Hyperion
Superstar
I think this is a question that'll really be answered once he eventually retires and the dust settles, unless he's like Hov and Nas where he keeps going well into his 40s.
The ghostwriting stuff is something only the culture itself would care about, those who really talk about legacies and stuff like that. Average music listeners don't care because to them, it's not that deep. But you ask any rapper that raps competitively if he'd want to be accused of having ghostwriters, and you'll know what's up.
Hell, that rapper might even swing on you for asking such a crazy hypothetical.
Look when it came out that Kanye didn't write Violent Crimes on Ye, people felt weird about it. How do you have such a personal song on an album, and those words didn't even come from you? It matters to people. Now, whether that makes a song still hit or not, that's on the individual, but people DO care depending on the artist. Try telling Mainstream America that Eminem or Kendrick doesn't write their raps, and you'll see how they get.
Even in a pop star lane, people respect the singer who writes. Taylor Swift for example, her ENTIRE image is based off the small-town country girl that wrote songs in her bedroom. You know how many girls identified (and still do) with that? Imagine if it were revealed that she didn't write any of those songs. Max Martin or some other big producer did. People would flip.
Drake definitely wants to be seen as a dude who writes and can make hits for the Spotify playlists. But whether the culture will overlook the ghostwriting thing or not, it's up in the air. But if they do, then the term "lyricist" has to stand out even further on its own, because it's only fair. Like what Royce said, you can't be a Top 10 Rapper or Lyricist if you didn't pen every verse you claim you wrote.
If the rules change because of Drake though, then that's the new normal. But one thing is for sure, you can't deny the man's impact. We'll just have to see how people feel when that day comes.
The ghostwriting stuff is something only the culture itself would care about, those who really talk about legacies and stuff like that. Average music listeners don't care because to them, it's not that deep. But you ask any rapper that raps competitively if he'd want to be accused of having ghostwriters, and you'll know what's up.
Hell, that rapper might even swing on you for asking such a crazy hypothetical.
Look when it came out that Kanye didn't write Violent Crimes on Ye, people felt weird about it. How do you have such a personal song on an album, and those words didn't even come from you? It matters to people. Now, whether that makes a song still hit or not, that's on the individual, but people DO care depending on the artist. Try telling Mainstream America that Eminem or Kendrick doesn't write their raps, and you'll see how they get.
Even in a pop star lane, people respect the singer who writes. Taylor Swift for example, her ENTIRE image is based off the small-town country girl that wrote songs in her bedroom. You know how many girls identified (and still do) with that? Imagine if it were revealed that she didn't write any of those songs. Max Martin or some other big producer did. People would flip.
Drake definitely wants to be seen as a dude who writes and can make hits for the Spotify playlists. But whether the culture will overlook the ghostwriting thing or not, it's up in the air. But if they do, then the term "lyricist" has to stand out even further on its own, because it's only fair. Like what Royce said, you can't be a Top 10 Rapper or Lyricist if you didn't pen every verse you claim you wrote.
If the rules change because of Drake though, then that's the new normal. But one thing is for sure, you can't deny the man's impact. We'll just have to see how people feel when that day comes.
