What's Beef? Rage in The New Age

Ever since Katt Williams opened the portal on Club Shay Shay, it seems like all that’s on the menu is beef. We’ve seen comedians, singers, rappers, and politicians insult, expose, and denigrate their peers in nearly every public platform. It’s got me clutching my pearls for real; I guess everyone had a lot on their chest. It could’ve been written in the stars, with a major planetary shift into the age of Aquarius. It feels like we’re moving into the light, where last shall be first, and the first shall be last. But in order to get there, we’ve got to face some uncomfortable truths. 2024 feels like a crash collision, and Drake and Kendrick are a clash of titans.

Image via Billboard

What’s interesting about this feud is the larger themes it presents. Drake represents commercialism while Kendrick represents the culture. Drake was the Canadian kid wearing Commes de Garcon cardigans, making songs about women, and nothing in particular. His music is fun, palatable, with a lot of replay value; it’s a great product. Kendrick Lamar on the other hand makes music that is personal, substantive, and inspired; it’s art. His work resonates beyond entertainment, serving as the soundtrack to political moments, and earning him a Pulitzer prize. They are polar opposites, and there was room for them both, until commercialism tried to consume the culture.

“Dark Knight feeling, die and be a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become a villain.” - Sean Carter

Somewhere along the way Drake lost the plot and slipped into a character we never knew him to be. The tatted up top boy went from lover to lothario. These days the hit-maker is known for putting hits on people…allegedly. The cosplay, though comical, is common in Hollywood, faking the funk is nothing new for entertainers. Allegations of Drake being a culture vulture were flying since his One Dance days, but the hits were sticking like grits, so we looked the other way. Until it became too much and too cringe, a sentiment felt collectively, because everyone, everywhere all at once, was attacking Drizzy. Rick Ross, The Weekend, Future, and Metro Boomin all sent shots, with Kendrick throwing the Bazooka with his verse on Like That. And so it began…

“WTF is this a 20 v 1?” - Drake

Image via XXL Magazine

Though, I didn’t think he stood a chance against Kung Fu Kenny, I wasn’t interested in Drake's demise. In fact, I was even rooting for him a little bit. Colorism can be cruel to light skinned men who are assumed to be “soft.” They often have their masculinity challenged, so I was hoping he could get a lick in, for all the dogs. Messy rollout aside, I gave him his 10s for Push Ups. He played to his strengths, making a catchy song, with funny bars, and lighthearted tea. He had the courage (or delusion,) to address his opponents directly, a bold move that conjured Candy Man, but it inspired some confidence in listeners, and charged up his fans. It was good, until it wasn’t, as Drizzy turned his troll up, teasing Kendrick with memes, and internet shenanigans, but he made his strongest choice when he dropped the A.I. diss song Taylor Made. 

“What is it the braids?!”

In an era where artists are raging against the machine to maintain their right to create, Drake conjured up a posthumous Tupac, and an AI Snoop Dogg to diss the biggest LA artist of the past decade. It was the wrong move before the fight of his life, one that was corny, corporate, and made him look like an industry puppet to the public. For me it revealed Drake isn’t as tapped in as I thought, and struggling with his identity more than I knew. Maybe he’s resentful to his dad, or the school kids he grew up with, or the culture that reminds him he’s not like us. It’s unclear what made him push the button, but he opened a portal I’m not sure he was prepared for, because what happened next was unprecedented. 

“Sometimes you gotta pop out and show nxggas”- Kendrick Lamar

Image via The NY Times

On Tuesday, April 30th, Kendrick dropped the 6 minute song Euphoria, a surgical diss track equipped with 3 beat switches, and aimed solely at Drake. It was electrifying and entertaining, and it will age as one of the best disses in hip hop history. The battle could’ve ended right there, but Kenny was just getting started. In a span of a week he released three more diss songs waging psychological warfare and breaking Drake down layer by layer. In 6:16 in LA, he uses Drake’s flow to plant seeds of doubt and paranoia, in Meet the Grahams, the most  disrespectful of all the records, he speaks to Drake’s family about his flawed character, and exposes an alleged 11-year old daughter. In the club banger Not Like Us, he drops a west coast anthem complete with a dance break, and victory chant “OV-Hoe!” It was diabolical. Drake fired back with his haymaker Family Matters, a scandalous diss that sandwiched a drill beat between the melodic interludes we know and love Drake for. He even made a video in which he crushed the iconic van from Kendrick’s debut album cover. It was a GREAT song, and solid blow, but it just couldn’t withstand the hailstorm Kendrick rained down.

“Anger expressed is anger extinguished.” Tasleem Lee 

The smoke has cleared, and there’s a clear winner, it’s time to let the beef simmer. Collectively, we called it for King Kendrick. Despite his best efforts, Drake was simply outmatched. His hubris had him underestimating K Dot, and he fuck*d around and found out! It was a fun run that will go down in history, but I hope this is the end for everyone’s safety. Despite the negativity, there’s important conversations in the subtext of this petty poetry. J Cole’s apology opened discussions about hyper masculinity in hip hop.  The light skin and mixed jabs, broke conversation about ethnicity, and identity in the Black community.  Drake’s alleged grooming deepens the dialogue around sexual predators, and the abuse of women in Hollywood. Most importantly, it stayed in the music…for now.

In real life, we’re on the verge of World War 3, another Trump Presidency, and the removal of the right to protest in three US states. The real villains are rolling back rights, and passing laws for their personal gains, while were distracted by our personal lives and celebrity drama. In real life Boeing whistleblowers are coming up dead, college students are being assaulted by police for peacefully protesting, and Tik Tok is being banned because of its ability to spread information. To quote Kendrick, “I’m not on the outside looking in, I’m not on the inside looking out, I’m dead center looking around,” and from POV we’ve got bigger fish to fry than beef.

So what’s beef in the age of rage; where no one is safe from callouts and cancelling? Black Star said it better than me in 2005 so I’ll leave you with their words.

Beef is not what Jay said to Nas,
Beef is when working niggas can't find jobs.
So they try to find niggas to rob,
Try to find bigger guns so they can finish the job.
Beef is when a crack-kid can't find moms,
cause they in a pine box, or locked behind bars.
Beef ain't the summer Jam on Hot Ninety-Seven.
Beef is the Cocaine and AIDS epidemics.
Beef don't come with a radio edit.
Beef is when the judge's callin you defendant.
Beef, it come with a long jail sentence,
Handed down to you in a few short minutes.
Beef is when your girl come through for a visit,
talkin bout her pregnant, by some other nigga.
Beef is high blood pressure, and bad credit;
Need a loan for your home and you're too broke to get it.
And all your little kids is doin' is gettin bigger,
You try to not raise them around the wild niggas.
Beef is when a gold-digger got your seed in her,
A manicured hand out, like, "Pay me nigga,
Or I'm tellin your wife,
And startin up some foul rumors that'll ruin your life."
Beef is when a gangster ain't doing it right,
And other gangsters then decide to do with his life.
Beef is not what these famous niggas would do in the mic,
Beef is what George Bush would do in a fight.
Beef is not what Ja said to Fifty.
Beef is Weldon Irv not being here with me.
When a soldier ends his life with his own gun,
Beef is trying to figure out what to tell his son.
Beef is oil prices and Geopolitics;
Beef is Iraq, the West Bank, and Gaza Strip.
Some beef is big, and some beef is small,
But what y'all call beef is no beef at all.
Beef is real life, happenin every day,
And its real-er than the songs that you gave to K-Slay.

This has been a real negus PSA!

It’s only entertainment.

“They Not Like Us”

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