The beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar is making waves in the rap world. Experts fear that the war will go beyond music and cause unpredictable consequences.
The center of the hottest battle in the hip hop world today revolves around two top names, Kendrick Lamar and Drake.
They released methodical diss raps and continuously attacked each other, ABC News reported.
Lamar, the critically revered rapper who won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize, and Drake, the most commercially successful hip hop artist of his generation,
were once close friends before rekindling their feud. Over the past decade, the conflict between them has gradually escalated
and only had the opportunity to flare up since Drake and J. Cole’s spark through the song First Person Shooter .
The rap verses range from humorously sarcastic poking fun at shoe sizes and empty lyricism, to nasty with accusations of domestic violence, pedophilia, children’s secrets and more. .
Lamar and Drake fight, online platforms benefit
The war of toxic words sparked a stir on social networks with diss rap songs quickly rising to high positions on charts and global music platforms. According to Billboard , four of Lamar’s compositions all reached the top 10 on Spotify and Apple Music, while his catalog increased by 49%.
Euphoria – the first of Lamar’s most recent diss tracks – reached a whopping 65.6 million streams, expected to increase even more on the US Top 10 chart next week. Not only that, it is likely that Lamar will top the US Charts with the single Not Like Us.
Forbes commented that with Lamar’s series of songs surpassing Drake’s achievements (including Girls Want Girls, Push Up, Family Matters …) on most charts, it shows that Lamar is winning this beef.
However, responding to ABC News , AD Carson – associate professor of hip hop studies at the University of Virginia (USA) – commented that the final winner was not Lamar, Drake or their large fan base. It is the media and streaming platforms that benefit the most.
“If I had to choose the most gleeful person, it would be YouTube, Spotify and every social media platform that posts content related to these offensive songs,” Carson said.
Regarding the ongoing beef (which shows no signs of stopping), Carson judged the content of the sentences to be very toxic, drawing the audience into “gossip, blatant misogyny and discrimination.” gay”, rather than the genre’s long tradition of showmanship and lyrical ingenuity.
He points to two examples of media blindly glorifying this spectacle: Spotify running a billboard that read “Hip hop is a competitive sport” and a Vogue article reading “Taylor Swift’s Allegations against Kim Kardashian proves this: This year is the year of the diss track.”
According to Carson, being quick to catch trends has helped the platforms benefit, but the ones who will be ruined will be the rappers – the trend creators.
Worried the war is going too far
When interviewed, expert Carson expressed concern that the conflict between two A-list artists could have a negative impact on the rap world. Because their clash is becoming increasingly tense.
In Not Like Us, Lamar criticizes Drake for using his mixed-race heritage to justify wearing blackface to his advantage, but not truly understanding or appreciating the culture. He accused Drake of being a pedophile who liked to meet young girls.
Meanwhile, Drake views the 37-year-old rapper as an underdog, jealous of his commercial success, popularity and $250 million net worth. Drake also released the song Taylor Made Freestyle, citing the release of Taylor Swift’s new album, The Tortured Poets Department, as the reason why Lamar did not dare to respond.
Dr. Carson likens the above feud to the concept of kayfabe – a term used in professional wrestling to describe events that are real, especially describing rivalries, rivalries, and relationships between participants. participation is genuine and not staged.
“Everyone knows that, considering the nature of rap diss, the battle only stops at music. However, its limits are going beyond the allowable scope when there are many signs that this confrontation is taking place. happening in real life,” the expert said.
He cited the security guard at Drake’s home in Toronto (Canada) who was seriously injured in a shooting earlier this week. Police officials said it was too early to determine a motive, but some sources speculated the case could be related to the feud between Drake and Lamar.
With what was happening, Carson once again advised both Lamar and Drake not to push the war so far that it became uncontrollable. Because then, only the media will be the biggest beneficiaries.
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Source: New York Post
