Before R&B sensation Drake or “Dizzy Drake”, was in with the Young Money crew he had a leading role in Degrassi as character Jimmy Brooks. Jimmy gets broken up with repeatedly and literally shot in the back, which results in his being confined to a wheelchair. Though he overcomes adversity and discovers his musical talent through this disability, he still gets his heart broken a third time.
Maybe it’s this Degrassi baggage that’s been weighing down on the young Canadian, but something is on Drake’s mind. He’s single-handedly making R&B Emo—that’s right, Emo-Emo. R. Kelly’s “It Seems Like Your Ready” R&B, is suddenly a whole lot less unapologetically sexual and strong—now R&B has…feelings.
Let’s check Drake’s twitter: Back then it was weed, girls, and basketball…now its greed, hurt, and alcohol…but love never dies.
10:07 PM Aug 16th via Twitter for BlackBerry®
He just wrote the word “hurt”. Would Trey “Which One Of Y’all’s Going Home With Trigga?!” Songz, tweet about ambiguous depression and redemptive love? I think not. Hip Hop and R&B is generally quite boastful. Take fellow chart topper Soulja Boy and his hit “Pretty Boy Swag” as an example. It goes like this:
All the girls are on me, damn/ Everybody pay attention/This right here is my pretty boy swag (ayeee)/Pretty boy swag(ayye)x3/Girls on my dick when I pretty boy swag/Girls scream my name when I pretty boy swag.
..And than he calls himself sexy like four times. Drake has taken a more humble route; you can almost always tell one of his songs because there’s a line about dying alone or not being married at thirty. Maybe he needs to see “Eat Pray Love” for a little inspiration. Either way, I appreciate the change in R&B subject matter, even if it does get a little self-indulgently sad at times. We’re just going to have to wait and see if Drake finds his love, even though Ashley didn’t want to get back with Jimmy.