Drakeo The Ruler – Keep The Truth Alive

The story of Drakeo the Ruler deserves a full-length feature film or a next-level documentary. Long story short, he was incarcerated for and accused of many crimes he didn’t commit, and spent 4 years in jail because the LAPD and DA carefully targeted him while his music was blowing up. Then after finally getting out once the DA was out of office, he was murdered backstage at Snoop Dogg’s Once Upon A Time In LA Festival, a festival I was front row at, awaiting Drakeo’s performance.
Drakeo was the first and probably only rapper who will ever be murdered as he walks to perform. Given his years spent in prison and his murder just 1 year after getting out, his life is as tragic as any I can think of. With all those unfair years in prison, most people would crumble. Drakeo seemed to use the bullshit as fuel, as he released most of his work whenever he got a short break from jail, which for fans is a blessing because even though he spent his prime in jail and was murdered shortly thereafter, he still managed to release a ton of high quality albums. This really leaves everyone wondering as to what he would have done in the future. Sigh. Also worth noting, Drake sent him a hook for their song “Talk To Me”, which is Drakeo’s most played song today, and solidified him as an artist to watch, as Drake has frequently jumped on rising superstar’s tracks, which makes Drake cool in my book. It’s also one of my favorite Drake choruses he’s ever done. So Drakeo was killed once he got out of jail and his career was at its peak.
Drakeo’s brother Ralfy the Plug also raps, and is quite skilled himself. He announced Drakeo’s only posthumous album a few weeks before it came out in September 2022, so given the time that had elapsed from his death in December 2021, I figured that there was a good amount of effort put into it. The Stinc Team (Drakeo’s collective of rappers and friends and his brother) had developed a sound that is purely west coast, as the production sounds like a hybrid of bay area music and LA music, akin to what DJ Mustard did, but still sounded brand new, as the production was more complex.
This album sounds almost like Drakeo was still here. After the first few listens to me it sounded like Drakeo made it himself, but after many listens I do feel it’s not exactly what Drakeo would’ve put out himself, but that’s overly critical of me. The album really has 0 skips, and it included my favorite track from his YouTube that hadn’t been released, “Hang With The Opps.” Lots of bangers on here, and I love the skits that were included, which are a big fuck you to anyone who hated Drakeo and wanted him dead.
I believe Drakeo wanted to die, as he would go on IG Live and call out people constantly, his rants are pretty legendary. I wish he hadn’t been so militant when he got out of prison, but he did 18 months in solitary, which had to have impacted his mental state. Drakeo for sure was angry, but he also seemed to have a lot of fun and be happy too, and I will forever miss his energy and music. His brother Ralfy and the Stinc Team are keeping the truth alive, and this album certainly does as well. The truth is that Drakeo is one of, if not the best West Coast rapper of all-time, a rapper who could effortlessly rhyme in a style, lingo, and cadence that was all his own. Long Live Drakeo The Ruler.

About
The Author
I wrote this blog for a few reasons. One is because nobody in my circle of friends ever puts me on to music or things that are dope that I haven't heard about (step your game up friends!) as few people nerd out as hard as me on the dumb things I focus on. The other and main reason is because I am so tired of The NeedleDrop and Pitchfork, from the way Fantano talks about music, to the way that Pitchfork writes about it. Both cause me physical pain to read or watch, yet I for some reason occasionally check their review scores, because they are the only sites I know that do stay on top of music (to a degree), and they focus on genres that I'm not tapped into, so occasionally I find something good. Is it worth the pain? No. So let me save you the pain, by only sharing with you my favorites, and maybe you'll find a new favorite. Oh and I also love talking shit, so I'll do that too, but this blog is about showing love to great art.
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