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Drake’s ‘Views’ Success Proves Meek Mill Lost Rap Feud

By Frank Yemi
Published on: 00:50 PST, Jun 15, 2016

Meek Mill’s motive for publicly feuding with Drake has been a point of discussion. The Philly rapper has two singles that feature Drake, “Amen” and “R.I.C.O.,” both are certified gold by the RIAA. It is believed that Meek calling out Drake on Twitter was an emotional response to the Canadian rapper not tweeting out his album.

Others have speculated that Meek Mill was upset that Quentin Miller wouldn’t write for him.

Miller himself did not confirm or deny this claim stating, “I’m not getting into detail about that. That’s a wrap.”

If Meek Mill’s goal was to destroy Drake’s career, he has failed, at least in terms of the rapper’s commercial appeal. Drake’s Views is trending to be his most successful album. Views was certified platinum in its first week and makes him one of the few artists in the last decade to hold the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 for six consecutive weeks.

For many, Drake’s artistry has been called into question due to allegations that he uses ghostwriters. By definition, a ghostwriter is someone hired to write music officially credited to another person. The alleged ghostwriter, Quentin Miller, is credited as a writer on six different songs on Drake’s mixtape If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late.

This led many to view Meek Mill’s comments as an attempt at slander or the idea that he doesn’t write his own raps an exaggeration.

Other’s feel that in hip hop, it is imperative that rappers write their own lyrics, as the art form is one expressing themselves with their own words.

One rapper who has embraced collaborating with other writers is Kanye West, who publicly thanked Future and Drake for their contributions to his album The Life of Pablo.

Despite Drake’s artistry coming into question, he is still sought after as a songwriter. Diddy revealed that he wanted Drake to write a song for him, which led to a dispute. The Canadian rapper has also been credited as a writer for many other artists, including Rita Ora, Beyoncé, DJ Khaled, and Meek Mill’s girlfriend, Nicki Minaj.

Drake’s Views also signifies that the majority of music fans are not concerned whether a rapper works with songwriters or write the entirety of a song on their own.

Having other people write lyrics in hip hop was never controversial. Dr. Dre openly uses writers for his raps, and Eazy-E once bragged about Ice Cube writing his rhymes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzz8ZjGtME0

Drake himself has responded to ghostwriting allegations by stating that songwriting can be a collaborative process.

“I need, sometimes, individuals to spark an idea so that I can take off running. Music at times can be a collaborative process, you know? Who came up with this, who came up with that – for me, it’s like, I know that it takes me to execute every single thing that I’ve done up until this point. And I’m not ashamed.”

Whether it is the producer creating the music or a singer writing the hook, most songs are, in fact, a collaborative process.

If Meek Mill’s goal was to discredit Drake’s lyrical originality, he may have had some success. Some rappers criticize Drake while other defended him, thus leaving the “One Dance” rapper with mixed reviews.

On the other hand, if the rap beef was an attempt to hurt Drake’s career in terms of success, Meek Mill has failed.

Meek Mill’s follow-up to the gold-certified Dreams Worth More Than Money is also going to be closely monitored as the two rappers are likely going to draw numerous comparisons due to their feud.

Drake’s albums frequently draw mixed reviews despite their commercial success. Do you think this is due to the fact that Drake hasn’t taken the risk to change his sound, which is heavily dancehall and R&B influenced?

[Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images]

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