it's the melody, stupid

«"I think it's weird if you hear a song and the artist isn't incorporating melody these days", Drake says (...). Drake continues: I understand who the greatest in the world are, at this my time in my life. I know about Bob Marley. I know about the Marvin Gayes, Jimy Hendrix, the Nirvanas. I'm aware of music. Hip-Hop always just seemed so different", explains Drizzy, who explains how rap and its fickle fans have been overly critical about anyone who streches the boundaries. (...)

(...) Melody and sing-songy rap hooks date all the way back to rap's early days. Songs like Grandmaster Flash's "White Lines" and Kurtis Blow's "Basketball" incorporated catchy melodic choruses to help move rap to the top of the charts. (...)

Singing in rap, however, has historically been met with some criticism. (...) But a study of rap will show hit-making MCs getting their R&B on every chance they get. (...) More ofter than not, rappers are singing their rhymes, or all-around just singing. (...)

Even the best of them [outros rappers] can afford to pay more attention to Drake's cadence and tonal progression in his verses. It's called songwritting. It's about more than just a rap. It envolves flow, one of the most underrated qualities in the MC argument.

Aside from the hooks on his records, Drake lends an interesting thought to the rap music fabric: the ability to melodically deliver a rhyme with each bar in a way that is musically sound».

Kim Osorio, "The Best of Both Worlds" (entrevista com Drake), in The Source, #249, November 2011, pp. 57-58.