Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Where's The Competition?

Christian:
Now that Drake has pretty much established himself as the most popular rapper out at this point, I wonder if he's ever going to get a rival. Most hip-hop superstars face a rival while their in their peak (Biggie and Pac, Jay-Z and Nas, Lil' Wayne and Kanye etc.) So far it looks like to me everyone is afraid of Drake's buzz and has decided to befriend him rather than challenge him.  In my opinion, J. Cole looks like the best (mainstream) candidate to go at Drake in a lyrical battle these days. What do you think?

9 comments:

  1. I tend to forget Drake is not at his peak yet. That's gotta be the most hyped artist (if you will) of all time. But yea JCole is the only hope. He'll have to make more main stream songs, and be more marketable. I don't think he will ever be as marketable though. Lyrically, watch out for Jay Electronica...

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  2. J. Cole isn't that marketable yet but he is on RocNation under Jigga so he's going to get the exposure he needs, its just a matter of time. And I don't know much about Jay Electronica musically, but you think he has a shot at going at Drake?

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  3. the thing about drake is that some of his stuff is so introspective... a lot of his songs he talks about himself and his own downfalls and struggles, but then he has that flashy side etc... It's hard to go after a rapper that has such a wholesome story... yeah you can say he was on Degrassi, but that just means he was REALLY making money before he even made it to the rap game so thats really nothing to down him about...and since young money rolls as deep as they do, and you have wayne to worry about... pointing out the obvious fact that there's a tinge of homo-ism in drake's relationship with wayne and the rest of young money, ("dick riding" from both ends if you ask me) would be very dangerous for a rapper who can't go head to head with everybody in young money. until we see a rapper who could legitimately tear down young money, people are gonna be riding them like a money train, begging all them niggas to drop a hot 16 on their track...lol

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  4. I didn't mean battle as in diss tracks and shit, I meant someone who is willing to come out and compete with him. For example, Wayne and Kanye were/are competitive rivals, but they never had beef. They collaborate frequently, but if asked who the better rapper is they will both say themselves. Kanye and Wayne both were both fighting to be the best rapper out at the time. I feel like these new rappers are more concerned with being on Drake's side for future collabs, rather than being like "Fuck it, Ima wreck this nigga."

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  5. @Christian no he has no chance to stay up with Drake. I'm just saying lyrically he and J cole are the only ones spittin with Drake. Actually, lyrically, they probably better. Neither of them are commercial, and I doubt they ever will be.

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  6. Who is not commercial? Drake?! Drake is the most commercial rapper of all time. Lol. I'm pretty sure you aren't saying Drake isn't commercial because he obviously is, but I don't know what you mean when you say "Neither of them are commercial." Aren't we comparing Drake and J. Cole?

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  7. Also, just because J. Cole can't stay up with Drake as far as popularity goes, people can still respect him as one of the best lyricists (if not better than Drake). It will be a Nas vs. Jay-Z type situation where one is obviously more popular than the other (Jay-Z), but the other still gets much love and respect as an artist/lyricist (Nas).

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  8. I think people dont want to battle because they are too afraid of hate. it is my personal opinion that there is now more hate than ever. people dont want to embrace artists. the public would rather go on a tangent about how someone 'sucks' than evaluate their strengths in the rap game because obviously they made it for a reason, whatever that reason may be. another opinion: dont be mad, youre not signed. to go off that back into the topic though, rappers like J. Cole [a phenomenal new artist] arent going to battle with Drake because they recognize the extent to which his following will QUICKLY hop on the 'you suck' bandwagon even if he isnt dissing Drake and is just trying to provide friendly competition. J. Cole wants those fans as well as other fans to be behind him. the fear is in the hate and no one wants to be hated no matter what they tell you. [applicable both in and out of the rap game] back in the day, regardless of if your favorite was Jay or Nas, Biggie or Pac, for the most part there was still respect and LOVE for both, you probably still bumped and supported both. today the story would be different. as much of a intense following as Drake has in 2010, no one wants to be on their bad side especially considering that as a result of how widely Drake has been marketed the rest of the 'Freshman '09 '10' arent coming close to touching him right now. [in fanbase ONLY] maybe... hopefully in time when they get the recognition, fanbase, and love they deserve rather than be pushed to the backseat because Drake is THE hot thing right now, the artists will feel as if they can battle for rights as number one. until then friends, they are not trying to mess a good thing up.

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  9. @christian obviously not drake. j cole and electronica.

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