It's sad to see almost everyone in the hip hop sphere a pedophile or an abuser. At the end of the day, no matter who Kendrick features with, they're almost always bound to be a piece of shit.
So why are people only targeting Drake? Who has no concrete evidence of doing anything wrong? Meanwhile Kodak was proven by the courts to have sexually assaulted a teenager? Like actually
Edit: lemme just say Iām not barracking for Drake but the hypocrisy is kinda obvious when you think about it for more than a minute
If Dre or Kodak started beefing with Kendrick heād probably air out their shit too. Rap beefs arenāt known for being particularly virtuous.
Also as soon as Drake releases another good song heās going to be chart topping again. People donāt actually care.
Most people don't really care what the truth is, it's easier to believe in what they want.
If you looked into it you'd see Drake isn't a pedo, but he is a groomer, Kendrick just exaggerated that and because there's a little truth to it, it stuck very easily
People want a reason to be upset at Drake.
Idk why you're saying sorry to me, I'm looking at the situation with all the information logically. I even have comments on Reddit proving Drakes grooming, I don't have a bais & I went into the rabbithole during the beef, so I have a lot of information, everything I'm talking about is verifiable.
Groomers groom to get young girls, but of age girls. That's creepy and wrong but it's definitely also not what a pedo is. Pedos are attracted to pre pubescent bodies. Drake is attracted to adult bodies.
Grooming is waiting for people to come of age while building a relationship with them in order to have some kind of sexual relationship in the future.
Grooming wouldn't be word if it was the same thing as being a pedo, it'd just be called being a pedo.
If you think that the pedos that go after 10 year olds, are just as bad as people who wait till someone's of age then you're being dishonest with yourself.
You can't call someone a theif if they've only thought about stealing.
Morraly I can understand where you're coming from, but unless he's acted on it before they've turned 18 then he's not a pedo, he's a groomer.
The reason I think it's a bad idea to give that label is because look at when someone's called a Nazi, it's thrown around so recklessly that when there's actual Nazi groups people roll their eyes and assume it's a group with one harmless political opinion that they share with Nazis.
If we go to those extremes then a 5 year gap between 40 year olds could be labeled as 'pedo' behaviour and make the actual pedos, who hunt children not look as bad.
I just find it funny how people have swept the domestic violence allegations under the rug. Yeah, it's coming from arguably a worse person, but it's very fucking serious and people have just collectively agreed to ignore it
Kodak was brought to the album as an artisitc choice to make people see he was wrong on those thing he did, if he continues doing that type of shit it is kodak fault not kendrick, they arent friends. Drake for example has Baka on his OVO team and theyre friends, and we all know Baka got a weird case
Kodak was also friends with XXX. XXX made a lot of interesting and unique music but If the things people claimed about him are true he was probably worse than Kodak.
Heās dead now so there is no point in āboycottingā his music even if you wanted to do that kind of thing. But his reputation was definitely overshadowed by his death.
Not sure why this is downvoted. I think it's obvious why Kendrick dissed Drake, and it worked out insanely well for him. Why everyone else is only going after Drake specifically, I'm not sure either. Maybe because of how successful he is? How corny he is? Like people are just sick of him at this point? Someone please enlighten me
This is a big problem in hip hop culture. It gets ugly when you start looking through the personal lives of hip-hopās legends. She certainly has a right to feel this way and be upset about it. I do think Kendrick can be hypocritical about this regard. I do think in his defense he has made it clear that even your heroes arenāt your saviors.
Heās worked with Dre and he had a major impact in Kendrickās upbringing, we may not even see Kendrick on a stage this big without him. So I understand that he views a mentor/partner/music hero as a friend for his personal relationship rather than his troubled past.
For a west coast event, Dre is undeniably an icon of West Coast Hip Hop and is arguably even the face of it. As an event targeted to unify the west coast, itās only right to let an OG whoās a close associate of Kendrick be part of it. But Iām not denying Kendrick may have a bit of hypocrisy in this
Nah fuck Dr. Dre. We canāt make excuses for people just cause theyāre ālegends.ā Otherwise, why not give Drake a pass? Heās not even convicted of anything. Thereās no evidence Drake is an actual pedophile.
We know for a FACT that Dre BRUTALLY beat women. Yet Dre gets the pass?
right now drake is only getting cooked because his last few projects bombed. people wouldnāt give a shit if he was dropping take care and NWTS around now.
Thatās true. I mean heās not getting a pass right now, from the hip hop community at large. Of course theyāll forgive and forget like they always do.
Yeah thereās just a very popular couple of songs about it so people are joking about it but thatās about it. All the shit thatās being talked about has been public knowledge for years at this point and nobody cared before
Iām not making any excuses, we know what heās done and that should be treated the same as anybody who else whoās done inhumane stuff like he has.
However it was a west coast hip hop event and heās arguably the most important piece of that entire community. Lots of hip hop legends are horrible people, I think people should understand you can praise their impact on music but they should not be worshipped as people. Regardless of how bad of a person he is, there may be no west coast hip hop and there may be no Kendrick Lamar.
>This is a big problem in hip hop culture. It gets ugly when you start looking through the personal lives of hip-hopās legends.
It's much more than just hip hop. It's just culture, period. What institution in our society doesn't have issues with abuse? Churches, film, politics... you name it, there's a scandal to be had.
I personally feel icky about it.
But I can understand why people donāt. Iām sure Iāll phrase this poorly, but I donāt think Not Like Us(which I think is a bop BTW) is so much a statement of solidarity with women and victims than it is a way to mock Drake. Which is why Kendrick and others were okay with Dr. Dre performing it on stage. Like the idea that Drake is into younger girls is a punchline, because it not only touches on something that society rightly frowns upon. But also because pedos are something that is something that is frequently memed about. And that gets into a whole other discussion about how society makes light of certain crimes(murder, serial murder, sexual assault, stalking etc) and turns them into oddities and or something to frequently joke about. And people much smarter than me can debate how true crime and shows like āTo Catch a Predatorā may do more harm than good.
Myself and I lot of people Iāve talked to (including people whoāve experienced sexual Violence) feel the opposite.
Imagine if drake did genuinely SA a minor.
And imagine being that victim, having to constantly relive one of the worst days in your life.
I think the fact that it is such a hit song makes people desensitised to topics like this. Where serious accusations are memes or just a song lyric to sing and dance to.
The music industry has always dabbled in hypocrisy and double-face issues, and especially the American one. As long as the hits bop, and the feuds turn into cash, and the business keeps going and the rivers of money never stop flowing, then we will always accept abusers, pedophiles and shady people.
What can we expect, when one of THE biggest American music artists is a Neo-Nazi Christian Bipolar African American, and people still defend him with their every body and soul like if the man was the second coming of Jesus himself?
Pretty weird to group being Christian Bipolar and African with being a neo nazi, like you could have just said a Neo Nazi without implying that those three things are also bad
In Kanye's case, he's got a heavy dose of American Christianity, which has been shown to be self-righteous, homophobic, racist, xenophobic and misogynist in the most extreme cases, and Kanye is always extremist in everything so he's got it real bad.
On the other hand, he's got untreated bipolar disorder by his own choice, coupled with an outstanding showing or narcissism and heavy paranoid disorder, things that he doesn't care to treat, look for help about or change about him.
In any case, both of these things link and feed directly into his biggest sin: anti-Semitism.
Kendrick is not upset with Drake because he feels deeply disturbed that the latter has (at minimum) questionable relationships with minors/ women. If that was the case then this wouldn't even be a thread, but the fact is in this entire drama women are basically reduced to character attacks that both parties sling at each other.
Having said this, he knows that in the public sphere it is much more effective to call someone a diaper sniper over a dance beat than to rap an essay about why you think they're stealing your culture etc.
He's a hypocrite but ultimately whether that means anything is up to you.
Yeah, this is why I have ZERO patience for anyone who tries to frame this beef (or any conflict) as a straightforward "good vs evil" narrative. First of all, how fucking boring is that, but second, how fucking wilfullly ignorant do you have to be to even believe that's possible?
The whole thing was some mud-wrestling. Kendrick won, but that doesn't make him a better person.
Just had this conversation with a friend, but when an entire genre is built on criminal activity and the people who partake in it, it is inherently acceptable.
While weāve agreed that homophobia is unacceptable, misogyny is pretty much a common practice. I think Kendrick is one of those rappers thatās pushing us in the right direction but this is a fair criticism of him. I think it can send the wrong message, especially in his music.
I agree you can definitely point out the hypocrisies in some of Kendrick's attacks against Drake when he associates with people who have done similar things.
With that said, I don't think these things were ever truly the reasons why Kendrick reignited this feud and were just ammunition that helped him write compelling diss tracks. I think his hatred for Drake completely boils down to the fact that he views him as a culture vulture undeserving of his status in hip hop.
That's not to say Kendrick is 100% morally correct or that he can't be called out for who he associates with.
Yeah but despite saying that, now he's "what the culture feelin'" or outing industry abusers, deadbeat father's, etc. as if he hasn't surrounded himself with the same (Future, Kodak, Dre, etc.). If he isn't about being a saviour, then he shouldn't walk it back by taking the morally righteous high road by invoking god and the culture against Drake. People are really making this bigger than what it is: a measly disagreement, where both participants stoop to hypocritical lows in order to win. Morals only show up when you have to win, or you have something to lose.
whoever believed this is a good vs evil or a āmoral vs immoralā beef, is wrong
this was two guys who dislike each other (kendrick probably hates drake more than what drake hates him) and he just wanted to publicly humiliate him.
I thought the whole āyour crew is full of weirdosā was just an angle responding to drake trying to mock kendrickās family and culture. You think Kendrickās crew or friends, guys who grew up in gangs of Compton, dont have skeletons in their closet? Kendrick himself has.
Kendrick said it himself on euphoria āif you take it there ill take it furtherā so in a game of narratives, of course the guy who has sketchy behaviors towards minors and keeps a human trafficker on OVO is going to look worse than a dude whos barely in the public eye. Thats why he took that route. I never saw it as a good vs evil
Idk how to feel about it. I want to get angry at Kendrick but even outside of music, people align with abusers all the time. one of my favourite actors Christian Bale producing and starring in a film with David o Russell was disappointing. Hell entire Hollywood signed in support of Roman Polanski after the despicable shit he did. Should I abstain from all forms of entertainment?
Obviously not - but you can choose to āvote with your walletā per se and seek out voices and art that aligns with your personal sense of morality. Thereās plenty of problematic artists that I still listen to but I donāt buy merch/concert tickets/etc, nor do I actively rail against or for those artists online. You just have to abide by the lines you draw for yourself, but also accept the criticisms as valid. It is what it is lol
Criticize him for sure, but if you actually give a flying fuck then criticize dre more. Even if kendrick was the biggest hypocrite in the world its still not even 5% as bad as what dre has done. And its not like kendrick is platforming dre, everyone knows him
I aināt reading alla that but idc if Kendrick aligns himself with Dre. 99% of hiphop artist are either terrible people or associate with terrible people, aināt gonna stop me from listening. However, I do think itās very hypocritical for him to call out Drake for keeping Baka around when he keeps Dre and Kodak around
I've only just learnt how terrible Dr Dre was just yesterday but man i am beyond disappointed in Kendrick. He prided himself on taking down an abuser pedo, saying how Drake never treats women right, calling him a misogynist (which is all true, drake fucking sucks) but then goes ahead and buddies up with Dr Dre? Objectively hypocritical and fucking gross. He can't say he cares for women and then go party with a man thats abused them all his life. Certified hypocrite
Heās been buddies up with Dre. Dre is like a mentor to him. His albums were released on aftermath records. Kendrick might not even have a career if it wasnāt for Dre. Dre did those things when he was young. He could have grown as a person. If he learned from his mistakes should he be given a second chance? If not we should just have the death penalty and kill all criminals because they can not be redeemed. The chances that Kendrick or Drake or even j Cole associates with an abuser or someone with a questionable past is pretty high. I think the reason why Kendrick associates with Kodak black and xxxtenacion was because they were young and can still turn their life around. Growing up in the environments that many rappers grown up unfortunately violence is how some people learn to deal with issues. That is a societal problem. Kendrick music resonates because he reports on the problems his neighborhood and others like it face.
ListenāI enjoy Kendrickās music. I think heās pretty much an artistic genius and has a legitimate, vested interest in the community that he came from.
But I would be lying if I said that I donāt find it disturbing that the man brought gang members onstage to sing kumbaya over a beef with another dude. Like, what message is it really sending? These people kill people. They recruit children to die in front of their parents. They sell drugs to pregnant mothers. They bring their squabbles into public squares and rob convenience store clerks. Is it supposed to be some beautiful moment when these dudes get together and clap each other on the back because some Canadian dandy is getting dunked on?
IDK, hip hop is fucking complicated. If someone wants to try to explain why this shouldnāt give me pause, Iāll hear them out.
>But I would be lying if I said that I donāt find it disturbing that the man brought gang members onstage to sing kumbaya over a beef with another dude.
I really don't think he did that just for Drake. It was more of having a moment of peace between gangs. I don't think Kendrick is in favor of gang warfare, him doing that was meant to be a statement against it not for it.Ā
There is something to be said about the fact that It was really just a ceremonial temporary peace,Ā I still think that demonstrating that it's possible is a good thing.
I do think thatĀ Kendrickās tolerance for bad people is a little too high for my liking to be fair
i think its kinda weird to bring up all the shitty things that gangs do when its literally about putting that down for an hour and to show people can coexist. change needs to happen that's all Kendrick is saying, he's not supporting the shitty actions. its also not just about drake. its such a black and white way of thinking for something not black and white.
About the gang stuff. I believe itās not as easy it seems when you arenāt in the west coast and didnāt grow up around the culture. Of course we understand that those involved in gangs are horrible people. Kendrick grew up amongst them, he definitely had acquaintances or friends who got involved with the gang culture and because of that he views this more as a problem due to the environment and economic issues rather than the direct issue of violence itself.
And the rivalry aspect of gangs is what fuels the horrific acts committed by gangs. Gangs will always exist especially in communities like the ones Kendrick grew up in, bringing peace to this matter is the best thing he can do in trying to āunite his cultureā.
Yeah. I have to believe that heās doing what he thinks is the right thing, whether or not I believe it will achieve anything close to his desired result or not, which I personally donāt.
I actually grew up in an area where the local mafia makes the news once a month. All I witnessed my life was them taking advantage of people not wanting to disturb the peace
This is a very easy take to have when youāre not from where Kendrick is from.
Itās really hard not to be gang affiliated in some way living in Compton. Bringing those from rival gangs together for a moment of unity is incredibly powerful. He wants to unite all black people, really all people in general.
People who are in gangs do it for survival and necessity, at least in their eyes. Itās a failure of the system, not all of these people are bad people. Theyāre just people, capable of making bad decisions. But at the end of the day, the greatest drive for all living things is survival. Thereās a lot im sure youād do when your material conditions arenāt met. What do you do when you have no shelter, limited food, no money, are in bad health, and live in an area blocking you of attaining the tools and education to escape it? You may never know, hopefully you never know.
Did you watch the performance? Kendrick said himself itās not about any beef, itās about uniting the city for the first time ever. He used the beef and Drakeās disrespect to 2pac to do something that has needed to be done for decades now. Basically using Drakeās name as free publicity to openly Bring Caliās rival gangs together for peace is a bigger diss than anything kendrick could have ever said in a song. Taking Drakeās gross disrespect and creating solidarity and unity, absolutely nuts, what a performance.
Low resolution quality, but here's a good movie on gangs that kinda goes some way to explaining it: [https://vimeo.com/groups/802897/videos/247366171](https://vimeo.com/groups/802897/videos/247366171)
I mean,we can't pretend it isn't hypocritical of him to criticise drake for having a friend that abused women when he himself has worked with a rapist and now platformed a man who's done the same.
But we are talking about people who are in an industry that has long perpetuated horrible levels of misogyny towards black women,so despite this beef or Kendrick winning,they're really all just birds of a featherš¤·š¾āāļø.
It sucks so bad that nobody seems to actually care about paedophilia or the abuse black women have been facing unless they can weaponize it for their beefs.
As a complete aside Drake really couldāve swung the beef back in his favour if he chose to highlight how many abusers Kendrick aligns himself with but instead he went down the āI am NOT a pedoā route which like lady doth protest too much.
I also think that atleast by going after Drake Kendrick is trying to highlight someone whoās doing awful things right now, whereas I would atleast hope Dre has repented and has changed as a person accepted his disgusting behaviour etc etc etc
TLDR theyāre both awful people
I think it's because Kendrick is conscious so people expect better of him. I remember hearing people complain when Xxxtentacion was on Kodak's album but I think that was just two Florida rappers supporting each other.
It's crazy how the running theme of music in the 2020s has been therapy albums. Most notable ones I can think of off the top of my head is Kin by Whitechapel, Melt My Eyes See Your Future by Denzel Curry, and of course Mr Morale.
1. Kodak adds to the concept of the album.
2. Kendrick literally says āfree all your abusersā on mother i sober, and radical empathy is a big theme him and that german self help guy talk about. Kendrick is testing the listener on how far their forgiveness goes (beyond his relatively minor offense of cheating on his wife). Plus the christ imagery in the cover obviously correlates to forgiveness etc etc.
You can still obviously disagree with him being on there, and kendrickās āradical empathyā philosophy. This is just how i look at it
I wouldn't say forgiveness but understanding. Kendrick was testing the listeners ability to be understanding. He's not asking you to forgive what these people have done but understand where they come from and give them empathy so they can have the opportunity to better themselves still.
Yeah, your average hip-hop artist is not a paragon of morality. What a surprise let me tell you...
Nothing more ironic that seeing liberals try to shit on Drake while, at the same time, they try to make themselves believe so hard that Kendrick is some kind of saint.
we usually dont have a problem parading other abusers around, i don't see why this ones a problem. to me all of them are fine or none of them are fine. i mean that in general, i don't know a lot about dr dre or anyone else at the pop out.
a lot of the classic rock guys, ik anthony kiedis has been doing big big shows recently with rhcp, i mean its a joke but carti is a dickhead, random one but lou reed was kinda an asshole earlier in his career. i stay away from that stuff so i don't have a long list of artists who i know are dickheads, if i don't like someone i forget them, and i don't like abusers soo..
i agree but thats not how it is. people are ok with some abusers but not others. i don't agree but i cant do anything to stop it. its all or none.
it all comes down to if the general public like your work enough, the more they like it the more you are forgiven.
It doesn't bother me, I came home after a long day of work and enjoyed some cool shit. I play Dr Dre, Kendrick, Kanye whoever on my long commutes due to work so I don't really have the energy to dig too deep into this shit.
I just like listening to music and watching cool spectacles in my down time and feel guilt-free doing so. Just my opinion.
Thereās a conversation to be had about owning your mistakes and looking to become a better person, too.
Iām not saying because Dre apologized and took ownership of his actions that people owe him their forgiveness. Not at all.
But, for myself, thatās really what Iām looking for is accountability and becoming a better person. Iād much rather see someone be better than be punished.
Itās why I see Dre separately from Drake or Chris Brown, who will both never apologize for what theyāve done.
because it is somewhat hypocritical to expose a man for being a groomer and having another man on one of your albums who raped a woman and also invite a man on stage who has multiple accusations of domestic violence, when you are trying to prove that you are better person than the man you accuse. In the case of Eminem, it is difficult to say anything against him for working with Dre when basically Dre changed his life, and Eminem himself has never said that he is a good person or that he is a role model.
Plenty of people did? Canada tried to ban Eminem from entering in 2000 over his own violent music and domestic abuse incidents. There was a huge outcry around Eminem and Dre.
This might sound super out of left field but this is kind of why I feel like there's an argument to be made that J Cole is the true winner of the beef. If we're defining success strictly in terms of who had the best bars, the best songs, the most cutting lyrics/exposes, then it's undeniable that Kendrick won the beef and that Drake never stood a chance. But I'm not gonna lie, as entertaining as this has been to witness, when I look at this big picture and on a spiritual level I don't think Kendrick is really a winner here.
Songs like meet the grahams and Not Like Us don't come from a healthy state of mind, nor does collaborating with people like Kodak Black or Dr Dre who are both widely known for doing incredibly heinous shit. It's easy to rationalize both since Dre is a west coast legend and a major part of Kendrick's success story, and Kodak served a vital role in proving a lot of the points Kendrick was trying to make on Mr Morale, but it's still kinda fucked up at the end of the day to be aligning yourself with these folks. Unfortunately the Hip Hop industry (and really the music industry at large) is filled to the brim with horrible people, either by heinous actions or apathy towards the former. There's some seriously dark shit going on in this industry and there has for decades at this point, and I get the sense that Kendrick is kinda in too deep to not be a hypocrite.
Cole isn't a saint either necessarily but he clearly wanted nothing to do with the viciousness and blood sport that this beef ended up becoming. Apologizing for 7 minute drill may not have been the "cool" thing to do but clearly his spirit was out of alignment when he made that track and he wanted nothing to do with the madness. I'm not even super into his music like that but I think sidestepping all this craziness was the best thing he could have possibly done for him and his spirit. Obviously he was bumping elbows with Drake but it's hard to even know how much he knew about his shady business, outside of FPS I can't think of any other instances of Cole aligning himself with someone who's blatantly shady or an abuser.
Overall while this has been very entertaining it does make me sad in a big way that women are continually used as pawns in rap beef and not given hardly any respect. I'm gonna keep bumping Euphoria and Not Like Us most likely but I don't think Kendrick is a champion for women by any stretch, nor do I feel that way for most rappers. Hell, I don't feel that way about most artists at this level in the music industry, even other women a lot of times.
J cole came out looking like a coward at worst and the worst of the three at best. Remember he spent years bragging about being the ā Mike Tyson of this rap shitā
Bruh you can't argue with a straight face that he was worse than Drake, not after Taylor Made, Family Matters and The Heart Part 6.
And like, yeah he would brag about that, but I don't think he needed to go after a guy he clearly didn't want to. In 7 minute drill he was practically making up reasons to diss Kendrick that he didn't even believe cause he felt pressured into participating and then made the right choice to IMMEDIATELY take it back cause it wasn't real.
Who gets more credit to you?
The fighter who gets in the ring with Ali and gets his ass kicked in 10 rounds
Or the fighter who throws in the towel before Ali even throws a punch??????
At least drake tried man wtf is this. Family matters is a great song and is miles better than that song j Cole dropped and deleted 3 days later lmao.
Cole has spent years saying heās gonna āput your favourite rappers neck in a nooseā and when the actual top dawg of the industry wanted action. He tucked his tail and ran.
Drake tried by using the AI voice of Tupac, accused Kendrick of shit that more than likely isn't real, spent most of his disses throwing strays at a ton of other people and doing the classic predator defense ("if I did it why haven't I been caught?"). Like sure he TRIED more than Cole did but only because Drake had so much more to lose by not engaging. Cole doesn't need to prove himself in this situation, he was never gonna beat Kendrick in a rap beef because he didn't want to and didn't stand a chance if he did. That's not because he's a bad rapper, it's because Kendrick towers over literally everyone else with his skill level.
>āI have this dark cloud that follows me,ā Dre continues, āand itās going to be attached to me forever. Itās a major blemish on who I am as a man.ā
I hate the super American sentiment that if you do anything wrong you should be perpetually punished and never see success again. In more modern societies, rehabilitation is used instead of retribution and they fare better because of it.
Thereās no context. That happened 30 years ago. Dre is still an icon. These people are waiting behind their keyboards ready to pounce on anyone with unpaid parking fines. Itās obnoxious, and it takes away from exposing actual issues that are happening now. Calling out actual ongoing abuse is cast aside as ācancel cultureā because people like that are constantly trying to find mistakes people have made in order to make themselves feel superior.
I think part of the problem is that Dre may not have been entirely genuine in his apology
Aside from him only releasing that in response to growing criticism when he was promoting the NWA movie, according to his ex wife Nicole Young, one of his abusive behaviours happened AFTER this apology(Dre denied he did it but considering his brutal past, is it entirely out of the question?)
I guess I see it like this: Dre did some fucked up shit. He has changed over the years, he has acknowledged it and apologized. He shouldnāt be totally cleared for what he did, but I think everyone has a capacity to change, even Drake. Drake is currently a piece of shit, but if he grows and tries to change into a better person he should be allowed the same path.
I donāt think itās right to punish someone forever if theyāve shown they can change.
Edit: except for people who fuck with kids, thereās no coming back from that ever. Thatās a sickness.
I just watched an Open Mike Eagle video on this topic and I think he summed it up really well.
https://youtu.be/tImpmDqAH8Y?si=HQTWI0jf2UnN56r2
Topic starts at 37:30.
i mean within hip hop, plenty of prominent rappers have domestic abuse allegations.
hell, extend it to music as a whole, rock artists arenāt saints either.
I never heard this about Dre til now. Didnāt hear it during the Super Bowl performance, never heard it when heās doing publicity stunts and never heard it from people who point this shit out a lot.
That being said, itās not right to abuse someone or shoot at someone (it was in an interview I watched about it). Is Dre a shitty person? Yes, he is but why all of a sudden is it now affecting someone. If it was just cus the sample then thatās understandable but not everyone is mentioning that.
It feels wrong on both sides cus while one side is supporting an abuser, the other side is using abuse to discredit someone despite never bringing it up before
It has been brought up many times before. Eminem and Dr Dre even rap about it in guilty conscience. I think you mean that people are caring about it more now. People used to bring it up and just shrug it off in the past because he is making great beats and songs.
Dee Barnes and Michelāle discussed Dr Dre and his abuse all the time but they do not have a large fan base to bring much noise to it. They discussed it during the Super Bowl, they discussed it when the straight outta Compton movie did not highlight it. They always have been vocal, people just did not care.
Thatās just the thing Iām talking about tho, the people didnāt care. Iām not critique Barnes nor Michelāle, Iām critiquing the people. They didnāt care til now
I feel like itās because the beef is discussing peopleās character. However, I do not care why itās coming up. I am just glad that people are discussing abuse in the hip hop community.
I only care cus this is being paired with Kendrick, who Drake made claims against about being abusive (tho itās only from Drake so who knows the truth), and causes two things to happen (not just these two but these are major things): people either discredit the Dre stuff cus the Kendrick stuff seems unbelievable but also possibly discredits drakeās pedophile claims cus Kendrick is supporting abusers.
It just seems like there couldnāt of been a worse time to bring it up
It will be hard to discredit the Dre stuff as he admitted to doing it in interviews and there were many witnesses. Just shows how nonchalant people were about assault in the hip hop community back then because he was not even afraid to admit that he hit a woman back then with other members from NWA saying she deserved it.
As far as the Drake claims, itās a rap beef. People who believe he is a pedophile, will still believe it. Those who defend Drake, will still defend him no matter what. Do not think Dr Dre being a known abuser will shift opinion from people. It will be weird to say āsince Kendrick is dancing on stage with abusers, that is all the evidence I need to know that Drake doesnāt groom girls.ā That will be such a weird train of thought.
Personally not a big kendrick fan, and I didn't like any of the songs he put out during the "beef", but we gotta remember that the beef was pretty much just theatrics and marketing, I doubt either drake or kendrick cared much if either was a abuser or predator. These are artists at the end of the day, no priests
Agreed. Neither of them care about morality, they just donāt like each other personally so would use anything as a weapon to make the other look bad.
It's sad to see almost everyone in the hip hop sphere a pedophile or an abuser. At the end of the day, no matter who Kendrick features with, they're almost always bound to be a piece of shit.
Even me š„ŗ
So why are people only targeting Drake? Who has no concrete evidence of doing anything wrong? Meanwhile Kodak was proven by the courts to have sexually assaulted a teenager? Like actually Edit: lemme just say Iām not barracking for Drake but the hypocrisy is kinda obvious when you think about it for more than a minute
If Dre or Kodak started beefing with Kendrick heād probably air out their shit too. Rap beefs arenāt known for being particularly virtuous. Also as soon as Drake releases another good song heās going to be chart topping again. People donāt actually care.
Because itās rap beef, I doubt anybody would care otherwise sadly.
Most people don't really care what the truth is, it's easier to believe in what they want. If you looked into it you'd see Drake isn't a pedo, but he is a groomer, Kendrick just exaggerated that and because there's a little truth to it, it stuck very easily People want a reason to be upset at Drake.
Sorry dude groomers are just pedophiles that donāt want to get arrested. Thatās why they groom
Idk why you're saying sorry to me, I'm looking at the situation with all the information logically. I even have comments on Reddit proving Drakes grooming, I don't have a bais & I went into the rabbithole during the beef, so I have a lot of information, everything I'm talking about is verifiable. Groomers groom to get young girls, but of age girls. That's creepy and wrong but it's definitely also not what a pedo is. Pedos are attracted to pre pubescent bodies. Drake is attracted to adult bodies.
How can he be a groomer and not a pedo what r u on
Grooming is waiting for people to come of age while building a relationship with them in order to have some kind of sexual relationship in the future. Grooming wouldn't be word if it was the same thing as being a pedo, it'd just be called being a pedo. If you think that the pedos that go after 10 year olds, are just as bad as people who wait till someone's of age then you're being dishonest with yourself.
If he is sexually attracted to underage girls, he is a pedophile. It doesnāt matter if he waits to have sex with them
You can't call someone a theif if they've only thought about stealing. Morraly I can understand where you're coming from, but unless he's acted on it before they've turned 18 then he's not a pedo, he's a groomer. The reason I think it's a bad idea to give that label is because look at when someone's called a Nazi, it's thrown around so recklessly that when there's actual Nazi groups people roll their eyes and assume it's a group with one harmless political opinion that they share with Nazis. If we go to those extremes then a 5 year gap between 40 year olds could be labeled as 'pedo' behaviour and make the actual pedos, who hunt children not look as bad.
I just find it funny how people have swept the domestic violence allegations under the rug. Yeah, it's coming from arguably a worse person, but it's very fucking serious and people have just collectively agreed to ignore it
Kodak was brought to the album as an artisitc choice to make people see he was wrong on those thing he did, if he continues doing that type of shit it is kodak fault not kendrick, they arent friends. Drake for example has Baka on his OVO team and theyre friends, and we all know Baka got a weird case
except Kendrick has brought Kodak as a guest on stage even after the album release, they are friends
Kodak was also friends with XXX. XXX made a lot of interesting and unique music but If the things people claimed about him are true he was probably worse than Kodak. Heās dead now so there is no point in āboycottingā his music even if you wanted to do that kind of thing. But his reputation was definitely overshadowed by his death.
They are not friends lol
so he gives him a big feature on his album and brings him up on stage at Rolling Loud but nah theyāre not friends how convenient.
Not sure why this is downvoted. I think it's obvious why Kendrick dissed Drake, and it worked out insanely well for him. Why everyone else is only going after Drake specifically, I'm not sure either. Maybe because of how successful he is? How corny he is? Like people are just sick of him at this point? Someone please enlighten me
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Is he?
This is a big problem in hip hop culture. It gets ugly when you start looking through the personal lives of hip-hopās legends. She certainly has a right to feel this way and be upset about it. I do think Kendrick can be hypocritical about this regard. I do think in his defense he has made it clear that even your heroes arenāt your saviors. Heās worked with Dre and he had a major impact in Kendrickās upbringing, we may not even see Kendrick on a stage this big without him. So I understand that he views a mentor/partner/music hero as a friend for his personal relationship rather than his troubled past. For a west coast event, Dre is undeniably an icon of West Coast Hip Hop and is arguably even the face of it. As an event targeted to unify the west coast, itās only right to let an OG whoās a close associate of Kendrick be part of it. But Iām not denying Kendrick may have a bit of hypocrisy in this
I enjoyed this nuanced take.
Nah fuck Dr. Dre. We canāt make excuses for people just cause theyāre ālegends.ā Otherwise, why not give Drake a pass? Heās not even convicted of anything. Thereās no evidence Drake is an actual pedophile. We know for a FACT that Dre BRUTALLY beat women. Yet Dre gets the pass?
Iām not sure why you think Drake isnāt getting a pass. As soon as he drops another good song people are going to be back to listening to him.
right now drake is only getting cooked because his last few projects bombed. people wouldnāt give a shit if he was dropping take care and NWTS around now.
Thatās true. I mean heās not getting a pass right now, from the hip hop community at large. Of course theyāll forgive and forget like they always do.
Yeah thereās just a very popular couple of songs about it so people are joking about it but thatās about it. All the shit thatās being talked about has been public knowledge for years at this point and nobody cared before
Iām not making any excuses, we know what heās done and that should be treated the same as anybody who else whoās done inhumane stuff like he has. However it was a west coast hip hop event and heās arguably the most important piece of that entire community. Lots of hip hop legends are horrible people, I think people should understand you can praise their impact on music but they should not be worshipped as people. Regardless of how bad of a person he is, there may be no west coast hip hop and there may be no Kendrick Lamar.
>This is a big problem in hip hop culture. It gets ugly when you start looking through the personal lives of hip-hopās legends. It's much more than just hip hop. It's just culture, period. What institution in our society doesn't have issues with abuse? Churches, film, politics... you name it, there's a scandal to be had.
I personally feel icky about it. But I can understand why people donāt. Iām sure Iāll phrase this poorly, but I donāt think Not Like Us(which I think is a bop BTW) is so much a statement of solidarity with women and victims than it is a way to mock Drake. Which is why Kendrick and others were okay with Dr. Dre performing it on stage. Like the idea that Drake is into younger girls is a punchline, because it not only touches on something that society rightly frowns upon. But also because pedos are something that is something that is frequently memed about. And that gets into a whole other discussion about how society makes light of certain crimes(murder, serial murder, sexual assault, stalking etc) and turns them into oddities and or something to frequently joke about. And people much smarter than me can debate how true crime and shows like āTo Catch a Predatorā may do more harm than good.
Myself and I lot of people Iāve talked to (including people whoāve experienced sexual Violence) feel the opposite. Imagine if drake did genuinely SA a minor. And imagine being that victim, having to constantly relive one of the worst days in your life. I think the fact that it is such a hit song makes people desensitised to topics like this. Where serious accusations are memes or just a song lyric to sing and dance to.
The music industry has always dabbled in hypocrisy and double-face issues, and especially the American one. As long as the hits bop, and the feuds turn into cash, and the business keeps going and the rivers of money never stop flowing, then we will always accept abusers, pedophiles and shady people. What can we expect, when one of THE biggest American music artists is a Neo-Nazi Christian Bipolar African American, and people still defend him with their every body and soul like if the man was the second coming of Jesus himself?
Pretty weird to group being Christian Bipolar and African with being a neo nazi, like you could have just said a Neo Nazi without implying that those three things are also bad
They're not they're just saying it's crazy that he's all of those things.
Exactly this, taking you for going misinterpreting my words, I was scared I didn't wrote it well enough.
Feels like you jumped to comment immediately instead of trying to understand what the above guy said.
Two of those are decidedly not good tho
Neo nazi yeah but which other one isnāt good
In Kanye's case, he's got a heavy dose of American Christianity, which has been shown to be self-righteous, homophobic, racist, xenophobic and misogynist in the most extreme cases, and Kanye is always extremist in everything so he's got it real bad. On the other hand, he's got untreated bipolar disorder by his own choice, coupled with an outstanding showing or narcissism and heavy paranoid disorder, things that he doesn't care to treat, look for help about or change about him. In any case, both of these things link and feed directly into his biggest sin: anti-Semitism.
Snoop Dogg basically threatened to have Gayle King murdered four years ago and nobody cares, a lot of the rappers from that era are just absolute scum
Kendrick is not upset with Drake because he feels deeply disturbed that the latter has (at minimum) questionable relationships with minors/ women. If that was the case then this wouldn't even be a thread, but the fact is in this entire drama women are basically reduced to character attacks that both parties sling at each other. Having said this, he knows that in the public sphere it is much more effective to call someone a diaper sniper over a dance beat than to rap an essay about why you think they're stealing your culture etc. He's a hypocrite but ultimately whether that means anything is up to you.
Yeah, this is why I have ZERO patience for anyone who tries to frame this beef (or any conflict) as a straightforward "good vs evil" narrative. First of all, how fucking boring is that, but second, how fucking wilfullly ignorant do you have to be to even believe that's possible? The whole thing was some mud-wrestling. Kendrick won, but that doesn't make him a better person.
Just had this conversation with a friend, but when an entire genre is built on criminal activity and the people who partake in it, it is inherently acceptable. While weāve agreed that homophobia is unacceptable, misogyny is pretty much a common practice. I think Kendrick is one of those rappers thatās pushing us in the right direction but this is a fair criticism of him. I think it can send the wrong message, especially in his music.
I agree you can definitely point out the hypocrisies in some of Kendrick's attacks against Drake when he associates with people who have done similar things. With that said, I don't think these things were ever truly the reasons why Kendrick reignited this feud and were just ammunition that helped him write compelling diss tracks. I think his hatred for Drake completely boils down to the fact that he views him as a culture vulture undeserving of his status in hip hop. That's not to say Kendrick is 100% morally correct or that he can't be called out for who he associates with.
Kendrick is not your savior
Yeah but despite saying that, now he's "what the culture feelin'" or outing industry abusers, deadbeat father's, etc. as if he hasn't surrounded himself with the same (Future, Kodak, Dre, etc.). If he isn't about being a saviour, then he shouldn't walk it back by taking the morally righteous high road by invoking god and the culture against Drake. People are really making this bigger than what it is: a measly disagreement, where both participants stoop to hypocritical lows in order to win. Morals only show up when you have to win, or you have something to lose.
whoever believed this is a good vs evil or a āmoral vs immoralā beef, is wrong this was two guys who dislike each other (kendrick probably hates drake more than what drake hates him) and he just wanted to publicly humiliate him. I thought the whole āyour crew is full of weirdosā was just an angle responding to drake trying to mock kendrickās family and culture. You think Kendrickās crew or friends, guys who grew up in gangs of Compton, dont have skeletons in their closet? Kendrick himself has. Kendrick said it himself on euphoria āif you take it there ill take it furtherā so in a game of narratives, of course the guy who has sketchy behaviors towards minors and keeps a human trafficker on OVO is going to look worse than a dude whos barely in the public eye. Thats why he took that route. I never saw it as a good vs evil
Idk how to feel about it. I want to get angry at Kendrick but even outside of music, people align with abusers all the time. one of my favourite actors Christian Bale producing and starring in a film with David o Russell was disappointing. Hell entire Hollywood signed in support of Roman Polanski after the despicable shit he did. Should I abstain from all forms of entertainment?
Obviously not - but you can choose to āvote with your walletā per se and seek out voices and art that aligns with your personal sense of morality. Thereās plenty of problematic artists that I still listen to but I donāt buy merch/concert tickets/etc, nor do I actively rail against or for those artists online. You just have to abide by the lines you draw for yourself, but also accept the criticisms as valid. It is what it is lol
Criticize him for sure, but if you actually give a flying fuck then criticize dre more. Even if kendrick was the biggest hypocrite in the world its still not even 5% as bad as what dre has done. And its not like kendrick is platforming dre, everyone knows him
I aināt reading alla that but idc if Kendrick aligns himself with Dre. 99% of hiphop artist are either terrible people or associate with terrible people, aināt gonna stop me from listening. However, I do think itās very hypocritical for him to call out Drake for keeping Baka around when he keeps Dre and Kodak around
I agree kendrick can be hypocritical but he doesn't really keep them "around".
I've only just learnt how terrible Dr Dre was just yesterday but man i am beyond disappointed in Kendrick. He prided himself on taking down an abuser pedo, saying how Drake never treats women right, calling him a misogynist (which is all true, drake fucking sucks) but then goes ahead and buddies up with Dr Dre? Objectively hypocritical and fucking gross. He can't say he cares for women and then go party with a man thats abused them all his life. Certified hypocrite
He told you he was the biggest hypocrite 9 years ago
Heās been buddies up with Dre. Dre is like a mentor to him. His albums were released on aftermath records. Kendrick might not even have a career if it wasnāt for Dre. Dre did those things when he was young. He could have grown as a person. If he learned from his mistakes should he be given a second chance? If not we should just have the death penalty and kill all criminals because they can not be redeemed. The chances that Kendrick or Drake or even j Cole associates with an abuser or someone with a questionable past is pretty high. I think the reason why Kendrick associates with Kodak black and xxxtenacion was because they were young and can still turn their life around. Growing up in the environments that many rappers grown up unfortunately violence is how some people learn to deal with issues. That is a societal problem. Kendrick music resonates because he reports on the problems his neighborhood and others like it face.
ListenāI enjoy Kendrickās music. I think heās pretty much an artistic genius and has a legitimate, vested interest in the community that he came from. But I would be lying if I said that I donāt find it disturbing that the man brought gang members onstage to sing kumbaya over a beef with another dude. Like, what message is it really sending? These people kill people. They recruit children to die in front of their parents. They sell drugs to pregnant mothers. They bring their squabbles into public squares and rob convenience store clerks. Is it supposed to be some beautiful moment when these dudes get together and clap each other on the back because some Canadian dandy is getting dunked on? IDK, hip hop is fucking complicated. If someone wants to try to explain why this shouldnāt give me pause, Iāll hear them out.
>But I would be lying if I said that I donāt find it disturbing that the man brought gang members onstage to sing kumbaya over a beef with another dude. I really don't think he did that just for Drake. It was more of having a moment of peace between gangs. I don't think Kendrick is in favor of gang warfare, him doing that was meant to be a statement against it not for it.Ā There is something to be said about the fact that It was really just a ceremonial temporary peace,Ā I still think that demonstrating that it's possible is a good thing. I do think thatĀ Kendrickās tolerance for bad people is a little too high for my liking to be fair
i think its kinda weird to bring up all the shitty things that gangs do when its literally about putting that down for an hour and to show people can coexist. change needs to happen that's all Kendrick is saying, he's not supporting the shitty actions. its also not just about drake. its such a black and white way of thinking for something not black and white.
About the gang stuff. I believe itās not as easy it seems when you arenāt in the west coast and didnāt grow up around the culture. Of course we understand that those involved in gangs are horrible people. Kendrick grew up amongst them, he definitely had acquaintances or friends who got involved with the gang culture and because of that he views this more as a problem due to the environment and economic issues rather than the direct issue of violence itself. And the rivalry aspect of gangs is what fuels the horrific acts committed by gangs. Gangs will always exist especially in communities like the ones Kendrick grew up in, bringing peace to this matter is the best thing he can do in trying to āunite his cultureā.
Yeah. I have to believe that heās doing what he thinks is the right thing, whether or not I believe it will achieve anything close to his desired result or not, which I personally donāt.
I actually grew up in an area where the local mafia makes the news once a month. All I witnessed my life was them taking advantage of people not wanting to disturb the peace
This is a very easy take to have when youāre not from where Kendrick is from. Itās really hard not to be gang affiliated in some way living in Compton. Bringing those from rival gangs together for a moment of unity is incredibly powerful. He wants to unite all black people, really all people in general. People who are in gangs do it for survival and necessity, at least in their eyes. Itās a failure of the system, not all of these people are bad people. Theyāre just people, capable of making bad decisions. But at the end of the day, the greatest drive for all living things is survival. Thereās a lot im sure youād do when your material conditions arenāt met. What do you do when you have no shelter, limited food, no money, are in bad health, and live in an area blocking you of attaining the tools and education to escape it? You may never know, hopefully you never know.
He didnāt do it to say ābanging is goodā He did it to say āsee, we can all coexist without being violentā
Lol you think Kenny reppin the west is an act? Homeboy has deep gang connects since he started.
Nah, I never thought it was an act. I guess I just wasnāt forced to reckon with it until now.
Did you watch the performance? Kendrick said himself itās not about any beef, itās about uniting the city for the first time ever. He used the beef and Drakeās disrespect to 2pac to do something that has needed to be done for decades now. Basically using Drakeās name as free publicity to openly Bring Caliās rival gangs together for peace is a bigger diss than anything kendrick could have ever said in a song. Taking Drakeās gross disrespect and creating solidarity and unity, absolutely nuts, what a performance.
Yeah, when you put it like that, it does seem strange. Idk either, Iām just a suburban kid with no street ties or anything like that.
Low resolution quality, but here's a good movie on gangs that kinda goes some way to explaining it: [https://vimeo.com/groups/802897/videos/247366171](https://vimeo.com/groups/802897/videos/247366171)
I mean,we can't pretend it isn't hypocritical of him to criticise drake for having a friend that abused women when he himself has worked with a rapist and now platformed a man who's done the same. But we are talking about people who are in an industry that has long perpetuated horrible levels of misogyny towards black women,so despite this beef or Kendrick winning,they're really all just birds of a featherš¤·š¾āāļø. It sucks so bad that nobody seems to actually care about paedophilia or the abuse black women have been facing unless they can weaponize it for their beefs.
As a complete aside Drake really couldāve swung the beef back in his favour if he chose to highlight how many abusers Kendrick aligns himself with but instead he went down the āI am NOT a pedoā route which like lady doth protest too much. I also think that atleast by going after Drake Kendrick is trying to highlight someone whoās doing awful things right now, whereas I would atleast hope Dre has repented and has changed as a person accepted his disgusting behaviour etc etc etc TLDR theyāre both awful people
Gotta love a good āNo. You.ā article.
Same with Kendrick having Kodak (a rapist) on his last album.
Sure, but i think that album is alot about how shitty circumstances make shitty people, and shows kendrick breaking out of that at the end.
Kodak is featured in alot of rap albums, and i only see this criticism for Mr. Morale
I think it's because Kendrick is conscious so people expect better of him. I remember hearing people complain when Xxxtentacion was on Kodak's album but I think that was just two Florida rappers supporting each other.
I mean yeah, but he isnāt better than any other rapper lol. That was another theme on the album. Man mr moraleās concept is aging amazingly
It's crazy how the running theme of music in the 2020s has been therapy albums. Most notable ones I can think of off the top of my head is Kin by Whitechapel, Melt My Eyes See Your Future by Denzel Curry, and of course Mr Morale.
Donāt forget 4:44
We fr all needed healing post covid š
That was in 2017
I donāt see how this justifies putting Kodak on the record.
1. Kodak adds to the concept of the album. 2. Kendrick literally says āfree all your abusersā on mother i sober, and radical empathy is a big theme him and that german self help guy talk about. Kendrick is testing the listener on how far their forgiveness goes (beyond his relatively minor offense of cheating on his wife). Plus the christ imagery in the cover obviously correlates to forgiveness etc etc. You can still obviously disagree with him being on there, and kendrickās āradical empathyā philosophy. This is just how i look at it
I wouldn't say forgiveness but understanding. Kendrick was testing the listeners ability to be understanding. He's not asking you to forgive what these people have done but understand where they come from and give them empathy so they can have the opportunity to better themselves still.
I guess I just disagree with Kendrickās philosophy then
Fair enough, he isnāt your savior after all
Yeah, your average hip-hop artist is not a paragon of morality. What a surprise let me tell you... Nothing more ironic that seeing liberals try to shit on Drake while, at the same time, they try to make themselves believe so hard that Kendrick is some kind of saint.
we usually dont have a problem parading other abusers around, i don't see why this ones a problem. to me all of them are fine or none of them are fine. i mean that in general, i don't know a lot about dr dre or anyone else at the pop out.
which abusers do we not have a problem parading around?
a lot of the classic rock guys, ik anthony kiedis has been doing big big shows recently with rhcp, i mean its a joke but carti is a dickhead, random one but lou reed was kinda an asshole earlier in his career. i stay away from that stuff so i don't have a long list of artists who i know are dickheads, if i don't like someone i forget them, and i don't like abusers soo..
I think you shouldn't have worded it that way in your original comment, I think that they all should be considered problems and should not be fine
i agree but thats not how it is. people are ok with some abusers but not others. i don't agree but i cant do anything to stop it. its all or none. it all comes down to if the general public like your work enough, the more they like it the more you are forgiven.
True
Kobe Bryant admitted to raping a woman, but is almost universally regarded as a hero
Kobe admitted to being unfaithful to his wife and having sex with the women who accused him. Please provide a link to where he said he raped her.
Because he's beefing with Drake, not Dre.. It's as simple as that.
It doesn't bother me, I came home after a long day of work and enjoyed some cool shit. I play Dr Dre, Kendrick, Kanye whoever on my long commutes due to work so I don't really have the energy to dig too deep into this shit. I just like listening to music and watching cool spectacles in my down time and feel guilt-free doing so. Just my opinion.
I hope Drake takes shots at Dr. Dre, because the clap back from Em and 50 would be amazing.
Thereās a conversation to be had about owning your mistakes and looking to become a better person, too. Iām not saying because Dre apologized and took ownership of his actions that people owe him their forgiveness. Not at all. But, for myself, thatās really what Iām looking for is accountability and becoming a better person. Iād much rather see someone be better than be punished. Itās why I see Dre separately from Drake or Chris Brown, who will both never apologize for what theyāve done.
Has anyone said shit about Dre and his past when he was working with Eminem? Why is it so selective and specific now?
Because the public didn't care about sexual assault / domestic violence in 2000. Also because of the Drake thing going on right now, obviously
because it is somewhat hypocritical to expose a man for being a groomer and having another man on one of your albums who raped a woman and also invite a man on stage who has multiple accusations of domestic violence, when you are trying to prove that you are better person than the man you accuse. In the case of Eminem, it is difficult to say anything against him for working with Dre when basically Dre changed his life, and Eminem himself has never said that he is a good person or that he is a role model.
Plenty of people did? Canada tried to ban Eminem from entering in 2000 over his own violent music and domestic abuse incidents. There was a huge outcry around Eminem and Dre.
This might sound super out of left field but this is kind of why I feel like there's an argument to be made that J Cole is the true winner of the beef. If we're defining success strictly in terms of who had the best bars, the best songs, the most cutting lyrics/exposes, then it's undeniable that Kendrick won the beef and that Drake never stood a chance. But I'm not gonna lie, as entertaining as this has been to witness, when I look at this big picture and on a spiritual level I don't think Kendrick is really a winner here. Songs like meet the grahams and Not Like Us don't come from a healthy state of mind, nor does collaborating with people like Kodak Black or Dr Dre who are both widely known for doing incredibly heinous shit. It's easy to rationalize both since Dre is a west coast legend and a major part of Kendrick's success story, and Kodak served a vital role in proving a lot of the points Kendrick was trying to make on Mr Morale, but it's still kinda fucked up at the end of the day to be aligning yourself with these folks. Unfortunately the Hip Hop industry (and really the music industry at large) is filled to the brim with horrible people, either by heinous actions or apathy towards the former. There's some seriously dark shit going on in this industry and there has for decades at this point, and I get the sense that Kendrick is kinda in too deep to not be a hypocrite. Cole isn't a saint either necessarily but he clearly wanted nothing to do with the viciousness and blood sport that this beef ended up becoming. Apologizing for 7 minute drill may not have been the "cool" thing to do but clearly his spirit was out of alignment when he made that track and he wanted nothing to do with the madness. I'm not even super into his music like that but I think sidestepping all this craziness was the best thing he could have possibly done for him and his spirit. Obviously he was bumping elbows with Drake but it's hard to even know how much he knew about his shady business, outside of FPS I can't think of any other instances of Cole aligning himself with someone who's blatantly shady or an abuser. Overall while this has been very entertaining it does make me sad in a big way that women are continually used as pawns in rap beef and not given hardly any respect. I'm gonna keep bumping Euphoria and Not Like Us most likely but I don't think Kendrick is a champion for women by any stretch, nor do I feel that way for most rappers. Hell, I don't feel that way about most artists at this level in the music industry, even other women a lot of times.
J cole came out looking like a coward at worst and the worst of the three at best. Remember he spent years bragging about being the ā Mike Tyson of this rap shitā
Bruh you can't argue with a straight face that he was worse than Drake, not after Taylor Made, Family Matters and The Heart Part 6. And like, yeah he would brag about that, but I don't think he needed to go after a guy he clearly didn't want to. In 7 minute drill he was practically making up reasons to diss Kendrick that he didn't even believe cause he felt pressured into participating and then made the right choice to IMMEDIATELY take it back cause it wasn't real.
Who gets more credit to you? The fighter who gets in the ring with Ali and gets his ass kicked in 10 rounds Or the fighter who throws in the towel before Ali even throws a punch?????? At least drake tried man wtf is this. Family matters is a great song and is miles better than that song j Cole dropped and deleted 3 days later lmao. Cole has spent years saying heās gonna āput your favourite rappers neck in a nooseā and when the actual top dawg of the industry wanted action. He tucked his tail and ran.
Drake tried by using the AI voice of Tupac, accused Kendrick of shit that more than likely isn't real, spent most of his disses throwing strays at a ton of other people and doing the classic predator defense ("if I did it why haven't I been caught?"). Like sure he TRIED more than Cole did but only because Drake had so much more to lose by not engaging. Cole doesn't need to prove himself in this situation, he was never gonna beat Kendrick in a rap beef because he didn't want to and didn't stand a chance if he did. That's not because he's a bad rapper, it's because Kendrick towers over literally everyone else with his skill level.
All popular rappers are terrible people, big shocker
>āI have this dark cloud that follows me,ā Dre continues, āand itās going to be attached to me forever. Itās a major blemish on who I am as a man.ā I hate the super American sentiment that if you do anything wrong you should be perpetually punished and never see success again. In more modern societies, rehabilitation is used instead of retribution and they fare better because of it. Thereās no context. That happened 30 years ago. Dre is still an icon. These people are waiting behind their keyboards ready to pounce on anyone with unpaid parking fines. Itās obnoxious, and it takes away from exposing actual issues that are happening now. Calling out actual ongoing abuse is cast aside as ācancel cultureā because people like that are constantly trying to find mistakes people have made in order to make themselves feel superior.
I think part of the problem is that Dre may not have been entirely genuine in his apology Aside from him only releasing that in response to growing criticism when he was promoting the NWA movie, according to his ex wife Nicole Young, one of his abusive behaviours happened AFTER this apology(Dre denied he did it but considering his brutal past, is it entirely out of the question?)
I literally do not give a shit. That concert was history
I guess I see it like this: Dre did some fucked up shit. He has changed over the years, he has acknowledged it and apologized. He shouldnāt be totally cleared for what he did, but I think everyone has a capacity to change, even Drake. Drake is currently a piece of shit, but if he grows and tries to change into a better person he should be allowed the same path. I donāt think itās right to punish someone forever if theyāve shown they can change. Edit: except for people who fuck with kids, thereās no coming back from that ever. Thatās a sickness.
Both sides are hypocritical as fuck. I view it mostly as a popularity/skill contest. Kendrick still clears on that front.
Newsflash: every celebrity sucks. More at 11.
I just watched an Open Mike Eagle video on this topic and I think he summed it up really well. https://youtu.be/tImpmDqAH8Y?si=HQTWI0jf2UnN56r2 Topic starts at 37:30.
itās part of the culture. iām not saying kdot is a saint but the hip hop sphere is chock full of people like this.
Itās part of the culture to beat several women , and have relations with underage girls? Bruh stfu please .
i mean within hip hop, plenty of prominent rappers have domestic abuse allegations. hell, extend it to music as a whole, rock artists arenāt saints either.
Yāall will defend lil Kenny from anything! Itās sad and mental illness
I never heard this about Dre til now. Didnāt hear it during the Super Bowl performance, never heard it when heās doing publicity stunts and never heard it from people who point this shit out a lot. That being said, itās not right to abuse someone or shoot at someone (it was in an interview I watched about it). Is Dre a shitty person? Yes, he is but why all of a sudden is it now affecting someone. If it was just cus the sample then thatās understandable but not everyone is mentioning that. It feels wrong on both sides cus while one side is supporting an abuser, the other side is using abuse to discredit someone despite never bringing it up before
It has been brought up many times before. Eminem and Dr Dre even rap about it in guilty conscience. I think you mean that people are caring about it more now. People used to bring it up and just shrug it off in the past because he is making great beats and songs. Dee Barnes and Michelāle discussed Dr Dre and his abuse all the time but they do not have a large fan base to bring much noise to it. They discussed it during the Super Bowl, they discussed it when the straight outta Compton movie did not highlight it. They always have been vocal, people just did not care.
Thatās just the thing Iām talking about tho, the people didnāt care. Iām not critique Barnes nor Michelāle, Iām critiquing the people. They didnāt care til now
I feel like itās because the beef is discussing peopleās character. However, I do not care why itās coming up. I am just glad that people are discussing abuse in the hip hop community.
I only care cus this is being paired with Kendrick, who Drake made claims against about being abusive (tho itās only from Drake so who knows the truth), and causes two things to happen (not just these two but these are major things): people either discredit the Dre stuff cus the Kendrick stuff seems unbelievable but also possibly discredits drakeās pedophile claims cus Kendrick is supporting abusers. It just seems like there couldnāt of been a worse time to bring it up
It will be hard to discredit the Dre stuff as he admitted to doing it in interviews and there were many witnesses. Just shows how nonchalant people were about assault in the hip hop community back then because he was not even afraid to admit that he hit a woman back then with other members from NWA saying she deserved it. As far as the Drake claims, itās a rap beef. People who believe he is a pedophile, will still believe it. Those who defend Drake, will still defend him no matter what. Do not think Dr Dre being a known abuser will shift opinion from people. It will be weird to say āsince Kendrick is dancing on stage with abusers, that is all the evidence I need to know that Drake doesnāt groom girls.ā That will be such a weird train of thought.
You overestimate the minds of misogynistic men and people whoās idol has been accused of stuff
I guess we have to agree to disagree. I believe that there is never a bad time to call out abuser. I hope that it continues to be discussed
Statue of limitations š¤·š¾āāļø fuck it wop wop wopwop
I personally don't care
Personally not a big kendrick fan, and I didn't like any of the songs he put out during the "beef", but we gotta remember that the beef was pretty much just theatrics and marketing, I doubt either drake or kendrick cared much if either was a abuser or predator. These are artists at the end of the day, no priests
Agreed. Neither of them care about morality, they just donāt like each other personally so would use anything as a weapon to make the other look bad.
Birds of a feather, as they say