Toure talks with hip hop enthusiasts James Francis, King Green and Drinkable Bryan about the rap beef heard 'round the world in this special episode of Toure Show.
Kendrick gave us an effective Scientific Paper with the following: Introduction (Euphoria), Specific Aims (Euphoria and 6:16), Analysis (Meet the Grahams), Conclusions (Not Like Us).
@@FindingPeace20I did and a lot of stuff Kendrick said he got from pusha , pusha just didn’t have a whole coast behind him and everybody was still praising drake soft ass because they wanted to work with him including Kendrick and j cole
@Pescrow pusha did good but drake didn't respond so it's not about coast it just that kdot is bigger than pusha so drake wanted the smoke..but pusha killed drizzy hands down
@@Pescrow a lot of euphoria was shit other people said about Drake because "it aint just me, i say we cause im what the culture feeling." If you dont understand that then... well I'm sure you dont care. 😂
It reminds me of the movie Come And See. Extremely powerful, so much so that I never want to revisit them because they're too effective at putting you in a state of misery
“Meet The Grahams” says “I hate you because you’re a bad person for the following reasons… AND you hate you because you’re a bad person for all the same reasons.” What’s a more vicious diss than that?
It was a bait song. "Meet the Grahams" was what he actually intended to hit Drake with; which is why 'Grahams' came out less than an hour after "Family Matters".
6:16 is an obvious bait, but it is a well-crafted, high concept bait, unlike Taylor Made which is so devoid of any artistic merit. it highlights the creativity and metaphors that Kendrick is known for, while also being a psychological threat that amps up paranoia and threat. so many people are sleeping on it because they dont even understand the brilliance of the openning part
It did most people don’t even know or understand the depth to which this was written. So of course they don’t know the magnitude of it or any of Kendrick Lamar music because he is phenomenal
I honestly don't know how people didn't expect this from Kendrick. If Drake is H&M, Kendrick is your favorite haute couture designer's favorite designer. The level of craft is unmatched. It might take more time to create, but it's a piece that will stay with you forever.
Not like Us is great because we were terrified of what else Kendrick had to say after Meet the Grahams. I almost reluctantly pressed play on Not Like Us and then 4 bars in I knew it was straight up joy. I don't think it hits the same with out the build up. This is also Kendricks formula for all his singles out of context they're solid but in the album it gives each song so much more meaning and replay-ability.
A little truth matters not all truth. It’s a roast. If the guy has on old dirty sneakers. You point out the truth to the crowd “he has dirty sneakers” then you embellish to roast. You call him homeless and the crowd laughs. The crowd knows he isn’t homeless. But visualizing his dirty sneakers and hearing the joke about being homeless the crowd still laughs and you’re winning the roast.
@@TheSlanderousTruththey are goofies they only saying that because they got nothing else to hang their hat on. If people really cared about proof drake wouldn’t exist specially after he was exposed on hot 97 for reading bars off his black berry 🤦🏿♂️ then all the ghostwriter allegations is crazy but they want to claim that he is a better rapper then kdot who’s been battle rapping since he was 14 😂
@@TheSlanderousTruthmy favorite goal post move I have with the homie who’s a drake Stan not just him but they will say kdot only got the number one hit record was because of drake…I usually flip it and say damn kdot destroyed drake so bad people forgot that drake was in a rap beef? Lol he will say nah family matters was a better song! I said why ain’t he get that top spot then I mean he ain’t even get second 🥴😂… crickets
In 6:16 he says “I raise my hands to a fallen sky. I fantasize, me jumping planets immortalized. I correspond”. To me that’s him saying that things that were once out of reach are within his grasp now, and he can see his immortality because of this situation. He can see himself becoming a mythological hero of sorts. As a result of this he decides to write back/diss (correspond with) Drake.
to me, 6:16 is a spiritual continuation of The Heart Part 4 (which was very very important in this whole beef being a diss to Cole from 7 years in the past, and the originator of "don't tell a lie on me, i won't tell a truth bout you"). there he says, "i aint sanctified enough to say that i wont shoot ya i done vandalized the industry full circuit the earthiest slash thirstiest n--- you know versus this" so even then he's warning every other rapper in the game. he might talk all this enlightenment, therapy, healing talk, but he is not above killing anyone who steps up to him. "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, i am the greatest rapper alive so damn great, ive died what youre hearing now is a paranormal vibe" i think he knew Drake does not have anything to attack him with, he knew how potent MTG and NLU were gonna be when he drops them, but in 6:16 he was giving Drake a chance not to take it there. but 6:16 was the bait for Drake to drop the bomb that everyone was whispering he had, and Kendrick knew that after that he would solidify himself as The Boogeyman
@@IknowMoreThanYouyou could also argue AI and Ghost aren’t actual people like Joe Hail Osteen isn’t a real person. So it’s like Kendrick isn’t battling a real person.
I’m sorry I love Kendrick mind but most of his music is boring yall capping, can we at least trade drake weak ass for fabulous, Jada kiss , game,tyga or something , ppl forget music was made to make us feel good or think we need that balance, shit if that nigga can make the whole world turn on one rapper, tell him to help my city put the guns down and come together cause at this point them the only two winning 😂
@@sjd283As a Mexican woman with Mexican sisters, Drake hardly ever got any love. Maybe 3 soft dance songs. Even when he tried collaborating with Bad Bunny 👎🏼
People are sleeping on 6:16 because it is so subliminal especially the first part. It is poetry he is self reflecting on what he is about to do praying about it asking is it worth it. He knows Meet the Grahams is coming and the weight of accusations and the potential of it backfiring. But who is he not to go to war. And he can live with the loss and learn from it. It’s beautiful. The second part is the set up for Meet the Grahams. The cover art the time stamp has some many layers. In 20 years there will be college courses about this track.
It is definitely slept on and yet we just witnessed one of the greatest pieces of new musical art we will ever experience in our lifetime. Fully agree with you.
For me the best line of the whole thing was "Some shit just just cringe worthy it ain't even gotta be deep I guess". It perfectly sums up Drake as a person to me. It was the only thing he needed to say 😂
I disagree with Toure saying Drake can't make a "not like us" Kendrick says it in Euphoria this is who you are, Drake makes songs for the culture to dance to "Toosie slide, hotline bling, God's plan" those songs are playing at the cookouts. Kendrick says those songs are genuinely you. Whe Drake makes songs like" Started from the bottom, 0 to 100" Drake is imitating the culture it's a satire. "Don't like us" is Kendrick mocking Drake, it's more obvious at the end when he's calling out dance steps. Kendrick is giving him a taste of his own medicine.
I agree with most if what you said. But I believe he meant it in a way to say Drake won't give you a history lesson on a song that would be a bop. I believe that is what he means but that is just my take.
Kendrick is a child prodigy too, he's been with TDE since he was a teen. He's also wildly creative, there was just no way Drake was gonna be able to handle Kendrick, Drake can't keep up. "I'm woopin feet," line of the year.
Also, going unsaid…in black culture “whooping feet” refers to a parent or grandparent whooping the feet, rather than the upper body, of a light skinned child …so no one would see the bruises on their body from said ass whoopin. It’s something that all us have seen/heard from old heads.
Middle age wyt woman here, can confirm our presence. 😂 My hubs said we want all the tea! Growing up we listened to everything. Good music is good music. Also, at least for me, I’m a songwriter and Kendrick’s pen is unmatched. “I think you hate women” is 1. Girls are not women. 2. Plastic surgery is not real. 3. Lots of men want women for s3x but don’t like women or respect them as people. Edited to add: blaming the victim for SA is never the right thing. It comes off as an @b$user making excuses. This is why we choose the bear. 🐻
3:34 "They Not Like Us" is a way of distancing from those involved in sexually predatory tactics, culture vultures, deadbeat dads, etc. I do not think Kendrick intended a separation of humans based on "those IN the culture" vs. those "not IN the culture" with that line. The intent is to distance ourselves from sexual predators, especially child predators, deadbeat dads, culture vultures, etc: They Not Like Us is a direct attack and a way of influencing the minds of current and future generations.
The fact that the whole song was meant to cause discord within OVO, and Kendrick trolled OVO even harder by using an Al Green sample from the track "Let's Stay Together", while they wondering who the mole is... That's fuckin diabolical.
@@TheSlanderousTruth it's refreshing to not be talking to a Drake or Kendrick bot for once. You absolutely get it. According to Daylyt, Kendrick did everything in one session, and his release strategy was all contingency based; if Drake didn't drop Family Matters (i.e- he kept it PG) Kendrick had tracks ready for that too. The level of planning and execution was on some war theater of operations type shit. That was not what most of us were expecting.
Euphoria was a warning, if Drake didn't mention family, Meet The Grahams might have never been released and we would have had Not Like Us. Also, 6:16 is about him seeking redemption for participating in this battle madness on a spiritual journey
I don't think it's (particularly) that Kendrick's issue with Drake is personal or jealous - it's that Drake's dominance is literally insulting to him, and everyone jumping in agrees.
Each theme, each bar, each revelation, each chord and sound progression is a moment curated within this 4 vol diss record. No detail is spared. When to drop. How to drop. Details down to the delivery of every syllable, all masterfully executed to complement the multiple angles against his opponent and simultaneously highlighting his own skill, range and relatability while doing it. THAT is why Kendrick beat Aubrey.
im an artsy fartsy type and pretentious lol but 6:16 is my personal favorite of all the diss tracks. the concept of having to come clean to god before you know you will commit absolutely heinous attrocities in the name of justice -- wow. only Kendrick can make a record like that. and i do believe that Kendrick has a A and B roster of records depending on what Drake's next action was. i think everyone expected Drake to do exactly what he did, but if he somehow pulled a record out of him that did not speak on Kendrick's family, there was a path this beef could have taken that was not as dark as it became. with Family Matters, Drake took the bar low, with Meet the Grahams, Kendrick took it all the way to hell. but in 6:16, that path was not set yet. there was a possibility for something else. and Kendrick moving at the "circadian rythmn of a shooting star" is to me such a potent image of the exact kind of artist that Kendrick is that made him the only possible artist to dismantle Drake the way he did -- Kendrick moves in ways that no one else is that he is almost a cosmic being. he might drop albums years apart (the way shooting starts or meteors fly by the Earth), but when he does it changes the landscape, the way comets in olden days can portent a new age of peace or an era of doom, right? i just want 6:16 on streaming plleeeeaaase
I think you all misunderstood the purpose of 6:16 in LA. It was about causing discord within the OVO crew. "Are you ready to play have you ever? Have you ever thought that OVO is working for me?" He wanted to make Drake paranoid and push him into dropping his nuke. Kendrick baited him hard on this, and trolled him even further using an Al Green sample. Not just any sample...but the "Let's stay together" (corrected thanks to another comment, this is incorrect, scroll down in the discussion for the correct one) track. He's mocking OVO because for all of us listening you're missing the point if you think this track was for our entertainment. This was for Drake and OVO. Imagine them listening and looking back and forth at each other pissed off wondering who's going against the crew while an Al Green sample plays in the background, lmfao... Thats diabolical, and apparently went over everyone's head.
But in Not Like Us, he says his sixth sense is telling him to off him. Sixth Sense, the boy sees ghosts. Ghosts are either the ghost writers/riders. Someone commented on that. I was like, ohhhh.
There you go! Truth. All Tracks are diabolical but 6:16 in LA was the most subtle, so probably more so. The fact that it went over most people's heads proves it. Heck, I almost missed it. I only recently came back to that Track and REALLY listened. It gave me chills. He REALLY messed with that dude's head with that Track.
Also, don't sleep on the Extremely Intentional Simplicity of the production on Grahams. Kendrick is battling a guy who's all production and expense and musically-addicting pop tricks, who produces a whole music video for a diss in three days, who puts out his disses with onscreen lyrics... and he Meet-the-Grahamsed that dude on a beat with no syncopation, no fills, no accompaniment, no arrangement - just four notes on repeat. And for the big finish? Simple reverb. The minimalism (which contributes to why it's less listenable on endless repeat) was a strong signal all on its own. The song would have been intense and spooky anyway, but the EFFECT of being trapped in that unrelenting loop is pretty fucking terrifying on a first listen. Bogeyman. And that's on top of it being the most disrespectful thing I've ever heard.
The deadbeat Dad trope in the disses was very important. I watched so many reactors, most of whom are Black men (and as it turned out fathers). Those bars hit them like they hit Toure and their comments (similar to Toure's) kept coming up in subsequent videos beyond the Kendrick track they were reacting to -- so it prompted thoughts about fatherhood, parenting, etc. Also, "you don't know about that" is speaking about why Drake is the way he is -- going deep on it. So, not just talking about Drake as a father but about how Drake's father wasn't present to guide him which fits with the blame he gives Dennis. I noticed that Kendrick doesn't blame single mom Sandra (he just informs her). Then there is just the angle that some people's take on Drake and Adonis is that Drake has made Adonis a prop in his public life and that he actually spends so much time in Turks and Caicos, at strip clubs, partying and gambling and with various women that he just cannot actually be doing the day to day parenting.
A host on the J.B podcast made a joke about feeling sorry for Drake because they felt like he was stuck in his lifestyle. He's 37 and unfortunately can't really move into the next phase of life and is perpetually stuck having to make music and relate and live as a man in his early 20s because his brand is dependent on that. I know they were joking but it's eerily true and sad.
"F@ck the rap battle this is a lifelong battle with yourself." Is the line that defined this battle for me. Kendrick has been painting Drake as someone who has lost his way. Someone who let success get to his head and is no longer an authentic leader of people. All the other charges stem from that.
Absolutely. Each theme, each bar, each revelation, each chord and sound progression is a moment curated within this 4 vol anthology. No detail was spared. When to drop. How to drop, down to the delivery of every syllable, and all masterfully executed to complement the multiple angles of a diss record against his opponent. That’s why Kendrick beat Aubrey.
This conversation is so good. I've had it playing in the background for a couple days. Meet The Grahams was a don't ever mess with K-Dot. 6:16 LA was slept on, Euphoria was everything, dropping at 8:24 (RIP Kobe) and the closing They Not Like Us is the summer banger.
I heard a French professor state that Hip Hop is the most successful & influential music genre in human history. I agree. No other genre has lasted as long with as far a reach. Everyone all over the world has their version of it. Kendrick should get extra props for kicking the vulture out, putting other vultures & criminals on notice and putting it back into the artists hands. This is just the beginning. Drake was the first one.
Excellent and thorough analysis of this all! What an epic event we've witnessed. I believe the dust still isn't settled... Look forward to seeing what comes of this all. This is much bigger than a rap battle and yall hit the points wonderfully
The line that encapsulates the beef to me is "F a rap battle. This a life-long battle with Your Self!" Kendrick's critique was a biopsychosocial read of Aubrey's greatest performance, Drake.
31:15 they don’t even get that Kendrick was explaining the feeling of euphoria before battle in the beginning of 6:16. He wasn’t just rapping. He was enjoying the moment and paying homage to his song cartoons and cereal when he said “every warrior will experience euphoria”
“You don’t know nothing about that” to me was Kendrick invoking Adonis’ way of speaking or rhyming (sorta…listen to Adonis’ I Don’t Like That song whatever it’s called). But mostly it’s Kendrick saying Drake is too busy minding superficial shit (oh wow Dave Free follows Kendricks wife) instead of minding Adonis’ most formative years. The way people react to Meet the Grahams became my favorite thing to watch on the internet because everyone had the same wtf reactions. Maybe an audience watching The Exorcist in the 70s had the same experience. It’s remarkable that a song can have people experiencing that.
You are on point with this. And I also think the line is also about how Drake not knowing about fatherhood because Drake's dad wasn't present during his childhood as well. He was raised by his mom and grandmother.
was about Not like us is basically Kendrick saying if he really wanted to he could be drake with all the hits and the number one songs, 6:16 in la was the conscious rap, MTGs is the grimy rap like wu- tang sounds, and euphoria was him saying how he was going to destroy him in every genre of rap because he kdot is hip hop and drake imitates it.
In the verse where he says dear aubrey the first thing he says is i really didn't mean to crash a Party so obviously that means he knew all about Family matters like it was a great level to foresight without a doubt
6:16 was the most important record to me because it explains "why" he is battling drake . He's more speaking on the internal struggle of having to go to war and how that conflicts with his relationship with God!
I see what the guy is saying about 6:16 being a little more optional than the others, but you also have to remember Drake was "supposed" to respond the night before, and didn't, so the morning drop of 6:16 was also kind of a "keep the fire under your ass" move too. Almost a punishment for not moving fast enough. (And then later that night, flooding the zone.) And also - one last point - 6:16 is largely about how Kendrick is at peace, which becomes a major foil for where Drake is at.
6:16 IS THE MOST SLEPT ON RECORD & PERSONAL FAVORITE THAT WILL AGE LIKE WINE OVERTIME. ALSO 6:16 IS WHERE WE WERE INTRODUCED TO THE OVO MOLE(S) AND IS STILL TO THIS VERY MINUTE AS I TYPE A HOT TOPIC IN THE INDUSTRY. ESPECIALLY THE MARK HOTEL🤧🙄🕵️♂️🤫👃👀💎
It's an EP. Like That starts with a bang. Euphoria gives us a range of emotions from considered to rage. 6:16 mellows us ready for MTG's sinister tone. Then we party again on NLU.
Euphoria is my favorite too. Kendrick is masterful storyteller and he demonstrates it in every aspect of his songs. That’s why the voice changes work so well. It’s not just riding the beat and changing flows, it’s about telling a story without words, just the control of his voice, like an opera singer. Drake’s poetry has no depth. It’s fun play on words, but good writing is more than the aesthetic choice of words. Where’s the meaning? Even in his stories, there’s complaining and witty, petty one-liners, but where’s the growth? What did you learn about yourself? You could include that layer with the great rapper voice and catchy swagger and it wouldn’t take away any of the modern stuff. This is about ability vs. intention, mediocrity vs. artistry. And that’s not to say that Drake couldn’t do better artistically, the thing is that he’s not doing it. It’s the “you don’t apply yourself and are just coasting through” issue for Kendrick. Shoot, I’d be more understanding if he’s just not that talented. But for him to be talented and still feed us this crap? I’d be even more mad.
5:16 Reference "6:16 in LA" describes Jesus' internal war but more closely Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita. Arjuna and his brothers went to war with their cousins. I LOVE ALL K-Dot's tracks in this Battle, including "6:16 in LA." It may have been the most insidious since it was subtle. The drop was completely strategic. It offered us a glimpse into Kendrick's spiritual process as he prepared to move into battle. That Track is amazing if you really listen to it... AND ... unlike Drake, who is being sued by the Tupac Estate, Kendrick paid Al Green for the sample, followed by Al's acknowledgment on Twitter. These two men (Kendrick and "the other one") move completely differently. 🙂
8:19 if i had to pick my absolute favorite line from this beef, it comes from Euphoria: "Everybody wanna be demon 'til they get chipped by a throwaway." ...and that's just one of many quotables from that song ALONE!
6:16 wasn't for us, it was for Drake, as a final offer not to get into talking about families. He actually tried really hard to use a different path on his flow chart of tracks. That said, I love the beat, the flow, and the cryptic warnings and hidden meanings that still haven't fully revealed themselves.
On top of just being a bad dad. I took the “nothin about that” line as there was a time that Drake didn't acknowledge Adonis as his son… so he naturally would not be doing any of those things for Adonis, because he denied him being his son…
