Kendrick v Drake Is A Spiritual Battle
The Moral & Practical Value of Being a Hater
The rap beef between Kendrick Lamar and Drake is a defining cultural moment and point of spiritual battle that is, against the tide of society, being won for the betterment of the culture.
On the surface it is two hip hop artists that don't like each other. But underneath the personal animosity is an ideological battle around art, identity, commerce and family.
Over four tracks, with surgical precision and Pulitzer winning craft, Kendrick has successfully dismantled not just the Drake the rapper but the Drake the person, Drake the business and Drake the symbol of black culture sold for white dollars.
'Euphoria' was the stake in the ground that now Kendrick had been goaded into the fight he would play to win and win it all. '6:16 in LA' was the bait. It is the least memorable and polished of the four tracks and was only released on Instagram. But it did it's job, luring Drake to release 'Family Matters' too quickly. The trap was sprung and 30 minutes later Kendrick dropped 'meet the grahams' a letter to the whole Graham family: Drake's son Adonis, his mother, his father, the shock reveal of a hidden daughter and finally, in devastating fashion, an invective to Drake himself.
Then in record fashion, Kendrick responded directly to 'Family Matters'. Specifically doubling down on Drake's history with young women or underage girls and addressing his appropriation of Atlantan black culture to further his own career.
Lyrical dominant, but doubly painful as it is also one of the catchiest and singable rap songs in years. It has already set sail to be one of the biggest songs of the summer, appearing on ESPN montages, athlete walk ins and blasted on street and car radio.
To cap it all off, producer Metro Booming released a beat called BBL Drizzy (also infectious as hell) and invited the whole world to rap or sing or play over it. So now Drake is being roasted by every creative gen z and gen alpha and millennial.
Despite what the positivity gurus tell you, there is moral and practical value in being a hater.