Started from the bottom, now he’s here: Yes, Drake once made $100 opening for Ice Cube & Method Man, and No, he isn’t ready to start off with an Outkast reunion tour. Still, the Atlanta-born rapper is the most important artist on the planet right now.
You know, in 2016, Drake had a lot of hype. Just look at where he wound up. Before a single release, he was the biggest rapper on the planet. He was one of four or five main artists in the world who could sell 50 singles a week. He’d drop a hit every week, and people would wait almost a full decade to hear a new one. His albums were the best-selling albums in the history of hip-hop. He was the most important artist in hip-hop. He was bigger than Beyonce.
That was 2012. He’s still the most important artist on the planet, and if there’s one thing he can’t be, it’s not overrated. He just sold 35,000 records in 2016, which is crazy if you think about it. In terms of hits, it was pretty amazing. He’s the best rapper alive, and he’s still got something to prove in 2017.
The only thing he can’t prove is that he’s not the most important artist in hip-hop. Yes, he has a lot of hype around other rappers, but his stuff beats them. His albums are the best-selling rappers’ albums. He’s selling 150,000 records a week. He’s still got something to prove.
Right now, he’s one of the most important figures in pop culture. His influence reaches back to the dawn of hip-hop, and his influence is still growing. It’s inescapable. It’s a constant. It’s a force. It’s a force he can’t deny and can’t escape. It’s his music. It’s a part of him, but it’s so much more than that. It’s a part of what’s happening in rap right now
