{"id":608,"date":"2018-04-08T10:23:35","date_gmt":"2018-04-08T08:23:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/britishdailynews.co.uk\/?p=608"},"modified":"2018-04-06T10:27:23","modified_gmt":"2018-04-06T08:27:23","slug":"drakes-progress-the-making-of-a-modern-superstar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/britishdailynews.co.uk\/?p=608","title":{"rendered":"Drake\u2019s progress: the making of a modern superstar"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Both R&B loverman and hip-hop thug, Toronto homeboy and global magpie, Drake\u2019s universal appeal has made him the definitive pop star of his generation. How did he get to the top \u2013 and how long can he stay there?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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L<\/span><\/span>ots of weird things have happened at the top of the UK charts: Musical Youth informing the nation which way to pass a joint, one-hit wonders Brian and Michael appraising the work of Mancunian painter LS Lowry, and pop\u2019s forgotten couple Eamon and Frankee spending seven weeks of spring 2004 literally telling each other to fuck off. But the fact that\u00a0God\u2019s Plan<\/a>by Drake just spent nine weeks at No 1 in the UK \u2013 and is still top of the charts in the US \u2013 is easily one of the weirdest<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a song that features two notes, a chorus that is just one line long, and lazy lyrical iterations of oft-visited topics for Drake: how much reputational shine he has given to his home city of Toronto, how non-specific haters wish non-specific ill upon him, and how he is pathologically unable to open himself up emotionally to a woman he has had sex with. Yes, it\u2019s catchy, but he has done all this before with markedly more charisma, not least in 2016\u2019s\u00a0One Dance<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 another song that shacked up at No 1 for weeks on end.<\/p>\n

These are just his most successful chart moments; Drake\u2019s last major release, 2017\u2019s \u201cplaylist\u201d More Life, saw each of its 22 tracks hit the UK top 75. In the interim, the commercial fortunes of tracks that he guested on, such as\u00a0Blocboy JB\u2019s Look Alive<\/a>,\u00a0NERD\u2019s Lemon<\/a>, and\u00a0Migos\u2019 Walk It Talk It<\/a>, have all been boosted by his presence. We have now reached the point where even the B-grade solo material of God\u2019s Plan is a shoo-in for No 1. Why?<\/p>\n