Masta Ace Says Drake Chased Hit Data However Praises OVO Star’s Bars

Masta Ace weighed in on the “Is Drake Hip-Hop?” debate in an interview with AllHipHop’s Chuck Creekmur. The revered rapper seen Drake as an artist who went the pop route but maintained bona fide rap credentials.

“That is what I’ll say about Drake: his sensibilities are nonetheless there,” Masta Ace defined. “He’s nonetheless the identical man. He simply acquired launched to the music trade. He had a success report. He noticed what that regarded like. He was like, ‘Oh, that is straightforward. So, I don’t even should get tremendous lyrical actually. I can do that and win.’ And so, after all, some artists are gonna chase that and a few artists are gonna run from that. I used to be extra of an artist that type of ran from it.”

Masta Ace recalled his personal expertise with a success single, noting how he shied away from radio-friendly music after the success of his music “Born to Roll.” The legendary Juice Crew member didn’t need to sacrifice his artistry, however he didn’t begrudge Drake for pursuing a unique path.

“’Born to Roll’ blew up and it was everywhere in the radio and all of that,” Masta Ace mentioned. “And I didn’t need to chase that. I needed to remain throughout the artistry of what I used to be making an attempt to do. I might’ve simply began making radio information like loopy. But it surely simply didn’t really feel proper to me. I perceive why he did what he did. However for me as an artist, what it comes all the way down to is that this: can he rap or not? The reply is sure. Child is sweet, interval. You may not like all of the songs. It is likely to be an excessive amount of singing, an excessive amount of Autotune. Hear, I don’t like each little ditty bop music that he makes. However when he goes in and he goes bar work, it’s high quality. So, that’s my tackle Drake.”

Masta Ace teamed up along with his go-to producer Marco Polo to launch their album Richmond Hill in January. The 2 mentioned the mission and far more of their dialog with AllHipHop.

Take a look at the complete interview beneath.