Drake Finally Lost
feat. BIG BUNDAS (@bund4sblow13s)
At approximately 5:30PM EST, as I was getting on the subway, I received a message from Instagram user and English gentleman @bund4sblow13s. We had been chatting earlier in the day about the current feud between Kendrick Lamar and Drake. In classic Bundas fashion, he sent me a series of 40 second voice messages. This time, it was something to the effect of “I listened to this diss 100 times, absolutely mad”. This was followed by a back and forth about doing a post about this, to which I responded “sure let’s do something to post on Sunday”. He refused, saying we must strike while the iron is hot. So thank him for the extra post.
So in this article, BUNDAS and I knock heads and share our verdict on the sanctioned fight between the “Big 2” of modern rap.
[Just in case you’re not sure what we’re discussing, make sure to listen to “First Person Shooter” (Drake and J Cole track without Kendrick), “Like That” (Kendrick initial diss to Drake), “Push Ups” (Drake’s response) and “Euphoria” (Kendrick’s response to that).]
First is my perspective, where I give the surgical and “objective” breakdown…
ANTIART POV
The most interesting thing to me, aside from the music itself being really good, is that the more you know about each artist, the more you are able to predict what occurs next. It’s like watching two skilled generals finally face off after 10 years of a cold war.
Kendrick is tactful and drops when he feels compelled to. He is less successful for this reason, but his voice is stronger and more sought after. He has the Grammys, the Pulitzer prize and a very active and dedicated fanbase analyzing every bar like it’s the word of God.
Drake thrives on attention, relevance and pure numbers. He may be the household name, but his voice is watered down by releasing too much material without thinking about critical acclaim or self-respect. He will trade authenticity and quality, but will always have way more Billboard success than Kendrick ever will.
At the end of the day, this is a rap beef and not a dick measuring contest (which Drake would probably win as well), Kendrick has successfully cleared Drake as Pusha T did before him.
Drake dropped a solid diss with “Push Ups”. He cooked Kendrick medium rare with disses like “pipsqueak pipe down” and “drop and give me 50”, referring to his half and half record contract with his former label Top Dawg. The line “what’s a Prince to a king, he’s a son” was a nice parry to Kendrick saying that “Prince outlived [Michael Jackson]” But as expected, after Kendrick “took too long”, Drake fumbled the bag. He praised Taylor Swift and called himself a groomer using 2Pac’s voice on “Taylor Made”, and even got cease-and-desisted because of it.
Yesterday, Kendrick struck back and I think this whole affair is done. Over a fiery six minutes, Kendrick handedly exposed him as a master manipulator, effeminate misogynist and bad father. He threatened to kill his cat and all but confirmed he has plastic surgery abs. What Kendrick does best here is demonstrate that Drake is a boy, not a man, that is desperate to be accepted.
After this, Drake is stuck in limbo. Kendrick is the superior rapper. The Weeknd is a more successful artist. Both of them just dissed him, along with all of Drake’s peers. All I know at this point is I’ll never be able to listen to Kendrick, Drake or J Cole again without being reminded about the insanity that this whole thing has caused.
BUNDAS POV
Well, well well. Kendrick vs Drake reaches its peak - David on steroids vs Goliath with osteoporosis. Drake fans felt cautious glee in the fact that Kenny took his time on this one - a lesson in the dangers of complacency. DJ Akademiks was reportedly, as the news of the diss broke, sobbing gently into one of the bras he had bought off of a Miami security guard who claimed it had once touched Drake's left cheek at a show.
Kendrick fans - fans of rap music in general - will all feel a little lighter today. Partly because we all know that within the story of Icarus and Daedalus there is a hidden glee to be had in the unfortunate lad's desire to fly just that little bit too high - and here we see Drake rendered in waxy wings.
Kendrick is not Icarus or Daedalus though - or King Minos for that matter - he is, like Shakespeare's Juliet, The Sun.
Postmodernism came along with a hell of a bang: it is now used as a term to denote everything from trans rights to bad baristas. But it does have a genuine meaning, and it continues to have genuine impact. One of those, undeniably - is chaos. So much so, that academics have long speculated what comes next? (post-post-modernism is well worth a google)
Many have speculated, but one alternate vision seems to ring true: sincerity.
It is no coincidence then that this beef, which represents The Future, started on a track with that very same man. A track which saw Lamar dismiss him as a challenge, and 'Euphoria' sees the very same Mr Lamar delve into increasing increments of viciousness which is more or less introduced with his same menacing mantra from The Heart pt. 4: "Don't tell no lie about me, And I won't tell truth about you"
The track is littered with it: the Postmodern Drake, the man who culture vultures, who changes with the wind, who allows his weathervane sensibilities to say wasteman without a single shred of hesitancy. Who punches down, or up, or sideways depending on what he thinks the people will love: often missing the mark. Who slanders Megan Thee Stallion and Rihanna while failing to address why he is giving the utmost, deeply private praise to literal children over text message.
Who uses a Taylor Swift bar as a central point of his 'diss' - only to be splashed across Twitter the next day doing up RuPaul lipsync to the very same song Kendrick is featured on.
Whether you like Kendrick Lamar or not, one thing is undeniable. He is sincere - as sincere as any flawed human can be; and the reason his diss has vibrated across the internet, will sing from the rooftops for weeks, and wins the battle conclusively is simply that - he speaks to what comes next, the answer to the question that nerds (including me) have been trying to construct for years.
The answer, the remedy and the solution to the death of postmodernism is the next big thing: sincerity.