Common, who is one of the OGs in the hip-hop game, doesn’t think that Yasiin Bey’s comments about Drake were completely correct.
In an interview with “The Cutting Room Floor” podcast, rapper-actor Bey, foremrly known as Mos Def, was asked if he considered Drake’s music hip-hop.
“Drake is pop to me, in the sense like, if I was in Target in Houston and I heard a Drake song … it feels like a lot of his music is compatible with shopping,” Bey said. “Or shopping with an edge in certain instances. It’s likeable.”
In an interview with “Ebro in the Morning,” Common was asked about Bey’s comments and his views on hip-hop.
“I think now, artists can be artists,” Common said. “Some people in life, [if] their intention is to just be the pop artist, then so be it. To me, I think Drake comes from hip-hop. When I first heard him rhyming, I was like, ‘Yo, this dude rhyming.’ And if he goes out and makes songs that are popular, that’s what it is.
“It’s pop artists that they have a hit and it’s gone and you forget, ‘Oh, who was that?’ But I mean, this man has touched different aspects of culture and been able to continue to do it ,so you gotta have some respect and know that yo, this dude is a very talented artist.”
Common then went on to praise Bey as well.
“Yasiin is a genius,” Common said. “I’ve been around that dude and I’ve watched him as an actor, as an artist — and I listen to a lot of his raps and … he’s very high-level when it comes to poetic rap. … Just can style on anything, he can do a lot.”
