(Photo Courtesy Of Google Images)
“TELL HOVA DON’T PASS THE CROWN SO SOON. UNLESS HE GOT A CROWN FOR EVERY WRITER IN THE ROOM. THERE’S TOO MANY SPIRITS ON THESE GHOST-WRITTEN TUNES. SO YOU CAN’T CROWN THE HEIR UNTIL YOU SÉANCE THE ROOM.” – Pusha T (“Illin”)
Well it seems Meek Mill is the newest bully to ruffle the feathers of everyone’s favorite Canadian child actor, Drake. Granted Meek’s rant was ignited over the dumbest thing ever, but it still left a few of us wondering about rapper Drizzy Drake. Does he write his own lyrics? For some, including myself, this would make perfect sense seeing that his upbringing and his current bravado don’t match. I’m not saying he doesn’t write his own lyrics, because he has written for others. I’m saying he might have gotten help with some lines, which old Rap heads would frown on and new-rap heads couldn’t care less about. And that’s where we as Rap fans are clashing.
If we breakdown Hip-Hop/Rap, at the end of the day it’s an art of storytelling. Mainly it’s the art of YOUR story. From Jay Z’s Reasonable Doubt, to Nas’ Illmatic, to Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid Madd City and J.Cole’s Cole World: The Sideline Story, rappers have always painted a picture of themselves and what they have gone through. Life lessons and new flashy things seems to be their motto. So when a rapper is accused of having a ghostwriter, it dampens the idea of the rapper’s true self. The thing that gets me and most Rap fans is that we know of Drake’s life. I mean I used to watch him on TV before I went to school. I remember watching his behind the scenes episode, and he began to whine about a turkey sandwich. And this is the guy you want me be to believe “Might get hit with that R.I.C.O.” Okay, whatever. And that’s just it. The new generation of Hip-Hop fans don’t care if rappers “ain’t live it you witnessed it from your folks pad. You scribbled in your notepad and created your life (Hov fans understand).“ Look at Rick Ross, he was a CO, and no one batted an eye. Granted, there are crooked officers but Ross wouldn’t even admit to it. But who cares, right? As long as the beat hot, right? Nope. As rappers, your job is to tell us a story, your story.
So what about reference tracks? Again. Rappers are supposed to tell their story. Reference tracks are meant for singers. Singers tell everyone’s stories, not just their own. Rappers, on the other hand, are poets in the sense. Poets write their own poems. How pissed would you be if Langston Hughes used a reference track to write “Montage of a Dream Deferred?” Very. So yes, accusations of Drake having a ghostwriter are pissing Rap fans off, who understand the true art of Hip-Hop. I mean I’m glad Drake responded with a diss record and not a Twitter rant. However, he could’ve kept that Midnight Love Ballad track to himself. As for Meek Mill, if it isn’t on wax, we don’t respect it. And that ladies and gentlemen is what we ‘old Rap heads’ call Hip-Hop. –Pooh Bailey
