Debate is raging heavily online over the Drake and Kendrick Lamar beef, especially now that the latter went back to back and dropped another diss on Friday morning (May 3). Both fanbases are going wild for their fav, with some going on a slippery slope by trying to discredit some of the bars on the first K.Dot diss, "euphoria." For example, folks pulled up some videos of various rap battles in which competitors use the "I hate" repetition from the song's refrain, the "park your son" bar, and the YNW Melly bar. While this is not necessarily an invalid critique, someone should make a compilation of all the "Interscope (in the scope) Aftermath" MJ, and Whitney Houston Bodyguard bars that rappers have spit over the years, all of which land on "Push Ups."
Furthermore, we don't say that to hate on Drake, but to point out that this is a flawed argument no matter which way you frame it. His previous ghostwriting claims don't matter either, as Kendrick Lamar also faced some since-debunked ghostwriting rumors amid this beef. If you hold hip-hop up to unrealistic originality standards in the art of wordplay, you would deprive many listeners of their first time hearing classic bars on more popular records. The ghostwriting issue occurs most frequently when you're not backing up your homages with striking idiosyncrasy on your other bars, or when you pay them too often in succession.
Read More: Kendrick Lamar Refused To Appear On Drake’s “First Person Shooter”
Drake Fans Think Kendrick Lamar Is Biting Battle Rap: See Replies For Reactions
Of course, we're sure that Drake will probably have at least one or two bars on whatever he cooks up next that are tributes or references to other bars, or are just more common metaphors or similes than one would think. None of them will discredit him from the beef, and Kendrick Lamar jabbing him for the same reason would fall equally as flat. All that being said, there is still valid critique to be made about "euphoria" and its lyrical content. So if you're an OVO soldier, don't give up: you might still get naysayers on your side.
Meanwhile, as the rest of the hip-hop world continues to debate "euphoria," the brand new diss, and how this beef has progressed so far, we can only guess as to whether there's another round. Will there be a big revelation like both MCs have teased and warned the other about? Or is this purely a lyrical battle? We'll see what we see when the smoke clears.
Read More: Dame Dash Thinks Kendrick Lamar Is Winning The Beef: “He Snuffed Drake”
