{"id":350,"date":"2021-11-18T16:06:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-18T16:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coolnblack.co.za\/?p=54"},"modified":"2021-11-18T16:06:00","modified_gmt":"2021-11-18T16:06:00","slug":"best-dressed-girl-in-fashion-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coolnblack.co.za\/?p=350","title":{"rendered":"Opinion Piece: Has Drake\u2019s career run its course?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In music, an artist is said to have a longevity or lasting power of about 5 years at the top. Anything more than the stipulated 5 is either by a stroke of luck or almost impossible to achieve. Every musician who came before the other, knows that being number one is rarely eternal and that one day, sooner than later, your successor in the game will take over the spotlight and thus will deem your light as the reigning artist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For Aubrey Graham, better known as Drake, all the above could not be further from the truth. Instead, he has remained one of the most consistent and successful artists of his generation. Starting off in 2006, with a mixtape titled \u2018\u2019Room For Improvement\u2019\u2019, Drake was still a long way from being the larger-than-life global phenomenon that we have all come to know. The mixtape was a Toronto local classic and moved a measly 6000 copies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2007, Drake released his second mixtape, Comeback Season, which faired slightly better than his debut tape. Comeback Season spawned a moderate hit titled \u2018\u2019Replacement Girl\u2019\u2019 featuring Trey Songz. The song was Drake\u2019s first crack into the US mainstream TV circuit, with the video for \u2018\u2019Replacement Girl\u2019\u2019 featuring on BET\u2019s \u2018New Joint of the Day\u2019 segment. From that point on, the Canadian unsigned hype rapper seemed to be on his way to superstardom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Side Bar<\/strong>: Before we delve deeper into Drake\u2019s music career, it must be noted that before him becoming<\/em> a rapper, he played the role of Jimmy Brooks on Degrassi: The Next Generation from 2001 to 2008. In the Canadian teen drama series, Drake portrayed a promising basketball stalwart who becomes wheelchair-bound when one of his school peers shoots him in the back.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, back to the music\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still on Comeback Season, the last song titled \u2018\u2019Man of The Year\u2019\u2019- which featured Lil Wayne, saw Drake earn an invitation on Lil Wayne\u2019s \u2018Tha Carter III\u2019 tour. The pair recorded a handful of songs together including \u2018\u2019Ransom\u2019\u2019 and \u2018\u2019Forever\u2019\u2019 \u2013 the latter of which became one of Drake\u2019s biggest songs.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2009 was a life-changing year for Drake. Not only did he release his commercially successful mixtape to date, So Far Gone, but the Toronto native also inked a deal with Lil Wayne\u2019s Young Money Entertainment. Boosted by the smash hit \u2018\u2019Best I Ever Had\u2019\u2019, So Far Gone was later repackaged as an EP with four new songs added to it. Best I Ever Had became Drake\u2019s first Hot 100 single \u2013 peaking at number 2 on the Billboard Chart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Post the 2010s and early 2020s, Drake remains a top-flight artist in every aspect of the world. All of his albums have raked in multiple platinum plaques and broken streaming records across the board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s where the spanner in the works comes in. Remember at the beginning of this piece, it was highlighted that most artists\u2019 run is only capped at 5 years maximum. Well, with Drake the story is different. He has been the number one artist for almost 15 years and with such a commendable stronghold on the game, it is nearly impossible to topple one\u2019s previous work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The records have been sold, the tours have grossed hundreds of millions of dollars, the history has been made and the only appeal that Drake has left is his consistency and adaptive ways of keeping his artform as current as possible. Documenting his entire catalog on this article will take forever, so in the interest of time and for the sake of argument, we will only focus on Drake\u2019s latest offering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 6 October 2023, Drake released his eighth studio album, For All The Dogs. The 23-track project features a bevy of heavy hitters, including 21 Savage (his Her Loss album collaborator) and J. Cole amongst others. Upon listening to the album, one can easily deduce that Drake has loosened his grip on proving himself to anyone \u2013 especially his critics \u2013 the monotonous bravado of his wealth and being a legend is prevalent on this album. Drake sounds like he\u2019s trying to keep up with his younger peers, a dismal portrayal on his part. As a man who\u2019s 3 years shy of 40, he still wants to play the \u2018\u2019immature\u2019\u2019 older brother role to the 20-something-year-olds who\u2019ve become his understudies in some form of way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only on the song \u2018\u20198 am in Charlotte\u2019\u2019 does Drake appear to be in his bag. As he proves his lyrical abilities through punchlines, unorthodox rhyme schemes, and reflective bars. Apart from this jam, the album is riddled with 99% typical Drake content. Something most of his fans have become accustomed to over the past decade and some change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only thing left for Drake to do now is to accept his crown as the GOAT (Greatest of All Time) and leave the gimmicks to the young guys. Also, it is clear that he sounds bored with the recording booth as there are talks of him taking a break from music – after the release of this album – due to health reasons. It would not be a bad idea for Drake to go on a much-needed hiatus, to assess whether he still wants to be an artist and whilst introspecting, maybe even reconsider the type of content he\u2019d like to focus more on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drake has churned out hit after hit, and there\u2019s no denying his staying power and star quality but even the greatest sportsmen and the like, know when the writing is on the wall, which might be the case with Drake\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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