Charlamagne Tha God Thinks the Drake Era Is Over

For over a decade, Drake‘s been the most dominant force in hip-hop. If you ask Charlamagne Tha God, though, that run has come to an end.

Speaking on his Brilliant Idiots podcast for a Dec. 24 episode, the media personality posed the question of whether the rap world was still in the Drake era before answering the question himself moments later.

He begins: “Let me ask y’all a question: Are we still in the Drake era? Is radio such a prehistoric form of media that it hasn’t changed the temperature to what’s actually going on in these streets?”

From there, one guest, music industry exec and media personality Wayno Clark, says “we’re in the Lil Baby Era,” while Nyla, who is another guest on the show, says she still loves Drake.

Seconds later, Charlamagne says that all though the radio makes it seem like we’re in the Drake era, the reality is different.

“Radio, they haven’t caught up to what’s actually going on in the streets yet,” he says. “They haven’t change the temperature. So, it still feels like we’re in a Drake Era—I don’t think we’ve been in the Drake era for the last two-three years.”

Before he said the Drake era was over, Charlamagne admitted that he wasn’t excited about a new project from the 6ix God, who is set to release his Certified Lover Boy album next month. He compares Drizzy to Kendrick, whom he says shows another level with every album he drops while also going periods of time without releasing new music.

“Kendrick makes us wait,” Charlamagne says, explaining why he looks forward to a new LP from K-Dot. “Kendrick gives us something to look forward to. Kendrick takes his time.”

From there, Charlamagne gets to the crux of his point.

“Drake has given us so much music I don’t know if he has another gear,” he says. “We know Kendrick has another gear. We know this because he shows us that with every project. I don’t think Drake has another gear, so therefore I’m not looking forward to anything.”

While Charlamagne thinks the Drake era’s come to an end, there doesn’t appear to be much evidence Drake’s really slowing down. His last project, Dark Lane Demo Tapes, moved 223,000 equivalent album units in its first week despite being billed as a project with throwaways and only being announced hours before its released. While the project became the first Drizzy project to debut at anything lower than No. 1, getting that much fanfare with a random release is a big deal.

Adding to Drizzy’s solid 2020 were his singles “Toosie Slide” and the Lil Durk-assisted track, “Laugh Now Cry Later.” They peaked at No. 1 and No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, respectively.

Check out Charlamagne Tha God’s conversation about Drizzy, the landscape of music and more for yourself below. It begins at the 47-minute mark.