Having seen the video late last night, at first I was in awe of the blatant T&A on display. It was far less than what I would have expected from the hottest new kid on the block, Aubrey 'Drake' Graham, aka Wheel Chair Jimmy (Degrassi reference for all of you who didn't watch the show before Drake dropped mixtapes). I vowed to never watch the video again though because it was much too much for me to see over and over. By the time I had reached work on Thursday morning the Twitterverse was full of Drake references. Glancing to the trusty "trending topics" section on the right, I saw that Drake was #4 in trending topics. By lunch time, Drake had become #2. He was right under MJ himself. Every single entertainment publication/media outlet that I follow (which is a lot, I'm addicted to pop culture), was posting links and commentary about the video. From Russel Simmon's @globalgrind to the Queen of a**holeness himself, Perez Hilton couldn't help but tweet about it. @MTV had even reposted its counterpart's @MTVbuzz brief article and link to the video, which stated that it was kinda safe to view at work.
Speaking of safe at work, I hit up one of my favorite weekday workforce buddies to ask if he had seen the video. After replying no, I sent the link to him via gchat. He promptly hit me back saying that he had to turn it off because it wasn't "work apporopriate" (lol). Wow...so Drake does soft-core porn huh?
My issue with the video is very, very simple. My theory about why the video is what it is, also is very very simple. Both are as follows:
I don't like the video because....
This isn't what I expected from Drake. This isn't what a lot of Drake fans (especially the female ones) expected from Drake. We expected our beloved Aubrey to make a video that was an ode to his #1. Instead it was an ode to large-chested women who weren't athletic at all. I really thought that the video was going to be more of a Chris Brown "Kiss Kiss" type of thing. I may possibly have been fooled, but I really believed that Drake had a lot more substance in his music than what appeared in his video. Maybe it was because he was hidden behind that "good guy" image. The guy who was blunt, but kinda sexy. Blunt in speech (I mean he does say "you the f***in best"), but someone who would know how to act if you brought him around your fam.
I should have been tipped off by him saying that "you the f***in best." But everything else that he says in the song would make one think that it was an ode to the girl who stood by her man's side. References to being a mascot, and saying "baby you're my everything, you're all I ever wanted..." As a female fan I felt like Drake kinda played me; like that smooth talking guy who treats you good, and then later shows face and is really an a-hole.
However....
I think the GOAL of this video was to draw in his male audience. At this point, weeks before his performance on the BET awards, there were dudes following Drake; guys who have their ears to the streets and are always up on the latest and greatest in regards to up and coming hip-hop stars. However, those who may passivley listen to music weren't really to sure about this Drake guy. He seemed too soft, he didn't really have "swag" and any rapper that all the ladies love had to be a big softie. So with that in mind, I really believe that Drake said "let's give them somehting to talk about." In a way he had nothing to loose. He already had the support of his female fans who were googly-eyed by him (yea, I thought he was that dude, and my 18-year-old freshman in college sister was 10x's worse), and what he really needed was a strong male following. Well how would one do that? Get a bunch of fair-skinned maidens with large breast and toned legs to be a bunch of ditzes and play basketball. So dear Drake, I will still support you, for now, but really homie, you kinda went down on my scale of people who I love.
By releasing a video that was TOTALLY unexpected by everyone who had been following Drake like the hottest NBA draft pick, Drake drummed up the necessary PR that will usher in his forthcoming album with Weezy's label. As crazy as I may sound for this, the industry can and should take note of what it was that Drake did to get to this moment. What he has done is PROOF that:
- A&R is dying, and dying fast
- And mixtapes are the wave of the future.
- Release a mixtape and get healthy buzz on the streets, infiltrate virally, and then SHOCK your followers and its a recipe for success in my humble opinion.
Well, until the release of his first official label release, this Drake fan will be waiting with breath that is bated. Something like a reality show, I want to see if my beloved "wheel chair Jimmy," little Aubrey Graham from Degrassi gets the "last rose."
What Drake has to say about the concept for the video and his BET Awards performance:
What the internets were saying....
Below you'll find some of my favorite responses about the video from those who I follow on twitter (including such media sources as MTV and Rolling Stone)
@missliss87boobs and basketball???...come on Drake, i expected better!... n ur right about the PR @catelouie... i def watched the vid cuz of twitter
groovetopia
@catelouie that was the absolute worse...that dude is trash lol...He don't even believe that him self... (in response to Drake's explanation of the video)RT @TaskProductionsRT @Nic_Da_Sneak son he isn't..ud think cuz he acts he would b ight in his videos..but this nigga awkward as shit. He needs a wheelchair lol
@TaskProductions 1 last Drake tweet…I'm watching the video…they need to record male reaction videos for YouTube lik they did for 2girls1cup lmao
RT @BaltimoresObama: @KaleaAnnai @JohnnyGraham Explain to me why none of the girls in the video dribbled that ball at least once...
@PresidentPeters Finally saw the drake video... I love tittage so I like it. The split on the bench...god bless her
"I feel confident in Drake restarting the world's population. He can do IT." (c) @malhotrashawn
@DAChesterFrenchWonder if the treatment for Drakes video was just like "bouncing boobs and some other shit?"
I wasn't all into Drake anyway because of the hype surrounding him (I'm an anti-hype type of person... I like to discover things for myself once the hype has died down), and I honestly don't really like his voice. I do like some of his songs though (having heard them much later than everyone else)... and after watching the video (again, because of twitter)...
ReplyDeletemy roommate and I have decided that it was a social commentary piece on how the typical video vixens are trash, and you need a girl who really is the best and doesn't necessarily look like Barbie, if you want a winning team.
(I thought the little interludes were freaking HILARIOUS btw)
Honestly, though: you're right, it was PR, pure and simple. (And I don't think the concept wasn't executed well enough considering who the star & the director were AND all the financial backing).
@mixmasternikki
I never thought of the video being a commentary on how you need a girl who really is the best and not necessarily barbie to win.
ReplyDeleteIt's unfortunate that it wasn't more clear, and that when asked about it he gave the worst answers possible about the video's concept.