On Drake

I was sitting at work when a friend texted me a picture of Drake on the cover of GQ, accompanied by the headlines: "Started From the Bottom." My first thoughts were: Seriously, Drake? Seriously? Phone down. Back to work. Then, as if something just ignited a curiosity fuel...I found myself having a serious urge to buy that issue of GQ, only to see what interesting tidbit he might drop in his interview.

I've never developed huge crazes for celebrities or celebrity sightings because my perspective is that they're all just people to me - unless I stumble across something they say or do that sparks my curiosity, something that gets the wheels churning in my head, and something that urges me to Google Search the shit out of until I come to terms with what I find. My celebrities are people who get me thinking...thinkers, if you will. I love thinkers, I really do. I think the world needs more of them. Anyway, the point of this is to share with you my perspective on Drake - not really of  him per say, but of my perspective on his music and his work, and how in some weird illuminati way... it can forge a  female's perspective on life, on ambition, and of course, on dating. 

I'm sure if you ask any girl out there, they'd say Drake's music really resonates with them because of "xyz": love, dating, and relationships. I'm not gonna lie, he definitely has a way with words that really does seem to capture women. That, I will give. And that, I have to admit I've fallen victim to maybe a couple of times. Maybe. But it's not so much his lines or verses about women and past relationships that get me - but it's about his lyrics on success, on making it, on fear, and on his own reflection of self that really, really get me thinking.  

One of the many things I read over and over again on dating is this whole idea of "loving yourself before you can love someone." The saying is extremely played out and mass produced at this point but honestly, I think I'm starting to understand what it really all means, and I'm going to use music to carve my point. In some of Drake's earlier work, his stuff gets extremely real. It's like a catalog of every emotion he goes through on his climb to his version of success (cue: Say What's Real). I absolutely love this. As a mid-twenties girl navigating NYC on the brink of her career, it get's pretty lonely on this journey. I'm in no way talking about men, but lonely in the sense that it's hard to find people who's on the same path/journey as you. It's the relationship you develop with yourself which consequentially becomes relationships you manifest with other people. I mean, there are definitely people you find navigating the same waters, but it's hard to make them matter when you're so focused on you. It sounds so incredibly selfish but it's 100% true - you have to absolutely love yourself before you can share some of it and open up. Finding someone going through the same motions and thoughts...that's pretty ideal. It's like having a true partner in crime. A hypeman by your side. So key...so incredibly key.

The next is about success and ambition. It's sort of rare these days to stumble across someone who shares the same version of success that you do. We grow up thinking that success is represented in material things - the money, the cars, the clothes - but it's really not. It may be a product of success, but the actual feeling of it is completely unanimous and exclusive from these things. So the question is, what is success? Everyone wants it - but it's up to the person to really find out what exactly success looks like and define it for themselves. So as an ode to all of us who want that life we dreamed of - whatever it may be - we're always preaching the line "I just want to be successful" until the day comes. And until that day comes, we're all just really trying to figure it all out. 

And finally, on dating. There are times in my single moments where I really do not care for men, or relationships in general. In fact, there are times in my single moments where I really enjoy being alone and the decisions I can make for me, and only me. Pick up and move across the country? Why not? Go on as many dates to shop around? Why not? It's all fun, and everyone loves fun. But then there are times where you want something that's a little more of substance, something real. There's always this back and forth between wanting to have a good time, and then wanting something that's real. Hypothetically, I think we all want something that's real, but at least for now, commitment is something so far out of reach - it almost doesn't make sense. So to Drake's point...I get it. I get the Marvin's Room syndrome. You feel like you're missing out on said relationships because you're so engrossed with taking care of you, which is totally fine. But you see everyone you know getting married, diving into engagements, etc...it's almost like you're missing the boat.   And then I realize I'm only 23, and that I'm really not missing any boat...so everything becomes normal again.  But it's a constant roller coaster feeling - it comes and goes - and my only answer to that is timing. Perfect timing.

A friend and I had a discussion about music the other day - how it makes us feel, and how we think music is the perfect way to really get to know someone. Not to get extremely deep, but you somehow enter their soul and learn more about a person sheerly by the type of music selection they exchange with you. It's that whole mix-tape phenomena: Guy makes girl a mix tape to suggest the way he feels about her, etc, etc. I absolutely love it. That's probably a more high-school version of a mix tape, but in adulthood, I think creating a mix-tape is more of a "getting to know you" gesture. It's a little more understated - less direct - but it's brilliant. 

Anyway, I'm a fan of Drake for his depth - totally spurs my curiosity with what he's up to next... to see if there's anything I find that resonates. And to Drake - if you're ever in the city, let's chat.