Disclaimer: This is not a dissection and/or analysis of the Kendrick Lamar-Drake rap beef, this is an article… on beef, period. Any reference or allusions to Kendrick Lamar or Drake, or any of the Grahams, is purely coincidental and pun intended, done only for the purpose of euphoria.
Its only one of two things that come to mind when one hears of “beef”, and whatever it is being a key indicator as to who you are as a person, it serves as a powerful tell as to whether you fall in the food section or if you’re more of the Section 80 town-folk.
Katt Williams defined this year as the year of truth, a year where all that creeps in the shadows is brought to light, and I don’t believe Katt Williams to be any sort of genius apart from the great aptitude he has displayed as a comedian, let alone a clairvoyant. But somehow despite that, this man’s word, has proven to distinguish itself from glitter as golden.
Beef, defined by Merriam-Webster as the flesh of an adult domestic bovine (such as a steer or cow) used as food. Merriam-Webster also defines beef as a complaint, which is a rather modest definition if you ask me because I believe and have witnessed beef to be much greater than a mere complaint.
Complaint gives the illusion of order, civility and formality which is a far cry from the reality of what beef is. Beef is a strong vindication and disagreement with another that can escalate and develop beyond rhyme or reason, without reasonable doubt, and oftentimes evades all logic. It is an innate disdain or dislike of another that sometimes can be explained and reason can be made out of it and at times it simply cannot, one can easily liken the fleeting nature of the logic behind this strong powerful feeling of detestation and hostility to that of love and affection.
It is not always where you can draw a direct line from your feelings (love or hate) to the object of such emotions because some things are not meant to be explained away in words and made sense of lest it takes away meaning and symbolism attached to it, that and also because sometimes you just don’t know the actual causation of such emotional reactions, all you know is that you feel it, and your nervous system will not allow you to deny or turn a blind eye.
However being human, we will still try to repress and suppress that which we do not like, and feelings we’ve become convinced are best kept at bay and not meant to be for public knowledge or consumption. We will also keep such feelings tucked away due to fear of societal opinions, and also because perhaps it doesn’t fall under the acceptable guidelines of the watchful community we’ve come to associate with society, and so for fear of verbal persecution, ridicule and scrutiny, such “vile” feelings are pushed to the bottom of the barrel, so inconspicuous that a mere scratch on the surface will not uncover.
However, as J.Cole said, “What’s kept in the dark will always find a way to shine”, somewhere, somehow, what creeps in the shadows sees the light of day…eventually. Everything that exists and that lives is birthed with an allocated moment to shine, whether it be just a minute or a moment, at some point it will come to light.
Apparently it’s not a concept familiar to humans only, but also to non-human and non-living inanimates such as emotions, feelings and the truth, these things equally fiend and seek out light out of darkness, thus making us all in pursuit of this thing called light and it’s a rat race of sorts, and a lot of traps to watch out for.
A perfect illustration of this was shown in 2023’s black comedy drama, BEEF. This critically acclaimed show offers a clever dissection of feelings of hostility and rage through two main protagonists whose paths cross via a road rage incident in which a colourful array of emotions are portrayed, entailing an interesting cat and mouse relationship between the two characters that is not only baffling but also offers a dark hue of humour that’s injected into the show.
A real life illustration of beef or also known as, conflict has been and often is evident in the culture of hip hop, as a music genre and as a culture. The culture is no stranger to dragging audiences alike to its attention and focus often by mesmerizing belligerence delivered through high level bars consisting of subliminals, puns, witty remarks, crazy rhyme schemes and everything in between. If hip hop was a person and beef was personified, i believe beef would be hip hop. Like real beef, in the rap culture this may be brought about by a varying list of causes and factors, whether its something one might be conscious of or not.
It might be brought about by feelings of supremacy and condescendence, or merely by thinking someone’s horn’s being tooted too much for someone who doesn’t even author their own bars, or in some cases as recently proven by Kendrick, you just genuinely don’t like the person for abc reasons… whatever it is, and wherever it derives its origins and logic (or a lack of from), it is a feeling and a phenomenon that is largely present and popular and regularly dressed up in such bright lights that it’s impossible to ignore and not fall prey to by following, ultimately creating a very lucrative business for the music industry. And this is all off of and profiting from two people tearing each other apart in impertinence over sick beats that force you to bump your head and enjoy it, a little too much than you should… all things considered.
What I often find to be interesting is how when you listen closely (to the best beef diss tracks ever put out), and rationalise equally as closely it’s easy to see how rage is something that festers and develops similarly to the process of teething, once one’s teeth have escaped the shackles of milky gums, all they are eager to do, is to do what they were made to do.
Within the period in which the teeth are in the oven cooking, awaiting to be flaunted, the baby will experience a multitude of discomfort and irritation that said baby will also equally display the same fussiness.
It’s quite understandable how one might come to draw similarities between the process of teething to some of the greatest rap beefs ever.
Every single one of them have been the culmination of pent up feelings of resentment, that have been allowed to mature like wine over time, such that when a point of low pressure forms at the bottom, the eruption will be so ruthless it’ll force you into a euphoric state of mind, ready to meet the Grahams and the likes, a family you didn’t even know existed because you thought solipsistic Drake’s last name was Drake.
Yes, that what the article was building up to, the most talked about moment in hip hop history of 2024. Needless to draw a timeline and to trace the maturation of this beef over a decade long tumultuous relationship because this is provided literally everywhere on the internet, also needless to attempt to decipher all the implicit foundational work that was put into making this one of the great beef wars of all time because I may as easily run out of ink.
You know how at some point in our lives we’ve all had strong feelings of dislike and disdain for another individual, and you’ve probably come so close to just telling them off but then didn’t and you just keep missing the moment? And now, often when you think back you are reminded of this said person and kick yourself for not letting them have it especially because you could have it done it so well?
Well Kendrick decided that he was not like us pun intended, he decided not to miss the moment and just go straight at Drake. And the discography of tracks from the artist is in itself a standalone body of work that will forever go in history as one of the greatest ever made in a rap beef.
Listening to this back and forth between Kendrick and Drake was one of the most interesting back and forths of this year, period. Besides it being a moment in time that will forever go down in history, if this was History, the heading would probably read, the Fall of the Big 3, which would probably enrage Kendrick because…what big three?
But also because for many this is the first iconic, most-talked-about-ever rap beefs they’ve had to experience at first hand in real time, and well you know nothing hits like the first time, with the real thing. And to top it all off, its a rap beef starring one of the greatest prolific writers to ever been made from Hip hop and one of the biggest rap artists ever to run this, drawing and seeming to foreshadow a real Michael Jackson and Prince comparison.
personally for me, the icing on the cake, is understanding the deep dislike Kendrick has for this dude called Aubrey who you may know as Drake, it is quite impossible not to pick up on it, especially when Drake’s pretty boy-punchlines-resembling-IG-captions provided a great contrast that makes it almost petty for anyone to (in their right mind) even attempt to think and convince themselves that Drake won this battle. It is almost childlike and naïve to think, from any perspective that Drake won this battle.
If anything, Drake got exposed in this battle and was left scantily clad, because its hard not to cringe now, when you listen back to his most recent work, with the veil drawn, its difficult to listen to him, and escape the predatory nuances and tone in his work.
What am I trying to say? That Drake sounds like a predator, and it’s not about what he says, it’s how he sounds when he says it, how did he suddenly start sounding like a predator? Just as how when Science told us the earth is spherical, it ‘suddenly started feeling a whole lot less circular. When confronted with the truth, your mind processes information under a different hue. And this hue that I (and im sure many other people too) now see Drake under, is a whole lot dull and less bright.
More so, Drake looks more like a vulture than ever, he’s been accused of being a culture vulture before but that was merely from tabloids and bloggers and vloggers (and everyone else who has a part to play in this unreal place called the internet), so what’s different now? I’ll tell you, what’s different is we’re now hearing this from locals of the culture, from contributors of the culture, from people who are undisputedly a part of the culture itself, people who have more than just rubbed elbows with Drake. It’s also interesting to note that of everyone shouted out by Kendrick in this verse from Not Like Us:
You called Future when you didn’t see the club (Ayy, what?)
Lil Baby helped you get your lingo up (What?)
21 gave you false street cred
Thug made you feel like you a slime in your head (Ayy, what?)
Quavo said you can be from Northside (What?)
2 Chainz say you good, buthe lied
You run to Atlanta when you need a few dollars
No, you not a colleague, you a fuckin’ colonizer
The family matter and the truth of the matter
It was God’s plan to show y’all the liar
Not many if any came to Drake’s defence. Ultimately not a single person who’s not benefitting from Drake’s co-sign right now, came forth to give testimony of Drake’s character and say, “NO, that man is not a predator, he just likes texting underage girls”, or to say “We like Drake, he’s not monopolising our culture at all”. Is that fact alone not enough to make you looked at this Aubrey character sideways?
Again, for what’s a statement without repetition, it is almost naive and quite childlike for anyone to be convinced that our dear Aubrey won this beef battle, why? Well, this beef is about 2 months old now, and almost everyone is still dancing to Not Like Us, and when I say everyone, I mean exactly that… everyone, from artists, to athletes, to dare I say politicians, and everyone else in between.
Another reason? Well this beef battle gave birth to Kendrick’s Juneteenth pop out concert that united gang rivals, Bloods and Crips, on stage and had everyone dancing and vibing to a diss track aimed at Drake. Kendrick has people dancing to a song that talks shit about Drake, so much, he performed this record 5 times, the childlike naive kids will say, well he was too scared to do it 6 times because he’s scared of the 6, which is quite clown-funny not even the smart kind of humor, because… five times, performing a song that disparages one of the biggest rap stars in the world right now, is still utterly and absolutely mind-blowing.
Whilst Kendrick’s being crowned King of the West Coast and literally using the love of his music and art to unite his neighbourhood, his community and people at large, this dude called Drake is pressing his hair, wearing pants bigger than MC Hammer’s and talking about summertime.
Is this not consistent with the character unveiled to us from Euphoria all the way to Not like Us’s O-V-Hoe’s? For most, we met Aubrey on Meet the Grahams, now tell me, would you say it was good and nice to have met him? Once again, your answer to this may once again be an indictor as to whether you’re childlike and naïve or grown-like and Einstein-ish.
