thegreatdivine

1y

That's fair enough but then again, you also have albums like More Life, Views and CLB, which appease both his rap, R&B and pop fans and they have all had insane longevity as well as them aging well.

It's easy to say he should "just make a cohesive body of work" but that doesn't necessarily guarantee success, especially when he's at a point in his career where regardless of how good the actual music on a project is, people will judge it harshly simply because it's a project by Drake. Remember that for as many beloved projects as he has, he has NEVER been a critic darling and people usually hate/harshly critique his music before eventually coming around to it. That's been the story his entire career.

I don't think Drake has to do anything to get back to where he was because he never left. 2024 was supposedly the year he suffered a devastating blow to his career but the numbers don't reflect that at all. He was the biggest male act globally of 2024. He was the most-streamed male act on Spotify across all credits in 2024. He was the most-consumed male act in the US in 2024. In each of those metrics, he was only behind Taylor Swift.

Again, maybe I'm just at a different point but it seems more like you want him to give you a version of himself that's reminiscent of his work from 12-15 years ago and by all indications, the guy who gave you that is long gone. He's admitted as much in his songs. All he can do now is move forward.

I would argue that even a cohesive Drake project will have different sounds and styles. Nothing Was the Same is a predominantly rap album with pop and R&B songs, same goes for Take Care. If You're Reading This It's Too Late is a rap mixtape with one of Drake's all-time R&B cuts. Honestly, Nevermind is a dance album with one of his biggest rap hits of the decade. That's simply who he is. His mainstream introduction was So Far Gone, a rap mixtape that displayed an array of influences ranging from southern rap, pop, R&B, alternative and electronic music.

I feel like even with songs like Nokia, Meet Your Padre and Die Trying, $$$4U still plays like a cohesive R&B album but other people might feel differently.

I guess I'm just at a point where I'm not trying to suggest to Drake what he should do. He's an insanely talented musician who has hit the mark way more times than he's ever missed in almost 2 decades of consistently dropping music. I trust that he knows what to do and I'm looking forward to seeing what he comes up with.

Vert1600

1y

Ah my friend, you are in luck! As I happened to have gotten my hands on none other than a crystal ball.. now thegreatdivine… gaze into this crystalline sphere as I ask.. whats your future

Hmmm yes…. I can see.. the smoke is clearing.. my vision becoming clearer

Is that.. no.. it makes no sense… a… McDonald’s uniform? But what could it possibly mean..

mangotflu

1y

Unfortunately the Weeknd has fallen to #5 on spotify, only weeks after dropping the last album of his career

scoop

1y

i think he’s got two ways to come back:

the scorpion route where he produces multiple undeniable hits (at this point even one hit would be huge) or the project route where he drops the album that his haters have wanted to hear from him for years. something focused with more mature lyrics.

i dont think these bloated 21-23 song albums that seem designed to get as many first week streams as possible are going to cut it anymore, at least in terms of the pure mainstream.

thegreatdivine

1y

That's fair enough but then again, you also have albums like More Life, Views and CLB, which appease both his rap, R&B and pop fans and they have all had insane longevity as well as them aging well.

It's easy to say he should "just make a cohesive body of work" but that doesn't necessarily guarantee success, especially when he's at a point in his career where regardless of how good the actual music on a project is, people will judge it harshly simply because it's a project by Drake. Remember that for as many beloved projects as he has, he has NEVER been a critic darling and people usually hate/harshly critique his music before eventually coming around to it. That's been the story his entire career.

I don't think Drake has to do anything to get back to where he was because he never left. 2024 was supposedly the year he suffered a devastating blow to his career but the numbers don't reflect that at all. He was the biggest male act globally of 2024. He was the most-streamed male act on Spotify across all credits in 2024. He was the most-consumed male act in the US in 2024. In each of those metrics, he was only behind Taylor Swift.

Again, maybe I'm just at a different point but it seems more like you want him to give you a version of himself that's reminiscent of his work from 12-15 years ago and by all indications, the guy who gave you that is long gone. He's admitted as much in his songs. All he can do now is move forward.

I would argue that even a cohesive Drake project will have different sounds and styles. Nothing Was the Same is a predominantly rap album with pop and R&B songs, same goes for Take Care. If You're Reading This It's Too Late is a rap mixtape with one of Drake's all-time R&B cuts. Honestly, Nevermind is a dance album with one of his biggest rap hits of the decade. That's simply who he is. His mainstream introduction was So Far Gone, a rap mixtape that displayed an array of influences ranging from southern rap, pop, R&B, alternative and electronic music.

I feel like even with songs like Nokia, Meet Your Padre and Die Trying, $$$4U still plays like a cohesive R&B album but other people might feel differently.

I guess I'm just at a point where I'm not trying to suggest to Drake what he should do. He's an insanely talented musician who has hit the mark way more times than he's ever missed in almost 2 decades of consistently dropping music. I trust that he knows what to do and I'm looking forward to seeing what he comes up with.

mangotflu

1y

some of those are crazy surprising.

mangotflu

1y

some of those are crazy surprising.

mov

1y

They're surprising until you realize that some of these tracks released during a time where rap was BY FAR the most dominating genre on streaming services (and especially Drake was dominating)

Yes Indeed wouldn't even be 3x platinum these days

mangotflu

1y

Yeah maybe, but even Jimmy Cooks has the same amount of streams and is years newer (jimmy 1.1b, yes indeed 1.1b)

diamond in the US for 1b streams on spotify seems weird to me

scoop

1y

i think he’s got two ways to come back:

the scorpion route where he produces multiple undeniable hits (at this point even one hit would be huge) or the project route where he drops the album that his haters have wanted to hear from him for years. something focused with more mature lyrics.

i dont think these bloated 21-23 song albums that seem designed to get as many first week streams as possible are going to cut it anymore, at least in terms of the pure mainstream.

Nix

1y

Yeah I didn't know Walk It, Talk It and Yes Indeed were that popular

Nix

1y

Yeah I didn't know Walk It, Talk It and Yes Indeed were that popular

mov

1y

They're surprising until you realize that some of these tracks released during a time where rap was BY FAR the most dominating genre on streaming services (and especially Drake was dominating)

Yes Indeed wouldn't even be 3x platinum these days

mangotflu

1y

I wish someone ran those 10m+ numbers on taylor/weeknd etc too, I wanna know how big Drake's lead is

I'm guessing Jimmy cooks, Fair Trade, Knife Talk, Wants and Needs and Rich Flex will all hit it in a few years too

Leftside

1y

You a racist? @shaleirose keeps telling me you are

mangotflu

1y

Mexicans that say the n word always think everyone else is a racist

then they wake up and sing macarena

mangotflu

1y

Mexicans that say the n word always think everyone else is a racist

then they wake up and sing macarena

mangotflu

1y

The issue is a lot of people will think Drake has fallen off, because he hasn't had a mega hit in a while. But megahits aren't what make artists huge anymore. Taylor hasn't had a mega hit in like 5/6 years now.

The game has changed and a lot of people haven't realised it. Mega hits are no longer required