I will always prefer Drake's newer stuff

One of the most heated debates about Drake is old vs new, and I fall squarely on the new.

In essence, I feel like I'm too young to even get nostalgic about much. Let alone my favourite active artist. As I grow older, I realise more. I'm pretty sure that we've all felt this, but imagine listening back now to a track that you last heard 5 years ago. You understand more and hear more of it. That's what maturing basically is. I feel like Drake has matured with his music through production, and this, in itself, to me, acts as a marker for my growing up through the years. So, just as Drake carried me back then, he's still doing so now. Just to a much deeper level. So, obviously I'll prefer the newer stuff.

Not only that, but I feel like now he expresses himself more directly in a manner that I feel like is conducive of maturing. You just generally have to cut through the noise and say what you mean.

Drake's obvious curse is the same gift that I'm raving about here, being the soundtrack to people's lives. So, in the same breath of praise, you get plenry of criticism. People getting at his subject matter. However, Drake's true superpower, imho, is still seeing himself as the creator of the music. Therefore, he still respects the art. To me, it's not much about the subject matter, but rather how he expresses it. I think that people are pretty unrealistic. The ones who complain most about this are the ones who were in college back then and now have full-fledged lives of their own. They say that back then they could relate to Drake, but not anymore... but it's just like... what are you truly searching for in Drake? Cause it sure as hell can not be relatability at this point!

Drake's actual life isn't relatable to most of us. He is a damn billionaire! To me, it feels like people want him to talk about his riches in a manner that they feel like they are him! Therefore, they are no longer searching for relatability, but rather the exact opposite - they want to envision themselves in him through his music. Which is just weird to me.

Drake will always be Drake. We must remember that no matter how incredibly he pulls off being close to us whilst being what we most hate (a billionaire), he is still the artist. It is stil his vision. It is better to just say you don't like it (the music) rather than giving bogus reasons for it.

His current most striking quality to me, is being able to not take himself too serious. Lyrically, he is at his pinnacle. Has been since Her Loss. Work ethic wise, this is obviously his most productive era. To me, it seems like he is truly enjoying making music, and this in turn translates to immaculate listening experiences.

Yes, in many ways it feels like Drake could retire if he wanted to, and I wouldn't hold it against him because this feels like the bonus scene of a movie. He's done the hard graft, and now it's about him trying his best to serve his fans in his own way. Perhaps because of that I feel closer to his art than ever before, but either way, there's just so much more magic to his music now that I can't help it but enjoy the living fucc out of it!!