The “Drake Generation” Can Thank Andre 3000 Later

“Make me want you/make me miss you/make me wonder where you are then forget you/girl remind me, just who were are/we’re oh so close, but yet so far.”

Ah yes, the feeling of love, hope, doubt and insecurity all packed into one line is something we’ve come to expect from Aubrey “Drake” Graham. But if you think the above lyrics come from October’s Very Own then I feel sorry for your mother (feel free to respond with, “What you say about my momma?!”). You see, a while back it hit me – I care about women and apparently that’s not cool to say out loud. In the past I could counter with, “Hey I just listened to Craig David’s ‘Born to Do It’ all the way through, gimme a break.” Or there was the classic, “I’m a poet, we’re a bit more emotional.” Well, they tell me that now that this kid from Toronto is going platinum singing and rapping about his triumphs and failures while looking all smug and rocking Nike batting gloves in his videos, it’s cool for the rest of the fellas to talk about how they “get lonely too” and have “trust issues.”

In fact, I was told that at 27, I’m part of the “Drake Generation.” From the definition given to me by my friend and mentor aka frientor, Lisa Respers France, men like myself, “place value on expressing emotion and actually trying to understand women.” Ok, fair enough. I’m a keeper – knew that. Jokes aside, Lisa is right about Drake’s sincerity and genuine fascination with the female gender. Rolling Stone had it right when they said he’s guy with “a Jay-Z ego and Charlie Brown soul.” And as ladies and SoundScan will tell you, that makes for big album sales and several YouTube spoofs. But can we really attribute this new train of thought amongst 20-something dudes to Drake and just Drake? No,  if anyone in the last 15 years is responsible for turning cold-blooded players into one-woman lovers it is Andre “3000″ Benjamin.

Let’s be real. Andre should be on everyone’s Top 10 MC’s of all-time list and not because he’s a lyrical acrobat or carries with him this mythical aura that says, “I’ll make music whenever the hell I feel like, and you’ll like it.” He’s right and we do. But Andre, emo? Please, ‘Stacks was talking about breaking hearts and being heartbroken way before Wheelchair Jimmy decided to walk again and grab a mic.

Oh what’s that, you want proof? It’s in the music. Let’s take the above sample from 2003′s “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below.” The lyrics come from the track, “She Lives in My Lap,” which of course features the voice work of the Goddess known to mere mortals as Rosario Dawson. In a nutshell, Dre’s dating a girl that he’s absolutely infatuated with, but while smitten he’s also a prisoner to his mind and the unknown and both can dictate our reactions to the antics of our significant others.

“The Love Below” was groundbreaking in that not only did Andre start to really make his break from rapping to more of a mediocre-guitar-playing crooner, “a rapper” was taking love and relationships head-on and it was a 180 turn from the, “I sleep with so many women and one of them was probably yours” sentiment shared by most male artists in Hip-Hop. And it didn’t start with “The Love Below.” Maybe you remember a little song called, “Ms. Jackson.” You know the one where it was cool for a man to do something we apparently struggle to do which is to simply just say, “I’m sorry.” Oh, and who can forget the trials and tribulations of Sasha Thumper?

So when folks tell me I’m some kind of by-product of Drake, I hear them but I don’t see it because Drake will tell you he’s a student of music. From Houston rap to Jon B’s R&B classics, the kid knows his stuff and never holds back from sharing the utmost love for his inspirations (See: Aaliyah tattoo). Drake is a student of Andre 3000 and there’s no doubt that a lot of the latter’s expressions of wonder and confusion with the ladies have made their way into Drizzy’s heart and notepad.

I’d like to think that Drake is keeping in line with Andre’s ability to make male vulnerability OK in an industry and world packed with machismo and every other dude trying to be Bill Bellamy in “Def Jam’s How to Be a Player.” I just can’t say that all of this started with him.