Drake and the Death of Hip Hop

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Drake is one of the biggest and most successful musicians of all time and within the last decade has made an indelible mark on hip hop as it's most recognizable, marketable, bankable, and influential figure… and F.D isn't too happy with that.
In this video F.D tries to parse through the complex nature of Drake's presence in modern hip hop and pop music and explains why Drake's rise and dominance of the hip hop world is much worse than you think.
00:00 Intro
06:00 Unfair reasons to dislike Drake
20:05 Understanding hip hop before Drake
33:00 How Drake changed hip hop
59:00 My real problem with Drake
01:08:42 Who really killed hip hop?
Animations by Aranock- / aranock
1Dime- The Culture Industry- • The Culture Industry a...
Beat 1 by Tiden Parc - / @tildenparc
Beat 2 by Dh trackmatic- @djtrackmatic on IG and / @djtrackmatic6315

[@Maimuna_joy]

Who's back to rewatch 👀☕👋🏿😅😉

[@BryanFury85]

3rd or 4th rewatch, classic

[@schism15]

Back after Kendrick's Euphoria

[@Joshluden]

@@schism15 Kdot massacred the kid.

[@lmarshall2986]

3 watch. Holds up well ❤

[@shawn2thumbs]

2nd rewatch 😭 that Kdot diss was heat. Had to come back to this

[@KnarchoAommrad]

This is aging like fine wine 😭😭😭

[@loveisthekey7]

Tru 😭

[@truartairbrushing5682]

Here after drake waved 🏳️‍

[@MontserratGyal]

Truly

[@robertamccartney5500]

🌟 🏆 🌟

[@robertamccartney5500]

​@@truartairbrushing5682 💎

[@redofthewolves]

Back here to pay whatever the opposite of respect is to Drake now that he's dead

[@biharcourt]

😂😂😂

[@babybeasy75]

😂😂😂

[@CinematicShadow]

Disrespect?

[@SailorMid]

So you're back to metaphorically piss on his grave?

[@Tassanamm]

everyone says this video aged well. I'd like to say this vid doesn't even age.

[@KevSomi]

Nice one!

[@stormyskyz7881]

Facts

[@TekniCaliSpeakin]

You sure he didn't make this video last week? 😳 Naw seriously tho we guys give bro his props for predicting the future

[@pabloni1117]

if the video can't age maybe drake'll actually watch it

[@OergenSchmoergen]

You could say the same for Drake's taste in women ☠

[@Rob-yj1gg]

Huh, wonder how many people revisiting this one on this the 30th of April in 2024?

[@shibbymccoy]

On here on May 4th..the day after 3 diss tracks was released in 24 hours

[@eliasmg9144]

May the 4th be with you

[@justabeholder4753]

May 4th here

[@WeeWeeJumbo]

and beyond. Drake tried to retaliate on the night of Sunday the 5th, but it’s too late imo

[@NeasTube]

May 6 2024

[@discocarol3348]

I’m back after “Not like us” 😂

[@NamelessInternaut]

Here after Euphoria dropped

[@SeattleScotty]

Here for the funeral.

[@christheghostwriter]

616 in LA

[@drangus8818]

@@SeattleScotty I'm here for the ceremonial pissing on the grave after Not Like Us hit number 1

[@shanellypooh]

Gonna give this a rewatch for no particular reason at all 😅

[@itsthebiglad7891]

That shit got scary quick

[@MindfulMatters734]

😂

[@rosslaverdure]

👀

[@KiiDMaGiiK]

I been saying this forever. Kendrick Control verse is only a diss to a rapper if he DIDNT mention their name. If your name was mentioned it was a sight of respect. He literally collabed w everyone he mentioned. Anyone who took it personally instead of as a challenge is soft lol

[@fideletamo4292]

It was never a diss to anyone just tough love...

[@alexnuffsaid1]

Hmm, i feel he clearly laser focused on drake, he just used other names as fodder. Especially with the way they ve had their subliminal back and forth over the years, it seems like kendrick veiled his attack and it landed.

[@vibewithkey4350]

@@alexnuffsaid1 I read his whole verse and that specific verse wasn’t directly just targeted at Drake. He even mentioned him. Songs where he targets Drake, he does it subliminally. He didn’t even say anything Drake related.

[@thetruest7497]

True. It was a diss to the unmentioned rappers. Kendrick really thought he was better than Lupe. He fucked around and found out though. Been scared to mention that name since.

[@alexnuffsaid1]

@@vibewithkey4350 it’s a subtle thing imo, all the other names are grouped up when enumerated. Drake’s name got a significant pause before and after his name and judging how meticulous he’s shown to be prior and since, it seems intentional. I also think the same for his family ties verse. I’ll admit that I am nostalgic of the years long album spanning beefs i grew up following. But it rang as a clear shot to me then and since.

[@Calpsotoma]

Drake is truly Not Like Us

[@Nay089]

This video aged very well

[@fangal12]

In my head cannon Kendrick Lamar stumbled across this video a couple of months ago one night when he couldn't sleep and began to ponder........

[@loislouisaaa1703]

i remember you was conflicted…

[@briep638]

even women hate on other women for their interests a lot of the time. The hating on female centric media goes so deep.

[@aboutthat1440]

and plenty that don't ascribe to the popular (at the moment) they called derisive names like pick mes and the like. All because they don't ascribe to the idiocy of the worst of womens behavior.

[@samsammy9289]

@@aboutthat1440 that's not what a pick me is, a pick me is a woman who talks down on other women (most of the time for doing feminine things like wearing makeup or sometimes it can be the opposite, not being feminine enough like not being able to cook) the PURPOSE of why she does this is what makes her a pick me - she does this is to elevate her status to men in comparison with other women. That's why it's called pick me because she wants the men to pick her not other women. It's all about appealing to men by putting other women down.

[@rellie_90]

@@aboutthat1440 you’re giving bad info. That’s not what a pick me is. 😒

[@WhateverArtist]

@@aboutthat1440 "ascribe to the idiocy of the worst of women's behavior" See. Saying shit like that is why people are calling you a pick me.

[@amandadunn7678]

@@aboutthat1440 You have no idea what a pick-me.

[@chrissennfelder7249]

My biggest issue with Drake was always that he had nothing to say. Most of songs are about himself and the way he feels which is fine by itself, if you actually are an interesting person or have something fascinating to tell. But Drake's lyricism mostly consists of "I'm sad", "I'm a womanizer" and "I'm rich". I don't hate Drake, I just think he's terribly boring. Edit: "Hold my purse music" is shockingly accurate. Lmao.

[@ttg8966]

Naw I don’t think you actually listen to drake he always talks about what is going on just like every rapper you have to actually know drake to know what some of the lines mean and who they are directed to. Talking about your love life to me is probably one of the most brave thing you can do because you will always be seen as a soft person even tho you just expressing yourself. For example church hill downs song drake let’s loose a long introspective verse Cold hearts and heated floors/ no parental guidance, I just see divorce/ Therapy sessions, I’m in the waiting room reading Forbes/ Abandonment issues I’m getting treated for” but Drake also dives deeper, revealing that he’s been going to therapy for lingering abandonment issues that might have stemmed from his parents’ divorce. Therapy is important, and something that could be rapped about more in the mainstream canon, so hearing the biggest rapper being open about his own mental health journey is refreshing. Then he follows these bars by revealing that he’s still grappling with the concept of forgiveness, something he’s trying to teach to his son. There’s also a slick metaphor buried in this bar, as Drake raps about reading Forbes in his therapist’s waiting room, reflecting his obsession with success that often takes priority over his own mental health. Then he raps about how his “urges for revenge are uncontrollable,” and that he’s tired of hearing “plug talk coming from middlemen.” A few of these bars feel like subliminal messages for his rival Pusha-T,. It almost feels like he drops verses like this just to remind his critics that he can still rap conscious he just chooses to be versatile.Drake talks bout how he’s made peace with the pusha diss and how he knows that information was a great chess move but he also acknowledges it seems he wants revenge, while also acknowledging that those urges are childish and petty. Another topic he gets into his is success I’m getting so rich, my music’s not even relatable” . Just like Jay Z and other greats they get to a point where their music has lines where only a few can only relate to drake wasnt boasting this he was saying it as one of the reasons that comes with success you write about your lifestyle and that lifestyle only a few can every dream about.

[@ttg8966]

Lucky me, people that don’t fuck with me/ Are linkin’ up with people that don’t fuck with me to fuck with me/ This shit is getting ugly”. you pull back the curtain, it could be alluding to Drake’s recent “reconciliation” with former frenemy Kanye West, a man who is very close friends with people who don’t necessarily “fuck with him.” When J Prince forced the two rap giants to bury the hatchet, many wondered if, by transitive property, that meant Drake and Pusha-T were cool now, too. Drake is also alluding to him and kanye have an emotional attachment of being idols to each other but also not liking each other at certain moments but they always seem to link back up after a few years. It’s like they can’t stay together for to long because something always happens but imagine looking up to a rapper you love and y’all become friends only to find out that realtionship isn’t worth the trouble but then again it is. Idk I just feel like if you actually know drake you know his lines are almost always for a reason.

[@ttg8966]

For example drake just a quick breakdown on marvins room. It encapsulates that melaconly feeling that every guy feels at some point in their lives. Where they wonder if they messed up on their shot with a girl they love. Marvin room relies on a principal on art that we call negative space. Drake is honestly the best at negative space and flowing in between pockets instead of the 1 2 3 4. Negative space is defined as the space surrounding the subject .for example in a painting it might be the background instead of the actual focal point where it gives you a feeling of calm and peace or stillness because your brain knows what an empty house feels like . In a photo or movie it’s like when a space creates tension in the background that makes you feel a certain way. In music it’s hard to describe but it’s like a lack of auditory sensory information intentionally being presented with nothing , hearing the space and focusing on the lack of information . When Drake Nd 40 made Marvin room beat 40 claimed he was not done with the beat but drake heard it and said he wanted to record it as it is but 40 kept saying their needs to be more production added it’s not even halfway finished but drake refused do not add anything else. Drake recorded over the unfinished beat which led to was all this negative space. All their is a 44 drum pattern with lots of high frequencies taken out. Gives the impression of being underwater , distorting senses , a bit like being drunk. You have a super legato syth with no attack which just means if you played the synth on a piano their would be no impact just a smooth note all through. Drake wanted the drunk aspect of the song which is so hard to make listeners feel like their distorting senses all the notes from the synth are really easy and lack a structure and makes you feel like your in this dream. Also a robotic harsh noise comes in to create a little dissonance. This is to add a juxtaposition Nd not make the best entirely smooth. Crucial in communicating feeling of loneliness, confusion Nd anger. What separates other negative spaces Nd make this beat have an impact is how drake uses it. Drakes always been known for not rapping on the 1 on purpose .if you were to count the beat 1 2 3 4 drake first word of his bar rarely begins on the one when he wants to achieve this cadence. He lets you feel the beat feel the 1 Nd then he raps. In marvins Room he gives you the impression of a thought like cadence giving the lines the impression of a real time idea organically forming right in front of you. Like the thought of what he wants to say hits him on the 1 and then he says it. It’s so hard to rap this style and actually sound like your on beat but drake perfected it. It’s like talking to a friend ranting about your emotions Nd saying And Then , She , And Then , I etc . He leaves space all over this beat so you can soaked it all in and feel it the negative space while your senses are resorting feeling like a dream or drunk. He positioning his precense in a very intelligent way , letting the washy almost empty mosaic of the beat inspire reflection. Reflecting on the girl you messed up with for you to contemplate calling her for you to make the parrllel connection from this song to your life . The reason people latch on this song and many others from drake is how good he makes you reflect your situation Nd life. When theirs not enough information , sensory or not enough going on we reflect. Same thing here negative space created by an unfinished Beat results in a more effective song than any more work could produce . Wow I can’t believe I type that only real junkie musics will actually know what the breakdown I’m talking about and I can do this with so many drakes song and Kendrick and Jcole every artist song each song takes so much then just lyrics it’s everything so many peices

[@majestymxnt7384]

Idk I just think you don’t relate to anything he says. Besides him being rich, he touches on some issues everyone goes through with self as far as with relationships, friends, family, inner conflicts with self, etc.

[@zaperator4449]

You just can’t relate.

[@Azul721]

"Evoke The Spirit of Pac" Had to pause on this rewatch. holy shit that line aged well 🍷

[@BRLambert4]

FR, this entire video is dead on

[@ricopena2053]

The “save the slaves” line made me come back to this video. I’m glad that you got to see OVO fall Unc.

[@emilyrln]

Your point about not blaming "the youths" for dealing with the reality their elders created without their input is absolutely key to so many cultural issues. Great video!

[@TheLlaura90]

Universally applicable insight!

[@Beemmeupz]

Idk, like for white people and their upholding of white supremacy, it doesn't apply but for other things, I agree.

[@Joe-dl9vn]

Honestly, I find myself when I think about the state of Hip-Hop doing that and then being so disappointed in myself because it's really not their fault.

[@candace1542]

Perpetually, I’m afraid.

[@zuck9090]

@@Beemmeupz bruh, what the fuck are you even on about?

[@smirky101]

When F.D. Says drake is like pizza, it makes me laugh, because he's just dawning on something that seems obvious: Almost all of Rap/hip hop is just pop now. It's meant to be homogenous, forgettable, get the plays, get the money and get out style of overproduced and repackaged music that is built for the streaming age. Why do you think you see so many artists rise and fall so quickly? that's the definition of a pop act. They aren't built to last, they're built for short attention spans.

[@ydiemedia]

They are built to pop.

[@BasedEngineer]

Pop music has no definite sound it will always morph with what's most popular at the time. Hence the name

[@yayawawasy]

​@@BasedEngineerTrue, but often Pop requires lyrically lazy or super general topics. Hip hop thrives in complexity and individually. Hip hop sounds and melodies become pop, the music itself never did. That's why nobody knows the 90s anymore, the sound pop and the art didn't.

[@mediumvillain]

​@@BasedEngineerKind of a pointless addendum to that thought. But also there is such a thing as "pop music" that is not defined purely by being popular music. It became a genre, a sound and/or a style decades ago. It's often AIMING to be easily consumable music for album sales, which is what most of current hip-hop does.

[@NotLikeUs869]

This is a good take. I agree.

[@kyleandrewhopper]

Looking forward to "Hip Hop and the Death of Drake"

[@SailorMid]

I don't think there will ever be an end to drake until he chooses to retire. I do think that this will be a massive asterisks next to legacy as an artist especially to those of us who love hip-hop, keep in mind majority of fans are white (since they're the majority) and they don't really care about the integrity of the art form so they'll keep listening to drake. As a big kendrick fan and a drake hater I'm glad kendrick got such a big win(I was expecting drake to have the louder crowd and win due to that.)

[@awalebebinu]

I’m surprised Drake didn’t have this taken down 2 years ago.

[@janellebingham3807]

Drake on his way out iont see him here in 2yrs🎉🎉🎉

[@robertamccartney5500]

BAAHAAHAAHAA!

[@stormyskyz7881]

It was above his reading comprehension

[@EayuProuxm]

Have you considered doing a video essay on Andre 3000? His deity-like status despite his age and his flaunting his flouting of traditional masculine norms really require detailed discussion. I and others have pointed out this already. But there's a paucity of video essays about Andre 3000 and I find this strange. He's much admired, but rarely analyzed. Not sure how this would fit in your oeuvre, but maybe you could throw the idea at your video essayist friends There are five million hour plus long videos about Kanye, one million about Tyler and Drake, 500 000 about Mac Miller, it's about time Andre 3000 gets one about his artistry, personality, journey and impact on the culture.

[@gabrielroev6216]

how do you talk about the rapper closest to god? i just believe that with Andre, it is better to listen and see him, than trying to explain him.

[@MegaHAZE21]

For real

[@stingjunior6]

People didn’t really give Andre his flowers until Wayne said he was in his top 5 and at the time Wayne was easily the biggest rapper in game and now everyone jumped on that without really believing it

[@sir_ra]

This!!

[@chrispychicken9614]

I am here for this.

[@sethandseth2]

Dead serious I am not a hip hop fan, I have no attachment to the genre whatsoever but I am completely enthralled by how you tell stories and structure your videos that I can easily sit through an hour+ long video on something I both know nothing about and generally have no interest in and be completely engaged. This is, in my opinion, that makes your videos so entertaining and why I love them so much, thank you for the hard work and excellent videos

[@gemwood1386]

Me too! So interesting!

[@agustinamagpie]

Same here, I'm just here listening to this amazing essay while I build little houses in the Sims. It's also great for receiving education about a side of the world I don't know, AND to learn more English!

[@imamessbutitsfine2377]

same

[@PTO_Finesse]

Naaa the way Kdot popped on the screen w the backseat freestyle 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@apollyon1]

One of the best things about this era of the internet. I frequently listen to hour long lectures about modern war economics from a guy called perun.

[@MaxChill07]

The algorithm may not be right all the time, but when it’s right it’s straight on

[@Hard2Find]

Prophetic level of commentary

[@genericusername42198]

I just watch an hour and 20 minutes about a musician I dont like and a culture that is not mine and ended up really enjoying it and learning a lot of similarities between hiphop and punk. very enjoyable thank you!

[@Rabbittavo]

The punk movement comes from black culture and took a lot of imagery from multiple minority cultures to establish a qwhyte counter culture. Mowhawks are one of the most prominent examples of this style and comes from native Americans, tattoos, gauges from Africa (modern punk I guess), chains and Asian inspired makeup. These symbols were used to create a separate culture out of disaffected qwhyte youth. Hip-hop was created to illustrate a community that was created in counterculture. In short pink decided to make itself different from the culture that it was born in. Hip-hop was born in a non-mainstream American culture and articulated the struggles of the people as they were oppressed. Punk is a valid style but I don't think punk and hip-hop are coincidence. Race played a part in how they both came to be and creates some conflict between these communities.

[@Rabbittavo]

@IntrepidTit Where did we see the existence of these things in Europe independent of it's interaction with other nations? Even eyeliner comes from the northern part of Africa along with the style of eyeliner applied. It's was often Egyptian inspired. Rock and roll is a black genre in the first place. Black women were a huge influence on rock as well as older forms of black music being used to develop the style.

[@Rabbittavo]

@IntrepidTit I would love a source for this...this is news to me. I'm sure they weren't called mowhawks but I've never seen this anywhere in precolonial Europe. Also my main point was that the idea of a countercultural movement in qwhyte society was directly related to the permeant "counter culture(s)" that were already here. It articulated itself with symbols from those other cultures and music from black culture to be distinct from other qwhyte people and ideologies. Even while doing so racism impacted large portions of the movement.

[@Rabbittavo]

@IntrepidTit I looked into it before I asked. The first thing is that we didn't have knowledge of a 2000 year old bog body when punk was first coming out, the style wasn't related to the gaels. Also the body of the man they named had a facial reconstruction done and it doesn't look very much like what we think of as a mohawk. His entire body was flattened so his copse could appear to have a flat upward hairstyle of some sort but when made 3D they didn't give him the style we call a mohawk today. As for the cossacks that is a completely different hairstyle as well. I don't think people would consider this a mohawk in. The punk sense...or in most peoples senses. Imo it's closer to the shaved side hairstyle or the emo cut than it is to a mohawk. I'm not deriding punk necessarily just saying that it isn't a coincidence that punk music as a culture sits next to hip-hop in it's countercultural themes. Black culture was a huge influence on the style and the genre. I do find an irony in the exclusion and eraser of it's ethnic roots (which is common in mainstream society) while it's symbols echo wanting to be other than mainstream qwhyte.

[@Rabbittavo]

@IntrepidTit I'm pretty sure it did originate in the U.S with some influence from Canada which has similar racial issues. The literal name of the hair style is after the Mowhawk native Americans. I am basing this on history. There a tomes of musical history that delve into the subject. Rock and roll came from black people. The mowhawk hairstyle was named after a native American tribe, the tattoos are likely from Polynesian sources ECT. I mean logically if you are suburban and qwhyte and want to rebel what would you choose but the symbols your own culture hates and derides? A problem here is that it pushes other people's cultures to the fringes. It associates the practices of counterculture with the minority culture the practices come from. An extreme example of this is Hindu people and the appropriation of the swastika. Appropriation has been a long running feature of American music. It gives a huge amount of power to influence the culture you take from by changing the meaning of it's symbols through qWhyte washing

[@lightdemon2169]

Drake being the anakin skywalker of rap is about the dopest analogy I've ever heard in my life. So powerful, had a good heart, left unaccepted by hip hop, and then ended up destroying it out of desperation to become powerful. GODDAMN edit: and that last visual was scary asf lol solidified it

[@Jabadamazo]

YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO SAVE HIP HOP NOT CAST IT INTO DARKNESS.

[@louthawriter]

The fact that one man holds that much power in the culture is wild. Drake is who Kanye thinks he is? 🤔🤣

[@Thespeedrap]

If Drake the Anakin /Darth Vader of Hip-hop whose the Luke Skywalker,and Han Solo of it I want to be one of the 2.

[@Orinap]

@@louthawriter Kanye, as a hiphop producer is indeed who he thinks he is. As a rapper, it's very debatable but you cannot deny his talent as an artist

[@travisberry174]

Lil Wayne was Obi Wan lol

[@jchris333]

Coming back to this in the midst of the current “beef”

[@sagemode6]

drake the goat

[@mariejones2398]

@@sagemode6you mean Aubrey aka Jimmy from Degrassi who grew up in one of the richest neighbourhoods in Toronto? Kid is a joke.

[@Joshluden]

@@sagemode6 I HATE THE WAY every drake fan use him for their pfp, like make your own identity weirdo. I HATE THE WAY THAT YOU TALK , I HATE THE WAY THAT YOU DRESS!

[@mariejones2398]

@ClayJunior-lf2qe He’s jimmy. You treat him like the handicapped kid he is. JIMMMMMY!!!!

[@eliasmg9144]

More like BEEF

[@sadfeet2102]

The way I ran back here after meet the grahams

[@magicalgirl1296]

I like hearing Fiq talk about hip hop. I'm totally okay with him just finding reasons to talk about it.

[@VomitPalace]

I agree 2000%

[@DrTssha]

He definitely has a passion for it, and covering the political and social issues around hip hop helps me understand the impact it has on the world. Especially as I listen to it infrequently at best (and usually need subtitles...not sure if it's the unilateral hearing loss or neurodivergence, but there's definitely a sensory processing issue there). On another note, when I woke up this -morning- afternoon, I did not expect to see a hip hop/magical girl crossover but I am here for it. Fiq draws a broad audience.

[@mowkikowski]

I don't know if it's just me or The Algorithm, but a lot of the KZbinrs I follow don't really put together video essays about hip-hop*. There are plenty of podcasts, reviews, and reactions, but for my money, nothing beats a well-researched, well-thought out essay. Like this one! *btw I'm totally down for recommendations lol

[@jaydoespunk9097]

Hell yeah! I been listening to hiphop since I was 12, and now that I'm politically literate, I really care about the ethics and politics surrounding my music and the artists who inspire me.

[@ambriaashley3383]

Yes, I want more! 😍

[@shontoo6979]

I’m old enough to remember when Will Smith first came out, made a lot of pop-rap and received routine criticism by the gatekeepers… but there was always a place for his style of hip pop. People enjoyed it. But nobody ever seriously put him into the GOAT convo. He was still respected for all his accomplishments. It’s weird that Drake wants to be commercial AND get critical acclaim. It’s okay to have your lane; you don’t need to hog the whole road.

[@sheskates6551]

Everyone loved him at first even the gangstas was dancing then the culture shifted

[@kosmique]

man, summertime will never not be a classic rap tune. i was lke 8 yrs old. had to listen to the 'rappers' without the explicit lyrics tag lmao, like heavy d or something. dad went crazy when he caught me bringing home an ice-t album. little did he know i was rocking naughty by nature, the early pac and LL years come later. but the stuff will smith put out after that first album felt weird. and as a teenager i felt he needed to stick with tv. nowadays i see the homage he always payed.

[@shontoo6979]

@@kosmique Summertime was indeed a classic. For that alone, he deserves his flowers.

[@slimcutz2081]

Drake is an industry plant!! 🤷🏽‍♂️

[@ewno1566]

@@slimcutz2081 Drake isn't an Industry Plant He started out in Degrassi and worked his way up.

[@2samarie2]

This vid gon hit a mil by next week

[@drangus8818]

you were right

[@samthecowboy]

I’m rewatching this rn because of Euphoria but it’s so interesting looking at Drake and comparing him to someone who also went for more melodies but ACTUALLY had something to say like Tyler. Both had a lot of skill early on with just straight hip hop but as they both went on Drake maximized his commercial appeal while Tyler still stayed the same weirdo from Odd Future AND used pop elements to further his music. Tyler added on and Drake sacrificed his previous self

[@MarillSweatshirt]

Honestly when so many people were so forgiving of Miley Cyrus straight up blaming hip-hop/rap for her "wild behavior"; I stop taking a lot folks takes on the culture seriously.

[@Saibellus]

its kinda built in to american culture, isnt it? that devil rock music, that druggy hippie shit, so on with every generation. i personally associate it with americas puritanical roots - worldly pleasures are innately evil to some degree, so it makes sense to blame them for...whatever the bad thing of the day is.

[@FASBLAQUE]

Hmmm... I didn't realize that. That was a dirty move.

[@MayorSom]

Then got caught twerking to misogynistic hip hop/rap. She’s so gone

[@onlyone23km]

I hated Miley for so long until she made “23”.

[@jasonhaven7170]

Never trust yt ppl on Hip-Hop.

[@youngw1ze]

Hip Hop died in the late 90s after the telecommunications act was passed and independently operated radio stations basically disappeared....

[@Thespeedrap]

True President Clinton is to blame I hope whoever the next president repeals that bullshit PLEASE WHY did he do that?

[@ehrenthompson7891]

Good point! I have always said hip hop peaked about 1999.

[@TheChadShow9]

f a c t s

[@IndescribablyMe]

I disagree but I wasn't leaving before the 90's so hip hop as you may know it may very well be dead but if you want a more old school vibes those older rappers might still drop and there's new artist that have that feeling of old school like coast contra

[@irliamthischool]

Hip hop died when big bank hank stole grandmaster caz's rhyme book.

[@josephmoore9706]

34:43 aged like fine wine

[@pxrmoto]

This feels like a prophecy…

[@Aranock]

"Gatekeeping all the wrong things" in this star wars analogy is so excellent as its showing how Anakin(Drake) is the result of that Jedi council. This was an absolute pleasure to work on and I hope everyone enjoyed the animations!

[@ayindestevens6152]

The animation was SICK!

[@theelectricant98]

They were great!!

[@DrMacca]

The animations were great!!!!

[@RPG7rokette]

this was hard

[@JulianSteve]

You did an excellent job on the edits. Thank you😄‼

[@thenewyorkhip-hopspot5485]

The weird thing is ur not rly criticizing Drake. U seem more disappointed wit the ppls reactions to him. Ex. Drake losing the beef and lacking the spirit of hip-hop isn’t the problem. It’s the fact that he suffered no real consequences

[@RobLives4Love]

I do believe at that point that Drake had so much of a pop following, that even if there were consequences he still would have been able to have a career

[@Youtube_is_Trash]

No, because Drake use the rap culture to get a pop career. His fans are not rap fans for the most, they're pop fans who don't care about the culture, they just like the sound and imagery because it makes them feel like bad kids. I don't hate Drake, there are songs of him I like, in the same way that there are songs of Dua Lipa I like. It's fun, it sounds nice, it's entertaining but it's pop. Pop if fine, but it's not rap, that's all there is to say to it really.

[@noir269]

@@KZbin_is_Trash "makes them feel like bad kids" annd where did you get that from??

[@TheSkaOreo]

@@KZbin_is_Trash when you’re right, you’re right. He’s a pop star not a rapper.

[@clarapilier]

This video is why F.D. says he feels like co-wrote Euphoria.

[@mucharz1551]

Kendrick a real fan dissing drake so F.D gets million on this vid

[@jjstarA113]

In all fairness to Spider-Verse, the movie puts a LOT more emphasis on Swae Lee’s verse than Post Malone’s. Swae’s verse is the only part that Miles actually sings.

[@liberpolo5540]

That's a bit commendable, at least, it shows they knew what they were doing ... but that also just goes to show that they still could've done it better. Plus, how the media almost always "casually" forgot to mention SL and tossed him second place to Post Malone when the song went viral was extremely frustratiing

[@OMGxITZxPACMAN]

@@liberpolo5540 Yeahh! I remember being super frustrated by that. Every time it would play; "here's Sunflower by Post Malone." Like wtf? They're leaving off the first voice you hear and the one who MAKES the song with the high notes

[@liberpolo5540]

@@OMGxITZxPACMAN Exactly!

[@noir269]

tbf that was song was made to promote the movie

[@EayuProuxm]

Everyone should leave work early right now. All students should leave their classes. All countries need to enter a lockdown. Fiq is about to drop his Drake video. We need to be prepared.

[@trapadvisor]

Shit I'm watching this in class right now.

[@JulianSteve]

LMAOOOOO! I am watching this video instead of my readings😂‼

[@kate2late91]

I put this shit on for half and hour before work and watched the rest when I came home, nice to have something to look forward to lol

[@trapadvisor]

@@kate2late91 good for you. I’m glad you had something to bring you happiness today. I hope you have a great week.

[@droidgrl22]

watching this instead of writing an essay lol

[@katymbeke8400]

Miles Morales likes Sunflower, but Uncle Aaron's introduction is him listening to Biggie. I think that movie captured the difference between the younger generation and the older.

[@makenovideos]

“Tommy Hilfiger stood out but FUBU never had been in your collection” I thought I’d come back here to drop that bar considering the subject matter of the video

[@moustik31]

"You are not a colleague, you are a coloniser" - Kendrick

[@calvincharlie703]

Fubu is made for people over 6ft tall, Kendrick never had Fubu in his closet either. That shit would look like his dad's clothes he tried on. And if you look at it, Kendrick never wore anything besides designer after he got rich. When he was in the gang, with piru, he was wearing boot cut jeans and white tee. Also back in the day, Fubu was expensive. 60-70 bucks for a pair of jeans was alot back in the day.

[@moustik31]

@@calvincharlie703 If you are not on Drake's payroll, stop embarrassing yourself!

[@calvincharlie703]

@@moustik31 I'm not even on his payroll, not even a fan. Just puzzled to way alot of people think like this? Like it's cool to be shot and whatever. I don't think Drake is real rapper. He's just a pop star.

[@corsetedwasteland2630]

​@@calvincharlie703I would argue that FUBU wasn't made for people over 6ft tall. Of the 4 founders, 3 aren't over 6ft. Daymond John is 5'7", Keith Perrin and Carlton Brown are pretty close to his height. J. Alexander Martin is the outlier of the group at over 6'2" (6'5-6'6" I think). I can distinctly remember when I was growing up, my brother-in-law and his brothers (who are all 5'7" and under Mexican men) wearing almost exclusively FUBU. They loved it so much they bought me a FUBU jacket and pair of shoes for my 13th birthday and I had a hella hard time getting them to understand I couldn't wear it bc I'm wyt. Wish I still had that jacket tbh, it was badass. Anyways, all that to say, FUBU *was* meant to be baggy but not like early 2000's white tee baggy. 😅

[@gedwardjones]

I've always said taht Drake is Will Smith without the confidence/integrity to just be who he is. I think a lot of complaints about Drake would go away if he didn't seem like he was trying so hard to not be Drake.

[@newjumpcityjosh9333]

THIS^^^

[@evilcaptainred]

Damn. I agree with this- he always seems so damn uncomfortable with himself

[@fideletamo4292]

True...he kept fakin it before and even After he made it

[@giselle8867]

This is such an underrated comment.

[@LostBoysBasketball]

This comment is 💯

[@loveangie9705]

"we love black art but we don't love black people" love this quote! Thank you for your work of quality! 👍🏿

[@ItsameAlex]

We love honey but we don't love the bees that would sting us for it

[@re9724]

The bee loves its honey too, and loves its ability to make honey. The last thing it wants is for someone who comes along with no regard for its hard work, and takes said honey just because they want it, and they can. Oh yeah, you’re going to get stung. When you extract honey, you don’t go in unprepared, all wide-eyed, innocent, and ignorant, blindly moving in ways you normally would thinking the bees have no say, and are going to let you just take their honey. You understand the seriousness, the danger of what you have to do to get said honey, how you must prepare yourself to get that honey so you won’t get stung. You show respect for the bees and put on the beekeeper suit, because, hopefully, you know what you’re going to get coming to get its bounty, what it has so painstakingly produced. Or you can just go buy it off the grocery shelf, as so many do, and not have to worry about getting stung. Life is good, so many options, so many choices; choose what’s best for you.

[@Oceanatornowk]

@@ItsameAlexlmao such obvious lack of self awareness. Of course the bees sting you, you’re robbing them

[@newpancakeman]

Had this in my watch later for a minute…I think it’s time

[@DistortedV12]

FD really predicted the future

[@jillosterhaus7308]

Sitting here watching this after euphoria dropped is CRAZY

[@georgelund2280]

As someone who grew up in the 80s and early 90s, Hip Hop was almost assimilated then. The 30/40 something Baby Boomers were in positions of power and saw Rap as being like Rock n' Roll was to their generation. They didn't want to be uncool like their parents were, so they embraced Rap and of course commercialized it. That's how you get Barney Rubble rapping about Fruity Pebbles, Saturday morning cartoons with Rap theme songs and sports teams doing Rap songs. What is happening now probably would have happened in the early 90s, but that's when Gangsta Rap got popular and along with the kayfabe. That almost overnight made Hip Hop unacceptable to the white Baby Boomer marketing execs. MC Hammer might be in a Taco Bell commercial, but there's no way NWA would be. White parents went from tolerating Rap to finding it unacceptable. Which of course made rebellious white suburban kids love it, but it also prevented Rap from being fully assimilated the way Rock n' Roll was.

[@theycallmeken]

Reminds me of Paul Mooney’s joke about hammer dancing for a piece of chicken.

[@aboutthat1440]

Are you saying assimilation is the goal or should be the goal? I hope not. Be careful of the house you want to live in.

[@georgelund2280]

​@@aboutthat1440 No, I don't think assimilation should be the goal, but it might be inevitable. Late-stage capitalism wants to monetize everything. If making bland Hip Hop with no social messages makes it palatable to a large paying audience, there seems to be no stopping it. :(

[@nathanpapp432]

How can you say rap hasnt been fully assimilated when Dr. Dre, Snoop, Eminem, etc. are preforming the Super Bowl halftime show?

[@MrRBX]

Uh I think hip-hop was assimilated long ago

[@februaryschild0216]

I don't claim responsibility for Drake. NO! 😂 I grew up in Brooklyn at the dawn of Rap. NYC was rotten. Rats in the classrooms. Ripped up books, 37 kids to a class, not enough desks or books and no heat in the winter. I learned more history Fr some rappers than in NYC public schools. Shermheads and winos walking around. Prostitution out in the open. Gangs. Out of this environment came the Hip-hop community. Hip-hop was not just music. It was rap, grafitti and break dancing. The old heads in the Bronx started rap to end the gang wars. We had gangs from all neighborhoods: Black, white, Puerto Rican (think Warriors). The constant rumbles in the parks left many, many kids dead. So, if you could battle with words, and "moved the crowd", then your crew won. Black kids did rap, Puerto Rican kids did a lot of break dancing and graf. Some of the most beautiful works of art were on the sides of trains. If your throw up was the best, your crew won. If you had the best dance moves, the same. They would plug into the street lamps and throw jams in the park. These were pop-up parties. When the cops would come, everybody would run!😂 The record companies didn't catch on right away. They called it a fad. We used to pass tapes around from local artists and play them at basement parties. I don't think people really understand where we came from. Marcy Projects where Jay-Z is from was unimaginably poor. As was East NY where I lived, Bed-Stuy where Biggie lived and Queensbridge where Nas lived. Kids went hungry. The homeless ate cat and dog food. I saw them. Freebasing was bad. The Bronx was burning almost every night. I think that's our weakness, really: poverty. Rap artists sold out to record companies because being rich beat starving. Biggie, Jay, and Nas all rapped about it. Capitalism was the way out. These guys admired Scarface and Donald Trump and have become the capitalists they once admired and I'm not mad at them. They weren't greedy, they were hungry. I feel like once there was a clear path from poverty to wealth using words, it was inevitable that people, who grew up seeing these images of rich rappers, would jump on the path. Drake is the latest capitalist to follow this formula. He's a new iteration bc he was never poor or desperate. He has no stories to tell, no history to pass on to the youth; and for his mostly white audience, that's OK bc they don't want to hear it. I think it was inevitable that a Drake would arise because that's what has always happened to the treasures of people of African descent.

[@thegalleonrobbers]

This was incredible to read. Thanks for your insight

[@BenjunCapito]

Very insightful

[@niRtywa_starcvnt]

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻loved every sentence, thanks for putting this out and calling it for what it is. thank you

[@sezatalksmusic]

That was the kinda answers that punches you in the stomach! Thank you!

[@ttg8966]

For example drake just a quick breakdown on marvins room. It encapsulates that melaconly feeling that every guy feels at some point in their lives. Where they wonder if they messed up on their shot with a girl they love. Marvin room relies on a principal on art that we call negative space. Drake is honestly the best at negative space and flowing in between pockets instead of the 1 2 3 4. Negative space is defined as the space surrounding the subject .for example in a painting it might be the background instead of the actual focal point where it gives you a feeling of calm and peace or stillness because your brain knows what an empty house feels like . In a photo or movie it’s like when a space creates tension in the background that makes you feel a certain way. In music it’s hard to describe but it’s like a lack of auditory sensory information intentionally being presented with nothing , hearing the space and focusing on the lack of information . When Drake Nd 40 made Marvin room beat 40 claimed he was not done with the beat but drake heard it and said he wanted to record it as it is but 40 kept saying their needs to be more production added it’s not even halfway finished but drake refused do not add anything else. Drake recorded over the unfinished beat which led to was all this negative space. All their is a 44 drum pattern with lots of high frequencies taken out. Gives the impression of being underwater , distorting senses , a bit like being drunk. You have a super legato syth with no attack which just means if you played the synth on a piano their would be no impact just a smooth note all through. Drake wanted the drunk aspect of the song which is so hard to make listeners feel like their distorting senses all the notes from the synth are really easy and lack a structure and makes you feel like your in this dream. Also a robotic harsh noise comes in to create a little dissonance. This is to add a juxtaposition Nd not make the best entirely smooth. Crucial in communicating feeling of loneliness, confusion Nd anger. What separates other negative spaces Nd make this beat have an impact is how drake uses it. Drakes always been known for not rapping on the 1 on purpose .if you were to count the beat 1 2 3 4 drake first word of his bar rarely begins on the one when he wants to achieve this cadence. He lets you feel the beat feel the 1 Nd then he raps. In marvins Room he gives you the impression of a thought like cadence giving the lines the impression of a real time idea organically forming right in front of you. Like the thought of what he wants to say hits him on the 1 and then he says it. It’s so hard to rap this style and actually sound like your on beat but drake perfected it. It’s like talking to a friend ranting about your emotions Nd saying And Then , She , And Then , I etc . He leaves space all over this beat so you can soaked it all in and feel it the negative space while your senses are resorting feeling like a dream or drunk. He positioning his precense in a very intelligent way , letting the washy almost empty mosaic of the beat inspire reflection. Reflecting on the girl you messed up with for you to contemplate calling her for you to make the parrllel connection from this song to your life . The reason people latch on this song and many others from drake is how good he makes you reflect your situation Nd life. When theirs not enough information , sensory or not enough going on we reflect. Same thing here negative space created by an unfinished Beat results in a more effective song than any more work could produce . Wow I can’t believe I type that only real junkie musics will actually know what the breakdown I’m talking about and I can do this with so many drakes song and Kendrick and Jcole every artist song each song takes so much then just lyrics it’s everything so many peices

[@2009sdaughter]

who’s here after Meet the Grahams…? 👀

[@loveisthekey7]

Me

[@beequeen2556]

👋👋👋

[@TheRealVanDykeLo]

Me 🤫👨🏾‍💻

[@Data7ven]

Hello Mr. FD Signifier. I am a mid millennial being born in 1994, a Canadian citizen, Toronto culture enthusiast - reluctantly as it is just apart of my life.. and a biracial female, I am Kenyan and Malaysian. I would love to be able to have a conversation or express my opinions as a Torontonian/woman/black woman at that and biracial as well, following this whole Kendrick drake beef. Watching your video essays has allowed me to engage with black culture in a way I was not raised in or with and I appreciate your ability to accurately articulate the American experience as a black man. Thank you. And again would love to show you a piece of my mind. Grateful for your insights brother.

[@ThornheartCat]

"So because of this, Drake garnered a strong female fandom" I can confirm, the first time I ever heard of Drake was in 2010 when some girls in my high school did their final presentation in music class on him (the assignment was to do a report on your favorite contemporary artist, as opposed to the historical shit we'd been doing up until then). I remember being very confused because they were talking about him like he was very famous but I hadn't heard of him (I didn't keep up with like, ANY music at the time, let alone hip-hop), and they said he had been on Degrassi, and I was like, "wait people watch Degrassi?" It was pretty wild to watch him only get bigger over the next few years LOL

[@jailynjackson7867]

lol watchu mean "wait people watch Degrassi" yeaaa girl lol. That was a very popular show, especially around that time

[@daynerogers8133]

@@jailynjackson7867 I think that's kinda part of his point though. Even FD has talked about it a few times, things that are interesting to or designed for women are either culturally reviled or ignored.

[@caziis13]

I moved to Us in 2009 and the only thing girls on my class heard was "Best I ever Had"...2022 and this song still takes me back to my classroom

[@CoryMck]

He peeked as Jimmy when he broke up with that toxic girl on Degrassi, ever since then, it's all been downhill

[@brandoncamarillomusic]

@@CoryMck this is the reply we need

[@fusrodahevery45secs]

Fiq, this video is a master class on the commodification of hip-hop. Paired w/ Foreign's criticisms of Drake co-opting Caribbean culture, this has got to be the most comprehensive drag of a popular artist without resorting to the low hanging fruit.

[@shriekinambassador5042]

unfortunately capitalism kills your art. It kills your music, it kills your videogames. It kills sex, love, intimacy (tinder cough)

[@lostinmusic9924]

This just affirms what Mos Def said about Drake "he's pop not hip hop" and you explained it all very well thank you very much.

[@AngeBiampandou]

Mos Def got proven to be right

[@nahhhbruhhh]

“So many SKUs”

[@RadikoolS]

One of the things you need to touch on more is his betrayal of women (his core fans) in order to get the love from the boys for his music and his general persona…and his mocking of successful women, who are on or surpass his level. I bet if Beyonce wasn’t with Jay (hip hop royalty), she probably would have caught a few strays too. But he was smart in aligning himself with her (poundcake, girls luv beyonce, mine, heated) because of what she means to the culture (both black and general).

[@AngeBiampandou]

Points were made. Mind you, Drake mostly works with women he can smash 90% of the time (Rihanna, SZA, Jorja Smith..). Alicia Keys and Beyoncé are some of the very exceptions to rule (besides Nicki) bc they were/are both married to prominent figures in hip hop obviously (Swizz Beats for Alicia). That also further proves that Drake Nice guy persona was always a facade

[@Leahs_Dad]

Nah man this was too good. The bit about ending up in an unforgettable situation with a Drake song playing in a smoky room and a beautiful woman is just too real. If it was one thing that man was gonna do it was ride a catchy beat. Huge props too you as well for focusing on the issues with Drake skipping steps so to speak instead of just spending an hour being mysognistic. You really are looking out for the young black men with these takes and I appreciate you for it. One.

[@wastedinspiration]

If he ever decides to spin off a music history channel, I'm here for it :)

[@Gertrude-Intrudes]

@@wastedinspiration this 👆🏾👆🏾

[@marcb3733]

Genres dont die, they just get oversaturated by popularity. Hip hop is doing the exact same thing rock did. Its went pop, oversaturated, its currently diversifying, will oversaturate after that, then transition to something else more popular while it maintains its original fanbase and subgenres.

[@l6318]

I think punk rock is another really good example of this. Within like 3 decades it went from a single sound to dozens of sub-genres, some of which kinda hate each other.

[@rattyeely]

Hoping we get the hip-hop equivalent of "punk/new wave", a subgenre that seeks to change up the status quo and inject new life into Hip hop for some years until that gets diluted as well

[@Nuvizzle]

Looking at country music in the 21st century, I'm not really sure if that's always the case. It's virtually indistinguishable from any factory produced top 40 pop, just sung with an accent and occasionally someone will pluck a mandolin. The only artists that sound different from the mainstream are... really old artists who've been doing their thing since before the pop-country wave, and those dudes are dying off at this point.

[@Ntwolf1220]

@@rattyeely I think we already are with the emo rap stuff that’s been around in the last few years. There’s a KZbinr I watch who did a video on it, wish I could remember his name, but he talks about how certain segments of hip hop are really the only thing carrying on that sort of punk vibe these days

[@janegeland7596]

@@rattyeely i wonder what the hip-hop equivalent of no-wave would be

[@Antonio-hb8rd]

I don't hate Drake but I don't get why he's so liked. He can't be the king of hip hop as he doesn't write his raps and a good portion of his songs are pop. His music is microwave meals and he doesn't have a classic album.

[@gonzolong144]

I'm right there with you. Drakes music, while profitable, won't be remembered in 10 years.

[@deelugo2905]

Revisiting this video after what KDot did to him yesterday feels so good

[@Om3gaPro]

I've been a huge Drake fan since 2009, and while my fandom has waned somewhat in recent years, I'd still consider myself a Drake fan. Despite this though, I've always had an issue with people claiming Drake a GOAT of hiphop an this video hit the nail on the head for me. I will always celebrate Drake's accomplishments and the things he's been able to achieve but his music will never mean to me what many other artists' music means to me. And that's OK. I know people will say things like "Drake doesn't HAVE to speak out about social issues," and that's very true, but just as that's his right to do so, it's also my right to hold that against him while he rakes in hundreds of million off of the culture that raised me.

[@kaekae1782]

Wayne never talked about social issues before but he isn’t disqualified from most lists. Biggie didn’t either. He spoke from a perspective of who he was and his past and background but not social issues. In his early days Jay was the same way. Most lyricists don’t speak on social issues rather than a perspective from who they were/are. So why do you hold that against Drake? I’m not attacking I’m just curious.

[@him4690]

@@kaekae1782 thank u

[@kaekae1782]

@@him4690 only in this social media age do ppl think in order to be “lyrical” or “conscious” or even real rap is to talk about politics and social issues. That was never the case. But social media has tightened the gap between what’s real hip hop and what’s not. And you have to fit into that gap to be accepted as real rap. That’s why all we hear is hood rap(for its audience), tik-tok kind of rap, or social issue rap for the most part these days. And really only the last one is accepted. And I don’t care for neither now a days. Used to be more diverse to where u can enjoy all types of music from all artists without all the hyper-critique of everything that steps out the boundaries on social media.

[@TeezyfolKKz]

@@kaekae1782 Georgia Bush? Amerikka the Great (whatever it’s called). He’s had a few songs speaking on it, Wayne just personally has fallen so deep into drugs it’s hard for him to stick to the course when asked about stuff. Lol

[@kaekae1782]

@@TeezyfolKKz a person having 1% of his songs being somewhat political doesn’t qualify them as being hip-hop. And that’s 1% of his songs before 2010.

[@C_The_Guy]

at the end of the day, Drake is a corporation. he isnt backed by the machine, he IS the machine. he is a brand. and lets not pretend like Asap Rocky is some pro black conscious rapper, or everything Meek promotes is good for us, but the way Drake moves is never gonna be anything like Cole, Kendrick, or anybody else from his “class” because he identifies differently. he might have 100 grammys, but he aint got a pulitzer prize. thats what makes Pusha T’s diss so seething and scathing. he didnt attack Drake’s brand, he took a look at the man behind the brand.

[@louisachalarca6494]

Does he bring up drake being predatory towards children aka teens

[@liyahlewis3696]

@@louisachalarca6494 good point but unfortunately many like to skip pass that point

[@TreyDZd]

Cole is also a false prophet, don't bring his name into this. He a clown

[@wetdon591]

@@liyahlewis3696 throwing serious accusations with barebones 'proof' is moronic

[@noir269]

drake was kinda a backpack rapper in 07. Comeback Season is a pretty 2000's hip hop mixtape. He even rapped over 9th Wonder and Dilla beats

[@juliemartinezgarcia]

That transition to backseat freestyle 😂😂

[@iamlaurengill]

You know why we back!

[@Mark-se4dr]

oh we know.... we alll know!!!

[@Owesomasaurus]

Fiq: I lead with empathy and respect everyone as, fundamentally, a human, with all the rights and responsibilities that entails. Also Fiq: Except Drake fuck that guy. (/s)

[@obinnamojekwu]

As a Nigerian born and raised there, I definitely feel the loss of hip hop’s origins and its hyper commodification. When I first moved to Chicago for school in 2010, I remember people would be so shocked to find out how much of the culture I was familiar with and the music I had consumed. A lot of the Nigerian youth of my generation grew up and evolved with hip hop, though we didn’t fully understand every bit of it because we were removed from the physical space, there was respect for the art. My cousin even rapped for a time, and his style was heavily influenced by the likes of Eminem (The Slim Shady LP mixtape Eminem) and Jay-Z. I felt the witty punchlines of Jay on “Imaginary Player”, his growth and wisdom on songs like “Legacy”, the inventiveness of Andre 3000 on Rick Ross’s “Sixteen”, or the depth of J. Cole’s story-like “4 Your Eyez Only”. Though I grew up on it, I didn’t really begin to understand the wave behind it until I started to educate myself on psychological tropes that surrounded the making of the music and how Euro-Americans sought to (yet again) profit off of something that we birth. I won’t lie, I was ignorant to the plight of black Americans when I came here, but I’m long past seeing the veil that exists, the struggle to just be seen as a regular person; it’s perfectly summed up in the opening scene of Atlanta Season 3. I see it, the double consciousness you (or we all) have to exist in, as Dubois talked about in “The Soul of Black Folk”. After all the love and heart poured into the craft, here come the vanilla and mumble rappers, most with no understanding or context for the space they now occupy. Say what you will about the evolution, but I’m not with the transition. Like you said, it’s now for the world. The sad part is that majority of the “white” consumers still never used it as a chance to connect with the very people creating it, they just wanted to feel cool and enjoy our pain from afar. It’s a shame. As much as I’d like to think it will change, the blinders may never come off.

[@kudusaudu1444]

With that being well said, and even with drake being the top commercial rap artist, the other 2 biggest is Cole and Kendrick, no matter what, the real always over shines

[@melaniesheldon8013]

Solidarity

[@tatakosani2531]

Even so There are some rappers of now who are still producing real and good rap Saba, westside Gunn, Denzel curry, noname, little simz still giving us incredible lyricism imo

[@javi5072]

​@@kudusaudu1444 putting that cornball in the same league as kdot is insane. which album does he have that compares to TPAB or even GKMC?

[@jongya]

Yea man being a half white half middle eastern person that listens to hip hop if I’m being totally honest I feel a lot of cognitive dissonance when I’m listening to and rap along with artists like Kendrick and Tupac. I can’t remember exactly how he worded it in the video but something Fiq said in the video really resonated with me when he talked about white people enjoying the expression of black culture bc our own is so devoid of it in a lot of ways. Like idk my life is so easy and no matter how conscious I am I still live in and take part of an ultra capitalist society and the realness expressed in black art is refreshing but at the end of the day here I am with a comfortable lifestyle propped up by a system that takes advantage of the suffering of others. Idk really what my point is and maybe this is just me virtue signaling bc I want to be one of the “good ones,” but something about being a white American with just a modicum of self awareness feels like a curse. Like my ancestors made a horrible deal with the devil and I’ve inherited the benefits but also the knowledge of the gut wrenching cost. This obviously isn’t comparable to the experience of the black Americans and various people around the world who we’ve taken advantage of and like I don’t want this to come across as “poor white me I deserve pity” but I just wanted to share my own personal perspective and that being a well off white individual in this country sometimes feels like it’s own kind of trap.

[@kalka1l]

Let’s get this video over a million. Now is the time!

[@BrookEngland-do3uh]

Well done sir. Called it out 2yrs ago.

[@SadeWatkins]

"its not the kids its me" LMAOOOOOOOOO this whole commentary is so accurate. I apprecite your work man Thank you and Godbless you

[@adriancline-bailey3301]

You killed it when you said "WE DESTROYED HIP HOP" we never allowed weirdness in and now its coming back full circle in our face!

[@godofthisshit]

@Adrian Cline-Bailey That's interesting, can you explain your point?

[@MiketheNerdRanger]

Now I hope this doesn't mean that the "gate keepers" lament and then come and *over* correct, banishing anyone they think is "weird," locking down the path to entry, undoing *ALL* of the good things that came about through the relative absence of these gatekeeping.

[@rondar.8746]

What do you mean by weirdness?

[@seekthetruth3691]

@@rondar.8746 characteristics that aren't a reflection of "culture" in the current time period.

[@rondar.8746]

@@seekthetruth3691 I need an example....is it the fashion, the rapping style or both

[@squareglobeplus]

now make hip hop and the death of drake

[@KEN_2658]

Why should he ?

[@WhizPill]

how do you call this again? oh yeah, aged like fine wine

[@ForeignManinaForeignLand]

Ima let Unc finish but IF YOU READING THIS is the best Drake album (& if ya seen my Jafakin Video, you know how I feel bout Drake & his dad, Snow).... Anyway, y'all come thru Wednesday evening for FD live to hear me rant bout it 🤣

[@ForeignManinaForeignLand]

Also, that Tabasco sauce in the thumb sent me to the shadow realm 🤣

[@alexanderkroto-pennix4327]

The Jafakin video was pressure!

[@AngryPaperBoy]

Take care is his best

[@FMVReviews]

Haha the shade to Drake in this comment is everything

[@Aranock]

I am very excited for that live

[@satyr_9]

black men no longer being the arbiters of taste is probably the reason for the proliferation of female rappers, who have historically struggled for recognition in what was often a hyper-masculine space. Just an observation. But yeah, I don't feel comfortable with the where we are in culture where blackness is so readily available for consumption when the consumers of that blackness are antiblack.

[@JEHill]

This is my problem as well: blackness is a commodity and not an experience. Many of these people who are within hip-hop grow up not appreciation black contributions or people at all.

[@fideletamo4292]

The consumers of blackness were always antiblack...there's nothing New...

[@goldmansach0003]

This ^ .... today's hip pop allows the black "other" - black women & non heterosexual black men,etc - to express themselves were as before they would be forced to conform or not participate at all. The evolution of the genre has opened new doors

[@wastedinspiration]

I couldn't help wondering about this while watching the video. I kept thinking about that Jessie Reyes song every time he said "Gatekeepers".

[@joshfennell2257]

Capitalism trumps race, in this case. FD wants Drake to fit into a "race" box, but Drake is a capitalist, which FD obviously knows but for some reason can't understand. Weird. But all to the good that more people get to be recognized rappers. I think making it about race authenticity is a mistake.

[@DistortedV12]

F.D Signifier predicted the future!!

[@abigail12346789]

We need a part 2 to the video now

[@yerinich]

i agree that Drake is more of a "punishment" than an actual "destroyer", because his rise to fame just kinda reflected the shifting demographic of rap listeners imo. the genre was becoming more and more popular across the planet, especiallly with figures such as Ye or Eminem, and this meant that the new demographic was demanding probably less socially-oriented tracks, especially those targeted at struggles of black people - since they had no way how to identify with it. and Drake with his inoffensive sound provided just that. rap in itself became a comodity, not just that of Drake. people wanted something that "goes hard" or whatever, they liked the sound but often were not even capable to fully understand the lyrics. it is something that is clearly reflected in the present, although a lot more evidently. people like Gunna, Carti, Uzi having massive fanbases across the pond and being highly influential in how people in Europe approach rap nowadays

[@mehoo8]

@51:22 and this is when I permanently unsubscribed from everything Drake lol

[@Sorcererofdeathsconstruction]

Uzi is dope but I have to agree with you

[@yerinich]

@@Sorcererofdeathsconstruction dont get me wrong, i like him too. but not exactly the most "substantial" artist in terms of lyrics

[@Sorcererofdeathsconstruction]

@@yerinich I understand that but taht don't mean uzi don't go hard, I appreciate lyricists more then an artist like uzi

[@paulsterling2610]

same happened to dancehall when some of the newer djs came on the scene

[@elcastro5000]

I think it's important to touch on where Drake came from and that relationship to the music industry. A lot of people don't know this (you may cover it later but I'm only half way through the video). Drake's family has connections to the music industry. Drake's uncle is perhaps one of the most influential artists of all time (and I think Drake purposefully never talks about it cause of his ego and not wanting to look privileged or be overshadowed) Larry Graham of Sly and the Family Stone and Graham Central Station. Largely credited as one of the greatest funk artists and arguably the inventor of slap bass. An innovation that carries on to this day. It's no wonder Drake (Aubrey "Drake" Graham) was able to take such a foothold in the Industry. Not to say that drake purely got in because of his family. But it shows his background in a greater context within the music industry.

[@TheLily97232]

I'm sorry what ????? Holy fucking shit ! Damn... yet he doesn't radiate any of what his uncle did

[@elcastro5000]

@@TheLily97232 yeah I've met Larry. Dude oozes funk and class. Just an iconic individual. Maybe I'm biased cause drake's music isn't really for me. But he's nowhere near the man his uncle is. It's crazy how little people know about Larry and his contribution to the lexicon. So much music would not be possible without the groundwork he laid down.

[@Musa-ut6ce]

The same Drake who couldn't get signed and had to get Jas Prince to beg Lil' Wayne to listen to him over and over again, got help from his uncle? Makes sense.

[@Nooooooooooooooooooooo7913]

How tf am I just now finding this out…

[@elcastro5000]

@@Musa-ut6ce never said he got help directly from his uncle. But if you're pitching to a record company as a nobody or as Larry Grahams nephew who do you think is more likely they're gonna listen to?

[@DarkSideOfTheBrightSide]

Well, well, well, this video aged like Black women, magnificent foreshadowing- I wonder if Kendrick watched it… it slightly seems so.

[@chrisperez3614]

Nah FD just said what A LOT of us were thinking

[@rodrigo354]

Congrats on this video reaching 1m views, I’m sure there’s been a lot of eyeballs on it given recent developments

[@HobbesTamThanh]

I wish metal had a sociologist/historian/cultural philosopher such as yourself - we should be so lucky. Loved every minute of this. Fantastic and well-thought-out work, and this type of thing really helps us “well meaning white folks” to learn how to appropriately and respectfully approach the culture rather than just circle above like a vulture

[@skipp10467]

Punk Rock MBA isnt bad. You should check him out if you havent already

[@adaj472]

@@skipp10467 I might have to do that, cuz a breakdown of this would be intriguing.

[@FASBLAQUE]

@@adaj472 Except many don't tell the truth that metal is actually a Black form of music and was created by Black men. The band called death.

[@timharrington5657]

@@FASBLAQUE I’d put them as the forerunners of Punk not metal. Metal came into existence in the late 1960s, predating Death. Now you can definitely make a case that early metal, with its strong blues influence, is absolutely an outgrowth of black music.

[@goatforest9974]

​@@FASBLAQUE Death's founder was a guy with German Jewish ancestry...

[@CarloLlacar]

Fun Fact: The dude that wrote the “Top Ten Softest Rappers” article from i think the mid 2000s is none other than the infamous Mero (he moonlighted as Ghost/Ghostface), from Desus & Mero fame! Back in his blogger days, which i was a fan of since Day 1. edit: amended that he used to write under the name “Ghost” or ”Ghostface” sometimes re-edit: my fault, i thought Ghost and Mero were the same as they wrote on the same blog-apologies for the misinfo.

[@MayorOfEarth79]

Shoutout to the Bodega Hive! Yerrrrrr

[@momsbluedress]

This is the least surprising revelation I've ever read. 🤣

[@seanyoung9014]

Thank you for reminding me about the funniest shit to come out of that era. His J. Cole analysis was especially hilarious.

[@dunny44able]

Nah. That's big ghost Ltd. Hip hop producer

[@seanyoung9014]

@@dunny44able Yeah that's what I always thought. I mean, it says it in the titles lol.

[@cambiata]

I'm only watching this for the first time after Drake's possibly career-ending defeat in his beef with Kendrick. Looking at Drake's story from a basic human level, how much must it suck to be a musical genius only for an even greater genius to appear and steal any chance you had to be called the GOAT. From my white person perspective it reminds me of the (fictional) story of Salieri and Mozart in the film Amadeus. You're a popular and rich artist and people love you but at the same time right next to you is a genius for ages to come, how the fuck does your ego handle that, if you aren't the type of person to reflect and just try to be happy that this amazing artist is around for you to listen to? Drake's whole story story feels like a Greek tragedy.

[@nmonye01]

This video didn't age.....we did.

[@musicandmagic909]

His music is super commercialized and safe. His persona is super commercialized and safe. When you make art for everyone, you make art for nobody, because there's no guiding hand, personality, or message underneath everything. There's nothing wrong with that, pop music has been around for over 100 years at this point. But there is something wrong with the way Drake artificially makes himself and his music more popular and commercially viable. He likes all the things you like. He's just like you, except popular and successful. He's a wish fulfillment power fantasy in human form. Drake is a facade, and he has successfully sold a product as a human being, and continues to do so.

[@KaroSword]

That's rap music tho. The entertainment business as a whole tbh. When people say rap is pro wrestling this is on exactly what they mean.

[@jamjox9922]

He's long rellied on drowning the market constantly, having good producers, and collabing with hot artists or up-n-coming artists--he covers all his bases. The one thing he doesn't do, is have a definite voice. He has a definite style, but not a hardcore voice that makes you say, "Damn, that hit me deep with his art." If you look at his body of work, half of it (or more) is just "another song" that holds little to no meaning. And it doesn't really tie strongly to the rest of his work.

[@dangerouslydubiousdoubleda9821]

@@KaroSword Good pro wrestling at least has a persona to it thats distinguishable. No one mistakes Stone Cold with Undertaker. Theres a whole lotta coke rappers, but theres only one Pusha T, one Freddie Gibbs. But anyone can be Drake and thats the problem.

[@TheLily97232]

Well you just described the most famous Kpop groups lol

[@romaretaylor9953]

@@dangerouslydubiousdoubleda9821 if anyone can be Drake someone would’ve done so and surpassed him with ease by now and he would’ve been rendered useless. The thing is that he’s musically safe for the most part and isn’t going to make you rethink your whole outlook on humanity he DOES have an identity. It hasn’t strayed too far from his early days the industry just changed him along with 10 years of age. Ja rule and Nelly didn’t stick around for as long cause they weren’t as diverse or talented

[@nateds7326]

Drake is truly the Bryan Adams of Hip Hop. A talented artist who came out of the gate swinging with some classic songs, and then stopped trying the moment he found out he didn't need to put effort in to get hits.

[@secta7878]

Facts

[@secta7878]

This is the comment I'm looking for

[@williamclarkerobinson2260]

He's also Canadian

[@joshthefunkdoc]

Not a bad analogy, though with Bryan Adams he made his living off of movie soundtracks once he hit that point. Those don't quite have the same cultural cachet anymore even if they can still spawn a huge hit every now & again

[@Spaceysgurl]

Lol. Summer off 69.

[@haneefshaheed9985]

This video aged like fine wine 🤌🏾🍷✨.

[@leooo6311]

“hip hop, like other black music before it…offered this intimate window into blackness, it put our souls on display. and audiences, especially white audiences, who as a product of white supremacist hegemony really destroyed any nature of a cultural history of their own, have always been thirsty for and drawn to the rawness and realness of black souls translated into music” so beautifully put! as a white person who passionately appreciates many kinds of black music, i feel like you totally captured what draws so many white people to black music of all kinds. a lot of it is the rawness and realness and intimacy that white americans just lack the cultural context for because of the hegemony of american whiteness. it’s always been so fascinating to me that there’s this huge subsection of middle aged white guys who are REALLY into the blues.

[@fideletamo4292]

I disagree with this..black music can't be reduced to popular black culture, there is a elitist black music too..which is more about technique than soul or identity...wordless music such as jazz shows black music doesn't have to be raw or intimate...sometimes it's just music made by black people, i don't think the gospel genre was made to express blackness rather than praise the Lord..the fact that black people made those music brought white people to think it was a racial expression..no, sometimes it was just black people making music just like white people or asian people make music as a Universal thing in human nature...

[@leooo6311]

@@fideletamo4292 im not trying to say black musicians don’t have technical talent, or that ALL black music is JUST about soul or feeling. it’s just an aspect of many kinds of black music. some of the most technically talented musicians anywhere of any genre are black musicians! but i would argue that jazz is also raw and intimate! jazz broke the rules of classical music and is absolutely full of feeling. and just know when i talk about “black music” i mean music originated by black americans, and im not trying to reduce the contributions of black musicians across all genres all over the world into a monolith. it’s more complicated than “all black music is one way” because ether contributions of black musicians have been so so diverse.

[@fideletamo4292]

@@leooo6311 what i'm trying to Say is that, black music is just music made by black people just like white music it doesn't have to express identity or soul AT the core of it it's just music first..you won't Say white music is white identity expression right? That's how i see black music..sometimes it may be about black identity, some other Time it may be about pure art for art sake.

[@leooo6311]

@@fideletamo4292 any music can express identity! yes i agree with you, black music isn’t inherently anything. it’s just music made by black people.

[@marocat4749]

Imagine ifyou didnt whiteface music to sell it. And advertise, and not steal on principle. The world unironic would have less rassism likely I wouldnt say jazz isnt intimate, or raw. Oe emotional.

[@HipHopUnrapped]

Still watching but Drake even has a line geared at Kendrick where he says "I would have all of your fans if I didn't go pop and stayed on some conscious shit." So he's admitting he consciously made the choice to "go pop" but at the same time is clearly bitter about not being in the same goat conversation as Nas, Kendrick, Biggie, Jay, etc.

[@waynesmith7746]

Which song?

[@Jsmart444]

@@waynesmith7746 Song is "💯" The Game featuring Drake

[@JohnMiller-mmuldoor]

this Drake Kendrick beef got me investigating the last 25 to 30 years of rap history, trying to find out where it went wrong, reliving past traumas and shit. Shit died way before Drake-Do you know where I put the official time of death of original hip-hop at? When Busta Rhymes cut hisdreads to try to fit in.

[@AngeBiampandou]

Busta Rhymes and Ludacris cutting their dreads around 06-07 was a turning point for their careers. It was NEVER the same after

[@YabbaDabbaDooooo]

Rewatching this after witnessing this weekend’s mur - I mean, Christmas gift. Yeah, Christmas gift… right… 😂

[@Sunmoonandstars123]

Re: Drakes grooming behaviour. Most of the time, we give men the benefit of the doubt when it comes to clearly predatory behaviour. “He doesn’t know better/he wants clout/he’s a dummy.” Mark my words, he will have his p*do metoo moment in our lifetimes FD. This has played out too many times. Hopefully the world will be in a place to actually hold him accountable.

[@romaretaylor9953]

Played out too many times? Millie Bobby and Billie Elish never had anything going on with him besides having his number. They both said there’s adult artists/entertainers older than drake who’ve texted them growing up. I understand the optics but realistically The youngest woman he’s had anything with was jorja smith who was 19 turning 20. The same age Beyoncé was going out with Jay z

[@wetdon591]

it honestly seems like you just want that to happen...

[@justthetwoofus.]

@@romaretaylor9953 tbf there’s a video out there of him kissing a 17 year old on stage when he was like mid 20s. He even asked how old she was and thought “yea this is ok.” Also on the point OP was making. Idt he’s done anything with Eilish or MBB either but he doesn’t have to for grooming to take place in the long term. Maybe it’s cause im not a fan of Drake seeing as I appreciated his music in the beginning but it’s been bad for nearly a decade now. That’s my own bias but idt these aspects of his relationship with women and young women in particular are something to dismiss as pure hate.

[@JillCheese]

1000% This is the problem with idolization. They don't want to acknowledge or they want to defend people as big as Drake. He WILL have his day. Any idiot who preys on innocent children deserves game over.

[@victorknox]

​@@justthetwoofus. bad for nearly a decade? Cap bro.

[@theelectricant98]

Re: the creep/misogyny section its probably important to remember he brought an underage girl up on stage, asked her how old she was, and then proceeded to kiss her in front of everyone

[@beccabraiman]

and dated an 18 year old at age 31 after meeting her when she was 16

[@theelectricant98]

@@beccabraiman yeah that screams grooming

[@theelectricant98]

And he's never had to publicly reckon with any of it, no sign of reforming or anything

[@awrebyawe]

@@beccabraiman wait word? Never heard about this... Pusha was probably saving that one for later 😂

[@KhMaster1212]

@@awrebyawe because these guys are lying and reporting fake news 😂

[@christopherg6234]

What’s interesting is that if and when you listen to Drake’s music in the environments that make sense, “lounges, strip clubs, etc” you can begin to see that his music is actually pretty damn good - they feel like songs that are soundtracks to a contemporary noir film. This makes me wonder if Drake would have accepted his lot in hip-hop, owned that lane and never tried to seem tough in other records + have the audacity to claim himself as the best rapper would we (black America) also accepted him as well? It’s interesting because we clearly see the evolution of hip hop and even if Drake’s music is just lounge music, we as black Americans still like going to lounges. I think a major part of our collective rejection is based on Drake’s own rejection of himself.

[@XYZ-kb3mm]

really insightful comment i agree

[@dominicbeckles6097]

I've rewatched this video so many times before the beef. Since the beef? Never felt more validated in my liiiiife.

[@benjaminw5274]

Every time I watch a video from you I learn something new and valuable. As a young black man, thank you so much for doing these and giving me a new perspective. I’d love to hear more of your take on some of these controversial artists. Like Eminem and the interesting position he has in the rap community as well as newer artists like Logic or lil dicky and what you think they’re doing to the culture, good and bad

[@JimJamTheAdmin]

I think I'm supposed to be Lil Dicky's target demo, or maybe my sisters are, but I have yet to meet anyone irl that likes him.

[@laurynnicoleking]

Man this Jedi analogy is genius. I love your ability to mesh dopeness and nerd culture so seamlessly. Thank you, I feel so seen lol

[@jk3jk35]

I'm back after Not Like Us

[@MrVinogotti]

I'm 2 years late, but this was a masterpiece. This is art no pun intended.

[@YouCallThataKnife253]

I don't think that Drake is wack because he's soft, I think he's wack because he's boring. Also, I hate his voice, and think his songs suck. But, being soft isn't a problem for me. One of my favorite emcees of all time is Slug from Atmosphere, and his rhymes drip with way more emotionality than Drake. The difference is that Slug is dope. Despite supposedly being "emotional", Drake never sounds like he's saying anything, or actually feels anything. He's boring.

[@erievhs]

Listen to "too much" by drake, he used to be ALOT better