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Anicia Dixon
Staff Writer
The hip-hop community has yet again been divided. Rap fans feel the shift as their favorite artists are pinned against each other – by their own will.
On March 20, the collab album “We Don’t Trust You” by hip-hop artist Future and producer Metro Boomin was released. Many fans anticipated the album, but what caught them by surprise was the Kendrick Lamar feature over the Rodney-O & Joe Cooley’s “Everlasting Bass” (1986) and Eazy-E’s “Eazy-Duz-It” (1989) sample.
Lamar dissed rappers Drake and J. Cole on the Metro Boomin and Future album and fans broke down Lamar’s verse, pointing out that the theme was “3s.”
X user, Dissect Podcast broke down Lamar’s verse to their interpretation.
“Fore all your dogs gettin’ buried/ That’s a K with all the nines, he gon’ see Pet Sematary.
Triple entendre!”
- K=Kendrick, a 10, surrounded by 9s (referencing Drake and J. Cole)
- K= AK, 9=9mm; Kendrick’s weapon/lyricism is superior
- K-9/Canine= continues dog motif”
Also, Lamar raps, “And your best work is a light pack…Prince outlived Mike Jack” (referencing world renowned artists Prince and Michael Jackson). This diss was particularly made towards Drake as he references Michael Jackson in his music and that Michael Jackson died before Prince.
Some fans believe the rap beef is friendly competition. Many believe that it stems from something deeper.
In “First Person Shooter”, a song dropped by artists Drake and J. Cole, J. Cole raps, “Love when they argue the hardest MC. Is it K-Dot? Is it Aubrey? Or me? We the big three like we started the league, but right now, I feel like Muhammad Ali,” referencing Muhammad Ali’s “I’m the Greatest” speech.
He also raps, “I’m the U-N-O,” claiming that he is number one out of Drake and Kendrick.
This sparked Kendrick’s comeback as he raps, “F*** the big three…it’s just big me”
It’s not rare to hear rappers saying that they are number one. Artists like Tupac, Biggie, and many other MCs have felt or feel this way in such a competitive industry.
Rappers claim to have G.O.A.T. (Greatest of All Time) status and believe they are the best. In “First Person Shooter”, Drake raps, “November..it’s just you and Cole,” leaving Lamar out of the “Big Three.” Longtime fans of Drake, J. Cole, and Kendrick Lamar may have seen this coming.
Students at Jackson State University gave their thoughts about the Kendrick Lamar diss.
Freshman Kendrick Williams speculated on the purpose of the rapper’s diss while also showing appreciation towards it.
“I think the verse was obviously meant for Drake and J. Cole because of the way Kendrick referenced “First Person Shooter,” which is a song by Drake featuring J. Cole, that came out in October of last year because right before he mentioned it, he literally said, “…sneak dissing, first person shooter, I hope they came with three switches. The way that Kendrick intertwined the ‘First Person Shooter’ diss along with the very last verse in the song shows his lyrical genius/ability and I liked it,” Williams stated.
Jalen Miller, a junior social work major from Orinda, Calif., believes Lamar may be overreacting.
“I think it’s a big stretch. I think before when Drake and J. Cole was saying the ‘Top 3’ was more of a friendly competition. I think their 5’5 short king got his feelings hurt and really tried to take it a lot further than it needed to be,” Miller said.
He added, “Coming from a die-hard Drake fan, I think more-so when Drake and J. Cole were talking about the ‘Big Three,’ Kendrick took it a lot deeper than he needed to, and I used to live in California, like I know about Kendrick, I used to really like Kendrick’s music. I think he took it a lot further than he needed to.”
This curveball verse from Lamar has fans expecting a diss from Drake and J. Cole in response to what Lamar said on the ‘Like That’ track.
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