Drake, Wu-Tang Forever: New song inspires jokes from Wu-Tang fans. (AUDIO)

Drake Drops Wu-Tang-Inspired Song, to the Dismay of Wu-Tang Fans Everywhere

Drake Drops Wu-Tang-Inspired Song, to the Dismay of Wu-Tang Fans Everywhere

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Brow Beat
Slate's Culture Blog
Sept. 13 2013 4:38 PM

Drake Drops Wu-Tang-Inspired Song, to the Dismay of Wu-Tang Fans Everywhere

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Drake

Photo by George Pimentel/Getty Images

Maybe when Drake revealed the track list for his upcoming album Nothing Was the Same, people simply didn’t pay attention to the title of the fourth track, “Wu-Tang Forever.” Or maybe they genuinely expected Drake’s new song to both resemble and live up to the work of the legendary hip-hop group, beloved for their innovative sampling, gritty beats, and intricate lyrics. Whatever the case, some fans of the clan seem baffled by “Wu-Tang Forever,” which the rapper released yesterday, because it sounds “way more Drake than Wu-Tang.”

A side-by-side image comparing Drake’s lyrics from the song and Inspektah Deck’s lyrics from the Wu-Tang song “Triumph,” has been making the rounds on Twitter: Drake’s lyrics, directed at an unidentified “girl,” can’t possibly measure up to Inspektah rhymes like “I bomb atomically/ Socrates’ philosophies and hypotheses/ Can’t define how I be dropping these mockeries.” Others dislike the instrumentals for Drake’s tune as well: “How can Drake title a song “Wu-Tang Forever”…when the entire thing sounds like it was made in a bubble bath?” one music fan tweeted.

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At least one listener requested that the group “speak up about this koonary [sic]” and had his wish granted, though perhaps not in the way he hoped.

Clearly Wu-Tang is on board with the track, which samples the beginning of Raekwon's verse from “It’s Yourz” and name-drops them in the lyrics (“Young nigga came through on his Wu-Tang”). And plenty of Drake’s actual fans are happy about it as well; it’s a pretty standard and solid effort from the artist, with Drake doing what he does best: rapping and crooning about love over slick production. I recommend just enjoying it for what it is.

Aisha Harris is a Slate culture writer and host of the Slate podcast Represent.