That’s what I keep trying to tell people. This is a cultural moment, we don’t hate Drake he just ran out of his cultural currency. We’re tired, the loans have expired. We haven’t seen a return on our investment. Point blank period. I said elsewhere and I’ll say it here it feels like a beef between Tyler Perry and Ryan Coogler. Like we’re done watching a million Madea movies, at some point people desire something and someone more authentic substantive and dynamic-right now what’s Dot. 🤷🏾♀️ Drake wanna come back with a “fruitville station” a “creed” iight, welcome home.. but until then - stick with your chart topping, one note thing you do. We respect it, get money it’s all good but do it over there.
Not necessarily true. Alot of drake fans are just drake fans. They don't care about the same thing that hip hop fans may care about@@TheBrotherHoodSports
I have NEVER witnessed someone break a man's character down atom by atom like Kendrick did to BBL Drizzy. A fried and I were talking a few months ago and were saying the only thing Kendrick hasn't done is be battled tested. Well... Test passed in flying colours. I knew K-Dot had it in him, but I did not know he could get that malicious and just pure evil lol What a legend!
That was my biggest worry about kendrick is that we'd never seen him battle. We've seen it from drake many times and there's value (should be) in that experience. But kendrick truly stepped up to the challenge and looking back we should've never doubted him. He approached this the same way he approached albums, with care and thoughtfulness and by painting a picture. Not just random disses and lines. This was a masterpiece and i really gained alot more respect for kendrick. This is like playing in your first super bowl and throwing for 400 yards and 5 TDs
@@Nominal405 Drake is a brand. An LLC. A corporation. Like tDwayne "the rock" Johnson. They aren't people they are a company. Kendrick is actually human, tha's why he won!! 🤯
@@Nominal405 it was so funny seeing so many people dismissing kendrick during the 2-3 weeks after drake dropped push ups. people were so concerned ab the timeline, and kendrick being on the clock. i had said during that time "all this clock shit is a cool narrative rn, but if/when kendrick drops, and he does what i think he will, nobody will be talking about the clock anymore" i couldn't have been more right lol. people were literally tryna say that kendrick had already lost since it was taking him so long. i haven't seen one discussion about the timeline since kendrick dropped euphoria.
@@zootin6688euphoria and 616 in LA, meet the grahams then not like us … Boy went back to back TWICE on Drake, beat the man at his own game… well played Kendrick
I get not calling drake a pedo or kendrick an abuser without proof, but with all the weirdo behavior drake has towards under age girls from Billie, too millie, and the video of him kissing on the underage girl. Like yeah, I'm not gonna throw pedo on you, but at the same time, you do have weird behavior, so it's more believable than kendrick being abusive which is why I feel kendricks tea has more impact.
Thats why Kendrick really won that part. We seen it before. Drake had to prove Kendrick was a abuser more had he had done that it would of been a big hit to Dot and Drake probably wins cause we never heard that about him.
@richardsutherland8942 exactly, like you can say what you want, but do you have proof of that. The problem drake is having is everyone has a phone and the allegations kendrick said about you might not be true, but there's so much documented weird behavior between you and underage girls it makes it hard not to believe that somethings up.
That was one of the things I heavily praised Kendrick for… he gave us so many different styles and sounds in a short period of time.. The boy got range…
With all the shock value that was used in the beef, it diluted what I believe was the best track in Euphoria. Kendrick came with his best pen on that track. With one of my favourite lines from the whole beef of "I ain't thinkin' about no reaper, I'm reapin' what I sow, okay Got a Benjamin and a Jackson all in my house like I'm Joe, okay" - intertwining the Jackson vs. Prince, and alluding to Coles verse on Johnny P's Caddy. And the best set up for what happened later in the beef where he said "I make music that electrify 'em, you make music that pacify 'em, I can double down on that line, but spare you this time, that's random acts of kindness". Euphoria was filled to the brim with bars like this and his flow patterns, rhyme schemes and beat switches were all elite whilst sticking to the theme of tearing down Drake's character without dropping any "shock value". I hope when the dust settles this get's recognised more by the community over the 'he did this, he did that' stuff. All in all I give Dot the W too 👑
Absolutely right. I listened to Euphoria again and I was like WOW because I had forgotten what it was like becuase the other songs took my attention to process. 1. Euphoria 2. Meet the Grahams, 3. Not Like Us
Just want to say Thank you Rob for being insightful and down to earth in all your videos…the job of being decent and having a voice is very important and you deserve the flowers now for letting us know and breaking down the bars for those that didn’t. Thank you Rob 💯🙏🏾🔥
This is a different kind of battle than we've had before. Drake has always been good in the numbers, trying to be all things to all people. But, when you stand on popularity alone, success is fickle. When the brand takes a hit, what's left for people to support? Drake doesn't stand on a cause, a community, a connection to hip hop culture, a commitment to a moral code (flawed or not), a unique perspective (that he actually shares), or anything other hit making. If Kendrick is made to look less cool or less virtuous, he is still standing on a foundation of things we can support even if we question the man himself.
Valid points… Drake always swayed away from social issues to protect his brand.. I get it… it’s cool to make people dance, but once the party is over, who’s willing to stay?? Nonetheless good job, to both camps.. Hiphop won
@@R.T.12 hip hop was made literally from ppl dancing and having a good time to let go off all the oppression around them as well as to spread knowledge to our ppl so I never get mad at ppl who make club/street records cause with out the streets as well hip hop wouldn’t be here, a lot of those early mc’s was REAL street, they just didn’t have social media to share it haha Said all that to say I agree with you haha
I think the best way to phrase it is Culture vs. Industry. Like Drake is gonna stay around because he has the music industry's support and infrastructure. However, 3-5-10 years from now, I think his legacy will diminish because when the industry moves on, the culture won't be there to support him.
@LR-kr9sz completely false. He has been the biggest pop star rapper and hit maker. That's it. He doesn't represent anything about black music or culture. That belongs to Kendrick with Cole as well. But Alright by Kendrick has literally became a black empowerment song and his albums as well as he himself have become symbols of black culture and black struggle. It's why his albums get studies at black colleges, it's why his music was the main soundtrack to the REAL BLM movement Not the toxic shit....Drake is just the biggest star who finds ways to stay relevant (and we all know how). It's bout as simple as that. Biting a bunch of other sounds and riding people's waves does not make you the culture. Which has been Kendricks point in this whole battle. "I make music that electrify'em, You make music that pacify'em..." Kendrick is the culture. Drake is the biggest star. There's a difference. Even Drake himself has complained about not being seen this way because it's not the case. He also does not give back to black American culture as much as Kendrick either.
@@RobMarkman Of course, but Kendrick has said time and time again that what he cares about is the culture. He cares about his cultural legacy more than numbers on a chart. He shows this by making deep, thoughtful albums and not staying in the headlines. Drake's career (especially the second half of it) has been defined by numbers, charts, and breaking records. Drake clearly cares more about maintaining his position in the industry rather than how he looks in the culture.
@@LR-kr9sz How is he an ambassador if he is not from the cultures he's "putting on." To be an ambassador, you have to be from it. Drake ain't that, he's a tourist.
The sheer exploration of emotions from Kendrick throughout his 4 joints....WOW! He spanned all human emotion. The production from The Alchemist on Meet the Grahams made me want to cry. Then, the Mustard track got me wanting to line dance at a cookout. And all emotions in between...he covered. KUNG-FU KENNY NOW!!!
Once the dust clears meet the grahams will go down as the best diss track of all time. That last verse was absolutely lethal. Broke down that mans whole existence
One of kendricks friends who was on the cover of TPAB said yesterday on a Pod the daughter exists but that they just don't want to doxx her - do with that info what you will 😅
On the Figg pod right? I seen that. Hey it’s possible, but if you don’t wanna doxx her then why make the song? Cause people will surely try to doxx her even if team Kendrick doesn’t wanna do it.
@@RobMarkman This is the thing. When Pusha came out with Story of Adidon he was ready. He talked about the BM's Instagram handle, he provided a link to the site where the Drake blackface photo came from. And eventually within days I think people were able to verify he was telling the truth without Drake even saying much. Kendrick should've been prepared with something to go off of
You really pushed the content out and kept it worth watching, didn’t water it down…just know we appreciate you man. “And notice, I said "we," it's not just me, I'm what the culture feelin'”
Kendrick really popped out and showed us. i thought it was a very even battle until not like us, that's a big jam. one thing i don't understand and it might be the nail in the coffin is at the end of MTG kendrick goes in that section where he's saying drake lied about a bunch of stuff, he also says " you lied about your daughter" before drake even denied or told us he fed kendrick info. i took that as kendrick telling us he knew the daughter was fake? i don’t really know but it felt like a bomb to me
On meet the grahms "you misunderstood the metaphors" talking about the "you don't nothing about that" lines on Euphoria. Crazy. Dude was prepared for everything.
The point I very few mention is that partially, this is Drake's own doing. He mentioned young girls on Taylor Made (he played it like it was predictable then had a terrible rebuttal). He also claims he setup the daughter angle which plays into master manipulator and allows Kendrick to later fallback on "hey I wasn't lying knowingly". Then he provides no evidence for his claims (daughter bait, domestic violence claim, Dave Free, etc). Kendrick's claim on Drake w/ the young girls was already public speculation along with the surgeries and cultural appreciation. I do think Family Matters is a fire response and Push Ups was decent but in and outside the music led to the loss.
The missteps on the Heart 6 couldn't be overshadowed by his bars. He got the premise to Mother I Sober wrong... and made fun of K being an SA victim even though he wasn't which is a weird thing to diss someone about... and he mentioned Millie when no one else did... and he didn't address him being a colonizer... K👑
The moment Drake went on Instagram 2 mins after meet the grahams dropped to dismiss he had a daughter was strange but I thought yeah he’s just doing what he had to do. But when his boys in the OVO camp started to reply in comments on insta saying “cap” …that’s when I knew he has a daughter. I could be completely wrong, but those actions from drake and his friends always seemed weird.
I think Kendrick was able to read the plays in a way Drake never saw coming. I thought it would be some decent competition but dot really showed why he’s not one to play with
K DOT won. He had the whole world dissecting rap lyrics. Family matters and Push Ups were good tracks but Euphoria and Not like us will have longevity and will age very well.
The ghost writing reference tracks released thru the years really hurts drake credibility in hiphop. Then the secret child being exposed hurt his character which also matters. Like you said too easy of a target.
As the dust settles and the facts start to come out do you think that changes how “good” the records were on both sides? Keeping with the current topic of diss records, it would be cool to see content analyzing previous big hip hop beef moments. And see how these records fit into the rap beef universe. As always, dope work Rob, looking forward to whatever you put out 💯
@@kamikazi5144 Kendrick does too.. wym? Kendrick sells out his WORLD WIDE tours. Matter of FACT, KENDRICKS MR MORALE TOUR GROSSED THE MOST IN RAP HISTORY
@@kamikazi5144in Brazil we stand with Kendrick 🙏🏾🕺🏾drake cancelled his show here last minute to go partying with 50cent, didn't say shit and just left while kendrick did an amazing show here last year that's called respect for your fans
I think what kendrick did was be a twin of Drake in battle and he never has had anyone to match his energy multiple rounds. Push was an infrared and then Adidon and that was it. Then drake had people step in and say just make hits because Push doesn’t have hits on charts. And that was the balance. Kendrick besides major mainstream success, matches Drake. He has never had that in battle. And a person who was more calculated. Art of war and laws of power all in one. Plus, Ego and Arrogance was the crash that led Drake. He felt I got this and then, he realized I have to back out.
Thanks for the breakdown on the lyrics I've seen a lot of rap battles since I was a kid and this one reminded me of 50 cent washing Ja Rule but worse. Being an 80s baby I Ioved every minute of it because that Friday night last week is something I'll never forget. Long live hip hop
I know you said that Meet the grahams was out of Pusha’s play book and that took some of it away from you. I think you could say it’s similar but Meet the grahams paints Drake in a far more dark and sinister light. Even the tone of the beat had that dark intention too it. It’s almost nightmarish. Daughter part aside, just even the criminal/predator accusations are damning enough. You can say they are both deconstructions of a man, but one is a psycho-analytical depiction of someone broken and evil with terrible vices.
I never knew Dave to be a body guard for Dot. In the early days before they could budget for security and they were traveling together I’m sure Dave had his back. And vice versa. But i don’t think he was straight up his bodyguard
First off, I've been following this entire beef. Completely unbiased conversation, and the breakdowns were fire! For years, Drake has had these relationships with young stars, and it's pretty awkward. The model and the girl from stranger things looks like grooming. I wish DOT would have addressed the domestic situation because that can be ugly. Also if the manager kid situation was true, when did we start clowning a guy for taking care of a kid his or not? Keep the content coming good content.
I have said this before but I will say it again...this the most unbiased opinion on RU-vid and I love your content. I'm a 51-year-old man and I'm a big Drake fan and it's because I like his style and How he can change things up in each song and he has influenced a lot of other people to do that. But I also understand the mind of Kendrick Lamar and he's brilliant. Drake picked a formidable opponent and it shows he could not match this man's intellect for hip hop and for consciousness. every angle that Kendrick came from was well thought out and well versed. It was close after the first two diss songs from each but the last two just really kind of separated Kendrick and Drake even though family matters was a beast. But Kendrick pulled away in the fourth quarter and as a Drake fan I definitely tip my hat to him but has a hip hop fan kind of expected Kendrick to win it.
4:48 I disagree man. I believe Drake is in fact a culture volture. What did he bring that was original? what did he bring to popularity that someone else didn't do first (arround the same time period)? Drake's popularity is because he is 1 stop shop. you get everything from it - which is fine, but when you need the good stuff, you go to a specialized shop. Drake is like sushi from the grocery store - it's only fine to people who don't actually know or like good sushi.
I disagree with you brotha and I’m a kdot fan , drake did contribute a lot to hip hop ghostwriter or not he was dropping hits consistently for a decade , that’s extremely difficult for any artist ,.
All ima say is if im drake and i feed dot fake info … i should’ve/would’ve had a response ready to drop after dot dropped.. meet the grahams … i wouldn’t be on ig talking bout “ someone find the 11 daughter im hiding “
That would’ve gave Drake the win .. but he took too long to respond and dot came wit not like us and got the world hype and it wasn’t a chance for Drake after that .. kinda like not like us was a victory lap so when Drake dropped the heart part 6 he was too defensive… and that wasn’t enough for the headshots from dot
Truly it feels as if the world watching saw how this was playing out and saw Kenny killing drake. It seems investors got nervous of the financial fallout that was coming if it played out further.
What's crazy is drake gave away his own weaknesses on Taylor Made. Weakness 1: He spoke about the young girls before kendrick even mentions it. Weakness 2: He shows that he doesn't respect Westcoast culture by the way he using Tupac AI.
@@RobMarkman You know what honestly hits the hardest right now - I’m going all the way back to Kendrick Lamar To Pimp A Butterfly - “ You ain’t Gotta Lie to Kick it” that shit is a whole Drake Diss and I never peeped it 🤦🏾♂️ “Yo yall close that front door yall let flies in this mf” 😆🤦🏾♂️
Meet the Grahams was a missile defense system activation. A nuke was headed in Dot's direction, & his MDS met it with a little missile knock it off course so he wouldn't get hit.
You're right Rob. The Digital marketing underhand tactics have been a major compartment of this battle, both parties don't want to come off worse than the other and have utilized every social media tactic, to try and steer the publics focus towards their desired target or narrative.
Bruh the fact that Drake called out a producer then Metro proceeds to drop the very first ever disstrumental is wild. And it's catchy AF too. I don't want that to be a lost relic in all this. Songs and bars
I don’t think the issue with Taylor Made is whether he was trying to fool us into thinking it was really Pac or Snoop. The problem is that it’s disrespectful to Pac’s memory to use his voice without permission.
It’s illegal to do it. But let’s be honest, Pac’s likeness has been used to sell so many products at this point. I love Pac too, but it’s hard to act like his likeness has been protected and super sacred all this time
Anyone that is a Kendrick Lamar fan, particularly anyone who listened to Mr Moral and Big Stepper and even seen that album cover knows this was the only conclusion…honestly I’m glad it wasn’t worse. They said they had to talk Kendrick down from keeping going after NLU even when it was clear he won…. Do you think he was going to allow Drake to talk so poorly about his children’s mother, his best friend Dave (both of which he’s known from high school) and his SON? 😅 He’s unabashedly a man of principle (and open about his struggles) and grew up in an environment where you protect yourself and your own …. A real man protects his family… Whitney’s brother and cousin came out on Kendrick’s behalf.
There was two battles Importance of Cultuve vs Commerce Kendrick vs Drake as personalities. Mud slinging left them almost nowhere on the second battle. But the importance of commerce didnt matter when fighting for culture won the commerce battle. And thats when Drake lost.
What’s crazy is in hindsight it’s very clear why Kendrick responded to 1st person shooter the way he did. I hear all the sneak disses from Drake & Cole that sounded like a reach before the beef started. And it’s way more than just the Spider-Man meme thing.
We all know all the battles usually get personal….dot warned him. I hope drake stops talking bout peoples women not everyone playing…regardless entertaining ✊🏿
What are your thoughts on the alleged Twitter bars being used? Is that something that is considered fair game? Disqualifying? Interested on what you think about it. And thanks for these videos! Comics and hip hop are 2 of my favorite things.
The Euphoria title comes from the movie Kill Bill 2, it’s the truth serum scene. The undisputed truth. They call it euphoria. Because drake posted that image from kill bill on ig.
You started this commentary channel at the perfect time for this rap battle 👌 If it’s over then I really enjoyed your breakdowns! Do you see Drake or Kendrick any differently after this battle?
Thanks for the sensible take. Agreed that Kendrick took this one, controlled the pace, had Drake on in his heels passed mid point. But shout out to Drake for having some elite counters, including to the A Minor line with D Flat and D Major (D made ya) - that was some elite MCing. From both. Just hope it stays on wax.
@@RobMarkman I don't know about you, but within all the buzz this battle created, I also felt some "rap nationalism" undertones at play, supporting the home team, which is understandable. But I saw this as a unique experience as a hip hop fan. Like the NBA, the game has gone global - now we got the likes of Giannis, Luka, SGA, Jokic going for the crown amongst the Lebrons, Currys and KDs, and it elevates the game. But in hip hop, I think this is the first time we see an "international" (though Drake is half American) talent contending for it at the highest level, so the Culture may be having a collective knee jerk reaction to Drake. Hip hop was born in the parks on the East Coast, but we also made it grow beyond our borders. Every country has a hip hop culture now, so I wouldn't be surprised to see more rappers from Canada, the UK, etc. getting more recognition. But can the Culture make room?...
If you listen to all of Kdot's catalog in light of the beef. It has aged like the finest wine. There are so many lyrics that feel like they've been building up to this level of confrontation with the industry as well as Drake, and Kendrick won. So many lyrics feel fulfilled in almost a prophetic way, and even all his bars like "I can put a rapper of life support, guarantee that's something none of you want", and "stop playing with me fore I turn you to a song" are backed up with receipts now. AND King Kunta bumps harder now than it did even back when it dropped. "Now I run the game got the whole world talking, King Kunta, everybody wanna cut the legs off em, Kunta, black man taking no losses"
I feel like this battle was great for the culture. Anything done in this era will be tainted by fans and the internet, but the truth is Kendrick made a statement about his skillset. He chooses to make music that is more timeless than most. His music feeds the mind, but he is also of the culture. He can get muddy, he can say reckless things, and most of all he can hurt people with words. Leave him alone and let him uplift the people lol.
Kendrick won clear as day. Everyone entitled to their opinion, but if you really think drake won or is winning, you're either delusional or have cognitive dissonance or both.
I've been waiting for this battle since the BET cypher over ten years ago. Absolutely worth the wait and I feel like Kendrick was characteristically meticulous and dominated this thing from start to finish. I said from the beginning that Drake should think twice about wanting the smoke. He was dealing with a monster and now his career is forever changed. He would have been wise to walk away after Kendrick warned him twice. 6:16 is my favorite joint, such a cool soul beat and vibes. Meet the Grahams will probably go down as the coldest diss of all time. Dark and artistic as fuck. Complete psychological takedown. The icing on the cake was Not Like Us being a smash. #1 globally on streaming services and the club banger that will be playing for years. He out Draked Drake. Long live King Kendrick. Can't wait for his next album. Good stuff Rob! Appreciate the coverage. Long live hip hop!
Mac Miller plaque was a gift from him and his team for supporting him early back when i worked at xxl. 💙 Young MA was a gift from her team for supporting her. Ice Spice plaque is for working with her and working the “Munch” record. Me and My team was a part of that.
Meet The Grahams was A LOT more than the daughter verse. Also Kendrick’s team took down the no daughter verse version of MTG which means they’re doubling down on it. Something is up
I can’t believe there were people who thought Drake stood a chance against Kendrick. Even people like Joe Budden thought Kendrick couldn’t write as fast as Drake. I had no doubt Kendrick would kill him. Drake took the bait and the rest is history. I had high expectations on Kendrick but he exceeded them.
my guess is after the message was sent to leave families out of it, drake expected kendrick to go fully tame for the rest of the beef and then he’d “push the red button” with family matters to supposedly end the beef in his mind. whereas kendrick, calculated drake wouldn’t heed the message and would still continue to be disrespectful. i’m convinced kendrick had 2 extra tracks, that would’ve been more tame, he would’ve dropped back to back had drake kept it a friendly fade. kendrick won but drake put up a decent fight again. seems he underestimated kendrick in all aspects of this battle.
Thanks for all the great coverage Rob, easily my favorite reviews/recaps to listen to as each track came out. Kenny won easy, he went insane in every way. I don't think there's a single metric you could say Drake won on; he got out-rapped, Kendrick had better delivery, better strategy, better beat selection, better angles, and even had the bigger tracks out of all of them. To me Meet the Grahams ended it, Not Like Us was him stomping on his grave. Drake would look so bad if he really dropped another one
@Rob Markam idk if this a good theory or not but... what if drake got his own guy popped so Kendrick's line about "the embassy getting raided" can be spun to look like it was Kendrick.. also giving Drake time to clear his house of anything incriminating in the process to clear his name? Could be a bad theory.. idk im just Batmans Brother in Law
That would be absolutely insane behavior on his behalf if so. I really don’t think so. Hope that security guard gets well. Tell your brother in law said wassup
@@RobMarkman sometimes the threat of losing everything makes people do questionable things and those same people.. if they already have questionable morales.. and access to such.. idk Heard it’s been tough to locate the company he works for.. but absolutely hope he is going to be okay
When Kendrick said ,” I been in this industry twelve years, I'ma tell y'all one lil' secret It's some weird shit goin' on and some of these artists be here to police it” like DAMN, I believe him. I get the “ innocent until proven guilty” but let’s be real, there is definitely shady stuff that goes down with these celebrities and rich folks. I really do believe the truth will come out! God will expose them one by one and I’m here to witness it. Mad respect for Kendrick for speaking about this. I admire his healing journey
I feel like Drake really did have the more clever bars but Kendrick came with an energy and aggression that was decisive. For example, on Family Matters Drake spilled tea melodically in a light hearted way, but on Meet the Grahams Kendrick spilled tea venomously in a menacing way. He really did take it further.
