Drake. The 21st century disciple hailing from the north. He has become a mogul, even a symbol for emotion, via his lyrical content chalk full of commentary on topics of ex’s, feelings towards loss and the need for the lost loved one in his life. Is he merely appealing to the mainstream media by having relate-able hooks and relating to the modern teen going through relationship issues and post break up depression? Or is he stumbling upon an age old belief and making anew of masculinity? Or is he nothing more than the best radio presence, “we’ve ever had?”
Amongst an industry saturated in hard hitting 808’s, trunk-rattling bass, the word “hoes” being utilized more than the word “the,” gun violence, content of cocaine dealing and usage, etc., there’s the Toronto native who rebounds with lyrics talking not of heavy sizzurp sippin’, but of forgetting to call his girl on her birthday and realizations of needing someone he thought he may not of. This is Drake and he’s been a presence ever since his origin into the mainstream back in 2009.
Masculinity. The idea, fiction or non-fiction, of men being “manly”, “real-men”, not exploiting emotion, i.e. stereotypical manly-men characteristics. This idea has “cookie-cuttered” men into what they should and shouldn’t be, and has made men face a sense of covert depression due to a lack of release of feelings. In a world of music videos of face-tattooed, heavy-jacketed, gun-toting “real-men”, the idea of a real man has been made into something that may be negatively effecting and even harming the lives of the current day male youth.
So how is Drake’s existence effecting this near tragic phenomenon? All jokes of Drake being sensitive set aside, he is making way and providing room for men to feel comfortable with natural emotions. He is a colossal superhero in pop-culture, adored by plentiful women; he is a role model and an activist for the sensitive man. He even affiliates with men of the opposite spectrum the likes of Fredo Santana, creating a metaphorical bridge connecting the hard drug influenced trap figure to a softer, less aggressive rap style. He may not be altering the concrete definition of masculinity, but he definitely is placing his hands in the wet concrete of changing the way a man can visualize his emotions. Men will always be men but Drake is making the man a more comfortable man, a more complex man who does in fact have emotion, opposed to the old school individualistic, self-driven idea. Drake: the new age man.
-Zach
