Drake has gained a significant amount of praise in the past few years as the aftermath of his album titled Nothing was the Same, which many believe to be even more honest and groundbreaking than his previous acclaimed album Take Care. But not every track on this album is extremely thoughtful.
"Started from the Bottom," likely the most popular track on the record, chooses to steer away, conceptually, from Drake's usual lyrics about love, loss and competition in the rap world towards more of a rap anthem celebrating how Drake and the people he's surrounded by all worked their way to the top from nothing. This track sounds very clean, even if the instrumental uses samples we've all heard before, but what sours the track for me is the fact that Drake is telling it.
A good argument is personal and honest and Drake saying that he "Started from the Bottom" is known by most to be a lie. Drake shows no knowledge of his audience which consists of people that know about his acting on Degrassi. Drake also misses the mark when trying to defend his argument by saying that he had to work and grind and that he had "traffic on the way home."
The life Drake describes is not "the bottom." Even without the addition of his acting career, Drake's single comes off as shallow and hard to believe.
You went in hard, man
ReplyDeleteYou went in hard, man
ReplyDeleteDrake could have referenced to his acting on Degrassi, but that still does not convince anyone that that is starting from the bottom. Yes it is true that people can have different starting points. In comparison to Serena and Venus Williams, who started with practicing on concrete tennis courts in Compton, Drake did not grind or work as hard to make it to the top billboard charts as the Williams' did to make it to the tennis majors. I have respect for the Williams' sisters however after reading your blog, I have lost a small amount of respect for Drake for giving himself that much credit.
ReplyDeleteI think Drake's "Started From the Bottom" definitely portrays him in a way that doesn't necessarily correspond with real life. However, lots of rappers straight lie about their life too so it's not like Drake is alone in his "fronting". There is an interesting article at http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2013-07-09/jay-z-is-right-most-rappers-are-lying-about-their-money comparing the amount of money rappers say they have as opposed to how much they actually make that I think is very relevant to this post.
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