Opinion: Drake’s popularity is baffling

Jacob Ruffo is a junior journalism major and columnist for The Kent Stater. Contact him at [email protected]

Jacob Ruffo

How many times can the Internet explode defending Drake? He’s a loser; it’s OK to admit it. Let’s just move on without him. He’s personally setting pop culture back because he’s everywhere. He’s like a plague. He infects different things people like and tries to spread his disease.

His songs are all about some girl he used to see, or still sees, or wants to see. They usually have a boyfriend at some point who is not him, but then is him at some point. That’s almost OK. You can get away with it if you do it right. He does not. His songs have hooks such as “you used to call me on my cell phone.” Truly riveting.  

Speaking of that horrible song, the music video is inexcusable. There’s nothing you can say that will defend him for that. What is he doing? He’s wearing a sweater that looks like something a cartoon grandma would wear, while dancing in a way that would put Elaine Benes from “Seinfeld” to shame.

He’s not from the streets. He wasn’t raised in the trap house and he wasn’t even always a rapper. He was the kid in the wheelchair from “Degrassi.” That TeenNick history does not bode well for his reputation.

He roots for whoever is doing the best in every sport. He’s been seen in Toronto Raptors, Cleveland Cavaliers, Kentucky Wildcats, Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea sports gear over the years.

The Toronto gear is cool because he’s from there. He was even hired as the global ambassador for the Raptors. 

The Meek Mill “beef” was generally embarrassing for both parties. People somehow still ate it up. Meek Mill called out Drake for not tweeting his album. He also accused him of not writing his own raps. Drake released a diss track no one cares about called “Baby Lotion Soft” on Twitter by Meek Mill.

At this point in the story you may notice the lack of any face-to-face interaction in this “beef.” In Drake’s second try at a diss track, he released the actually OK, “Back to Back.” It digs into Mill about how he tours with his insanely successful girlfriend Nicki Minaj. Got him! It also doesn’t mention his name at all. Roasted!

Drake could serve a purpose in our pop culture. He could be the niche artist you listen to when bae gets mad at you. That’s fine.

Listen to how Drake felt when people used to call him on his cell phone and feel it yourself. What Drake shouldn’t be however, is all over everything like he is. He shouldn’t be all over any one thing. At best, his songs are average.

He isn’t cool and is always in some sort of spotlight. Memes about him are pretty funny, so those can stay popular. However, you must note, that he doesn’t make those.

Jacob Ruffo is an opinion writer for The Kent Stater. Contact him at [email protected].