Drake x Isco (2018) - Midas Touch

2018 was a fantastic year. Though many can’t put a finger to exactly why, that period is often looked back to with a lot of fondness. Something in the air? Was it the Avengers Infinity War craze? Was it the fever of the World Cup? No idea. But it was a thing. It existed on a higher plane of existence than most of the other years. That’s my experience anyway.

But few people had 2018 quite like Drake and Isco.

For Drake, it was a year which saw him go from one of the greatest rappers of the last decade to one of the greatest musicians, ever. For Isco, it was the inflection point in time where he went from a player with all the talent in the world which he was never able to consistently showcase - to a full-fledged superstar.

It was the year where all they touched turned to gold. It was the year for each of them, that would change the legacy of their careers and put them in places very few people had walked before them. If there were two guys who could sum up that feeling which gripped 2018 so tightly - it would be the Toronto rapper and the boy from Valencia.

For Isco, the years before 2018 were a mixed bag. After coming through Valencia’s youth academy he was bought by Malaga. He lasted only 2 years there before Real Madrid came knocking in 2013. And they came knocking so quickly because Isco was the type of player you can’t let anyone else have if you’re supposed to be Spain’s premier team. 

He was one of the most gifted players of his generation, a velcro touch, a poise and gait in possession which oozed seamlessness and control. He tiptoed past defenders and found space where there wasn't any. The problem for Isco when he joined Real Madrid though, was that there were too many world class players in his way.

Less physically and more metaphorically because, contrary to popular belief - Isco played a lot of minutes, especially at the beginning of his career. The issues lay in the fact that there were much bigger fish in the team than him who were already stars. They had the individual quality to change games and they needed the ball. It was their team, Isco was there to supply for them.

So Isco’s role was initially that of a squad player. Go here, fill in for me there. He did what was asked of him and of course cracks of brilliance slipped through - the odd wonderstrike or nutmeg, but he was more just another player in the era of galacticos.  Despite having the talent befitting of a whole squad being built around him, he hardly got to show it.

But slowly and slowly Isco began barging down the door for a starting spot. Because when you’re that good, your star can’t be kept down forever. Helped by the injury woes of James Rodriguez and Gareth Bale and the gradual physical decline of Cristiano Ronaldo, he was starting more games. More important games where he was tasked with being the beacon of creativity and spontaneity. And obviously he delivered.

So by the time the 2017/18 came around and Real Madrid were chasing their third consecutive Champions League title, it was a 26 year old Isco who had the keys to Real Madrid’s attack and who was purring with confidence. 

The result was one of the most impressive individual campaigns an attacker has mustered in the last 15 or so years, outside a few select names. People forget but it was Isco who started the Champions League final that year instead of Bale (who came on for Benzema). It was Isco who was running games as an attacking midfielder, taking liberties every time he stepped onto the pitch.

It was ethereal. It was as though all those years being the 5th or 6th option in an attacking sense had led up to that season. He was doing things with the ball that haven’t really been seen since. It all seemed like a walk in the park for him. His level was teetering on the edge of the likes of Hazard and Neymar that season. If this sounds too far-fetched, watch the tapes.

Ask Marco Verratti what it was like to come up against this version of Isco at when Italy played Spain at the start of the 17/18 season. His eyes would probably start twitching and sweat would trickle down his forehead as he recalled the 90 minutes of pure embarrassment he had to endure at the hands of Spain’s number 10. Marco Verratti, one of the best defensive midfielders of the 2010s.

"I suffered a lot against Isco. I was taken aback by that performance. Not even Messi has come close that level" - Marco Veratti after the game

Before 2018, Drake had been one of rap’s greatest artists for the best part of a decade. He solidified himself amongst the stars in 2011 with his album Take Care dropped. After that, it seemed every album was reaching number 1 and every year had a new song which would plague radio stations for the next few months. 

Drake was one of the biggest names in music. But he wasn’t the biggest name.

But then 2018 arrived.

From the first single of the year ‘God’s plan’ being released in January, nothing was the same again. God’s Plan spent 11 weeks at the top of the Billboard 100, only to be replaced by another Drake song in ‘Nice For What.’ That was soon replaced in the summer by Drake’s third single of the year ‘In My Feelings’, a song which sparked a trend which more or less took over the world.

Three of the biggest rap songs of the last decade were dropped back to back to back by the same artist. And then he released ‘Scorpion’, his 8th studio album. By that time Drake had already become the sound of 2018. But releasing a double-sided album stacked with some of his best songs to date just rubbed salt in every other artists’ wounds. 

Add that to the fact that the 6 God had blessed every song he featured on (Sicko Mode, Look Alive, MIA, Walk It Talk It, Yes Indeed, No Stylist) - more or less stealing the show in each one and you’ve got undisputedly one of the best years a musician has ever had in music.

But nobody’s perfect. Drake and Isco, despite having such incredible years, still showed themselves to be humans who were by no means untouchable. Drake had his rap beef with Pusha T quite embarrassingly. Isco’s 2018 World Cup with Spain was extremely uninspiring. Well, he was fantastic but Spain’s tragic loss to Russia in the Round of 16 basically overshadowed all of his individual brilliance. 

They were blips on the record. Moments in time to remember that no matter how high we are, we can always be pegged down. Though people do seem to gloss over these periods now quite a few years have passed, it’s still worth remembering the bad as well as the good.

And many people might see this was the peak of both Drake and Isco’s careers. They both have since dropped stunning performances and stunning songs, but the midas touch wasn’t there like it was in 2018. But nobody can stay at that level for long.

Isco stuck around at Madrid for another 4 years but wasn’t consistently at his best like he was before. A move to Betis followed. An older Isco was able to pay some tribute to his older self - being platformed with more freedom in a smaller team but his star had long faded by that point.

Drake is still one of, if not the biggest name in music. But now his name splits opinion much more than it did 8 years ago. Through some fault of his own, his legacy has taken a hit. Many will argue his music isn’t as good anymore and that he sold out. Many will say he lost another rap beef,  this time with Kendrick Lamar and he hasn’t been able to recover since. Whether you agree with that or not, he’s still topping charts and making good songs even if they come more sporadically than they did before.

2018 was a year to remember especially as a kid growing up in that time. Isco and Drake will always represent a time capsule back to that period.