North by Northwestern

Year in Media 2015

Drake

by Preetisha Sen

Good job this year, Drake – I’m so I’m so I’m so proud of you.

Drake, I only wish I used to call you on my cell phone.

Drizzy’s had quite the career, from his humble beginnings on Degrassi as Wheelchair Jimmy to making every girl in the world swoon by declaring we were beautiful in our sweats. But 2015 was his biggest year yet, most notably for releasing two of 2015’s best albums.

In February, the Toronto-based rapper surprised fans with If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, the first album in 2015 to sell a million copies. With it, 6God added to his long list of catchphrases – “runnin’ through [insert word] with my woes” might have been this year’s most popular Instagram caption. And in September he did it again by collaborating with Atlanta-based rapper Future for What a Time to be Alive, featuring hits like “Jumpman” and “Big Rings.”

And that’s just from his albums – some of Drake’s best work of the year came from his rap beef with rapper Meek Mill (don’t worry, Drake didn’t start it). In an infamous social media war with several rappers weighing in, Drake responded with a song titled “Charged Up,” warning that “6God is watching.” And a couple days later, Drake effectively won the fight by dropping “Back to Back” overnight (you can listen to the song four times on the walk from Starbucks to Tech: true story).

Then, of course, “Hotline Bling” happened.

The song itself was instantly another Drake classic, featuring him crying over a girl with a catchy beat, but what really sealed the deal was the music video that he released in October. In case you somehow missed it, Drake can’t dance – at least, not in these four minutes. And now it’s the year’s best meme. Sufjan Stevens danced to it. Then Donald Trump. MTV said it best with its headline: “Jon Snow danced to ‘Hotling Bling,’ which means 2015 is officially over now.”

But the best Drake contribution of the year didn’t even come from Drake – it came from two tech developers in the short-lived “Drizzy” app. Unfortunately the app is no longer available on the iTunes store, but once upon a time, you could text your angry mother “That’s when you’re the prettiest, I hope that you don’t take it wrong” with just one button.

Good job this year, Drake – I’m so I’m so I’m so proud of you.

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