1st Place, Pro-Con Opinion Columns
2021-22, Division 4, News Writing
By Eliot Schlaack & Rhys Conybeare
Wind-Up
St. Joseph HS
Drake is the Consistent GOAT
A man known by many names, Drake’s fame is immeasurable. His excellence is unchallenged; his greatness irrevocable. And yet, there are those who still place him in a box. A box personified by phrases like “CLB mid” or “Donda Better.”
The nature of Kanye West’s music is chaos. His artistic style fluctuates frequently, and for some, this is his appeal. In contrast, Drake masterfully creates symphonies of sound—repeating what works, but maintaining enough variation in his music to keep his listeners captivated. Combining melodic choruses with well-chosen features and the iconic OVO sound, Drake gives us consistent greatness.
The nature of Drake and Kanye’s music are differ-ent in more ways than not. In the wildly loved song, “Champagne Poetry,” off of Certified Lover Boy (CLB), we get to experience Drake in his greatest form: a melodic intro edited throughout the song combined with well-enunciated varying flow. Later in the same album, on the track “IMY2,” we hear Drake’s singing ability incorporated with his rap. Alternatively, Kanye spent most of the time on his new album yelling at us over hard-to-listen-to, bass-heavy beats carried by features.
Music taste is relative, and for that reason, there will always be debate driven by personal opinion. Despite this, Drake is objectively better. According to Forbes, Drake’s latest project has also obliterated records: reaching 153 million streams in the first day – a Spotify record. West’s Donda nearly reached an impressive 100 million first day streams, but fell short. To further this point, Drake, the most decorated Billboard winner in history, was awarded with the Billboard music Artist of the Decade award; Kanye was too busy doing push ups in the Falcons Stadium.
Additionally, when Kanye West spent three months teasing and editing his highly anticipated album, Donda, Drake was lurking in the shadows. When Kanye eventually released his wild, 27 song project, it sold 309,000 units (units are how the music industry determines success, using both streams and sales) in its first week out — the highest in 2021. Yet when Drake dropped the unadvertised Certified Lover Boy, it sold 613,000 units in the first week. In the first eight days of Donda being out, it amassed 423 million streams. Drake hit 430 million in three. Clearly, despite Kanye communicating the product, he still couldn’t make money off the product quite like Drake.
The numbers are there, but some people simple prefer sub-par alternatives. Like how some people choose Pepsi when Coke is an option, or when some people listen on Pandora when Spotify is available. Some people choose Kanye West, even though Drake is right there in front of them. These analogies prove my point: some people are just wrong.
Kanye is the 21st Century Warhol
As Andy Warhol once said, “Art is what you can get away with,” and Kanye is the true embodiment of Warhol’s idea. Kanye is a controversial icon of our today’s pop culture scene, but also one of the greatest artists of all time.
808s and Heartbreaks is both his most acclaimed album and his most influential album. Within the album, he used a TR-808, which according to Genius.com, was a cheap rhythm composer that was a commercial failure. Undaunted, Kanye used this instrument throughout the entire album, which sparked a generation of 808 users, such as Kid Cudi, Jay-Z, and even Drake. The TR-808 is now common within the music industry, and we would have Kanye to thank for that.
In the 2013 album, Yeezus, Kanye begins to build his narcissistic image that he is known for. Similar o Andy Warhol’s outside persona, Kanye built this controversial image in which he saw himself as the next coming of Jesus. In a New York Magazine article hailing the same thing, journalist Mark Stevens asks, “is Warhol satirizing what he was supporting? This tricky Warholian guise developed into a widely practiced art-world racket.” Likely, Kanye was included in this sentiment.
Though Warhol was a visual artist and Kanye is a musical artist, both have been compared to each other by Paul McCartney. In a Rolling Stone interview, McCartney talks about how he has worked in depth with both artists and how they share a similar facade.
In an article published in the Stanford Daily, Vidyuth Sridhar says that “West’s unapologetic attitude only manifests further as the tracks progress.” He was satirizing exactly what he was supporting. By acting a narcissist, he was making his outside image into one of a narcissist.
What about Donda, though? The 2021 album caused a fair amount of controversy because of his constantly changing features, album cover, and release date. Though frustrating, I would argue that it’s a part of the creative process that drums up excitement.
His modern endeavors, including his 2020 presidential run and his Yeezy line, are much different than other artists of his time. Drake doesn’t have many controversies, but I would argue that some controversies make an artist an artist. Even with this taken into account, the twenty-two time Grammy winner is preferred by 61.9% of SJHS’ student population, according to Wind-Up’s November survey.
Whether or not you like his controversial takes on Twitter, you cannot deny his extreme influence he holds over the music industry and the world in general. Also, let’s not forget that he doesn’t have a jacuzzi… What a humble man.
NW-10. Pro-Con Opinion Columns
Each entry must:
- have two (2) columns that express opposing viewpoints on one topic
- the columns should be written by two people and should be packaged together on the same date in the opinion/editorial section
- have both columns submitted together in the same entry form
- have a standing head that indicates the pro/con nature of the package
- carry bylines or other writer identification to indicate the personal opinion nature of the content
Judging Criteria
- Topics relevant to interests and/or welfare of school or students
- Two pieces, while offering opposing views, are consistent in style and tone
- Both pieces win reader interest with compelling leads
- Present evidence/interpretation in logical sequence
- State issue; uses effective examples, facts and comparisons to clarify
- Deal with specific issue; avoids preaching, rhetoric and clichés
- Show sufficient thought and knowledge of subject, developed with personal style
- Sentences, paragraphs of varied length; written clearly, concisely and vividly
- Proper diction/grammar