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By now you’ve had a chance to digest Views by Drake. And like the general response, you viewed it from the recycling bin. Was Views below your expectations? Of course. You know why? Because you and countless others want Aubrey Graham to be this generation’s Jay Z. But guess what? He’s not. In fact, if you look at his body of work, he’s this generation’s Nelly. That’s right. Drake isn’t Shawn Carter. He is Cornell Haynes Jr.
Views From Nellyville? If you were to compare Drake and Nelly’s body of work, it’s the same portfolio. Nelly’s catalogue starts off strong and slowly dies off, due to no real growth. Same goes for Drake. You can take songs from Views and put it on any of Drake’s other albums, and no one would notice. But both artists have had huge singles (“Hot in Herre” and “Hotline Bling”) that helped their albums sell a whole lot of records. But as I’ve said time and time again, Drake and Nelly albums are like Chinese Food. Great for the moment but you become hungry for more as soon as you finish. It becomes forgettable in the matter of a week or two. They are great artists but as lyricists, I’ve heard better lines from the guy in front of the liquor store. No shade. Lets be honest, Drake is Hip-Hop’s Rihanna. Meaning great singles for the pop stations but meh when it comes to the actual body of work.
Views is this generation’s Sweat/Suit (Nelly’s double album). And there’s nothing wrong with that. Some folks like it when their favorite rapper busts out their best Al B. Sure impression in the middle of a lukewarm 16. I mean we all can really enjoy Drake, if we open our eyes and see him for what he really is … Nelly. He’s no top tier rapper nor singer. He is just some guy who turned all of his ghostwriter’s text messages into great for the moment songs. As soon as we agree to that, nothing will be the same. So take care. -Pooh Bailey
