Since his inception into Hiphop Drake has been the most protected man in the genre. He’s the face of billboard the brand, had Multi Million dollar deals with Apple and came up in the hottest rap group at the time. It’s almost like it’s all been handed to him on a sliver platter. In ranking drake amongst his peers, he has a competitive advantage over them. Surely being next to Lil Wayne (Hottest rapper at the time) gives you more visibility than your competitors and being on a deal with Apple guarantees play listing and high chart performances. If you become the face of billboard they’re going to compare you to MJ when in reality you’re in competition with Adele, which is no small feat.
Even when he was outed for using a ghost writer Quinton Miller to proclaim his number one status in rap, a Hiphop sin, years later the industry has bent over to try and normalise ghost writing in hiphop conversations. So with that being said is Drake an industry plant? Yes he is. However, he is one that does have some artistic merit and a knack for making decent rap tunes. We owe Kanye and Pusha T a small gratitude for the unraveling of Adidon, without that our Canadian friend would have been handed a flawless pathway to the top of Hiphop. Pusha T’s strong stance showed that not everyone and everything could be bought in this sacred art we call Hiphop, it’s integrity remains. It will be interesting to see Aubrey continue his all assisted run in pop culture, and will be notable to see if an artist like Jack Harlow with will be given similar corporate platforms to emulate the Drake success model.
