National Post

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When hip-hop artists cry

This past September, just two months before Drake was set to release his highly anticipated sophomore album Take Care, the Toronto rapper was trending on Twitter. Unfortunately for him, it had nothing to do with his album, and everything to do with why he cried.

#DrakeCriesWhen, which is still piling up tweets, cites reasons taken directly from his lyrics (“#DrakeCriesWhen he runs out of bubble bath and scented candles,” for instance) to the absurd (“#DrakeCriesWhen his socks are too tight”). While it was one of the funnier Twitter memes of 2011, the rapper clearly took offence, telling GQ in November, “People always act like I spend my life crying in a dark room. I don’t, I’m good.” 

But whether or not Drake actually cries when his socks are too tight is not the issue. What made the meme so touchy is that hip hop has very few rules, one of them being that rappers are “hard,” meaning they show little emotion — and they certainly don’t cry.

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Here are the Top 10 Albums of 2011, as chosen by you
A couple of weeks ago, National Post arts writers, critics, reviewers and general music-lovers got together to name their favourite albums of the year, resulting in a highly unofficial list of 42 great records, presented in no particular order. And while it was lots of fun to present our picks and extol their virtues, we though there must be some way for us to rank our faves – and that’s when we turned to you, the reader, and asked you to pick your Top 10 Albums of the Year from our list of 42. And you did!

1. Adele, 21
2. Bon Iver, Bon Iver
3. The Black Keys, El Camino
4. Radiohead, The King of Limbs
5. Feist, Metals
6. Jay-Z and Kanye West, Watch the Throne
7. Lady Gaga, Born This Way
8. Drake, Take Care
9. Austra, Feel it Break
10. The Decemberists, The King is Dead