The last work of his that I enjoyed was "Take Care" and the last I really checked for was "Hotline Bling" in 2016. I thought it was his commercial peak then and there, but somehow I kept hearing about him getting #1 albums and songs, the latest being the newly released Sza feature. And it's not just in the US, but in many European countries as well.

 

How does he keep being strong in the game for so long? Does he have a very dedicated core fanbase? Or is he just a darling to the mainstream hip-hop community?

 

I don't even know what to ask. I'm just too amazed by his longevity.

Edited September 22, 20233 yr by superben

It's mostly his fanbase and girls that have kept him afloat for the past 15 years.

His fanbase is just the entirety of the GP. The ones that perceives his music as being "cool" to listen to. He has a lot of cool factor.

 

As soon as he tried to do something "different" with his music his fanbase dropped him. The way Honestly Nevermind bombed last year is so funny 

5 minutes ago, Jamie Starr said:

It's mostly his fanbase and girls that have kept him afloat for the past 15 years.

I don't think the fanbase part is true at all. He is one of the most GP acts I can think of.

 

To answer the question, I don't know but I remember being amazed at his number of constant hits even pre-Take Care. He is so unendingly annoying to me but just from a numbers standpoint it's so impressive.

He always had a big fanbase and GP interest, and it grew even bigger after the Hotline Bing - One Dance - Work - Controlla run he had 2015-2016. 

His pure sales are abysmal and his streams are massive which is indicative of either two things: 1. He has a fully GP reliant career or 2. His 'fans' (in the traditional sense) stream more instead of buy his work.

 

I think its a mixture of the two. He has a massive fanbase who will fight stan twitter constantly but their commercial behavior is more GP-like. They dont support, they dont buy, they just stream, but theyre still fans nontheless.

 

I also think its important to note that Drake has a stronger female demographic vs other male rappers. Hes just generally cool.

Drake has a v large fan base that spans age, gender, race, etc. and he’s one of the few artists of the last decade that has been able to hold on to the GP which is no easy feat and quite impressive tbh

Because nobody really gives a damn about Miss drake. She’s become so annoying to me. 

He’s at Rihanna / Taylor level where no matter what he releases will be consumed by the GP even if it’s a turd 

- huge (high GP) fanbase

- has connections w/ many artists

- good blend of pop, R&B, rap material

- lightskin privilege 

1 hour ago, JawBreaker said:

His fanbase is just the entirety of the GP. The ones that perceives his music as being "cool" to listen to. He has a lot of cool factor.

 

As soon as he tried to do something "different" with his music his fanbase dropped him. The way Honestly Nevermind bombed last year is so funny 

the way the album title became a little bit too ironic amongst himself and his fans

GP carried, a bit like Ed Sheeran if he dropped pop bangers every 3 months.

He doesn’t get nearly enough credit on here, but his longevity and consistent success over 14 years is just astounding and unmatched by any other current artist except Taylor.  

Obviously he's got many other things going for him (which others have listed) but he definitely benefitted from peaking at the same time rap music did as well. He had hits but it wasn't until the mid-late 2010s that he really took off, and rap was unstoppable at that time

It's mainly because of his streams and that straight men/some girls, love him

 

he doesn't even make good stuff anymore, but some people are so used to just listening to him that it may be a small percentage people - but that's enought to still gets certified

like..Streaming is free..he isn't a strong Seller, but he is a King in Streaming - people don't lose anything

 

I can give him the longevity thing, because : he has been releasing consistently+what the GP want - tho

He appeals to multiple audiences (hip hop, R&B and pop, as well as foraying into dancehall, reggaeton, UK rap, Brazilian funk, even post-dubstep at one point) and has a distinct "ambience" and style of songwriting.

 

He's past his quality peak (2011-2015), but every now and then reminds us of why we fell in love with him in the first place (Churchill Downs, Seeing Green, Sticky, Girls Need Love remix, Champagne Poetry, etc).

Edited September 22, 20233 yr by Virgos Groove