Is it a good thing that Drake is making UK/Caribbean influenced music? British rapper Stormzy thinks so.
Drake has taken some slack over the past years for allegedly being a culture vulture of UK and Caribbean music. The most recent time was when he dropped his single “War,” which is reportedly presented using drill-style beats.
While many have questioned Drake’s involvement in the genre, others, like Stormzy, are saying it’s an “undeniably good thing” that he’s giving the style a larger platform. “I think it helps because Drake is undeniably a f*cking massive, gargantuan artist, do you know what I mean? And an incredible artist as well. So having a big incredible artist pay homage or pay recognition to a style or a genre is undeniably a good thing, a positive.”
He acknowledged there will always be naysayers who are against the rapper infiltrating the style. “The undeniability of it is, of course, that brings exposure, and that brings a light to a situation that no one… what Drake has done, in terms of having eyes locked in on our culture, is undeniable. That can’t happen without… that’s a massive light onto what we do. You get your purists who are never going to like that idea of a massive artist getting involved with a niche thing.”
As far as Drake is concerned, he feels anyone who wants to label him as a culture vulture is actually a hater. “I hate that people think that me being into music from these kids that are trying to make it and build a name for themselves is like, ‘Oh, that’s some culture vulture.’ What does that even mean? I don’t understand,” Drake said during an interview back in April. “Would you rather me not acknowledge anything or not support? That’s some real confused hater sh*t.”
