A little over three years ago, we, the graduating class, packed onto the President's Lawn to watch the up-and-coming Drake perform at Spring Fling. We were dumb underclassmen and Young Drizzy didn't even have a real album yet, but we were still really excited for it all.
There was morning drinking and it was one of those rare days that wasn't freezing. How could we have not been excited? Many in the crowd only knew Drake for having been shot at Degrassi High and others only for a couple features he had floating around, but you would have never known that from how crazy the crowd went once he finally stepped onto the stage.
A lot has changed since then, for both Mr. Aubrey Graham and for us as well. In only a few years, Drake has gone from being mostly a hook man and a sub-par rapper to one of rap's most respected artists with a Grammy on his mantle to back it up. And we have gone from worried little underclassmen to somehow becoming worried little alumni.
So for this last installment of my column, I thought it would be fitting to take a look at Drake's latest track, "Girls Love Beyonc!E!." While the song pretty liberally takes ideas from Cyril Hahn's remix of "Say My Name," Drake adds enough to the track to keep it from being derivative.
Drake basically has two major modes. One is his cocky, swagged-out persona (see: "The Motto" and "Under Ground Kings" for examples) and the other is his contemplative and solemn one (see: "Marvin's Room" and "Take Care" for examples).
"Girls Love Beyonc!E!" is clearly in the second camp. Its chorus is a somber appropriation of Destiny's Child's 1999 song "Say My Name," and Drake's verses have him dealing with how his fame may have made it impossible for him to ever meet a woman who will love him for him and not for the fame, money or work.
At first, the reworking of "Say My Name" in the chorus seems weird, mostly because its message seems at odds with what Drake's verses are getting at. "Say My Name" is about the members of Destiny's Child standing up to the men in their lives who they know are doing them wrong, while Drake's verses are about dealing with the difficulties of his lifestyle. Eventually the mixing of the songs starts to sound right, though. When the chorus is sung, it's instantly familiar. You immediately know this throwback jam, even if you are hearing "Girls Love Beyonc!E!" for the first time.
It's nothing new, and that's the point. Drake's problems with celebrity and finding a girl who is real are also nothing new either. They've been in his songs since his first album and the fact that this continues to permeate his words throughout the years shows how much it bothers him. Give Drake credit for making something that most people would kill for - his celebrity status and wealth - sound like a horrible curse.
Ever since Kanye West went emo on his album "808s & Heartbreak" (2008), it's been acceptable for rappers to spill all of their feelings into songs, but no one has consistently done this in an interesting way except for Drake. It might be the same message, but he's found different modes for it throughout his career. "Girls Love Beyonc!E!" is a solid song that suggests another strong album from Drake in the near future, one that promises to survive the hype it will receive.
As I close out my final column, I'd like to thank all those who have read it over the year and those who might have also even enjoyed it a little bit. It's been fun, guys.
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Joe Stile graduates today with a degree in political science. He can be reached at Joseph.Stile@tufts.edu.
