One hard disagreement with you here. There is no such thing as underage women. There are girls. There are children. There are no underage women anywhere.
there's too much footage of Aubrey Graham being his actual self and his late stage Street Conversion comes across mad fake to anybody who's ever touched the Culture up close
Yeah, my interpretation of the lyrics is he isn't insulting the literal color of Drake's skin tone. It's more about how Drake has no problem selling out his race to get ahead and then turn around and act all hard at the same time.
@@fuse4lifeas a mixed guy, it doesn't really matter. we put up with too much literal garden-variety "you're not really black" bullshit all day every day. I don't stan drake but Kendrick was being a massive douche and makin shit hostile
@@nerdinleather the problem is that drake is mixed, his dad is black, his mom is white, and he takes every chance he gets to bring up the fact that his dad is black... Its not the fact that people think "hes not really black" the problem is that he acts like he wants to ONLY be black, and its just super disrespectful to show tons of love to his dad and point out his race every chance he gets just to never talk about his mom. Behind the scenes yeah im sure Drake is a nice family man that equally loves all of his family, but from a entertainment/social media perspective it really looks like he just does not associate himself with his mom AT ALL, he only accepts one side of himself and its really not a good look for a "lover boy"🤷♂🤷♂
I kinda feel like now the "you don't like women" line in Euphoria (24:24) is because the word "woman" is usually use to refer someone who is an adult, and he's since accused Drake of liking underaged girls.
in the context of the line it's referencing sexyy red & misogyny, how bc drake doesn't have a good relationship with his masculinity he views women as competition. goes further in meet the grahams - "can't channel your masculine even when standing next to a woman"
"Kendrick, Kendrick, Kendrick how easily you have fallen into my trap, Now everybody thinks I'm a pedo and a deadbeat dad, just like i planned"😂 the nerve of him to tell us this is his plan the entire time on the beef🤣come on BBL DRIZZY we ain't that slow🤣
if you go back and look there is not a single filler bar in any of Kendrick songs, not one every single thing to do says is a bar aimed directly at Drake or maybe a couple of side shots at cole or some of Drake's people
The heart pt 6 is the part in those old cartoons where a character would get their ass beat, then get back up like they're ready to go again, swaying and talking shit with slurred speech before immediately falling out.
This exactly, except when he got up he started talking shit, then got defensive, told on himself, gives his misreading of a song, mocks all sa victems, then says I don't wanna hit you no more. Truly a CTE
On the Kendrick R. Kelly thing his main issue was that they were only taking off the Black artist but leaving on artist like Elvis and David Bowie who also were known to have underage sex. The implications being that the censorship was unequal in this case and would be going forward. Also it was the label head not Kendrick who made the request.
Precisely. I believe that Kendrick so dedicated to the craft that his aim is to protect from a day when the interpretation of the art becomes conflated with the content of the artist’s character.
I've also seen the argument that the only way r Kelly's victims can be compensated at this point is through the sale of his music since he is broke. I don't know if that was being considered or if that's even true, but maybe worth mentioning?
Good stuff. I tapped into the live stream that day and noticed @Open Mike Eagle was unaware of the whole Kendrick/ R.Kelly situation. Spotify’s policy were only targeting Black Genres, R.Kelly and XXXtentacion. I want to say but don’t quote me: Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) threaten to pull all of Kendrick’s catalog off the platform if changes were not made to the policy.
0:00:00 Situation status. 0:01:43 Drake - _Push Ups_ (listen and discuss) 0:09:38 Drake - _Taylor Made Freestyle_ (listen and discuss) 0:17:23 Kendrick - _Euphoria_ (listen and discuss) 0:22:07 [LOUD] Submarine shoutout 0:22:24 [LOUD] Submarine shoutout 0:28:01 _Euphoria_ ends. Discussion of track titles. 0:29:09 Kendrick _6꞉16 in LA_ [AUDIO CUT] Most of the video is unintentionally muted during this track. This was apparently an issue during this VOD export. 0:30:53 Audio resumes. 12 seconds until audio mutes again at 0:31:05. 0:31:16 Audio resumes. 1 minute and 2 seconds until audio mutes again at 0:32:18. 0:32:43 Audio resumes. 1 minute and 12 seconds until audio mutes again at 0:33:55. 0:34:21 Audio resumes. 13 seconds until audio mutes again at 0:34:34 0:34:55 Audio resumes as song ends. No more issues for the rest of the video. 0:35:04 Drake - _Family Matters_ (listen and discuss) 0:37:28 ► "Rap Beef in the Information Age" thesis. 0:48:05 Song ends. Escalation, allegations, and references to _Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers_. 0:54:03 Kendrick - _Meet the Grahams_ 1:03:09 _Meet the Grahams_ ends. 1:05:22 Kendrick - _Not Like Us_ 1:13:27 [BREAK] Mike steps away from the stream as the song ends. 1:14:10 [END BREAK] Mike returns. Introduction to Drake response. 1:15:09 Drake - _The HEART PART 6_ (listen and discuss) 1:30:30 Song ends. What's next? Outro. _______________________________________________ I've got nothing to say on the issue at hand, just wanted to provide some time-stamps I thought were relevant for this video in particular.
I don't believe Kendrick called him gay or misogynist in that "you don't even like women" line... i can't help but feel it was another dig at him liking young girls, because they aren't women yet. But who knows, just a theory.
He was very much insinuating that Drake doesn't like women. As in he's a misogynist and also that he sees them as competition. I mean Drake is known for dissing and sending shots at various women he's been involved with or had some interaction with Rihanna, Melyssa Ford for example as well as constantly mentioning people's significant other.
I read it that way too, like 16 and 17 year old girls are confusing themselves with real women, and Drake is preying on that misguided sense of maturity.
He did say "you might pop ass" after a line about sexy red, but not cause he's gay. He knew we would take it to mean drake thinks hes a bad bitch, but red is 26 so I heard it's because 2 x 13yr olds = 26
The Mr Morale album was about being truthful with himself, to break free of generational trauma/curses, so that he can heal. It’s a therapeutic album. It wasn’t just about his infidelity.
Damn was exactly the prequel for Mr. morale. Kendrick’s U demonstrates Kendricks spiritual tug-of-war choosing to abandon home to chase worldly success, as opposed to the constant torment i’ve Survivor guilt, ruminating about whether you should have done crippling anxiety and paranoia in #Fear. damn wrestling with the needs of his faith versus those of his flesh,. Mr. Morale is post rock bottom Kendrick. this is the Kendrick, that remains after makes his choice between true friends and fame which in #Loyalty in #Yah, and the pain that immerses from the dark night of the soul that was referred to in #Ducky and continues to play itself in a heaven versus hell theme, Kendrick confronting his own demons in #Lucy there Kendrick wrestles with Gd to the revelation that it was never he against the world, but him against himself. This is the lifelong battle with self Kendrick eventually refers to in the final line of ‘Meet the Grahams‘. The struggle The sudden realization that Damn was exactly the prequel for Mr. Morale.
Beautiful and rap battle don't really go hand in hand. There's a lot of glazing from different fandoms. But, there's a reason that real lyricist and what not were more cross on the track. It's a very patchwork diss with questionable bars, some whiffs, etc. and the delivery is dodgy.
I believe so as well. Joel Osteen is said to use ghost writers for his sermons. At that point Kendrick is questioning who he fighting, so it would make sense if he was confusing people. It seems to be yet another layer.
Any time he tries to really be lyrical, even when I’m putting my biases away, I can’t help but see it like a 5yo cousin showing me their drawing. “Aw, that’s cute. I’ll put it on the fridge.” When it’s not that, I’m actively cringing-like when he misinterpreted Mother I Sober
i still think one of the funniest things in this whole beef was Kendrick going "oh okay you're gonna bring Taylor swift in this? well it looks like i gotta bring in Jack Antonoff to coproduce one of these tracks". Also i think its telling that drake said in Family Matters "gotta pay for sayin my name" and he didnt do some shit like send them an invoice, because drake loves doing that shit. Its a sign that he was already kinda shook when doing Family Matters. even though its not a blatant as him saying hes gonna send people an invoice, you know if drake was really in his bag doing this beef he woulda done that. Its also so corny to buy a chain that someone had and act like you snatched it off them. Drake just did so much wrong. Meet The Grahams is so cursed, everything about it is so insane, the beat, the shit hes saying, his tone of voice. It makes your skin crawl like you accidentally intercepted a private communication.
The comment around 8:50 that "both of these men are rich weirdos" made me think of Aesop Rock's song Dorks, which is about how rappers are a bunch of weirdos. And that's funny, because he sneak disses Drake on that song: "Maybe an occupation popular with demons and ducks Made any mingling akin to being seasoned and stuffed" A male duck is called a drake, so Aes is saying the reason he doesn't hang out with other rappers is because some of them are terrible people, and some of them are Drake. That song came out 8 years ago.
What’s hilarious is drake didn’t even really take away pt. 6 from the heart series if Kendrick wants to do another one.. Kendrick always uses Roman Numerals to number the song in that series and drake didn’t even do that😂😂 I’m not sure if Kendrick would even make another one tho bc the heart only has 5 chambers
Yes that was my impression upon hearing the Kimye line All of Drake's stuff, especially when he's trying to be forceful, sounds like someone singing along to something angry trying to emulate a screamed/yelled section in a song, but knowing that can't hit that sound/volume. Like that purposefully muted singalong. That's what his delivery reminds me of.
Drake is beginning to look like the millennial Kid Rock. And for those who don't remember, Kid Rock was so fake in the hip hop community that ICP only f*cked with him for one song on Carnival of Carnage.
this is a great vid mike. its so crazy that youre so good at talking about music and making it. like entirely different skills and youre very very talented at both in very different ways v dope. if hip hop had an espn equivalent youd be killing it
Amazing video man. I've enjoyed the beef plenty and I love how you went song-by-song. Also felt comforting to finally also hear an opinion from somebody who didn't google GeniusLyrics for every line from every song. I don't like research rap and you managed to hone in on the lines that stood out to me without having to do a lot of digging.
I think one aspect of the ‘Kendrick wanting to keep R Kelly’s music on streaming’ thing that gets lost in the shuffle is that Kendrick did that because the artists being taken down were predominantly black artists, meanwhile white artists who have R Kelly level allegations AND convictions and nobody said a damn thing about whether or not they should be taken down to. It was less that he was invested in R Kelly and more the principal of the matter, and honestly in broad strokes I totally get that. It’s bullshit that Spotify was going to draw the line in the sand the second it was a black man, however, I think Kendrick releasing a statement or just saying something at all (I know that’s not how he is, but like, come on man, let go of your ego for a sec) would’ve sent the same message and we’d probably remember that debacle for what it was instead of a cut and dry ‘Kendrick wants to keep the music of sex offenders on streaming!’ when REALLY it’s a little more complex than that.
Drake got things *so* wrong about Mother I it makes me question him on his allegations about Kendricks personal life without evidence. The reality of the charges about that guy in his crew, the gross shit he's done on video or been leaked with underage female stars, I'm ready to believe it. For Kendrick, I want something more solid.
i think its hard for me to view this beef with an open mind because i have been so so ready for drake to be on the way out and i think a lot of ppl on in that same mindset
That 2nd Verse of Family Matters is the best thing he delivered in this whole battle. It might be the best thing i heard from Drake in his whole career. Wish it was it's own song.
Taylor’s album dropped and Drake felt as if Kendrick was stalling his response to ‘push ups’ and ‘drop and give me 50’ SOLELY not to step on her album thus allowing Swifties to have Kendrick “hiding” and pretending like he’s not in a rap beef. In fact, Kendrick and Taylor are label mates and have collaborated on the song (UMG) so it makes sense that Universal media group would want to stagger the releases. It’s a theme of Drake’s to emasculate his opponent, his height, his virility, his subservience to a female artist and colleague. It clearly didn’t land.
Drake looked at his release schedule like you said and thought he was forced to make the work that slow but in reality he was crafting and the dude just has it pouring out of him like any good artist and the fact that Drake doesn't get that speaks volumes. It's hilarious
Loved your breaks down Mike I have a lot of the same thoughts and feelings about all this. You and Dozer are the only two I’ve listened to break it down. You both gave me good outside perspectives from a rapper-writer and music critic standpoint. As a hip hop nerd I’ve been obsessed since Kendrick dropped the Like That verse in response to those subliminals. The way it’s unfolded raised a lot of complex and problematic shit that you mentioned. I’ve been running back all of Kendrick’s diss tracks and as you pointed out, he laid out his plan from the jump. euphoria. clearly lays out what he expects from Drake - how he’ll move and the angles he’ll take; and what his next moves. Aubrey could have taken a loss after 6:16 in LA or been smart and got a different angle for his response. He didn’t so Kendrick dropped the second Back to Back that he was getting back to for the record. Kendrick came for his family and his career with the curse and the ether. That fucking piano sting on Meet the Grahams is going to give Drake PTSD flashbacks any time he hears it. And they’ll be playing Not Like Us for years. the A Minor line is going to be chanted at Drake like CM Punk chants at a wrestling show for the rest of his life. The white flag line in Family Matters didn’t age well for Drake after The Heart Part 6 just like his photo with Karl Malone, Millie Bobby Brown and Billie Elish comment, and bringing a 17 year old on stage.
1:24:30 to that point... and I don't know Kendrick's intentions behind that decision but I feel that goes back to the separating the artist from the art thing. I think that people have difficulty doing that but are we going to censor everyones art because of their criminal past? Hip-Hop has always embraced everyone from murderers, to drug dealers, to sex workers... are we going to remove their music because of that? And what about other art forms? Do we remove Kevin Spacey movies? And where is the line, accused or convicted? Personally I don't think the art should suffer because of what the artist did, maybe the proceeds of their art should go institutions that protect the victims or offer legal aid, but even that is tricky. Honestly I think the art should be protected as a principle of freedom of speech and people either support it or not and the art that is not supported eventually dies naturally
also, does it extend to other people's music that they produced or featured on? does biggie's entire catalogue get zapped bc of diddy? do wish there were more efforts to actually help victims, but that's the story across the board - everyone staying quiet until it's convenient, then loudly hating the perp while quietly letting the victims rot bc trauma is a buzzkill. but if i think about that too much i'll fall off the wagon, so 🤷♀ lmao i'd at least hope some of these artists push money towards victims behind the scenes
Did anybody really think that Drake could win? It would be one thing if Kendrick were against a well-known lyricist or battle rapper. What bothers me is the lack of discussion about 'quotable bars.' It used to be the main point of a battle- who could out-rap one another. Now it's just about the drama and attempts to cancel the opponent.
@Max-np1mk yeah for sure, I think there's a lot of audiences that's introduction to rap beef was story of adidon and that's impacted the discussion of it. Obviously there is a lot to say allegations wise but yeah this shouldn't be what rap beef is about in general. I understand why this had to happen the way it did but part of me kinda wishes we got the friendly competition version of this at this point lmfao
Drake is involved with battle rap, hosted an event on his birthday, and was apparently meant to battle murda mook but it was pulled last minute. I heard an interview with Illmac and The Saurus (two of the best battle rappers ever, if you're not familiar) and they both said Drake was gonna win it because he knows battle rap. They acknowledged that Kendrick has better artistry in his discography, but that Drake would have better battle bars etc. What they didn't foresee is that Kendrick would make use of that artistry and make a conceptual song like Meet The Grahams, which is cinematic, atmospheric, dark. All stuff that's pretty unique for a diss track. While I agree that it's become too much about the drama, Kendrick's execution of his angles and attacks has been amazing.
@JonnyBriers Wow, didn't know about Drakes involvement in battle rap at all. I agree 100% about Meet The Grahms, it's definitely going to be remembered as one of the best disses of all time.
I would love to see you continue covering this beef (I don't think its over), like you said before only people in Rap will understand certain nuances of a beef. I think the discourse around the beef has gotten really toxic and there are a lot of casuals who don't even know anything about rap altering the narrative.
From my understanding, Drake's Taylor made diss track is basically trying to paint Kendrick like he's a beta male simping for Taylor Swift or like that. Definitely agree the A.I voices is cringe, could've done better, but IMO timing was bad when more and more artists don't like this A.I disruption and A.I generated content.
joel hale osteen was a play on both names, considering haley joel osment was in AI and the Sixth Sense, and because Joel Osteen has admitted to using AI to write his sermons, as well as people parodying him using AI, do it comes back to a discussion about Drake using Pac and Snoop
You totally missed the joel bar. He wasn't speaking on the preacher, he put him & the actor's name together but maybe that's too much for you to catch. Euphoria is a masterpiece diss.
Kendrick clearly didint mean that Drake shouldn't say Nigga cause hes Mix, hes clearly making the point hes a person foreign to black culture that actually dont share it just exploit it, not reaching just looking at not like us and meet the Grahams
the Taylor Swift part is the idea that Kendrick Lamar didn't drop because he didn't want to drop on the same day as Taylor Swift, because it would get blown out of the water. A concern that Drake would have for sure... so it's a lot of projection. Also, yo! Hope you're well.
That chord scheme is so frustrating, it could have actually shown actual musical knowledge, but instead he chooses b#, which isn’t real. Plus he could have used diminished/suspended or dominant/augmented, but instead we see that just like his music, his knowledge of it is basic
Drakes disses to rocky is really more of a self own lol. Rocky is raising a family and from the beginning he was always wanting to branch out into other things. It was like 10 years ago that he said he wanted to be remembered as an “innovator” in multiple avenues rather than just music/rapping. Meanwhile drake is still out here acting/ rapping as if he’s still a 20 year old😂
Joel Osteen is often impersonated by AI for scams. Megachurches are also seen as predatory institutions. And Haley Joel was in Sixth Sense and AI the early 2000s film. Quintuple entendre!
