Even without Drake by his side, Faiyaz still mimics him in little ways, like his half-hearted rapping on “Rolling Stone.” Drake is indeed the obvious touchpoint for an entire generation of male R&B singers. Last year, Faiyaz recruited Drake onto his single “Wasting Time,” a breezy 2000s radio throwback produced by the Neptunes. The music critic Dani Blum, reviewing Wasteland for Pitchfork, writes, “Drake is the obvious touchpoint for all this, both blueprint and benefactor.” Like so many rappers and singers of his generation, Faiyaz inflicts this comparison on himself. 1.Įven as Faiyaz cultivates his own massive fan base, he hasn’t outgrown the standard comparison to Drake. 2 on the Billboard 200, nearly toppling Bad Bunny’s juggernaut, Un Verano Sin Ti, now in its eighth week at no.
It’s also a somewhat stunning commercial success: Wasteland debuted at no.
It’s one of the strongest R&B albums by a male singer in recent years, a soft but stunning reconciliation of the genre’s pre- and post-Drake phases. Last month, Faiyaz released his second studio album, Wasteland. Since “Crew,” Faiyaz has found his own voice and forged his own stardom. There’s only a couple of songs from this period, “Love Thing” and “City Lights/Worst in Us,” where Faiyaz teases the steamy R&B tenor he’d later popularize on the rapper GoldLink’s breakout single, “Crew,” with Faiyaz singing the chorus. This list is notable for the inclusion of Drake as much as it’s notable for the inclusion of the same set of artists Drake would’ve listed if asked the same question in January 2014. They include Tupac, Aaliyah, Lauryn Hill, Sade, Missy Elliott, Kanye West, Pharrell, and, of course, Drake. In an early interview with the music blogger Yohance Kyles, Faiyaz listed his influences. They’re both moody hip-hop EPs showcasing Faiyaz as a rapper-singer hybrid in the same spirit as Drake.
Nearly a decade ago, Drake released his third album, Nothing Was the Same, a watershed moment in the integration of hip-hop and R&B.Īround the same time, Brent Faiyaz, then an unsung rapper and producer from Columbia, Maryland, released his first couple of projects, Sunset Avenue and Black Child.
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