Music: The Official Hip-Hop Thread: The Next One

[Rich Nixon]

I'd actually be disgusted if these rappers new more behind the scenes shit about Drake and his crew and didn't alert the feds. I get the whole 'no snitch' policy in the hood; people's live are in danger for ratting there, but these guys are so far removed from the hood life that maybe they should start being guided by their moral compass, especially if it's dealing with innocent women (or men, doesn't matter...innocent is the key word) and children.

My wife brought up a good point, though, and it's something I've been thinking about...could Drake sue Kendrick for defamation if there isn't proof? It'd be a first in rap beef, but let's be honest- Kendrick isn't calling Drake soft or anything else that's usually thrown around in rap beefs. He's calling him a pedo, and 'Not Like Us' is getting a ton of airtime.

I'm still of the belief there's a lot of smoke surrounding Drake, but I can't say for sure he's a groomer or pedo even though my gut says otherwise.

Re: alerting authorities, etc. That's not his job and not really a thing you can do based in what information you may have. If it's "people in his crew have told me he's definitely done that shit" but you don't have a who, a what, a where, a when--just confirmation of low character--then what do you do? Call INTERPOL and say "hey I know this guy's an absolute piece of shit so...uh...look into it"?

It's almost more like reportage at a certain point. If you have solid information to confirm something but no way of personally assessing its jurisdiction or criminality, then you're publishing stories and hoping victims and investigators take it from there.

But I think Kendrick was kind of hinting specifically to Drake and those around him about certain things that the general public may never understand. I don't think this was a rap beef at all. Kendrick hates this man, truly, based on his assessment of the human being behind the rap persona, and was indicating he had reasons for that in bread crumbs that probably sound very different to those in Drake's circle than they ever will to us. It was kind of spooky throughout.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Everything is PR. It has been from the beginning of the genre.

You're just repeating platitudes.

 

[Dubi Doo]

Re: alerting authorities, etc. That's not his job and not really a thing you can do based in what information you may have. If it's "people in his crew have told me he's definitely done that shit" but you don't have a who, a what, a where, a when--just confirmation of low character--then what do you do? Call INTERPOL and say "hey I know this guy's an absolute piece of shit so...uh...look into it"?

It's almost more like reportage at a certain point. If you have solid information to confirm something but no way of personally assessing its jurisdiction or criminality, then you're publishing stories and hoping victims and investigators take it from there.

But I think Kendrick was kind of hinting specifically to Drake and those around him about certain things that the general public may never understand. I don't think this was a rap beef at all. Kendrick hates this man, truly, based on his assessment of the human being behind the rap persona, and was indicating he had reasons for that in bread crumbs that probably sound very different to those in Drake's circle than they ever will to us. It was kind of spooky throughout.

Yeah. You're probably right. Just wish we could stop these weirdos. These celebs that think they can get away with anything due to status really irk me.

Here's a story about Kendrick:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Drizzy/s/Eo3l9mCByK

I have a hard time believing this because of Kendrick's persona, but if Im going to dig deep into stories about Drake then it's only fair to do be same for Kendrick, who is one of my favorite rappers ever. I dont know why this chick would lie about it when there's very little to gain.

Again, I dont want to say anything as matter of fact, but there's some smoke here. I just think everyone is focusing on Drake's allegations but neglecting Kendrick's because many hip hop heads HATE Drake.

 

[Rich Nixon]

Yeah. You're probably right. Just wish we could stop these weirdos. These celebs that think they can get away with anything due to status really irk me.

Here's a story about Kendrick:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Drizzy/s/Eo3l9mCByK

I have a hard time believing this because of Kendrick's persona, but if Im going to dig deep into stories about Drake then it's only fair to do be same for Kendrick, who is one of my favorite rappers ever. I dont know why this chick would lie about it when there's very little to gain.

Again, I dont want to say anything as matter of fact, but there's some smoke here. I just think everyone is focusing on Drake's allegations but neglecting Kendrick's.

Well, that's because I don't think there's much reason to believe them about Kendrick.

For one, there's literally no smoke for them anywhere other than that weird-ass story you linked which is circulating, which he himself addressed on the Breakfast Club damn near 10 years ago. And seems like, shaky as f***. Otherwise? He's a private guy with no real bad marks on his name, and whether true or not, he creates the perception of honesty by making highly-personal music like his previous album.

Whereas the other guy making the accusations is entirely a construct. He's an actor by trade who built an entire rap persona he now inhabits. A guy who played tough long enough to finally be accepted in a genre that initially laughed at him. So Drake comes off as a guy more likely to just make shit up. Meanwhile, Drake himself has a long rap of very bizarre public interactions with underage girls that make it more believable that he may cross lines.

I mean, none of us know these people and we'll never know anything for sure. But just looking at the two people involved, and what's been publicly known about them prior to all this, there's a massive credibility gap. This is rap drama, not court--so perception matters more than receipts, and we see where perception landed.

 

[Dubi Doo]

Well, that's because I don't think there's much reason to believe them about Kendrick.

For one, there's literally no smoke for them anywhere other than that weird-ass story you linked which is circulating, which he himself addressed on the Breakfast Club damn near 10 years ago. And seems like, shaky as f***. Otherwise? He's a private guy with no real bad marks on his name, and whether true or not, he creates the perception of honesty by making highly-personal music like his previous album.

Whereas the other guy making the accusations is entirely a construct. He's an actor by trade who built an entire rap persona he now inhabits. A guy who played tough long enough to finally be accepted in a genre that initially laughed at him. So Drake comes off as a guy more likely to just make shit up. Meanwhile, Drake himself has a long rap of very bizarre public interactions with underage girls that make it more believable that he may cross lines.

I mean, none of us know these people and we'll never know anything for sure. But just looking at the two people involved, and what's been publicly known about them prior to all this, there's a massive credibility gap. This is rap drama, not court--so perception matters more than receipts, and we see where perception landed.

True, true. I'm way more inclined to believe the stuff about Drake than Kendrick. That's the first I saw of that video.

I'm just going to go back to listening to the music and refrain from going down a wormhole. It clouds judgement. The internet is a strange place, heh.

 

[Elvis P]

Questlove Blasts Drake and Kendrick Lamar for 'Mudslinging' in Vicious Rap Beef: 'Hip-Hop Truly Is Dead'

The Roots drummer Questlove shared a lengthy Instagram statement about Drake and Kendrick Lamar's ongoing beef following a string of seething diss tracks from the rap stars.

people.com

 

[1specter]

Questlove Blasts Drake and Kendrick Lamar for 'Mudslinging' in Vicious Rap Beef: 'Hip-Hop Truly Is Dead'

The Roots drummer Questlove shared a lengthy Instagram statement about Drake and Kendrick Lamar's ongoing beef following a string of seething diss tracks from the rap stars.

people.com

L take from Questlove, comes across like an out of touch oldhead glorifying his own generation. There's been plenty of Rap beefs that have highlighted the last few decades, with many of them getting nasty in resulting in legitimate violence.

 

[Dubi Doo]

L take from Questlove, comes across like an out of touch oldhead glorifying his own generation. There's been plenty of Rap beefs that have highlighted the last few decades, with many of them getting nasty in resulting in legitimate violence.

Yeah. Beef has been ugly in the past but, to be real, this has hit another level of nasty. I have to wonder, though, if QL's take has always been like this. He may view the Nas and Jay/ Eminem beefs in similar light, and he wouldn't be the first to feel this way. Wives and kids who are innocent get dragged through the mud, rumors turn to facts, etc...Think of Afeni Shakur giving Pac shit for saying what he did about Big's girl.

The Hip Hop battles he's referring to may be like what we saw from that infamous Biggie clip where he freestyle battled a rapper on the street. It wasn't personal, just a flex of skills, and that's how hip-hop started. Battling on the streets was just a flex of skills rather than who can dig up the most dirt on someone's personal life. Given Quest grew up on the streets of Philly in the 80s and 90s, then I'd venture a guess that this is what Hip Hop is to him.

So, I don't think he's wrong at all (though I personally get amped for beefs), and old heads have a lot of wisdom to share about hip hop, especially black men from urban areas. I'm not going to hand wave it away. We the fans do want blood. Not literally, of course, but he's right in that it can escalate when things get this personal.

 

[Peasy]

Someone now got arrested for tryin to enter Drakes place.

The cover art was funny and clever, but I gotta say, don't really agree with doxxing someone like that (even though Im sure before you could find out where Drake lived, would just take way more work). Now everyone knows.

 

[Sad People]

This rap beef was cool until there was a shooting or a threat of a shooting and places started getting vandalized. Now i could care less about it and now we know why we probably dont see much of this anymore.

 

[Rich Nixon]

Someone now got arrested for tryin to enter Drakes place.

The cover art was funny and clever, but I gotta say, don't really agree with doxxing someone like that (even though Im sure before you could find out where Drake lived, would just take way more work). Now everyone knows.

His address was in countless news stories over a zoning battle and he literally put the street he lived on in his own song titles. You can argue that it's over the line to like, use the Google Maps satellite view as a single cover but...as far as transgressions, there were just so many in this whole ordeal that I can't really separate that from the whole thing.