the legitimate afrobeat acts that are now popping in the states). Miss that s***.

Yup. And if you even dare mention to social media that Drake was the first to introduce it, you will get flamed with think pieces for 30 days and nights

i made a thread like this a while back and got clowned

It will take a long time for the world to give Drake his props for popularizing this style of music and making it what an English speaking audience wants to hear, but it’s a pretty major part of his career if you ask me

I been big into afrobeat for awhile and yes like alot of people claim afrobeat was definitely getting a buzz before one dance, we can’t pretend like drake didn’t open doors for alot of artists in that scene

Coming from Toronto, I definitely heard afrobeat long before One Dance, but anytime I'd be outside of Toronto, you'd never hear it anywhere pre-One Dance.

Also worth noting that the mainstream success of Afrobeat, plus the Bad Bunny features with Cardi + Drake paved the way for Reggaeton to be as big as it is now.

But what is there to argue about? Prior to Drake, what mainstream artists from the US incorporated afrobeat into their style of music and achieved success and critical acclaim?

The truth lies in his discography. A year prior to this, he featured on Wizkid's Ojuelegba Remix with Skepta, which was heavily influential in the UK and some parts of Europe. Then he made Maddiba Riddim on more life and featured again with Wiz Kid on Come Closer (Both in 2017).

It doesn’t take away from the work of the artists in the genre because nobody can do that style of music better than them. Just don’t be ignorant of the fact that without Drake’s co-sign the lane for artists like Rema, Burna Boy, and Tems wouldn’t be open.

Maybe there were artists before Drake who tried venturing into that sound but probably failed miserably. All this speaks to Drake’s versatility. But instead, they’ll give credit to the likes of Chris Brown or Beyoncé, who decided to jump on the wave once it was commercial viable.

I think he'd rather just have the millions he's made off of it. Yet another trendy sound he's pimped out for his own gain. It's not like he's ever ahead of the curve. He shows up fashionably late like Apple and makes it accessible to the dumbest, most superficial base possible. $$$$

toronto as a city deserves some of the credit as well, one of the only if not the only western city where afrobeats and dancehall is the mainstream in and of itself