untitled unmastered unserious
crazy scary snoopy hilarious
current fixation? media consumption.
lately, we are all part of the circle of online life, both the content and the consumers of the content — it's no wonder we're eating each other alive in every arena. in a culture obsessed with diet culture, the media we consume is part of that, and what we choose to regurgitate is equally as interesting. in a world of empty calories, i’m tryna get to something satisfying.
i love Kendrick Lamar’s artistry and enjoy a lot of Drake’s music, but their artistry is shaped by completely different circumstances and goals for both the artists and their fanbases. i can’t speak for anyone but myself but i can say we all have different expectations for the media meal we consume, different aesthetic preferences for the containers it comes in, and increasingly different palates.
i’m largely entertained by the beef but mostly curious as to what it tells us about the culture around art and artists at large. stan culture, shamelessly (and needlessly) dying on a hill, everyone being a critic, either believing in institutions or building “better” ones that are clones, etc – these phenomena stretch from politics to celebrity, highlighting an unsurvivable crevasse between us and them, depending on what side we choose for the day.
following both camps (albeit lightly) has taught me that i’m both like them and not and i’ve been trying to find what rubs me the wrong way about the discourse and chart my own interpretation of this cultural moment.
observation #1 are people feeling the music or no?
“i make music that electrifies them, you make music that pacifies them.”
when Kendrick made this observation, it made sense purely from a beef standpoint. Dot asks us to look within and Drake asks us to look at him. neuroscientifically, i feel like it makes a lot of sense too — among a slurry of content, rollouts that roll in and out as soon as they come, and forgettable media, one thing you can’t deny about Kendrick, he’s memorable, he sparks something. from the classic GKMC to the control verse to his distinct live performances to mr. morale to his verse on “like that,” he’s a conversation starter, beginning by speaking to himself and then including us, artists and audience, in the chat.
Drake is memorable too - to pretend that he hasn’t had the charts on smash or had the instagram caption market monopoly for close to two decades is simply false. while when Drake drops, the streets listen, he has never made me think but he has occasionally made me feel which is what i want when i’m in the club. his music feels escapist, fantastical almost except i don’t have desire for the life he lives or wants me to be excited about. that’s just me, but let a solid Drake track drop when i finally leave my house – my ass will be two-stepping in the function, trust me.
the narrative that no one listens to Kendrick? false, disingenuous. he just spends more time on albums, dropping concepts not content. the narrative that Drake only makes bad music? false, it might not always be the best, but he makes solid music with heavy rotation. the narrative that these two men need each other to remain relevant? competition is natural when stuck in this ranking system – if anything they bring out the best and worst out of each other. “euphoria” was a masterpiece but i’d be lying if i didn’t say Drake wasn’t spittin in a way i hadn’t heard from him in a minute on “family matters.” it feels to me that narrative is superseding the music and if that makes me an oldhead, so be it.
what’s left to me is the quality of the music, which is where Drake falls short. i thought Kendrick and Drake could go album for album, but i fear that might be in the past. the point value means something different to each man but undoubtedly, 2024 belongs to Kendrick and this is the first rap beef to include lawsuits over streams, dethroning hov’s mom telling him to apologize to nas over “supa ugly” and j. cole deleting a diss track because of his “spirit” or whatever earlier this year.
if this beef ends with a pair of lawsuits and no rebuttal on wax, then Drake is going out not with a banger, but with a whimper and i’d hate that for hip-hop culture at large
observation #2: Kendrick is playing the same game Drake does just better and more in tune with the moment.
Kendrick spun the block and doubled down on his year, gave us multiple hits, had an affirmation track (man at the garden), gave the people a project that holds reverence for all he holds dear, and had his introspective, reflective cake too. the beef was spectated by us and propagated by the layered bars and simple memes that came out of all of the songs but specifically not like us. Kendrick Lamar is funny, full stop. whether it’s “top of the morning” on range brothers, the adlibs on, well, a lot of tracks, or screaming “mustaaaaarrrrrd,” Dot is hilarious, charming, and his work has influenced so much comedy in the last year, yes, but in the past few as well. Dot claims to be offline but he’s got a finsta just like us — he’s too tapped in to be completely ghost.
but hotline bling Drake era? with vine? couldn’t go anywhere without Drake being on the timeline in some way. god’s plan? skating around on nice for what? going on SNL to meme his beef with meek? Drake is an extremely talented actor and performer and it’s insane that in a world where lil dicky and donald glover have shows, the weeknd got a music industry (let’s say) inspired show before Drake made one. from the days when an impact font meme with a young Aubrey read “Drake the type of guy to [insert joke here]” til pusha t got his ass on daytona, Drake played a fantastic game, being able to play the internet game very well. after that, Drake became the butt of the joke with people making fun of him, his kid, who he got pregnant, his gimmicks and antics, fumbling rihanna – the makings of his villain era.
Drake tried to take it in stride, brushing off the “21, can you do something for meeee” memes, leaning into light queerbaiting, and delivering punchlines that at worst, made you roll your eyes, and best, chuckle in disbelief that he said that on the beat (“anita max win” had me in a chokehold). the game was changing and no one stayed on top of the charts forever and what is social media but a popularity contest wrapped in mental illness, unseriousness, and detached context. no one’s safe.
today’s NBA is not the 90s NBA and today’s internet is barely last year’s internet – shit moves fast. the tastemakers are different, the meme creators are different, anything goes. most rap shit sits within curated fan algorithms but Kendrick and Drake are too big and have been around too long to be contained by code. while Drake is ever present, breadcrumbing the beef, Kendrick drops and lets the internet do what it does. it used to be Drake’s domain and his loyalists (and they be numerous) will always serve him but the tides have shifted. Drake’s become the guy who’s at every party with people wondering “what does he do with his real life?” – a question that once was imagination-driven for celebrity but now a directive from fans to feed their imaginationships and parasocial appetites.
Kendrick told us who he is leaving space for mystery, Drake told us who we should aspire to be, never getting too personal, with enough public controversies to leave space for scrutiny. the consumer is filling in the blanks, the truth is less important than the narrative, and Drake hasn’t fought back against his brewing narrative with sufficient defense. same internet, different game. Kendrick has the ball and the comedy scoreboard right now and too soon to tell if Drake will adapt appropriately especially as his opponent seems to know his whole bag and what skeletons are in what closets.
observation #3: Kendrick has been consistently Kendrick whereas Drake is whoever the audience responds to
spanning his career, Kendrick came in the game knowing who he was, what he wanted to do, and set out to do it. a classic? got that. a jazz album with a fiery anthem? yup. an existential crisis on a beat? yessirski. were the streets asking for a deep introspective therapy album? no, but Kendrick wrote about what he was going through at a time when therapy, getting help, and breaking generational curses. it was a risk but one he took and for the people it hit with, it hit, continuing an easily trackable personal and artistic journey with a predictable unpredictability as to where he’s going next, how he’s going to deliver his next chapter. Dot’s an old soul in a young man’s body, one that contains (in his words) a west coast lineage, a hip-hop and hood ancestry, an ancestry he works every day to be worthy of – it’s no wonder he helmed the black panther soundtrack.
the world values vulnerability but interchanges it with weakness, imperfection, and moral deficiency – Kendrick waded into those spaces and came out, not perfect, not “completely healed” (whatever that means), but with more clarity. he always was intentional, always spoke up for his hood, and found his way to open his mouth and say something about it and, yes, receive acclaim for it from institutions that he himself has complicated relationships with. his accessibility or inaccessibility was contingent on whether you’d follow him further on his journey (even pairing it with your own), his sonic experiments, etc, and his accolades crossed over from the mostly black rap world into the mostly white literary world, laurels that most rappers don’t concern themselves with but a welcome stamp for hip-hop history that was locked out of since its inception.
Kendrick’s undeniably the king of the west coast right now and it’s due to a strong internal validation matrix that showcases itself through all of his projects, asking heady questions about his hood, his country, the world at large, and his place in it. every album seeks answers to these queries, zeroing in until he has to take a hard look at himself. authenticity is his currency and doesn’t seem to fluctuate, a value and quality that his OGs and contemporaries respect. as he frees himself, he attempts to free us. and with the expansion of his freedom, he continues to hit new invisible prison walls but wants us all to see those walls too.
Drake was vulnerable once, but was the timing wrong. whether people were tripping over themselves to call him gay in ‘09 or women were flocking to him for the softer lightskin rapper who could spit, Drake’s tried introspection before but not to the depths Kendrick did on projects like mr. morale (which came out at a time where therapy, vulnerability, softness for men was much more accepted). Drake shed that persona, in search of making a stamp on hip-hop through pairing with other rappers that aligned with his goals at the time. defeating meek mill only stood to enshrine his spot in popular rap but by winning the consumer popular vote with a “charged up” “back to back” multiplier supercombo, but potentially at the expense of the electoral college of hip-hop: the elder pioneers who questioned his pen and if it was his at all.
Drake opened a few doors for mainstreaming international hip-hop and global sounds to western rap markets. he tells stories – some of his best tracks are the timestamp series (Kendrick’s analogue being the “heart” series). he sought his own path but the critique of his predictability haunted him – they want an old Drake and a new Drake and the same Drake all at once. so he tried every lane. he was critically and commercially punished for trying something new like honestly, nevermind so he went back to basics: the club-banging beat du jour (wherever that may come from), reflecting our insecurities and aspirations through endless references to places, brands, and baddies, and braggadocious lyrics with a few familiar features and maybe a newcomer to diversify the listening base. Drake plays the young man’s game and has since he himself was a younger man. the light-skinned loverboy persona worked until it didn’t, so he sought desirability, domestically and abroad, hopping onto sounds from toronto, atlanta, london, new york, lagos, puerto rico, DR, etc. the quiet part out loud? he wants to be where the eyes and ears are with a propensity for record-breaking rather than cultivating and protecting culture.
even the most diehard Drake fan would admit to a slip in quality over the last few projects but, to me, it’s due to a problem Drake created for the music industry at large – the constant presence demands constant content, something not known for correlating with quality. Drake is less intentional and more calculated, two more words used interchangeably but charged differently. keeping up with the joneses these days seems to require two feet planted somewhere earthier than the club but Drake learned this lesson at 30,000 feet.
Drake has a more external validation matrix, performing the role of Drake, the greatest performer of all time, seeking fame, constant visibility, constant relevance, and social approval, resting on the laurels of streams, units moved, sold-out shows, a-list access — he’s an audio rorschach test, we see what we want to see and he becomes what we want him to become. Drake will do any and everything to remain relevant, put on whatever costume he must to please the masses – this is the job of the performer. do we love the man or the act? are they one and the same?
this is not a binary as both men have a capacity for connection with humanness amidst their celebrity and transformation, and choose to be in a public-facing profession.
but the arenas where these men operate reflect how we consume the media too; are we attracted to deep, tactile, raw, reflective emotional journeys or more escapist, flashier, vaguer ambitious aspirations? is there a place for both? both Kendrick and Drake are thematically consistent and sonically experimental — it’s just both choose to soar creatively for different reasons.
both men have hit a cultural limit — “the top of the game.” with Drake, there’s no more destiny to manifest, he’s at the top with no “supposed” equal, so he must now face himself and who he may have stepped on the way to the apex. Kendrick has looked so deeply into himself that now it’s time to pop out and face the world, in a battle between solid personal values, the industry with which he made his money and his position in the culture. journeys in different directions, but strangely, parallel. there’s a time and a place for both types of music, the journeys of both men, with some overlap, and 2024 is that inflection point.
observation #4: Drake was on his villain arc as Kendrick was on his hero arc
Kendrick disappeared on a hero’s journey for five years and came back with an album that plumbed the depths of his soul, unpacking years of trauma with the goal of not only freeing himself and his family, but us as well. he’s a prodigal son returning to a game that wondered where he was to the point of prematurely calling his retirement. he went on to have one of the highest-selling tours of all time and further cemented himself as one of the best rappers who ever touched the mic. big sean even said that they’re good years after the control verse shook up the industry; even then, Kendrick was seeking the best out of his contemporaries not the worst. his biggest opp seems to be his own darkest impulses (real) and fox news (a common enemy).
Drake recently embraced the role of the villain – his pettiness seemed to know no bounds with bounds calling out rihanna, serena williams (and by extension, alexis ohanian), asap rocky, pusha t (again), megan thee stallion, esperanza spalding (nigga what?), joseph budden, general “weirdos,” anyone who chatted about his interactions with younger women. and that’s just for all the dogs, Drake loves a sneak diss at women connected to the men he beefs with, adding another level of disrespect that other MCs feel obligated to respond in kind to.
his storied beef with meek mill, squashed. his beef with chris brown over rihanna, squashed. beef with tory lanez, squashed. xxxtentacion, tko on the technicality that x was killed. his “contested” L at the hands of pusha t lives in the annals of rap beef history. his beef with kanye, alive and (mentally un)well. common, diddy, rick ross, metro, the weeknd, future* – easy to say that when you’re at the top of the charts, people wanna see you fall. but at the bare minimum, can we admit that Drake himself and his antics invite this level of conflict and it’s not surprising that he has “no friends in the industry?”
if anything, Kendrick has impeccable timing and his diss tracks have an almost prophetic quality to them — he laid in wait until Drake began to unravel himself and struck while the charts were cold. whether you believe OVO is actually this incompetent or Kendrick can see the future, both men have varied consequences. what they each do next will be very interesting.
observation #5: do we have unrealistic expectations of Drake and Kendrick?
Kendrick, whether you believe him or not, has been a storyteller through and through, the “new tupac,” regaling us with tales of breaking through hood violence, addictions, personal hypocrisies, and yes, putting on for the black community with his personal capital being compton, california.
Drake, whether you care or not, was anointed early by kanye west and young money which he parlayed into bar after bar that played in bar after bar. with an almost unmatchable precision, Drake ruled the charts for the better part of a decade from inside the club with songs about betrayal, breakups, longing, going out with your people, petty frivolities, fighting at cheesecake, putting toronto on his back, etc.
all is well when they’re in their lanes but highlander rules – there has to be one. but does one have to do everything that rap encompasses? do you want Drake to put out the therapy/personal growth album? do you want Kendrick to make you think less? i, for one, don’t think Drake has the range to go to the depths Kendrick does and talk about his biraciality, identity, hood politics, etc and i don’t think his fanbase wants that. i also don’t think Kendrick needs to go commercial and i don’t think his fanbase, largely focused on the layered lyrics and storytelling, wants him to sacrifice quality for club spins. are they capable? probably? would the streets love that? meh?
Kendrick is soccer, Drake is basketball; i don’t need them to play the same game and i think that it’s strange to want them to. the muscles needed, the endurance, the point values are different, and the fans want different experiences. Kendrick’s fans love their game and wanna see joga bonita on the beat and Drake’s fans love their game and love to see the numbers run up with an all-star squad.
i say por que no los dos? Drake’s numbers need some help but he’s got the streams on smash (which is very important to him, hence legal action). Kendrick is writing a new chapter for himself since mr. morale was equal parts raw confession and prequel to a personal renaissance. there’s no need to tell them what to do next, they both have their desired creative targets, let them shoot, enjoy the ride!
Drake’s biggest crime is being corny in the court of public opinion which a lot of you lot should be serving life for. now there’s real court (and potentially real crime) involved, we’re going to find out whether he’s guilty of what Kendrick is alluding to and a real question will arise – will we believe the truth if it’s presented to us or double down and repeat history?
observation #6: some of y’all could afford to be a little nonbinary fr
“this is personal between Drake and lucian!” “this is only happening because Drake signed a petition for a ceasefire.” “Kendrick is bullying Drake at this point!” “Drake is a narcissist!” “Kendrick is using dark psychology!” “y’all are defending a music label, but tear down institutions right?” “they’re both misogynoiristic but Kendrick’s married to a black woman so he’s good actually!” “they’re millionaires so they’re the same!” “UMG is Kendrick’s mole!” “The music industry is shady — they trying to up their profits!” “Everyome uses bots — remember 2018? Scorpion?”
okay? and? did you get the clicks? the views? call me crazy but these takes are lukewarm, undercooked, obvious, boring, or shoulder dislocating reaches.
i’m not gonna win any friends by being the nuance™ guy, but allegedly i’m a libra and love balance. that being said, the girlies are saying that the short gemini and the toronto scorpio are emotional domestic terrorists of different flavors so maybe they’re onto something about that.
the cope of Drake fans over their GOAT losing to a 5’5” rapper who does weird voices or the insane elevation of Kendrick Lamar, a man largely interested in introspection, doing his own thing, and keeping the culture more gatekept have once again camped on either side of this wildly unnecessary chasm between viewpoints that some are treating like trench warfare. what’s worse is that people shoot their shot from the keyboard and will die for their GOAT but somehow stay alive— if you’re going to die on that hill, please do it. it really is not that serious. the takes range from doing the most to looney tunes, i stg! the stances would get y’all legs swept immediately–
“Kendrick is a neoliberal.” yes. duh. what do you expect from people in the music industry? all these niggas are neoliberal petit bourgeoisie rich folks who stop at nothing to keep the bag coming in. Kendrick is a black capitalist with a few radical viewpoints who isn’t just surviving under racial capitalism but thriving — despite how much he gives back to his community, this will always be true. some of his most radical viewpoints are “stop shooting each other please,” “go to therapy,” and “culture should be preserved.” yes there’s a ceiling for his success, yes he plays the game on his own terms but he’s still playing the game, still trying to dismantle the master’s house with master’s tools, and i’m sure he’d agree. and i’m saying this as a Kendrick fan — i listened when he said “i am not your savior” but he never was in the first place.
i love art but i have no expectations of artists — no idolatry, for me, just measured respect. we want artists and celebrities, people who are normally specialized in exactly one thing (maybe 2), to encompass all of human knowledge which is impossible — we set them up for failure every time and then demonize them just as quickly as we deify them. i don’t know how we run back the Chappelle “where’s ja?” scenario every week (and election season) like clockwork with no irony.
if your hot take is Kendrick is neoliberal, what does that make Drake? supposedly his diametric opposite, right? a man using lawsuits and gimmicks to get to a truth, claiming to know the truth that none of us can access, multiple allegations of inappropriate/disrespectful relationships with women, etc, i’ll say less.
it’s not even that he is the “january 6th god” but the followers have a lot of responsibility in digging in their heels in a way that is reminiscent of previous political movements. Kendrick dethroned Drake for the time being — move on. the more you drag it out, the more you stop the steal, the more you overanalyze micro-interactions and blow up the littlest thing, the more you dig your heels in over demonstrable facts, the more that Drake holds the shameless position where he can’t win for losing and he only looks cornier because of his ravenous fans. put down the keyboard, I beg you. go outside, catch a vibe, bump the music, be about it don’t tweet about it.
going back and forth on the internet over this? i know clownery loves company, but ain’t putting on the size 17s and red nose, if that’s for you, enjoy the circus. i’d rather chop it up irl
i don’t even hate Drake!!! he keeps the streamers and the clubs fed, regardless of how he goes about it. my friends fw Drake way more than me but we have shit to do, we like what we like, we know why, keep it pushing.
i prefer Kendrick and get more out of his music because his storytelling satisfies my brain’s tendency to try and string themes together and i prefer the sonic arrangements on his music. i’m still gonna enjoy album cuts on a Drake track and i’m outside enough to. this being said, no one’s preference should enlist them in a war for them. not just corny, the whole cornfield. you like your artist? you wanna support that artist? stream, share, keep it pushing.
i’m not dumb, i know the internet loves a narrative but some of you could afford to dream of labor or a therapist or a real deal friend once in a while because these two men wouldn’t piss on you if you were on fire. they aren’t avatars for red vs blue states, israel vs palestine, or copy-pastable into whatever story or poorly researched framework makes the most sense. and even if they are, SO? why are we on the internet going back and forth about this? niggas search far and wide for the fourth Kendrick entendre and don’t know their neighbors? read between the lines but can’t read a book? dickriding Drake is not going to give you cultural cache, OVO brock! you don’t gotta put your life on the line for something this frivolous; i promise neither nigga is sending you a fruit basket for serving in the Twitter War For The Soul of The Culture (Of The Week). put down the bluesky, pick up some goddamn purpose. rant over.
could it be possible that both men are rappers who people enjoy and not everyone gotta fuck with the other side? i cannot stress this shit enough, there is so much more going on right now that deserves your axe, bow, or gamer chair. both say “not like us” but Drake says it to us and Kendrick said it to us about Drake. oversimplified, Kendrick tells all of us to get a real life and Drake tells us to get his life, and on this point, gotta go with Dot. Drake’s life don’t look that fun (especially now).
observation #7: a lot of people misinterpret therapy
one of the most common takes that i've seen online since GNX dropped is that “Kendrick went to therapy and came back more of a hater and that's hilarious.” the sentiment is funny and the premise will probably be an SNL sketch someday, but this sentence really resonated with me. i had to really find out why.
i think Kendrick went to therapy and came back clearer, feeling more feelings of anger, rage, and wanting his flowers while he's here — he’s not hating, he asking for back pay and taking his payback. as a listener, i've watched Kendrick transform from somebody who felt like he had to put the whole hood, the whole country, the whole world on his shoulders to somebody who came face to face with himself and didn't like what he saw so he sought to change it for the betterment of himself, his family, and his future. it's not lost on me that he is a black man from a specific part of the world where life has not been kind to his community.
i've written about my own experiences with anger and deservedness so it's no surprise to me that albums like mr. morale and GNX resonate with me. i've said it before, but for those who don't read the newsletter, i internalize a lot of my frustration and put a lot on my own back. i'm a recovering fixer, every day trying to find the space between how i can help and not completely losing myself to helping other people. it wasn't until i heard “crown” on mr morale that i finally felt that that journey was seen by someone else that i respected.
songs like rich spirit, mirror, count me out, and savior all spoke to me on morale for reasons that i don't need to get into here but what’s important is i felt it. for those who know me, they know that i am a very introspective person who likes my space but spends a lot of that alone time thinking, overthinking, rethinking, then coming to the world with more of a response than a reaction.
i've given the world the benefit of the doubt too many times. sometimes walking away to think of a response just isn't good enough – i want to react and it’s not always going to be positive or artistic or verbose.
if you don't know, now you know: this Drake Kendrick beef is over a decade in the making. when you’ve swallowed your pride, put things aside, and tried not to let it bother you for so long it's going to turn into a time bomb that will explode at the wrong times if you don't know how to healthily express your frustration. i applaud Kendrick for going to therapy to do the work for whoever he was doing it for, but also for telling us about it because more people need to be reminded that vulnerability is the true strength, especially black men – a population historically pulled away from their full spectrum of emotions where most expect violence and project dangerousness and anger onto them. to hear it in such a poetic fashion was very valuable to me even though i had long been in therapy at the time. it was validating especially as it pertains to anger and clarity.
there are people thoughout my life who probably wonder why i don't talk to them anymore and it's either because of anger or clarity (sometimes it’s because i’m busy or value shifts, not everything is beef). i’m either going to tell you about yourself or get rightfully upset so consider my distance a courtesy.
i'm not saying that i'm going to go nuclear and write a diss track about them but i know what behaviors i undertook to allow those people to treat me or the things and people that i love in a negative way. every time that i should have been deservedly and explosively angry at something, i let it pass me by, corroding my ability to feel any joy.
i was always about sharing everything but spent too much time carrying discomfort alone — i’ve been done for a minute.
in recent months, i have definitely been about that action, ready to pop off at the drop of a hat — it’s not a hare trigger, it’s demanding the respect i’m expected to give and reminding people that their condescension and disrespect do not go unnoticed. not to escalate things to violence but you're not going to be outwardly disrespectful in my presence and i'm going to let it fly – if you don't believe me ask anybody who plays football with me, i don't play that ( i was told that i said " the feet are nice but the hands are nicer” to somebody in a verbal altercation; the fact that somebody had to tell me this tells you just how upset i was).
i joke about being a hater all the time but the root of this joke has been biting my tongue when i viscerally felt something off about a situation or violated in a way only to be right about the feeling too late. perfectly fine watching the party die if someone’s moving disrespectfully.
Kendrick Lamar is not healed – healing’s not a destination or release date. he is still on his journey but he's at the part of his journey where he has more clarity. songs like “reincarnated” show that he still has conflict within him, conflict creating friction and that friction turning to anger. anybody who has transformed over time knows that there's the old us and the new us and the desire to put a stamp on who we are in the present and leave who we were in the past but all of it exists all at once.
“man at the garden” is an affirmation track for anyone who’s done all the work but feels disrespected – just because it's not expressed like Future does on “i'm dat nigga” don’t mean it’s any less affirming, it just might not be the mantra for you.
Kendrick’s desire to be seen and heard is something i commend, especially as i hate being perceived. his pettiness is no different than Drake’s it’s just more aligned with my values, where i am on my personal journey, and how i relate to the art.
“freedom of speech also means freedom of shut the fuck up” - me
i feel like expertise has died a grisly death in the last 15 years of internet and maybe i'm being too mean by telling people to shut the fuck up. i genuinely feel like we've lost the ability to either be objective about anything or just enjoy something for ourselves without turning it into combat or metaphorical cold war.
i guess if we’re going to make the beef about us, we could be honest about it and stop pretending to be experts, moral authorities, and corporate shills for just a moment and enjoy potentially the last clash of rap titans we’ll see for a while. who else could cause all this conversation at these heights? what does that say about the state of hip-hop? maybe that's another piece.
if your fave is crowned or crumbles, bump the back catalog, but these men are not your opp and not your savior 🌱