It’s safe to say that Meek Mill is the undisputed loser in a war of words, (and schick,) that was spewed in an effort to discredit fellow rapper Drake. But now that the smoke has cleared and Drake has been declared victorious, what does the dismissal of facts say about us? The listening public? Maybe it says that most of us don’t care how a good song is made, we only care about consuming good music.
Meek and his cronies made a fairly good case against Drake, alleging the R.I.C.O. rapper uses “reference tracks” in the creation of his most popular songs, but in the end it fell on deaf ears because we the general public don’t give a hoot about the process, we just want a bumpin’ track we can put on blast.
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If in-fact Drake did utilize reference tracks to craft some of his biggest hits, it would be nothing new to the creative process going way back to the fifties. For a slightly newer example, all we need do is tune in to a documentary, now playing on Netflix, entitled “The Wrecking Crew.” It details the story behind a band of brothers, (and one sister,) hired gun musicians, who played, (unbenounced to listeners,) on some of the most revered hits of all time.
The Wrecking Crew, in the 1960’s and early 1970’s, were responsible for playing on such smash hits as “Good Vibrations” and “California Girls,” which were sold to the public as being performed by “The Beach Boys.” The “first call” players also played the primary tracks on everything from Nancy Sinatra, “These Boots Are Made for Walkin‘,” the Mamas & the Papas, “California Dreamin‘,” the 5th Dimension, “Up, Up and Away,” the Carpenters, “Close To You,” and “Rainy Days and Mondays,” Glen Campbell, “Wichita Lineman,” Cher, “Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves” and “Half Breed,” and Simon & Garfunkel, “Mrs. Robinson,” to name a few. Oh and let’s not forget, Frank Sinatra’s “Strangers in the Night.”
Sorry Meek Mill, we don’t care about authenticity and we don’t care about what’s behind the curtain, we only care about the results, good music.