By JC Poppe Special to OnMilwaukee.com Published Dec 01, 2011 at 12:35 PM

Drake's influence on music and culture is proving to be a lot deeper than possibly thought as new artists try to employ the sing-song style he has made famous, not to forget the countless songs about girls.

Rap, after so many years of being dominated by hardcore themes, now has a commercially profitable soft side, and whether or not it'll ever be embraced by so-called purists isn't essential to its survival because it has been deeply embraced by the younger generations.

This leads us to C-Piepz new song "Work Out," in which the rapper – who has always trended more toward a pop sound – discusses heartbreak in a very Drake fashion.

To be clear, I'm not saying that he's biting Drake, but he is using the same formula that Drake, J. Cole, etc. are using to find success.

"Work Out" is a pop song and should be looked at as such, and honestly it's not too bad.

JC Poppe Special to OnMilwaukee.com

Born in Milwaukee and raised in the Milwaukee suburb of Brown Deer, Concordia University Wisconsin alumnus Poppe has spent the majority of his life in or around the city and county of Milwaukee.

As an advocate of Milwaukee's hip-hop community Poppe began popular local music blog Milwaukee UP in March 2010. Check out the archived entries here.

Though heavy on the hip-hop, Poppe writes about other genres of music and occasionally about food, culture or sports, and is always ready to show his pride in Milwaukee and Wisconsin.