Line #69 Music/Drake


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d6ef2785_985e_44c6_af55_bd8167af0be5.jpeg]]
2
3	->"''What am I doin? What am I doin?\
4	Oh, yeah, that's right, I'm doin me\
5	I'm doin me, I'm livin life right now mayne\
6	And this what I'ma do 'til it's over, 'til it's over\
7	But it's far from over''"
8	-->--'''"Over"'''
9
10	[floatboxright:
11	Influences:
12	+ Music/KanyeWest, Music/JayZ, Music/LilWayne, Music/MFDoom, Music/{{Usher}}, Music/{{Aaliyah}}
13	Influenced:
14	+ Music/ASAPRocky, {{Music/Lorde}}, Music/JackHarlow, Music/TheKidLAROI
15	]
16
17	Aubrey Drake Graham (born October 24, 1986 in Toronto, Ontario), known professionally as just [[OneNameOnly Drake]], is a Canadian rapper and actor. Drake's father is an African-American (of Nigerian and Somali descent) from Memphis, Tennessee, and his mother is a white Jewish Canadian.
18
19	He originally became known for playing Jimmy Brooks on the television series ''Series/DegrassiTheNextGeneration'' (which, up until his guest host spot on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'', he [[OldShame didn't want]] to admit).
20
21	After making a few mixtapes, he was discovered by Music/LilWayne in 2008. His first studio album, ''Thank Me Later'', released on June 15, 2010, debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200. The album has since gone platinum. He released his second studio album, titled ''Take Care'', in November 2011.
22
23	Drake has been nominated for several awards including Grammys, even being selected to perform at the 2010 Grammy award ceremony. Drake has also won several awards, including two Juno Awards in 2010 for Best New Artist, and Rap Recording of the Year, as well as the 2013 Grammy for Best Rap Album.
24
25	In 2012, Drake and producer Noah "40" Shebib launched the label imprint OVO Sound, which is currently distributed by Creator/WarnerBrosRecords.
26
27	Not to be confused with Creator/DrakeBell or Music/NickDrake.
28	----
29	!!Discography:
30	* ''Room for Improvement'' (Mixtape) (2006)
31	* ''Comeback Season'' (Mixtape) (2007)
32	* ''So Far Gone'' (Mixtape/EP) (2009)
33	* ''Thank Me Later'' (2010)
34	* ''Take Care'' (2011)
35	* ''Nothing Was the Same'' (2013)
36	* ''If You're Reading This It's Too Late'' (Mixtape) (2015)
37	* ''What A Time To Be Alive'' (Mixtape) (2015) (with Music/{{Future}})
38	* ''Views'' (2016)
39	* ''More Life'' (Playlist) (2017)
40	* ''Scary Hours'' (EP) (2018)
41	* ''Scorpion'' (2018)
42	* ''Care Package''[[note]]Comprised of rarities and tracks which never previously received an official release[[/note]] (2019)
43	* ''Dark Lane Demo Tapes'' (Mixtape) (2020)
44	* ''Scary Hours 2'' (EP) (2021)
45	* ''Certified Lover Boy'' (2021)
46	* ''HONESTLY, NEVERMIND'' (2022)
47	* ''Her Loss'' (2022) (with Music/TwentyOneSavage)
48	* ''For All The Dogs'' (2023)
49	----
50	!!"Trope Me Later":
51	* AdvertisedExtra: Along with Music/NickiMinaj in ''WesternAnimation/IceAgeContinentalDrift''. Their combined screen time is about five minutes and yet Fox saw it was enough to put their names on the poster. Meanwhile, actual actors like Creator/PeterDinklage, Creator/NickFrost, Creator/AzizAnsari and Creator/RebelWilson have far more screen time than those two but barely appeared in the marketing.
52	* AllLowercaseLetters: How the liner notes for ''If You're Reading This It's Too Late'' are presented.
53	* AnswerSong: "The Motto" is this to "If Today Was Your Last Day" by Music/{{Nickelback}}.
54	* ArcWords: OVO. It stands for "October's Very Own", referencing his birthday. He also raps with Music/TheWeeknd as OVOXO. OVO is mentioned in many of his songs.
55	* AscendedMeme: The "Drake the type of nigga" meme is referenced in "Back to Back":
56	-->''I'm not the type of nigga that'll type to niggas.''
57	* AudienceParticipationSong:
58	** Everyone shouts the "I WAS! RUNNIN! THROUGH THE! SIX! WITH MY WOES!" chant from "Know Yourself".
59	** The entirety of "Back to Back", but especially the "world tour or your girl's tour" and "getting bodied by a singin' nigga" lines.
60	* UsefulNotes/{{Basketball}}: The video for "Best I Ever Had" is centered around a women's basketball team.
61	* BattleRapping: Drizzy's gotten wrapped up in a few battles with other rappers, despite being labeled "soft":
62	** Around 2011 and 2012, Common and Drake were beefing heavily, with the center of the conflict rumored to be tennis star Serena Williams, who was romantically linked to both rappers at one point or another. Common first took subliminal shots with the track "Sweet", particularly in reference to comments Drake had made about him during a show. In turn, Drake responded with his verse on Music/RickRoss' track "Stay Schemin'", making fun of Common's age (he was almost 40 at the time), and implied Serena had told him some ''very'' nasty stuff about him during pillow talk. Common quickly came back with his own remix of "Stay Schemin'", accusing Drake of biting styles, trying to create a hardcore persona, despite being the total opposite and not being able to respond without hiding behind his associates' songs. The rappers eventually squashed their beef, but Common is widely considered the winner of the feud.
63	** In 2015, Music/MeekMill, apparently in response to Drake not helping promote his album ''Dreams Worth More Than Money'', claimed Drake used a ghostwriter on their collabrative track "R.I.C.O.". Hot 97's longtime resident DJ Funkmaster Flex also chimed in on Meek's claims, leaking out reference tracks to support the former's claims. Drake quickly responded with the tracks "Charged Up" and "Back to Back", the latter of which was widely considered to have ''easily'' buried Meek by fans. Meek would attempt to clap back with "Wanna Know", but the rap community didn't take to it, and Wrestling/{{WWE}} quickly forced a [[ScrewedByTheLawyers copyright takedown on the song]], due to the song illegally sampling Wrestling/TheUndertaker's theme music. Drake would go on a victory lap with "Summer Sixteen" prior to releasing ''Views'', and also dissed Funkmaster Flex while on tour. After Meek was unjustly imprisoned in 2017, Drake publicly squashed the beef, and helped campaign for Meek's release from prison.
64	** In 2016, not long after his feud with Meek had wrapped up, Joe Budden had given Drake's then-recent album ''Views'' negative reviews on his podcast. Drake would throw subliminal shots at Budden on "4PM in Calabasas", which Budden [[WorthyOpponent genuinely complimented]], before retaliating with both "Making A Murderer Pt. 1" and "Wake". Drake would respond on French Montana's "No Shopping", but didn't name Budden in his verse. Budden would drop two more diss tracks at Drake, demanding a direct response, but the 6 God never did, and the beef eventually cooled out.
65	** Drake and Pusha T had been beefing on and off since 2012, stemming from the latter's feud with his mentors Birdman and Music/LilWayne, but 2018 was when things truly kicked into high gear, and got Music/KanyeWest involved. Things started with Pusha T reigniting the ghostwriting accusations towards Drake on the track "Infrared" from his album ''Daytona''. Drake quickly responded with the well-received "Duppy Freestyle", wherein he denied the ghostwriting accusations while questioning Pusha's past as a drug dealer, and insinuated ''he'' ghostwrote for Kanye while he visited him in Wyoming. Drake even went as far as to send G.O.O.D. Music a $100,000 invoice for "promotional assistance and career reviving". Unfortunately, Drake's fortunes would immediately turn sour with Pusha releasing "The Story of Adidon" a few days later. On "Adidon", Pusha revealed to the world that Drake had a secret child with a pornstar, accused him of being a deadbeat father, and mocked Drake's longtime producer Noah "40" Shebib for having multiple sclerosis. However, the most damning blow to Drizzy was the song's cover art, showing [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_Adidon#/media/File:The_Story_of_Adidon_-_Pusha_T.jpg a photo of him in blackface with a goofy smile]] which prompted mockery and condemnation from all sides. Drake [[https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/drake-addresses-blackface-photo-from-pusha-ts-story-of-adidon-629302/ later explained]] that the photo was part of a project he did with a photographer about racism in the entertainment industry. He also accused Kanye of telling Pusha about his son, but Pusha claimed he got the info from a woman Shebib slept with. Ultimately, Drake never responded to "Adidon" on record, and it caused his reputation among the hip-hop community to nosedive tremendously, though it ultimately didn't hurt his overall sales or pop chart success. The feud would also lead to a beef between Kanye and Drake (mainly instigated by Ye) that lasted into 2021, with the two of them regularly throwing barbs at each other on various songs.
66	* BigBeautifulWoman: Talks about his love of these in his feature on Music/NickiMinaj's "Only" - though the fact that he's rapping about Nicki suggests that he means something a bit different.[[note]]"BBW" refers to specifically overweight women, not just slim women with hourglass figures.[[/note]]
67	* BigDamnHeroes: The video for "Hold On, We're Going Home" is Drake and crew rescuing his lover from a rival gang in 1985 UsefulNotes/{{Miami}}.
68	* BreatherEpisode: [[SugarWiki/SweetDreamsFuel "Wednesday Night Interlude"]] is a slow jam to help calm listeners down after the rap-dense first half of ''If You're Reading This It's Too Late''.
69	* BoastfulRap: "Forever", "Over", and "Headlines". Many others.
70	* BolivianArmyEnding: [[spoiler:The "Find Your Love" music video.]]
71	* {{Bowdlerise}}: His first hit single "Best I Ever Had", is changed from "You the fuckin' best, you the fuckin' best" to "You the, you the best" for radio play.
72	* BreakupSong: "Hotline Bling" is about him angsting because of his ex not calling him on his cellphone anymore.
73	* CallBack:
74	** "The Motto" interpolates a line in the chorus he provided for Music/LilWayne's "She Will":
75	-->''I mean maybe she won't, but then again maybe she will.''
76	** In "Summer Sixteen" he makes a reference to "Hotline Bling" and the infamous dance moves he performs in the music video:
77	-->''Then I hit them with the hotline\
78	[[Music/ChrisBrown Chris Breezy]] with the dance moves\
79	Moe G with the dance moves\
80	Ave Boy with the dance moves''
81	** "You Only Live Twice" is clearly a callback to "The Motto", which had the titular motto being YOLO (You Only Live Once). Both songs feature Music/LilWayne.
82	* CityShoutOuts: In "Fancy", one stanza talks directly to the girls of whatever city he's performing in about how they should be confident in themselves.
83	-->Atlanta/NY/LA/TO(Toronto) girls, let me see your hands\
84	Wave 'em at them bitches hating on you with their friends\
85	Girl you got it\
86	Let 'em know that everything big\
87	Nails done, hair done, everything did
88	* ClusterFBomb: Far too many to count (he ''is'' a rapper, after all). A very glaring example (given the song) is on the remix to Music/KanyeWest's "All of the Lights" (as mentioned on RhymingWithItself below).
89	* DaysOfTheWeekSong: "Wednesday Night Interlude"
90	* DontExplainTheJoke: Does this twice on his ''Comeback Season'' mixtape.
91	** From "The Presentation":
92	--> ''Tryna make some cheese off a single is a process\
93	Get it? Kraft, single, cheese, process''
94	** From "Man of the Year":
95	--> ''I never copied nor bit like Eddie, man\
96	Did you get it? Eddie Murphy was in Norbit\
97	Or was it way over your head? Did you forfeit?''
98	* FlippingTheBird: In the video for "Headlines".
99	* FreestyleVersion: Around a quarter of the mixtape ''So Far Gone'' is freestyles, using songs by Music/JayZ ("Ignorant Shit"), Kanye West ("Say You Will"), Lykke Li ("Little Bit"), Santogold ("Unstoppable") and Peter Bjorn and John ("Let's Call It Off"). [[note]]Should also be noted that Drake's controversial 2012 track "Jodeci Freestyle" is ''not'' an example of this trope, as it is over an original beat, as are his 2020 "Chicago Freestyle" and his 2021 "Lemon Pepper Freestyle".[[/note]]
100	* GenreRoulette: He switches between straight-up rap (combining elements of both AlternativeHipHop and PopRap) and pop/R&B. One of his top hits is "Find Your Love", which has no rap at all. ''Take Care'' especially has less rap and more of an alternative R&B feel. On ''Views'', "Controlla" and "One Dance" are obviously influenced by reggae/dancehall. The leaked version of "Controlla", in fact, featured Jamaican dancehall artist Popcaan (who isn't on the album version).
101	* InheritedIlliteracyTitle: "Marvins Room" is supposed to be spelled with no apostrophe.
102	* InsistentTerminology: There was lots of debate on whether ''If You're Reading This It's Too Late'' is a mixtape or studio album, as it was released commercially although Drake referred to it as a mixtape.
103	** Similarly, ''More Life'' is neither a mixtape nor a studio album; it's apparently a ''playlist''.
104	* LyricalDissonance: A common criticism of "Toosie Slide" is that the beat is very moody and introspective-sounding, but the song is a dance song mentioning things such as dancing like Music/MichaelJackson.
105	* MelodicRap: He's been ''the'' top melodic rapper since at least 2009, which caused countless other rappers to try and copy his style. However, this also is the main crux of his critics labelling him as "soft", as his particular style blurs the line between rap and straight-up R&B, and is lyrically more emotionally vulnerable than most rap.
106	* MoodWhiplash: ''HONESTLY, NEVERMIND'' is mostly a house and Baltimore club album, until the 14th and final track, "Jimmy Cooks", a song that's clearly in the genre of TrapMusic, featuring Atlanta rapper Music/TwentyOneSavage.
107	* TheMuse: Several of his songs ("Firework", "Take Care" and possibly "Made Man") are based on his relationship with Music/{{Rihanna}}, and he frequently collaborated with her for many years.
108	* NewSoundAlbum: ''HONESTLY, NEVERMIND'' is mostly a house and Baltimore club album in contrast to his other projects--which are mostly GenreRoulette fusions of hip-hop, R&B and pop.
109	* OneNameOnly: His [[StageNames rap name]], ''Drake''.
110	* OnlySaneMan: Naturally on "Forever" from the ''More Than a Game'' soundtrack, since the other three are [[AxCrazy Eminem]], [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Lil Wayne]] and [[{{Jerkass}} Kanye West]].
111	* NonAppearingTitle: "Marvins Room", "Headlines", "The Resistance", "Wu-Tang Forever", "Pain 1993", "Massive", "Flight's Booked", "Jimmy Cooks"
112	* PunctuatedForEmphasis: "Know Yourself". You know the one. "I WAS! RUNNIN! THROUGH THE! SIX! WITH MY ''WOES''!"
113	* PosthumousCollaboration:
114	** "Faithful" samples a verse from [[{{Music/UGK}} Pimp C]] that originally appeared on "Tom Ford Remix" by Music/JayZ.
115	** "Don't Matter to Me" samples an unreleased Music/MichaelJackson recording.
116	** "After Dark" samples an unreleased recording by R&B singer Static Major.
117	* RockStarSong: Quite a few of his songs discuss fame.
118	* RhymingWithItself:
119	** He often rhymes "shit" with "shit".
120	** His verse on the [[Music/MyBeautifulDarkTwistedFantasy "All of the Lights"]] remix has him ending about ten lines with "motherfucker".
121	** He also often rhymes "nigga" with "nigga".
122	* {{Sampling}}:
123	** "Tuscan Leather" uses three instrumentals, which all sample "I Have Nothing" by Music/WhitneyHouston in different ways.
124	** "Nice For What" is built around a sped-up sample of "Ex Factor" by Music/LaurynHill.
125	** "Way 2 Sexy" is a ShoutOut to and samples "I'm Too Sexy" by Music/RightSaidFred.
126	* SexGoddess: "Best I Ever Had" has him singing about a girl who gave him the best sex he ever had.
127	* ShoutOut:
128	** In "The Motto":
129	-->''Shout goes out to Niko, Jay, Chubbs and shout to Gibbo.''
130	** In Music/DJKhaled's "For Free", he pays homage to Music/KendrickLamar's song "For Free? (Interlude)" with the following line:
131	-->''And like ya' boy from Compton said, you know this dick ain't free.''
132	** In "Chicago Freestyle", he pays tribute to Music/{{Eminem}} by interpolating his song "Superman", but with slightly changed lyrics:
133	--> ''But I do know one thing though\
134	Women they come they go\
135	Saturday through Sunday, Monday\
136	Monday through Sunday, yo\
137	Maybe I'll love you one day\
138	Maybe we'll someday grow\
139	'Til then, I'll sit my drunk ass on that runway\
140	On this one way''
141	** “Here For a Good Time (Not a Long Time)” features a mane drop to ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy''.
142	** And "0 to 100" has a reference to ''Film/ForrestGump'':
143	-->''I run this shit, they're like, "Go Forrest\
144	Run Forrest, run Forrest, go Forrest"''
145	* SiameseTwinSongs: "Wu Tang Forever" segues directly into "Own It", which flips the former songs repeated use of "it's yours" into a more romantic context.
146	* SingerNamedrop: He does this pretty often, but he usually calls himself "Drizzy". One example is in "Successful" with the line 'Drizzy, oh yeah [[Music/TreySongz Trey]] I fucking feel you"
147	* SingingVoiceDissonance: Raps with an African American accent, but speaks in a fairly neutral Canadian accent.
148	* SongStyleShift: Drake's and Music/TravisScott's “SICKO MODE” is a hip-hop song throughout, but the instrumentation and vibe changes twice — starting off with a rap-sung verse by Drake over a pipe organ, continuing with a bass-driven trap segment led by Scott, and concluding with verses from both over a ringtone rap-esque beat.
149	* SopranoAndGravel:
150	** Whenever he teams up with Music/RickRoss, he is the soprano to Ross' gravel.
151	** When he teams up with Music/{{Rihanna}}, however, he's the gravel to her soprano.
152	* SoProudOfYou: In addition to "Make Me Proud", he includes a meta-example from his grandmother on "Look What You've Done".
153	* SpokenWordInMusic:
154	** The end of the album version of "Headlines" stands out as an excellent example.
155	** Shows up near the end of "Marvins Room", as well as repeatedly in the chorus.
156	--->''"Are you drunk right now?"''
157	* StageNames: Drake is far more famous as a rap superstar under his real middle name of Drake than he ever was for his acting career. The only time he was credited as Aubrey Graham was when he first started out as an actor in ''Series/{{Degrassi\|TheNextGeneration}}''.
158	* TakeThat: "Charged Up", "Back to Back", and "Summer Sixteen" is this to Music/MeekMill, who has accused him of hiring ghostwriters to write his own songs.
159	* TelephoneSong: "Hotline Bling" is about Drake angsting that his ex-girlfriend used to call him for casual sex. It inspired an entire telephone-themed project by Music/ErykahBadu.
160	* TrueCompanions:
161	** From "Up All Night": "Man I love my team, I would die for them niggas."
162	** From "Lemon Pepper Freestyle" "We all grateful for [[Music/LilWayne Weezy]], but no one more than me"
163	* TurnOutLikeHisFather: Drake has mentioned similarities between himself and his father several times in his music. Although, in his song "Look What You've Done" he mentions that his mother, who got divorced from his father when he was five, sometimes makes negative comparisons between Drake and his father when she's upset with him.
164	-->"And you tell me I'm just like my father--my one button, you push it"
165	* AWildRapperAppears: Music/{{Rihanna}}'s "Work" has Drake entering at the 2:20 minutes mark, although it's worth noting that he sings rather than rapping.

Context Music / Drake