Drake vs Kendrick Lamar: Prelims
We are watching premier rap at the height of its history. Rap is lived longer, matured, broke groundbreaking financial records and reached global status. The top rap titans are sparring and this is the beginning...
Two levels of hindsight reaction:
1.) That yes, there is a big 3 and Drake, Kenrdick and J. Cole are those guys. More specifically (however ironically given what unraveled furtherΒ in theΒ timeline) validating and solidifying J. Cole's position in that arena. J. Cole's verse was the second of what felt like anΒ unstoppable force and aΒ rap career that, similar to aΒ slow cooked [insert meat reference (no Diddy)], was finally ready to be displayed as deserving of the mount rushmore placement of the year. From The Off-Season to his recently legendary feature run, J. Cole was embarking on a clinic in development in theΒ notion that sometimes it takes time to come into your own and that it is okay to blossom late. As long as you keep theΒ hunger, commit to theΒ work and do theΒ reps.
2.) Is that the only person that seemingly felt a need to respond to FPS was Kendrick Lamar. No one, orΒ at least very few, at the time considered FPS as a Kendrick diss. Kenrdick was really only mentioned by J. Cole and the entirety of the song really reliedΒ on common general rap sentiments; i.e. We the best, i'm the best, no one is better than me/us, etc. At best you could say that it is certainly odd that Kendrick isn't on this song by the contents of the song (we are later finding out that potentially there was a request in which Kendrick declined)
The bomb that started it all. It brought to the forefront multiple reactions, elicitedΒ multiple responses and ultimately provided clarity on where Kendrick, by way of Future & Metro Boomin, stand... We Don't Trust You. We,Β as in Future, Metro Boomin and Kendrick (later The Weeknd, ASAP Rocky, Rick Ross and more) and You meaning Drake.Β In true fashion just like the infamous Control verse, the aftermath of the song was catastrophic. It ultimately re-ignited the entire genre of rap. J. Cole responded, apologized and categoricallyΒ removed himself from the Big 3 conversation. The Weeknd and ASAP Rocky came out in opposition to Drake. Drake leaked a response, fine tunedΒ the leak and subsequently released a baiting / taunting follow up. Rick Ross responded to Drake's leak with some of his best bars in a while (almost evoking the spirit B.I.G.). Kanye Kanye'd. Without a doubt, Kendrick Lamar won the preliminaries. His singular effort in collaboration with Future & Metro Boomin ignited the entire rap industry... maybe even the music industry.
Aside: Somewhere in betweenΒ all of this, Big Sean released a single, Precision, a FreestyleΒ addressing the Big 3 and a book. All of which was overlooked.
Push Ups / Taylor MadeΒ Freestyle
Push Ups was a solid Drake response to the Like That verse. As Dranos (A play on Thanos from the avengers), Drake flexed what we've all known for years, his rapping prowess and ability to, no Diddy, take on many. He single handedly addressed, Future, Metro Boomin, The Weeknd, ASAP Rocky, Rick Ross and of course Kendrick Lamar. With an aggressive beat reminiscentΒ of Back to Back and a hunger in the bars, Drake, who we have all suspected as losing his edge and that his pen may be showing signs of rusting, shows us his pen is still in great shape after all of these years. Many have expressed the term battle tested and Drake makes full demonstration that he is in fact battle tested.
After all of the calamity and chaos, the dust seemingly settled, Kendrick emerges from the shadows of his self-imposed silence since the Like That verse in what one can only describe as an immaculateΒ warning shot. He signals to Drake, and Drake alone, that he's ready and willing to take this in any direction that Drake wants to go; but be careful what you wish for. Many have critiqued Kendrick's response for having too many recycled notions from other artists but I believe that's the brilliance of his response. Ghostwriting, Pusha T, Rick Ross, DMX, AI, Tupac; Kendrick responds to Drake with Drake's Ghosts. The term layered has been increasingly used, it is apt. Drake in his Taylor MadeΒ Freestyle taunted Kendrick by saying "y'all boys quiet for the weekend, like Dot, I know you're in that NY apartment, you strugglin' right now, I know it
In the notepad doing lyrical gymnastics, my boy
You better have a motherfuckin' quintuple entendre on that shit
Some shit I don't even understand, like
That shit better be crazy, we waitin' on you" If that was the sentiment and what Drake truly wanted... Kendrick delivered tenfold.Β One can only imagine that in the time he was crafting his response that he delighted in every aspect of what was happening on the surface. All of this from that.Β
Thus concludes the end of the introduction of what is gearing up to be a musically historical Rap Beef. What we never got from Nas/Jay-Z, what we were deprived of from Tupac/Biggie, what we didn't get from Pusha T/Drake. Rap is rich in its history of rap beef. Competition is what fuels the genre and arguably is what placed the genre in world recognition. Drake & Future in 2015 were correct; What A Time To Be Alive. Round 1 is yet to come.
10:46pm EDIT: The Response to the Follow Up
12:12am EDIT: WHAT IS HAPPENING?!??!
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