For months now, tension has been brewing between Tory Lanez and the undisputed top boy in Toronto, who goes by the name of Drake. There are notable similarities in the styles of the two artists, namely that they both skillfully blend elements of hip-hop, R&B, and other genres as well. Tory believes he's the face of The New Toronto, which was the title of his December mixtape. That didn't sit to well with Drake, who on his January single "Summer Sixteen," rapped, "All you boys in the new Toronto wanna be me a little." The next month, Tory denounced any beef on his end, saying, "I'd never diss him...I'm a fan."
As Tory is preparing to release his debut album, I Told You, he's found himself in a contentious Twitter exchange with one of Toronto's best producers, and a close member of Drake's inner-circle.
It started when Boi-1da, who was credited on five VIEWS songs, tweeted, "If I hear one more terrible dancehall attempt of a song I'm out." And it was Tory himself who assumed that the producer's tweet was directed at his most recent single, "Luv." There are certainly elements of dancehall in the "Luv" instrumental (from Benny Blanco and Cashmere Cat) as well as in Tory's singing flow. Right now, Drake is probably the hip-hop artist who's most known for taking inspiration from the Caribbean-born genre. He's been doing so for years, but especially lately, with hits like "Hotline Bling," "One Dance," "Too Good," and "Controlla," the latter which was produced by Boi-1da along with a few others.
Lanez responded to the inflammatory tweet by providing the iTunes link to "Luv" and including an emoji to signal that he's not bothered by Boi-1da's aversion toward his new song. Boi-1da caught Tory's swift response, and he then proved that he was indeed referring to "Luv" with his initial tweet.
"Oh hey Tory!" he excitedly replied, attaching a picture of a certain Pokemon species that he believes is representative of Tory's latest dancehall effort. The undesirable creature is named Ditto, a blob-like being that can take the form of another (more evolved) species, but is unable to display the full strength of the breed it seeks to become.
