Kendrick Lamar Keeps Progressing...While Drake Isn't

[Devil Plisken…CMS]

Nothing wrong with what Drake is doing...the money is rolling in and his status is mega. On the other hand we will see how he reacts to his name being omitted from rap conversations as far as some of the best to ever do it as time goes on

 

[Paradise50]

Quentin Miller gave Drake his most up to date/ahead of the time music/hook/lyrics. Drake can't get that sound back, and it's killing him.

 

[feelosofer]

In a lot of ways the OP is spot on and you guys are getting hurt feeling about this. I enjoy Drakes music at a surface level but he has basically gone from being a rapper primarily who sings sometimes (badly) to a singer that drops the occasional verse. But he has basically been rapping about the same subject matter and has been trapped in 2nd childhood/poor rich boy wave since Thank Me Later. He's just done it over different soundscapes. Dude had stagnated as an artist because there is no real incentive for him to progress. His music continues to sell like hotcakes and most of his fanbase is women and women are not checking for artistic growth like that. They want something they can drive and shake their asses to. If he were to go back to his Comeback Season/so Far Gone flow he'd brick. This is what happens when lyricism takes a backseat to production for so many years. You get an environment where a popular artist doesn't have to challenge himself in anyway.

 

[Booker T Garvey]

Going through these comments it's amazing how peoples brains can't process what a pop star is

fully grown men think that drake sat around and thought up "hotline bling", like that came from his artistic vision

I'm not the biggest Kendrick fan and I do think a lot of his "genius" comes from how they market him

but he's clearly not a pop/crossover artist and as an emcee is leaps and bounds more lyrical than Drake

 

[CashmereThoughts]

Drake is pioneering international music , do you know how much love he gets globally?

yo you nikkas is retarded in here.

 

[FSP]

Drake is afraid to exit pop music.

Kendrick doesn't care so much and that gives him more creative freedom

 

[ABlackMan]

Drake is more than a rapper. He's a musician. The way you're framing this is very loaded.
When you use the word progressing, drake is constantly progressing and incorporating different sounds into his music.
This 'playing it safe' and 'stagnation' talk is absolutely ridiculous.
Drake singlehandedly brought Grime to a US audience. Drake implements elements of Afrobeats and Dancehall in his sound.

The culture follows Drake, just look at that new French Montana single.

Kendrick generally plays it safe and feeds the 'muh real hip hop' fans but Drake is always reinventing his sound

Cac alert

 

[Capital Steez]

I don't get this "if you go outside everybody is listening to drake" narrative, my nikka nobody is listens to drake like you think they do, and I don't know where in any hood nikkas are on their blocks blasting more life.

Keep it 100. You really think nikkas is serving work and riding around to DAMN?

 

[Zero]

"I see straight through them like fish tanks with no fish in them" - drake

Tell me you made that up

 

[Dominic Brehetto]

Tell me you made that up

Nope. One of drakes finest rhymes.

 

[hex]

I don't get this "if you go outside everybody is listening to drake" narrative, my nikka nobody is listens to drake like you think they do, and I don't know where in any hood nikkas are on their blocks blasting more life.

The vast majority of people saying that aren't even from America, and have no idea what goes on in any city here.

Fred.

 

[Dboy41]

Nothing wrong with what Drake is doing...the money is rolling in and his status is mega. On the other hand we will see how he reacts to his name being omitted from rap conversations as far as some of the best to ever do it as time goes on

He's still popular, his machine is huge. But his music quality is declining.

His first three albums were great, iyrtitl was ok but nothing memorable. The last two he just dropped are weed plates.

Drake is getting caught up in the hype of hollywood/mainstream. He's more about selling records and hits than making quality material.

 

[Just like bruddas]

Drake's albums have shifted the culture in ways that Kendrick's have not.

Yea by reverse engineering the culture

 

[Kenny West]

So ITT nikkas will tell you having quotables is not a factor in being lyrically good.

the coli

Drake is not, bar for bar, better than any of those guys. Go ahead and keep clinging to "hits." This is Hip Hop.

Who has improved lyrically Bar for bar tho? The rap game in general has been way less lyrical and more melody driven. Drake, Cole, Sean and Kendrick came with more bars in their mixtape days. Nowadays nikkas do concept albums, singsongy trap flows or crooning.

Kendrick's bars were better in the section 80 days especially on the features. His features now have been garbage like Sidewalks or Goosebumps

Coles verses were WAY hotter in the FNL days

Wale has lyrically been more or less the same. Been struggling hard with his sound

Sean is the only one who has grown trying to find himself out of his punchline rapper box, his bars were tighter before but now his projects are actually good. but he still drops cheesy bars @ inopportune times like that "picking princess in mario kart" jawn off I decided.

All of them can drop raw verses when they want to they just do it on the throwaways. Heart Part 4, Back to Back, No More Interviews, False Prophets etc

 

[JYoung24]

He's bar for bar better. This is why he's the most quoted, this is why witty shyt on he said on More Life has made talking points and discussions

This is why his features the most valued. This is why he's killed more features prettt much any of them the last few years.

No the fukk hes not bar for bar better and I don't never anybody quoting his shyt unless it's white girls