by YOH

“Prince is dead,” wrote Bomani Jones in a eulogy written and published hours after news broke that Prince Rogers Nelson had died on April 21st, 2016. 

“If there were two types of people on the planet, Prince always seemed to belong to a third,” Bomani praised. 

“And now he’s done the only ordinary thing any of us could ever imagine him doing.” 

“There is no fear of hyperbole when remembering Prince,” Bomani continued.

“He could be

As energetic and defiant 

As James Brown

As traditionally masculine as Teddy Pendergrass

As unbounded as David Bowie

As vulnerable as Marvin Gaye

As insightful as Paul Simon 

As electric as Michael Jackson

At the same damn time.” 

Love sweats from Bomani’s every sentence. Encapsulating a universal respect for a genius of modern art. 

The Artist wasn’t just a name Prince answered to, it’s the role he played. Everywhere he went, he was the artist. The freeman. 

Prince's affection for Larry Graham is well documented.

Larry was, in 1968, the bassist for Sly & the Family Stone, where he influenced the percussive sound of funk music on classic albums Stand And There’s a Riot Goin’ On. 

He left the band in 1972, started Graham Central Station, and eventually released several solo albums. One In A Million You is a must listen.

Larry Graham’s Apple Music profile says he fell out of the public eye after 1987 but he appeared in several televised interviews and live performances alongside Prince and Chaka Khan more than a decade later. 

Larry’s mustache and taste in tailored suits gives him a similar appearance to his brother, Dennis Graham.

“In many ways, Dennis Graham was born into music: His brother, Larry Graham, is a legendary funk bassist, his uncle Willie Mitchell is a renowned Memphis music producer, and cousin Teenie Hodges was a guitarist and songwriter for Al Green.

As a child growing up amidst the funk, rock, soul and county of his hometown of Memphis, TN, young Dennis taught himself to play piano, guitar and drums, and joined the first of many bands, spending his nights and weekends gigging. 

A chance encounter at age 18 led to a stint drumming with Jerry Lee Lewis.”  -- About Dennis Graham

It could be argued that, throughout his entire career, the most famous vocal feature Dennis has made thus far is on “Successful,” one of the breakout singles by his son, Aubrey Drake Graham.

Drake’s music doesn’t have Larry Graham’s Sly & the Family Stone funk. Drake doesn’t drum like Dennis. Drake isn’t known for playing any instruments. 

Drake is, fundamentally, the opposite of Prince. An artist who isn’t revered for artistic genius or championed as a freeman. 

When Drake is referred to as a legend by critics, it’s often for commercial status, not cultural classics. 

But Drake is the most famous Graham. And unlike all the other Grahams, he was the one raised in Canada. Where he absorbed the chilly wisp of a coldhearted country. An ice kingdom.

Funny how rap doesn’t refer to Drake as the first famous dual citizen of mainstream American hip hop in the 2010s. 

Funny how, despite having family ties in the music business, it was Lil Wayne and James Prince, not Dennis or Larry Graham, who let the outsider in. 

Funny how, despite his entrance into rap through singing love songs and rapping inspirational mantras, Drake’s rapping has progressively become more cruel when channeling his Memphis roots.

No one ever believes Drake when he raps like a mob boss the way he does on “Nonstop.” 

No one ever takes Drake seriously. Unimpressed critics critique him as the immature boy who refuses to grow up. A child star stuck as a child. Only after women and toys, acting and pretending to be someone he isn’t. 

Only Kanye West believes Drake. Kanye is the only one who takes the Canadian seriously. So much so that he is the Cain to his Abel. 

No, Kanye’s perception of self is closer to Adam, and he treats Drake like the serpent in paradise. 

Kanye wouldn’t be entirely wrong if that’s how he views Drake. Based on a little research, the name Drake, derived from Draca, is an Old-English surname of Anglo-Saxon and Latin origin meaning “Snake” or “Dragon.” 

One could say, beneath his harmless exterior, he lives up to his name. A fire-breathing tyrant who has ruled the lands and the skies over the last decade. Dominating the lives of music listeners on and offline from a frozen throne. 

Every attempt to end his reign has been ineffective. Pusha-T successfully struck the dragon, disrupting a flawless album rollout, but failed to end the Drake era. 

Kenny Duckworth and Paula Oliver moved to Compton, California from Chicago, Illinois in 1984, two years before Dennis Graham and Sandi Graham’s Canadian son was born, and three years before the birth of their American son. 

“My daddy and my momma 

Came to Compton

To accomplish one thing

Raise a king

Reign supreme

Named Kendrick

I ain't lying

It stands for king 

And I am one

My unborn son 

And grandson 

Will live royal

From the coochie 

To the soil” 

Rapped their son, Kendrick Lamar, on “I Am.” The interlude, released as the fifth track on the 2009 Kendrick Lamar EP, was a weighty statement from a new voice with no accomplishments to his name. 

By his third studio album, DAMN, Kendrick embraced the role as an Israelite king within the album's narrative. 

DAMN’s second track, “DNA,” once again refers to his bloodline as royal, yet, there’s more depth to him than a crown. 

“I got, I got, I got, I got—

Loyalty, got royalty, inside my DNA

Cocaine quarter piece, got war and peace inside my DNA

I got power, poison, pain, and joy inside my DNA

I got hustle, though, ambition flow inside my DNA”

An interesting difference between Kendrick and Drake as authors of their kingship is their relationship to history. Drake is very present, writing, living, and thinking of how to maintain a global presence.

Kendrick, instead, spends more time looking backwards. Returning to past memories, feelings, people, places, and things. Finding inspiration in family history, turning the lives of cousins and uncles, mom and dad, friends and fatalities into art. 

Drake raps like he wasn’t sure if he would make it in music, Kendrick raps like he wasn’t sure if he would survive his surroundings. As if home, the place where he was raised, was also trying to destroy him before he could take the throne. 

If he liked a girl, there was pressure. 

If he got a job, there was pressure. 

If he wanted to be a rapper, there was pressure. 

He couldn’t do anything, go anywhere, or be anybody without feeling the pressure of his kingdom. 

All that pressure created a king from Compton maad enough to say he’s the king of New York. In the days of Biggie and Tupac such a statement would’ve caused nuclear warfare. The times have changed. 

And the times continue to change. So much so Kendrick Lamar has been vacant from the public eye. Only appearing to rap alongside Hykeem Jamaal Carter Jr, better known as Baby Keem, his cousin. 

Keem, like Drake, wasn’t vocal about his family ties to a famous musician when his debut mixtape, The Sound of Bad Habit, was released in 2018. 

Keem and Kendrick’s relationship was whispered about in studios and rooms where industry rumors mix with real stories about real lives. 

No one really knew the truth. It seemed to be a secret, one that would only matter if Baby Keem was as gifted as his exceptional relative. 

That’s the pressure Baby Keem and Drake share: Knowing that respect is earned through art, not nepotism. 

What good is it to be from a royal family if you’re in the shadow of an established goliath?

Keem doesn’t rap like he wants to be known solely as Kendrick’s baby cousin. His music is quirky, vibrant, mischievous, and reflective. 

At 21, Baby Keem is being groomed by Kendrick and Dave Free how Drake was groomed by Lil Wayne and James Prince. A maad prince next in line to rule a maad America if he desires to carve out his own legacy through his own magic. 

Hip Hop, like Game of Thrones, is a culture rooted in kings and queens, princes and poverty, rap and royalty, bloodlines and brotherhoods. Behind your favorite songs are dwelling dragons, two phone wizards, and authors who believe they were born to wear crowns. 

So remember, even if their lyrics aren’t real, the magic is.