People Really Don't Like Drake
Videos from the Sixposium
Since 2023, I have hosted yearly in Brooklyn something called the “Sixposium.” It is an academic symposium centered around Canadian rapper and musician Drake and the field of Drake studies. The first of its kind. It’s, as you can imagine, really fun. Writers, artists, researchers and critics from all over the world apply and get to present conference-style their papers on Drake. (Email me if you want to present this year!)
In 2023, we had an information theory analysis of Drake’s lyrics, a study of Drake’s impact on art history, criticism of his poetry book, and a feminist reading of his depiction of women amongst many other amazing talks. The conference is meant to be fun: a space where we mix the density of academic inquiries with the levity of pop culture. There are snacks and drinks. I’ve always lamented how disconnected academia feels sometimes from the interests and activities of everyday people.
Celebrities are ubiquitous in popular American culture. Musicians, actors, influencers are daily topics of conversation at bars and coffee shops all over this country. I believe it is important and crucial to study these figures, in the same way that I study the work of Jean Cocteau. Simply, my job as a public intellectual is to ask “Why do people care?”, “What is notable about this figure?”, “Why are they popular?” and “What do they mean?”
We choose to elevate these individuals, because of what they represent, what they say and what they do. I know some of you will say that you don’t watch the Kardashians, you don’t listen to Drake, you can’t name a single Taylor Swift song. That is totally fine. One does not have to engage with popular culture. Many of my peers don’t. I, however, do. That’s my job! And Drake is a large part of popular culture.
I’m writing this stack because I posted a clip on Instagram from one of the amazing talks at the Sixposium last year. It is a performative lecture by artists Gala Prudent and Theju Nimmagadda called “Drake Theatre”. It is funny, sharp, meta. Really brilliant, down to the custom shirts. The whole audience was laughing AND taking notes! What more can you ask for as a presenter.
The clip got a bizarre reaction on Instagram, from accusations of yapping and glazing, Drake hate (a lot of it) to straight-up mean-spirited comments. One of the most common ones was the “yapathon”, the idea that talking at length about popular topics was “yapping” (a term used derogatorily for unserious gab). This aversion for “yapping” seems rooted in a misunderstanding of how knowledge is formed. Knowledge, in many cases, occurs discursively, through talking about things. Western philosophy was built on the discursive epistemological method of Socrates. The whole thing felt highly anti-intellectual, which is ironic because the whole point of the Sixposium is to create a rapprochement between the ivory intellectual tower of academia and popular culture.
Another sad thing about the post was people’s unwillingness to engage with the presentation in its entirety. It seemed self-evident to me that this was a “clip” from a much longer presentation and commenters were meant to click the link-in-bio and watch the full presentation to get context. It’s almost as if they rejected the context and preferred to opine with their cursory understanding of what was happening. It’s okay to not have the time to watch a 45-minute talk, if that’s the case, then don’t comment!
The video is great. You should watch it.
There are other great presentations from last year as well.
Nick Susi’s “If You Want To Create a Monocultural Event, Start A War”
Diyana Noori’s “A Drake Fan Manifesto”
Alessandro Longo’s “The Drake Era or the Logic of Cultural Fracking”
Nicole Tremaglio’s (the first ever two-time Sixposium presenter!) “Laugh Now Cry Later”
Anyhow.
Happy Drake Release Day to those who celebrate!
See you at the Sixposium this year in October!