Simpin Ain't Easy: The Official Thread For Drake's Sophomore Album, TAKE CARE

compared to drake, nico sounds like she's enjoying herself.

its p stupid: im listening to this 'properly' at home again in an effort to have an opinion i guess and i like parts of some songs ok but i dont really think the atmosphere works cuz drake is just sorta uncharismatic to me??? theres also the fact that its intense self-absorption does make it hard to project yrself into the fantasy of it all, im not sure where to 'place' myself in relation to the song so even the tracks i think 'work' as compositions (say 'practice') come across as watery and turgid

i know frannie, so i'm relieved that she's totally otm in that piece

― timellisonmyside (some dude), Wednesday, November 16, 2011 7:12 PM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i dont know her but when i wrote a couple things for npr we exchanged emails, generally enjoy her writing & she seems to have good taste

katy perry at least sounds like she's enjoying herself.

pretty sure Pol Pot allowed himself a teenage dream or two as well.

honestly prefer drake to the weeknd dude, tho

i appreciate that you all are 'music critics' and have to 'talk abt an album' but this guy is srsly the worst in the world, straight baby thighs

― ice cr?m, Wednesday, November 16, 2011 7:45 PM

Katy Perry is worse though.

― lumber up, limbaugh down (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, November 16, 2011 8:16 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

ok i just spent like two mins trying to come up w/ways in which katy perry is better than drake that didnt involve boobs and i guess it comes down to at least katy isnt trying to bare her vile soul to us

also i like the one smurfs dress she wore

where drake has the worst fashion

wow i think drake is my current most hated celebrity enemy, move along andy samberg you smirking choad

what abt shia bro cant forget shia

there are so many horrible celebrities to keep track of!

drake is worse than shia right now

yeah i think thats prob true, it was shia i shouldve told to move along w/his wet mouth for sure, samberg was like years ago

i wonder if shia lebeef is the person who listens to drake records and can put himself in drakes shoes

Give Drake a few years of late dinners and Cristal and you can fixate on his new boobs too.

drake isn't aggro enough for shia

lol shia likes cage, who is basically the indie drake

Give Drake a few years of late dinners and Cristal and you can fixate on his new boobs too.

― lumber up, limbaugh down (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, November 16, 2011 8:37 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

tbh i dont find perry that attractive on the celebrity scale, but you know 'nice rack' or w/e

rick perry has new boobs?

http://i.imgur.com/bjxpc.jpg
hells yeah

i can't believe i just read that whole conversation

every so often I have to remind myself that "Simpin Ain't Easy" isn't actually the name of the album. but it should be.

mollylambert Molly Lambert
the first record Drake owned was Queen Latifah's "U.N.I.T.Y." doesn't that kind of explain everything
4 minutes ago

man QL was way harder than Drake is tho

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB1LXcRDoiA

yeah im not sure what it explains tbh, just thought it was an interesting factoid

k so i missed this thread all day but i find it frustrating how everyone keeps harping on drake's supposed failings as a rapper.

from what i understand the criticisms are:

- he's nasal (he doesn't have an Authentic Regional Drawl)
- his flow is staccato and unsmooth
- his punchlines are weird/questionable (asian girls, you such a bone)

the punchline issue i don't really have a comeback to (although i personally lolled at the random asian girls line). but about the nasal thing and the choppy flow - what is objectively wrong with these things? this is what i was talking about back when i accused y'all of rapism. i wonder if the main reason everyone is so up in arms here is that drake doesn't fit into anyone's conception of what rap is or should be. like, ppl getting offended by drake dropping the n-bomb - is the idea that only the blackest of black dudes are allowed to say that?

i sense that ppl are mad that drake's co-opting an art form he doesn't have the pedigree for. like lex getting all butthurt "how dare he take aaliyah's name in vain." i do think it comes down to the whole authenticity thing after all.

well, that and the "intense self-absorption," which for me isn't a turn-off at all as i typically like my music personal if not navel-gazing. but i suppose that's ultimately a matter of taste

http://i39.tinypic.com/2uyj33b.jpg

you're looking at the 'hes bad at rapping' thing backwards. its not that hes not meeting some specific bar that we've set for 'good rapping', its that he hasn't produced something worthy of attention in terms of his rap style -- lyrically, flow, character, charisma. for people who like him, its all abt melody & content; if you don't identify w/ or feel either of those, then you have nothing else to hang on to

frankly i like the melody, but then there are rappers like sen city or bone thugs who do that as well, but have lyrical styles that i want to follow along with. i'm not asking drake to imitate them or something, he just .... theres a void, in his music, where *something* usually is for my favorite rappers -- the style you use to rap is important, its kind of the important factor in what draws me in

i wonder if shia lebeef is the person who listens to drake records and can put himself in drakes shoes

― Lamp, Thursday, November 17, 2011 1:36 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i can totally imagine this

- he's nasal (he doesn't have an Authentic Regional Drawl)

what does the first thing have to do with the second?!

it's really not about drake's authenticity. for me, anyway.

idk my post probably just sounds like pete rockism to fennel but i think being an interesting rapper is too key of a quality to rapping to remove for a guy who is actually in rap, competing w/ other rappers, on rap radio, to let it pass bcuz its supposedly authenticity-seeking otherwise

http://passionweiss.com/2011/11/17/not-a-blogger-drake-the-most-hated-man-in-hip-hop/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

while i have some quibbles w /various parts of this it resonates w me as well

i like it. all of the usual criticisms of drake still stand (his rapping, personality, subject matter) but i've always enjoyed drake's r&b stuff and the production is gorgeous and sounds so winter-y to me. i wish there were more (and ideally better) rappers who actually make an serious effort to work r&b into their music. drake's blu impersonation on 'the ride' is a direction he should pursue imo. it's a great song even if it does include the line "i hate it when people say they feel me....you could never feel me" - everything wrong with the drake persona right there. baby telling drake it's "his turn" at the end of 'we'll be fine' is so ludicrous it makes me lol every time.

- he's nasal (he doesn't have an Authentic Regional Drawl)

this seems to bother drake more than anybody else considering the absolutely ridiculous fake southern accent he raps in every few songs

caramanica is always worth reading period, even he's really gone to bat for some bullshit in recent years

― timellisonmyside (some dude), Wednesday, November 16, 2011 3:10 PM Bookmark

^^^

drake is a profoundly uncool guy is one thing abt him

but about the nasal thing and the choppy flow - what is objectively wrong with these things? this is what i was talking about back when i accused y'all of rapism. i wonder if the main reason everyone is so up in arms here is that drake doesn't fit into anyone's conception of what rap is or should be.

this is such a copout - yeah, there are certain standards that listeners and critics should hold rappers to - just as they do with singers. this is not nearly as oppressive as you're making it out to be. drakes lack of skills don't get a pass because you think his art represents some kind of paradigm shift

drake is a profoundly uncool guy is one thing abt him

― ice cr?m, Thursday, November 17, 2011 7:34 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

Drake is an example of something willing himself to be cool, it feels like. Which of course is the antithesis of cool.

lol

I'm still wondering what makes this man get hip hop fans so up in arms about. I like the album in little chunks but trying to go through it is such an absolute chore. 40 provides interesting background music(even though you can confuse them with the other albums) and Drake has improved somewhat. My qualms about the album is that Drake asked (or forced) outside producers to submit their music to 40 which I find odd. I know he was going for a moody experience with it rather than a "I'm going to show you how great I am at rapping a la LL Cool J's Mama Said Knock You Out," but some reason it screamed he is afraid to go out of his comfort zone mostly which is kind of dumb for a relative newcomer.

As far as his shortcomings, to me it comes to a point where you either accept them (nasal delivery, choppy rap flow) and see them as contributing to the music in a unique way or you just fucking hate them and him and never listen to him again. I must admit I go back and forth with that.

Ok after writing that, now I see why people argue about him. haha

KDTrey5 favorited @jadande:
Drake compares himself to Kevin Durant (strike 1) b/c he says people want KD to fail (strike 2) Who wants KD to fail? bit.ly/rQ8QDA
jadande 49 minutes ago

this seems to bother drake more than anybody else considering the absolutely ridiculous fake southern accent he raps in every few songs

In his defense, he did spend summers with his father in Memphis, TN, but I never recall him doing a southern accent in his songs. Any examples?

um i always thought the problem people had with his nasal delivery is that it is unbearable and sometimes just painful to listen to (always been my problem with it)

not some signifier of inauthenticity, just annoying as fuck

Yeah it can get annoying especially when he does songs with a fast tempo. I'm hoping something weird happens to his voice so it can round off the edges. When he goes makes an "ummm" or "ehhh" sound it's like stabbing your eardrums.

http://www.hiphopnewsdaily.com/wp-content/themes/redcarpet1.05pro/redcarpet/scripts/phpThumb/phpThumb.php?src=/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/83412926.jpg

Awww. Baby Drake!

lol that lil baby looks so much like drake