Have you heard of Drake? He’s the new “it” guy in hip hop and a pretty talented young dude working with the right people and rapping about the stuff that will make you popular in 2009.
He has a song out that I find quite sad. The name of the song is “Successful” and it is very well done. Great beat. Catchy hook. It’s been hot on the radio here in Atlanta for months. I’m pretty sure it’s not meant to be sad. Let me tell you about it.
Like any red-blooded American Canadian, Drake declares on the track, “I just wanna be successful” and I can get with that. Heck – I just wanna be successful too, you know? The song takes a sad turn, though, when it incorrectly defines the success that Drake wants as something so far from it that it will never produce his desired goal.
Here’s the hook (which summarizes the song),
I want the money, money and the cars, cars
And the clothes, the hoes I suppose
I just wanna be, I just wanna be successful
I just wanna be, I just wanna be successful
I just wanna be, I just wanna be successful
See the problem? It’s certainly not that Drake wants to be successful! It’s his definition of success.
Drake: Meet Andy Stanley
Andy Stanley: Meet Drake
In Andy’s new book, The Principle of the Path, he details how the wrong path to the right goal will NEVER get you to your destination.
No matter how much I may want I-75 to take me to Los Angeles, it won’t happen. Miami? Maybe. Detroit? Sure. Compton? Not going to happen.
The wrong interstate, no matter how well you drive on it or even the quality of your car or the grade of your gas… won’t get you to the right place because it wasn’t built to take you there.
In fact, the more time you waste on the wrong path to the right place, the longer and harder it is to fix the problem.
Drake, I assure you that having all of the money, cars, clothes and hoes you suppose does not equal success brother. The ride may be fun…for a while…but it won’t last.
Speaking of wrong paths…are you on the wrong path to the right goal? Because if we were honest with ourselves, most of us are more like Drake than we wanna admit.
—–
Here’s Drake’s Song Successful on YouTube (Rated R Version)
Thanks to Brad for sending me Andy’s book! You’re the bomb man!
{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
This seems to be a slight difference in posts from you Bro. Shaun. What prompted you to drop this post?
Glad that you wrote this. hopefully more young people will see this and understand that what he is saying is not success…
Simple. Heard the song while I was reading the book I mentioned and thought about how much the two ideas needed each other.
thank you for this. best explanation for this topic that i have ever heard… so needed in this world.
Good post…i've heard a few podcast on the principal of the path and will definitely be reading the book. Unfortunately our generation labels success by the amount of money you have, the number of "hoes" you can posses, and the type of clothes you wear. These "success symbols" don't lead to true success at all. "The path to success is narrow and isn't filled with these success symbols but the path that leads to destruction is wide and full of money, cars, clothes and hoes" Mat 7:13(jpc version). At the end of the day having a relationship with Christ will guarantee success. in the words of Jeremy camp…GIVE ME JESUS!!!!
JPC
I agree. I don’t like that song, for those exact reasons. And Drake’s other song ‘every girl in the world’ has such a catchy beat I almost forget it has such a ridiculously toxic message. Why do we accept rappers who produce such garbage?
It is real easy to be caught by a songs tune/hook that we totally miss that “toxic” message but find ourselves singing it later. And this isn’t limited to just rap/hiphop. Country and rock are just as bad.
This is a great connection you’ve made Shaun. Thanks for sharing it.
Cool beans.
Good post shaun. I know that Drake needs to hear this, but honestly I need to hear this daily.
Great reminder for all of us.
It is easy to define happiness in things we get and things we have and miss the fact that our happiness is found in God and the grace of Jesus.
I'm not sure how much research you did on the song but Trey Songz actually wrote this hook and he has explained it quite a bit in the past. He and Drake have said a couple times that this isn't what they believe true sucess is but rather what the hip-hop industry has made young peole believe it is. Trey has even stated that by throwing the "i suppose" at the end of the line he was highlighting that as young men him and Drake really are unsure of what success is. As in, I want the money, the cars etc,well I suppose that's what I want because that's how success has been defined. I just figured I'd throw that out there. Interesting piece though.
Awesome post. I've been thinking a lot about this song since I heard it. I even went as far as to re-write the chorus because I, like you, and many others feel that Drake has it all wrong. My rewrite said, "I seek the kingdom not the money and the cars, cars and the clothes, the h*#$. I just wanna seek, I just wanna seek His kingdom." I told some people this, young people who I go to church with, and they practically laughed me out of the room. But I was as serious as a heart attack because I felt like he is giving people the wrong formula to success. And even if he is talking about the industry's definition of success and not wanting it, he is actually buying into himself. I think we get fooled into thinking these rappers are being deep and conscious just because their lyrics seem antithetical to the industry but it's not the lyrics we need to follow, it's their lives. It's similar to how we as Christians may know the Bible front to back, but if we don't have a life that is a reflection of the word inside of us, it doesn't matter.
I, too, felt sad when I heard this song, Pastor. In fact, it played this morning as I was shuffling through radio stations, and while the beat was "hot," subliminally it had a very dark undertone—like a drone (I kinda have a "sixth sense" to notes behind the music). My mind wandered to the death of Michael Jackson, and how one of his closest friends on CNN stated that MJ lived in a perpetual state of incompleteness–as if he never had history-breaking success. Here is the "King of Pop" feeling unfulfilled–while Drake sings about reaching that level! Both roads lead to the same dreary end–absolutely nothing. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world AND LOSE HIS SOUL? I actually pray that youth listen to the darkness of the song–and here the confusion this song presents…that "successful" is relative. And that the only way to have constant success is not through works and deeds, but through our Savior, Jesus Christ. The devil counterfeits everything..yet he cannot imitate wholeness. Thank you for this post. God Bless.
Ok, I would have to disagree with you on this song. If you realize the chorus is sang by two different people, both Trey Songz and Drake. The first part seems like that is what every young rapper and many youth want when they get the spotlight usually, pay close attention to the words "I suppose". Then it seems like the last part, sang by Drake, tells a side of a young man who is just wanting to be successful in spite of the all the other stuff. Seems like he is pleading with everyone else that he wants to be successful and society wants him to want whatever else. Pay attention to everything else and critically analyze the song for more than just words, find the hidden meaning.
Not everyone is to agree and I know that is a way that people analyze things and interpret meanings. But this is where I stand.
All you need to lighten up!!! What drake is saying is he sees all the
bs the industry puts on supposedly being
Successful! And he just wants to showcase his talent without having to live up to that bs! You have to be in tune
With rap and not just look in from the sideline judging. Let me judge every god fearing person
By the acts of christians killing muslims, muslims killing christians, muslims enslaving people, catholic priest molesting
Children, ect……….. Hum! Oh ok now I remember not all religious people do those things!!!
Well not all rappers do either! Success is how you define it! And christ although I love him is not the only way to GOD!
To all the people rationalizing and analyzing, you may not have heard some other masterpieces of Drake's like; I jut wanna [expletive] every girl in the world, Money to Blow, Video Girl, Best I ever Had (you can guess what he's referring to), and the beautiful ode to murder; Killa. This boy is the same as every othe lost man and women outside of Christ. From the time I was weened from a bottle I had hiphop flowing in my ears, but once The LORD gave me a clean heart and renewed a right Spirit within me, I knew I could no longer grieve my Immanuel with this foolishness. Honestly I resisted giving up my music and still to this day find myself nodding to some new trax that are pleasing to my ears…but it aint right. CONT
…Anyone with any amount of discernment can see that there is nothing introspective or thoughtful about Drake or MOST other mainstream artists of any genre these days. Im not just trying to hate on the man, I just see what these kind of songs do to the young people that hear them. Trust me a majority are not saying, oh well he said I suppose…wow, I dont want these worldly things…no, their phone rings and they sing: "Cars and clothes, money hoes hoes", thats as far as the thought process goes. That is unless a responsible strong brother or sister points out the deception of these cultural terrorist like Universal Records, Interscope and other wealthy tyrants that are draining people of their ability to see Truth.
I think the best definition comes from God himself through the Apostle describing a successful life, "As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; AS SORROWFUL, YET ALWAY REJOICING; AS POOR, YET MAKING MANY RICH; AS HAVING NOTHING, AND YET POSSESSING ALL THINGS." Amen
Thanks to the writer who is making a good point. In today's society, our young African American students are growing up thinking, to be successful is having money, cars, clothes, and the h#$@ (I suppose) are what make a person. Having happiness, peace and love for one another is success and stop killing one another.
Sure we all want money, but look at some billionaires, they are not happy. They run from women to women, and at the end, someone close to them, kills them. What about all the deceases in the world that is rapidly spreading. There are deceases out here now days that do not have any cures for them.
So Drake, I like some of your Music because your rapping is so clear. Take all that talent that God has blessed you with, and bless another through your music. Too many of our youths are being thrown to the wasteside and are out for destruction. You may be the one that can save them. They will listen to you through your music. PEACE and LOVE.