Your Greatness Is Not A Threat To Mine
The attention span in the hip-hop community has been hijacked and held hostage since the release of “Like That” by Future, Metro Boomin, and most notably, Kendrick Lamar, who directed shots at Drake. Media personalities and fans all across the internet have chosen sides and demanded immediate responses while imposing suggestions and imaginary time clocks for the rebuttals to be eligible for credit. This fast-food mentality is why many artists making music for the love of the craft struggle to exist. The thirst for beef-driven music, and in particular, Drake vs Kendrick, says more about us than it does about either side.
Misery loves company and as the world continues to morally decline, and the wealth disparity further accelerates, audiences increasingly need drama. Presumably, to feel better about the circumstances they’re entangled by. Gladiator-esque, parallels of dying empires thousands of years later. We want blood, figuratively and secretly literally.
It’s also worth noting that the demand for beef-related music only reigns supreme in black music. Whether it’s drill (violence until death), Benny The Butcher vs Freddie Gibbs, (violent without death), or the purest hip hop beef; LL Cool J vs Canibus (zero violence). They all have detrimental impacts on poor brown communities. And even worse, there’s no tangible reward. The only pleasure earned is the artists’ ego and temporary entertainment to primarily white audiences. The referred-to battles represent the three levels of beef in rap, but the fragmenting effect is omnipresent.
Most fans argue that it’s just music and nobody will be hurt, conveniently ignoring that careers, finances, respect, perception, and relationships are all diminished by at least one party involved in even nonviolent rap beef.
Respectfully, ask Canibus. It’s cognitive dissonance. Slave masters justified their participation in slavery by convincing themselves that their subjects weren’t human. The primarily non-black hip-hop audiences have convinced rappers that beef is harmless and required.
Maybe one of the participating rappers doesn’t die, but what about the money lost that could’ve been used to get a relative out of the hood, the right doctor/care, or provide a job opportunity to someone who consequently loses their life as an indirect effect?
Crabs in a mansion
Engaging in rap beef was understandable before the global dominance the genre now possesses. Pre-2010 beef, the circumstances of rappers were vastly different from today’s circumstances. Early pioneers came from a more severe poverty devoid of the internet. “Getting on” was a long shot and they were often taken advantage of. Participants in hip-hop were mainly artists with relatively modest financial aspirations and opportunities with little to no business knowledge. All the revenue opportunities of today were unfathomable. Even being the biggest rapper didn’t secure you nearly as much as it comes with today. You were likely overworked, underpaid, and emotionally immature or volatile. Imagine, culturally mental health was not even conceivable. The artists could not be vulnerable. As a result, rap beef was a great way to project your internal woes, and still, it was scarce!
The willingness to beef is a matter of dealing with compromising circumstances, narrow perspectives, and a lack of education. With the privilege today’s artists inherit, it’s lowkey offensive or childish to beef, or worse, simply performative. If the people claiming to live the most luxurious lives can’t find reasons to live in a state of gratitude, where does that leave their listeners who aspire to be them?
Love is a more competitive edge than hate
Competing with yourself and deepening your love for a craft is a superior advantage and more productive than tearing your peers down. It’s only in rap where a high skill set makes you an enemy whose character must be personally assassinated for victory. When a painter sees someone produce a flawless painting, they become inspired to create. Bodybuilders ask each other questions and borrow strategies. Filmmakers accept the challenge of making better films. Even in sports, athletes compete with one another at the highest level without the requirement to emotionally personalize disdain for their opponents. Sure, we’d like to see all industries publically beef but that is symbolic of our misery. If you want to prove you’re the best rapper, get on a song together like Royce da 5’9 has regularly called out rappers to do. Rappers who thought they were better than Royce went to his studio and made songs together without personalizing their words.
When hip-hop was fulfilling its best potential it was about spreading love, peace, enlightenment, and empowerment. Today the narrative has mistakenly been fabricated that hip-hop is at its best when rappers are taking verbal shots at one another. For those who say beef is healthy for the sport to thrive, here’s a reminder that you can be competitive and considered a goat just by producing undeniable work:
MF DOOM, Ghostface Killah, Missy Elliot, Killer Mike, Lupe Fiasco, Ab-Soul, Earl Sweatshirt, Ka, Rakim, Billy Woods, Andre 3000, Scarface, Eve, Black Thought, Black Milk, Vince Staples, Chuck D, Lauryn Hill, Schoolboy Q, Mac Miller, Mick Jenkins, Talib Kweli, and Lil Wayne.
Big Daddy Kane and Rakim did not have to trade diss tracks to be competitive. The media tried to get them to go to war but they were two grown men who presumably understood they just had to rap. Maybe they regret not engaging, but it was better for them and us.
It’s better for us for several reasons, but one key theory I have is the way it impacts brown communities. When we see people we love at the top of their field engage in beef it endorses division amongst us. If I’m in the hood and someone is close to mirroring the success I have, I need to make an example out of them. It’s validating the hood mentality, selfishly killing gratitude. We’re desensitized to beef the more we’re unconsciously entertained by it.
On the contrary, the most agreed-upon best rappers who have been in beef is a short list. It’s Nas, Jay Z, Tupac, Biggie, Ice Cube, and Eminem.
For us delusional fans, hip-hop is about bringing people together for a good time.
Disclaimer
I too want this rap battle, but for specific reasons. I see the battle as a choice. The options are to remain stagnant or mature culturally. I love and value both artists for different reasons and settings. I think symbolically, Kendrick represents authenticity, freedom, and quality. Drake, equally talented, represents the petty, superficial, and quantity. His art is the consciousness of the moral decline happening in America. He is the bigger artist by far yet has zero important songs. Drake’s a production machine, like Walmart, producing hit after hit yearly and it’s unprecedented. From his catalog you can get everything want. But the content of his songs will keep you in a superficial loop glorifying immaturity.
On the other hand, Kendrick’s art is challenging, revolving around humility, healing, mental health, and peace. Based on where the world is Kendrick’s art is everything we need. It’s like fiat vs Bitcoin. Fast food vs fine dining. Or revenge of the nerds vs good kids in mad cities.
