It’s official; Drake now has the most Hot 100 Top 10 hits in history. Until earlier this week, he was tied with Madonna at 38, but his new two-pack of DJ Khaled-backed singles, “Popstar” and “Greece,” debuted at #3 and #8 respectively. This new milestone is just further proof that he has reached a unique level of stardom. The Beatles were the biggest and most popular artist of the 1960s, reaching the highest forms of stardom that had never been seen before. Michael Jackson ran the music industry and the radio in the late 1970s to early 1980s. The Beatles scored 34 top 10’s throughout their legendary career, while Michael Jackson sits at 30. I think it’s time to admit that Drake is the artist who has ran the 2010s unlike any other. My argument is not that Drake is the greatest of our generation, since that’s extremely subjective, but I think it is at least fair to say that he’s simply the biggest. He is our generation’s superstar and he’s reached the point of popularity that only few other artists in history have before him. The craziest part of Drake breaking this newest record, is the fact that he will undoubtedly have more songs land in the Top 10, considering he’s set to drop his sixth studio album sometime this summer and he’s showing no signs of slowing down in the foreseeable future.
Drake’s impressive run has already lasted a decade, and is still going strong. His debut album, Thank Me Later was released in 2010, and included hit songs “Find Your Love,” “Fancy” and “Over.” It’s crazy to think that was 10 years ago.. all three of those songs would still ring off at a party today. Each Drake era has had its fair share of memorable tracks; ranging from deep album cuts such as “Too Much” off of 2013’s Nothing Was the Same to hard-hitting trap records such as “Digital Dash” off his 2015 collaborative project with Future, What a Time to Be Alive. Even in the Views era of 2016, the charts were flooded with Drake pop records in “One Dance,” “Controlla,” “Too Good,” and, of course, “Hotline Bling.” However, some of Drake’s content within the more recent years have been meme-worthy and sometimes even cringeworthy (see the aforementioned “Hotline Bling” music video and his attempt at a TikTok jingle in “Toosie Slide”). Although it would ultimately be fair to critique some of Drake’s music with the argument that he has sometimes sacrificed quality for popularity, I don't think these songs will tarnish his legacy. “Toosie Slide” is the most recent example of this, as it's not much of a ground-breaking song.. in fact, it’s rather generic and almost came across as him shamelessly trying too hard to make a hit record catered to the young audience of TikTokers. However, it did still land on the charts, and at the end of his career, it will just add to the diversity of his discography.
Every move he has made throughout his career has been a calculated one, and he has carefully and successfully catered to multiple audiences, dipping his toe in multiple genres; pop, hip-hop, R&B, dancehall, UK rap, etc. He’s able to play both the polite, Canadian popstar and the convincingly hard rapper that you don’t want smoke with, and everything in between. Most people who dislike Drake don’t have a concrete reason other than the fact that he's too popular, but at this point it’s extremely difficult to discredit his talent and legacy. Among the sea of pop records and hit songs, one thing that's often overlooked when it comes to Drake's legacy, is the fact that he is an elite rapper. All you have to do is analyze his verses on "When to Say When" off of his 2020 offering, Dark Lane Demo Tapes, comprised of leaks and throwaway tracks. It's hard to believe that he can still rap as well as he does on that song in 2020, have it be considered a throwaway song, and still have his rapping abilities overlooked. Whether you admire or despise his unique body of work, he has set out to be the biggest in the world and he’s done just that by being such a diverse artist. With this in mind, the thought of making a Drake “Greatest Hits” album is almost overwhelming and cutting it down to a sizeable track-list would be no easy task.. let alone the fact that he’s still putting out content.
On his newest release to date, “Only You Freestyle” with UK drill rapper Headie One, he effortlessly flows over a UK drill beat using UK slang and even dropping a bar in Arabic. This is just the newest example of how easy it is for him to make a hit record and adapt to any musical style at the same time. Whether you like the songs or not, if it has his name on it, it’s going to do the numbers. That’s just the point we are at now. On “Only You Freestyle,” he raps; “so much people buy into my hype, don’t make me have to buy my hype too.” He’s acknowledging that anything he drops will shoot up on the charts solely because the large majority of listeners are sold, or will at least tune in based off of his name alone. He ends his verse arrogantly stating; “word to the M-O-B I’m tied to / I’m giving up when I decide to.” His legacy lives on and it will only end when he decides he’s done.
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