How Drake Became The Taylor Swift Of Rap

It's no secret that Drake is the most sensitive rapper. He's permanently between women in his songs, longing for one booty call in one track, and ignoring another side-piece in another. It's a fairly typical hip-hop scenario where a rapper has more than a few women to choose from, relationship wise, but in Drake's hands, with songs like "Take Care," "Hate Sleeping Alone," and "Hold On, We're Going Home," he strays from the bad-boy narrative and shows shades of a real hopeless romantic. This all makes for a great persona: a guy with a big Rolex and an even bigger heart, both made of pure gold. With that combination of glamour and gravitas he's also slowly turning into another overly emotional genre-defining artist: Taylor Swift. While Swift doesn't rap (thank god), they are both influential and muse-worthy performers at the forefront of the music industry (we've all seen the dorky Apple Music commercials). It's not difficult to see the similarities between the two. After pretending that they were an item in the fall, they're about one posed Instagram away from a song collaboration (which could have easily already happened behind closed doors and be set to appear on Swift's inevitable upcoming album release), and one PR-stunt from announcing a fake engagement. The art of deceiving fans to sell music is an age-old, and incredibly effective, technique that I'm not here to criticize. I am merely here to share the news that Drake and Swift are essentially the same person. (One just happens to smoke a lot more pot, but I'll let you guys guess which.) They approach fame the same way: Act as relatable as possible, while simultaneously doing the absolute most at all times. In the end, their likeness is pretty interchangeable. One could argue that as much as Drake is the Swift of rap, Swift is the Drake of pop. They're both approachable, inoffensive artists creating music that will, like it or not, define this generation. Here is a breakdown of the metamorphosis of Drake into Swift. And for the cherry on top, maybe he can hit up Kanye West's hairstylist for a little blonde ambition.

Their incredibly calculated PR-relationships.
When Drake first starting teasing that he and Taylor Swift were an item, it felt shocking. Until you realized that it made perfect sense for the two of them to team up. Each of them suffers from the inability to stay in a relationship (no shade, just facts) longer than a few months. Or the ability to openly address their dating woes (in something other than lyrics). In 2016 alone, Drake was tied to Rihanna, Hailey Baldwin, Taylor Swift, and now, carrying over into 2017, Jennifer Lopez. And with the recent announcement of Nicki Minaj and Meek Mill's break-up, it's only a matter of time until her name is, again, added to that list of love interests. After proposing the question, "Why does Drake keep trolling us with faux relationships?" we realized that the easiest and most accurate explanation is this: It's beneficial to his career. Same goes for Swift. Even though she is plagued by her ex-boyfriends, and the leftover stardom that comes with them, the flurry of headlines about her (fake Tom Hiddleston) love life is only doing positive things for her career. Same for Drake. The moment that the truth about him and J. Lo comes out — I personally believe it is all an elaborate album promo; we can circle back around to this when the prom music video comes out — no one will care that he lied, we'll all be too busy listening to the new single.

They're both pretty basic (for chart-topping mega millionaires).
I mean, really? The blogger-y beach photos? Resident bad gal Rihanna knows to upgrade them with a little weed or wine. But Draylor is content with the simple things in life.

They both can't write a song without self-deprecating lyrics.
Again, relatability is key. Think of the most popular songs of the year, or even the decade. Most of them will be heavy on the realness factor. No one wants to hear about a privileged person's life that they may not, or cannot, ever relate too. But everyone knows what it's like to be in a fight with a former friend ("Bad Blood," "Fake Love"), regretting a relationship ("I Knew You Were Trouble," "Still Here") or feeling on top of the world ("New Romantics," "Started From The Bottom"). They both had similar transformations from innocent youth to talented headliner.
Drake somehow made a fairly seamless transition from a struggling Canadian teen soap opera actor to the face of the 6. Likewise, Swift went from shy high-schooler writing songs about failed crushes and singing them on MySpace, to selling out arenas worldwide. Along the way, neither have done anything to majorly tarnish their reputation. They both have an adoration for the greats of the industry.
Drake loves Lopez, Madonna, and Beyoncé. Swift also loves Lopez, Madonna, and, of course, Bey. They actually enjoy listening to each other's music.
Even in the early years of their careers, Drake and Swift recognized the parallels of their lives as performers. They both were set on a trajectory to become social media influencers, as well as radio-friendly singers. Swift's most emotional song won't ruin a pregame, just as Drake's most vulgar won't make your grandparents turn off the radio. People pleasers, unite.

They are two of the most trolled people on social media.
With a following of over 140 million fans when their Instagram stats are combined, what's holding them back from trolling in return? Nothing.