Diss tracks in hip-hop breathe life back into the genre: Part I

Hip-hop has been around for 51 years; in that time, it has gone mainstream as one of the most listened to and marketable genres in the world. As great as that is, it's also a very competitive genre. There is a lot of Kobe-MJ type trash talk. Sometimes, though, rappers can get triggered by the actions of others and voice their frustrations through their rhymes.

Diss tracks are a way to take a "jab" at somebody for what they did or how they acted in a certain situation.

You see where I'm going with this?

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past few weeks, there's been beef going on between the rap kings of the 2010s, aka J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, and Drake. But if you've been living under a rock last weekend, you've missed the Kendrick-Drake beef that was taken to new heights.

Rap beefs bring out the conversations.

I remember the East Coast-West Coast rivalry turned violent quickly. But I remember the Jay-Z & Nas beef better. Not only were the beefs directed at the person directly, but they also started conversations.

I remember thinking to myself while listening to Jay's 3rd verse in "Takeover" on The Blueprint where he called Nas out by name like "oh he's a bold m*********** for that one". Nas came back with "Ether" and in the intro had "F*** Jay-Z" echoing in the background.

Back then, there was no social media, so the only reactions you'd normally hear from are your peers you went to school with and radio talk show hosts weighing in during their show. The questions from the kids were: whose side were you on? or Which bars did you think were crazy? The conversations were endless.

Today in this social media era, you hear and see millions of people weigh in, whether that's YouTubers creating shorts or videos covering it or people on socials creating memes out of it. The conversation lasts a lot longer than it did back then.

Drake & Kendrick Lamar go at each other's neck... Again.

This has been a decade-long beef that goes back to when they were both hitting their stride in the early 2010s.

Now that hip-hop fans have had a chance to digest the wrath of Drake & Kendrick, particularly over this past weekend, let's take a look back at the track that kicked off this chapter of the beef.

First, let's address J. Cole.

Cole was featured on Drake's "First Person Shooter" on For All The Dogs. Cole asked:

"Love when they argue the hardest MC. Is it K Dot? Is it Aubrey? Or me? We like the Big Three like we started a league. But right now, I feel like Muhammad Ali" - J. Cole

The verse on Future's "Like That".

Now many hip-hop fans consider Drake, Kendrick Lamar, and J. Cole the Kings of Rap in the 2010s. They are otherwise known as "The Big Three", which pays homage to the era of NBA Basketball in the late 2K era to the late 2010s where the 2008' Celtics became the first team to form a team around 3 perennial all-stars and hall of famers in their primes, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen.

But anyway, Kendrick on his verse dissed the notion that he was a part of that Big Three and that it was only him while also coming at Cole and Drake calling For All The Dogs one of the worst Drake albums.

"Motherf*** the big three, n****, it's just big me." - Kendrick

"For all the dogs getting buried, That's a K with all these nines, he got see Pet Sematary." - Kendrick addressing For All The Dogs

He compares himself and Drake to Prince and the late Michael Jackson.

"Prince outlived Mike Jack"

This seemed to be the linchpin that started it all.

Drake strikes back on the low.

While I'm not sure how many fans took notice of those bars, Drake did. After a couple of weeks passed, Drake fired back, dropping "Pushups" coming at everyone on the track, but he comes after Kendrick hard out the gates talking about how his Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers died out quickly and clowns him for catering to the mainstream collaborating with Maroon 5 and Taylor Swift.

The verses that had to be the most memorable are where he claims Kendrick ain't a part of the big 3 because SZA, Travis Scott, and his collab album with 21 Savage all surpassed Kendrick's latest album.

"You ain't in no big three, SZA got you wiped down, Travis got you wiped down, Savage got you wiped down. Like your label, boy, you in a scope right now." - Drake gives his 2 cents

Drake also dropped "Taylor Made Freestyle" which used AI-generated voice of Pac and Snoop to go after him who are Kendrick's idols.

It's your turn Kendrick.

On April 30th, Kendrick drops "Euphoria" (which is a title of the HBO series that Drake produces). The song is separated using 3 separate beats. Kendrick hits back at Drake harder. It was almost end to end annihilation. He calls him a scam artist with the hopes of him becoming accepted as a rapper. He heavily references Drake being a liar and master manipulator.

"Fabricatin' stories on the family front 'cause you heard Mr. Morale. A pathetic master manipulator, I can smell the tales on you now. You're not a rap artist, you a scam artist with the hopes of being accepted." - Kendrick addressing the lies and manipulation

Kendrick likes the old Drake with the melodies more than the tough guy persona Drake "seems" to put on.

"I like Drake with the melodies, I don't like Drake when he acts tough." - Kendrick addressing which Drake he prefers

Three days later, Kendrick doubles up.

Kendrick must have had these in the vault or something 'cause just three days later, he drops "6:16 in LA" on YouTube. The man was on a mission. He was locked in like he was a man possessed. The title references Drake's timestamp format on a few of his past tracks like "6PM in New York", "5AM in Toronto", or his most recent "8am in Charlotte" on For All The Dogs.

Some people seem to think "6:16" is a reference to Father's Day, which is June 16th this year, June 16th is 2Pac's birthday, or if you want to get biblical, reference Corinthians 6:16. Many were trying to find the Easter eggs.

This track references Kendrick being conflicted about going to "war" with Drake.

"God, ah, my confession is yours, but who am I if I don't go to war? There's opportunity when living with loss, I discover myself when I fall short."

But this track also references that Drake's own label conspires against him.

"Are you finally ready to play have-you-ever? Let's see. Have you ever thought that OVO is working for me? Fake bully, I hate bullies, you must be a terrible person. Everyone inside your team is whispering that you deserve it."

He even references Drake having many people who work for him but has inside side man at his label feeding him info and many who are secretly hating.

"A hundred n***** that you got on salary. And twenty of 'em want you as a casualty. And one of them is actually next to you. And two of them is practically tired of your lifestyle. Just don't got the audacity to tell you."

I'd have to say this is one of the worst things for any business owner. The conspiracies against them from the people who work for them. White collar can be cut throat because there's always someone who feels like they can either do your job better than you or get someone to do your job better than you.

Part II coming in the next few days to finish up the madness that followed "6:16 in LA".