So according to the official numbers from Soundscan Drake moved 447,000 his first week which T.I. was close to with his prediction. I expected those numbers judging from the fact that his album did leak a month before it’s release but on the flip side I was also prepared for him to do some crazy numbers like a million his first week due to his dedicated fan base. There’s also the fact that the album release took too long, last year when he had a more organic buzz similar to what 50 Cent had in 2003 but not as big would have been the perfect time to drop that album and I feel the numbers would have been double what they are now. There’s a thin line between buzz and saturation, you could be 2 songs from not being hot enough or 2 past being the guy that when people hear you they go “oh not this guy again”.
Through out this year Drake started to become that “not this guy again” artist and that’s because there was just so much of him out there from radio hits to mixtape leaks and everything in-between. It’s not like 7 years ago when the radio mostly dictated what we heard and when we heard it and you received the content in moderation instead oft all at once like the Internet does. 447,000 copies for first week sales is great by any standard though especially for a debut album and it will certainly go platinum. But since Drake represented this change in the game that would give birth to the new generation of rappers and a new business model for the music industry, when he signed to a major many felt he dropped the ball because he didn’t need a major to do these numbers, hence why he said “Never dropped the ball, fuck was y’all thinking” of his Over single.
Drake has already gone the major label route so there is no new business model and of course Drake didn’t want to risk failing going that route, how many of you facing a record deal with a 2 million bonus would leave that on the table to go independent? That’s what I thought. Drake will not be the guy to change the direction of the industry and the way the business operates but he has changed the climate of the type of music artists are making. We were all tired of hearing every single artist talking about drugs, guns and bitches and about your past gangster life before rap when it’s all bullshit, come on every artist lived that life? Nah we not drinking that cool aid. So you can thank Drake for that now, but I guarantee you there’s a rapper out there somewhere working diligently on his music, moderately leaking tracks on the web that will change the music industry and he’ll do it in the next three years.
At the end of the day Drake has a solid album out and he’s talented enough to stick around for years to come and I expect more great music from him. But we’ll have to hold off on that change in the game that we’re all waiting on, one thing is for certain those 360 record deals these labels are handing out now won’t be the future of anything, if your an artist signing those deals you might as well just go to gay bar, bend over and let a hundred gays rape you because that’s exactly what that deal will be like. That’s not a music career that’s a day job….
Chozen out….lol
Thoughts?
6-24-2010
do you know if j cole is in a 360 deal since roc nation has that partnership with livenation for concert ticket distribution?
6-24-2010
Yeah unfortunately he is…..
6-24-2010
i expected a little more…maybe around 800,000.
6-24-2010
Damn chozen.. u my hero lol no dick ridin or nothin but i agree w/ evrything u said! its a shame Drake’s not the 1 evry1s been waitin 4 tho,, but he doin his thing nd makin his money.nd he still a great artist jus like J-Cole…
6-24-2010
man i agree wit some of this shit but everybody needs to get off drakes dick and take in some j cole. the rap game dont need no albums fulla chick songs. Ur telling me every love song this dude writes is true? na its a bunch of fairytale bullshit half the time. alls im saying is drake aint got nothing on these real upcoming artists like j cole and freddie gibbs who are holdin down the streets not the heartbeat of teenage girls.
6-25-2010
that’s where ppl like u are so fuckin’ wrong….every mc that comes out is not gangsta…that’s one of tha main problems in da game right now….u think all these crazy ass stories some of these wanna be thugs tell are all true…HELL NO!!that brings me 2 why i like Drake…he doesn’t pretend 2 be something he’s not when he’s behind tha mic…u have 2 recognize real shit when u see it….Drake is one of tha best out right now…he probably will be for a long time
6-26-2010
Buh u wrong. j cole and drake are kinda the same. Not everyone gota talk about guns and shit. Drake speaks from the heart unlike most of the rappers out here. And who are you to tell people wtf the rap game need. Are you in the rap game HELL NAW. Artist are still makin songz wit that nigga. So STFU
6-27-2010
j cole would eat drake bud.
6-30-2010
J cole is hot but he hasint even came out wit bangers like drake has. And i never said anything about those two goin head to head lil nigga. But we will see who is better when j cole drop a cd.
6-25-2010
maybe and idk but i think if he still droped songs like ransom and still fly or anything other than this bubblegum bullshit he might have sold a million first week
6-25-2010
agreed! realest shxt i’ve heard about drake after the deal!
6-25-2010
I don’t hear the hip hop is dead crying no more….lol. Yet still if you hate Drake, or YM, etc….then maybe your favorite rapper will put up them kind of numbers…smh
6-25-2010
naaa b thats where ur wrong teddybear. drake is a telented musician but belongs in rnb not the rap seen. u dont gotta be a gangsta to hold to the streets down nd it doesnt matter either way rap is genre of music that artists like tupac, andre 3000, and eminem belong in. Tupac wasnt no gangsta he was a strongly emotional person who expressed it through a pen, disregarding real rap because of this drake dude is wack. You put lil wayne and birdmans money behing freddie gibbs and see how he sells, or let jay z promote j cole like wayne and birdman did for drake. i just think drake belongs in rnb singin about his love stories. u enjoy ur sob story music teddyboy ima go take in some real shit. Freddie Gibbs and J cole is where its at on the rap map right now thats real talk. One up.
6-25-2010
u one hatin’ ass nigga…nuthin u says makes sense…i think u jus cant stand da fact that drake is a talented mc who’s probably better than anybody in yo wack ass top 5..stop hatin’ and grow u ….drake shittin on niggas…by the way…how many records j cole sell..lol…if u gon’ come at drake at least have someone worth conversation stupid shit..and drake is in da hood…go ask yo neighbor bout him…9 times out of 10…he won’t know who j cole is…lol…or freddie fag lmao
6-27-2010
j.cole is the most talented artist out.. i ve been listenin to drake since 06.. the only reason u jumped on the band wagon cuz lil wayne started hypin him up… if u cant recognize real music / real talent for example ” j.cole ” then i feel sry for u
6-25-2010
lol!!! Y’all need to grab a chair or suppen and squat, cause y’all Drake haters soundin like some sissies…. Point is, Drake don’t front like he’s the hardest and I quote: “I avoided the coke game and went with sprite instead, Ahaan, thats word to the millions they putting up, am tryna do better than good enough.” Not everybody out their hustling, so when yu do music for the hustlaz yu leave out the majority of people who got other issues like matters of the heart and daily decisions that Drake seems to express so well in his music. Plus he got a nice flow with it so I think he deserves his diplomacy in this rap shit. Biggy changed the flow up, DMX did it too and Kanye. What if Drake pitch in his flavor. I know he’s leaning to the R&B side but that just goes to show how comfy he is in his own skin….. I respect that. He aint worried about what people thinks and thats real cause no matter how good yu do something. There’s always gonna be people to critique it thats one a the facts of life……..
Drizzy you did well son, busy as you said makin music people party to and gettin mon(ey)!!!
6-25-2010
first off teddy bear i aint ur nigga and read the second sentence of my last statement(drake is a talented musician). and it all makes sense u dumb fuck. ITS NOT ABOUT NUMBERS to a real musician u dumb piece of shit. nd for the record my top 5 teddy boy goes 1.tupac 2. eminem 3. andre 3000 4. Jay Z 5. Snoop Dogg
j coleès debut album is yet to drop .
and freddie gibbs . is fire boy . you need to take in some real rap music and change ur radio station or listenin to what you see advertised as good music.
and i DONT hate drake, i think hes a talented RNB artist.
teddy boy u need to get some drake flakes for breakfast and drake pjs for bed, i can tell u get emotional when someone says something against drizzy when u dont even know the tenth of of it.
6-27-2010
lissin pussy…..j cole an freddie fag AINT GOT SHYT ON DRAKE….stop gettin yo panties inna bunch lil bicth…go pop in drake…u kno u bought it..lol
6-28-2010
lmao gettin mad now? u musta missed ur drake flakes this morning, jus watch what j cole does in this industry. ONE
6-28-2010
when 10 ppl actually know who j cole is….then speak on em homo…other den ndat keep yo bitch ass mouth shut…lol!!
6-25-2010
whats the point in comparing artist with way diff styles? if u dont like drake or his album.. dont listen to it lol. if drake wanna point out a album with R&B and Rap then he can do it? cause guess what.. he still gonna sell.. and he still gonna keep making hits! bc tho it may not be you.. some ppl actually like what he’s doing. (like myself). i like j.cole as well.. but im not gonna sit here and debate who’s better. just enjoy the music whether its drake or any other artist. yall gonna go back and forth.. but at the end of it.. yall still gonna listen to who you like..
6-25-2010
i juss feel drizzy shouldnt be Hip Hops new face, other than that i cant hate on dudez skills.
6-25-2010
DRAKES GUD UNDOUBTEDLY SO ANY1 HATIN ON HIM SHOULD GO LISTEN TO DUCCI MANE.EVERYTYM HAS ITS STAR, NOW IZ DRAKES
6-25-2010
Drake? On to the next one… J COLE
6-25-2010
big sean is where its at son
6-27-2010
top 2 in the game…. j.cole and big sean
6-26-2010
No one said Drake was gangsta he does not even kall hisself that. So uhhh STFU bruh. But I thought he would have sold more to be honest. He did good for his first one though. SHIT FIRE. And if people sayin he the new hip hop let that man have the title. Its an opinion not a fact.
Drakes dat NIGGA
6-26-2010
manm just shut up. this album aint no classic, it aint no country grammer, get rich or die trying, chronic, chronic 2000, all eyez on me, pain is love,it aint fucking wit no shady albums, it aint even fuckin wit classic albums period. its decent, WAY over anticipated. u need some drake flakes and drake pajamas homeboy ez
6-30-2010
Nigga Q) did i say it was a classic???? A) No. So stfu. And plus this is 2010 bruh. And for the lil pajamas thing that shit was funny aint gone even front. Maybe you should stop spinin on j coles dick though. kuz wat i see at the bottom u ridin it kinda hard. All i said was the album was the shit Aint goin around dissin niggas and shit. Deuces bruh
6-26-2010
eyy it doesnt matter cuz Em is gonna sell 700,000 atleast and yet he definately isnt getting near as much hype as Drake
6-26-2010
“But I guarantee you there’s a rapper out there somewhere working diligently on his music, moderately leaking tracks on the web that will change the music industry and he’ll do it in the next three years.”
JAY ELECTRONICA
6-27-2010
Man…J Cole isn’t all that good. He’s overrated by this site. Drake is better now and will continue to be better. Sorry, but it’s true.
6-27-2010
j cole is way more talented than drake. his album has no features, its all tracks of 3 versdes of j cole, drakes album had 2 verses on almost everysingle track, even tracks with features and it was over antipacated a lot but it was decent, and j cole can produce his own shit also, whos better? JCOLE
6-28-2010
lol!!! I’ve listened So Far Goneand Roc Nation and Drake’s delivery is better, not by much but better than J. Cole’s. J. Cole owns his own as an artist though……
6-27-2010
go listen to the warm up.. u’ll come back apologizing
6-27-2010
drake is great he gonna be the man for along time until another young rapper changes the game but that would be a diamond in the rough jus by listening to rappers today
6-27-2010
“but I guarantee you there’s a rapper out there somewhere working diligently on his music, moderately leaking tracks on the web that will change the music industry and he’ll do it in the next three years.” …….Wiz Khalifa……maybe, i believe it
6-27-2010
I love Drake and I expected more. The album did leak though and even though it did I went and bought the CD and a lot of my favorite songs were the one it leaked. Not a lot of ppl sell music like back in the day but at least he did what he did with an album leak. Same for Eminem, his entire album leaked.
6-27-2010
It’s sad j.cole always gets name dropped on drake posts, funny how its never the other way around, unless its the cole stans tht bring this stupid coparision up….there nothing a like at all….
6-29-2010
you have think about how shitty the economy is now as well
6-30-2010
why’s everyone gettin all mad…it’s just entertainment…
is it that serious?
i didn’t even buy this niggas album and i still like what he does as an artist..j cole i can’t speak on it cuz i’ve yet to sit down and listen to him…
everyones gettin all mad at their keyboards for nothin..
if you listen to drake you listen to drake…if you listen to j cole you listen to j cole..
you can’t merge the RAP game and HIP HOP…it’s not gonna happen…if i want hip hop i’ll listen to A Tribe Called Quest..
7-1-2010
Drake is full of crap his got nothing……….Eminem is the BOSS!!!! I just wanna be famous be careful what u wish for……..
7-3-2010
Drake’s definitly got SOMETHING, otherwise he wouldn’t even be where he at right now. And No one said Eminem wasn’t the shit, but not the “BOSS”. (no beef[no h0m0])
7-16-2010
i thought drake was gone be the best rapper that wayne went to jail but he aint trying
10-5-2010
man this the best song ever i think yo