The idea that Drake took to the airwaves on his own Beats 1 Radio program to address the feud with Meek Mill is kind of amazing in and of itself. It’s the digital-age version of Jay going to Summer Jam or KRS-One sliding tracks to Red Alert. That being said, the desire to have raised expectations for a “Drake diss track” should actually be non-existent.
“Wow, I’m honored that you think this is staged / I’m flattered, man, in fact, I’m amazed.”
If we break down Drake as an emcee, his actual “rap credentials,” in that “OG rapper, eat you up on a track and kill you” sense has actually never really existed. Outside of Kardinal Offishall, name any actual underground or mainstream rap history that had any buzz coming from the 6 before Drake. It’s hard, right? Toronto’s this weird rap pastiche place where Hip Hop was likely more of a pop radio, play whatever American hits are hot on MTV thing than like, really digging into an organic connection with breaking “street hot rap music.” Can’t imagine too many crazy ridiculous rap battles that changed the culture happening in 1980s T. Dot. As well, insofar as America, you don’t see Drake name-checking Rakim or Big Daddy Kane in his rhymes, rather you hear him aligning himself with stars from Houston and Memphis, two top rap locales, but not any that have a deep connection with the first-generation roots of the culture itself, which Meek Mill, being from Philly, has.
“I seen it all coming, knew they were pushing buttons / Easter Egg Hunting, they gotta look for something / Done doing favors for people / ‘Cause it ain’t like I need the money I make off a feature.”
Thus, when you get a Philly guy feuding with Drake, you’re going to get a weird and disjointed matchup altogether. Someone from Philly comes from a school opened by the likes of Schooly D and carried down through the likes of Freeway, Cassidy, Jakk Frost and others who are gifted at delivering tough lyrical slaughters, and for the purposes of this feud, also writing their own bars. A Philly guy (especially Meek) going toe to toe with Drake is comparable to somebody playing chess and thinking they made a dope move, but realizing that their opponent’s left the table and off somewhere else playing mancala instead. You’re left scratching your head and saying, “what?”
“Come and live all your dreams out at OVO / We gonna make sure you get your bread and you know the ropes.”
Drake got in all the jabs he needed to get in, especially the line about Nicki Minaj not getting him starstruck or having a significant other question his skill. Insofar as answering questions about his authenticity, while he didn’t answer the question directly, the idea that there’s so much money for so many people to get paid floating around the OVO camp likely means that we’re looking at a Diddy-esque situation perhaps, without as many rhymes getting written. To be honest, Drake’s probably more concerned with what Nigerian rapper WizKid is releasing, what the latest news is from European Premier League websites and how his daddy can keep meeting so many attractive South Asian women in America. On the scale of “things Drake cares about,” Meek Mill wondering if he has a ghostwriter ranks up there with “what should I eat for breakfast tomorrow?” Given how benignly the issue was treated, it’s obviously not very important to him.
“Rumor has it, there’s something that only I know / Rumor has it, I steer this shit with my eyes closed / Rumor has it, I either fucked her or I never could / But rumor has it hasn’t done you niggas any good.”
Given Drake’s lack of a truly organic and localized connection to the history of “how rap works,” he’s not a rapper who really gets the need to knock a fool out in a rap battle. Instead, he almost lampooned the battle concept entirely on “Charged Up” by doing the lyrical equivalent of trying to either beat Meek to death with a feather duster or, to make an Olympic boxing analogy, beat him by tapping him enough times about the head and body with the whites of his gloves to win. By a classic rap standard, this isn’t a win. But for the purposes of whatever it is in rap that Drake wants to do (he’s arguably on top and it’s his game to lose) this is a prime example of the best of where we’re at. Like it or not.
Marcus K. Dowling is a Washington, DC-based freelance journalist with nearly two decades of experience covering music and popular culture. Follow him on Twitter at @marcuskdowling.
K-OS? Kardinal Offishall?
Kardinal offishall and k os are not the same people lol..fukkin 18-22 yr old hip hop fans don’t know shit nowadays..internet fukked the rap game up
Dizzee Rascal is British not Canadian tho…
did I just read that Dizzee Rascal is from Toronto? …. bruh
The track was wack regardless. warm up? GTFOH…it’s fact drake has a ghost writer! Santa clause ain’t real and so is the tooth fairy. It’s ok. Q.M. is our guy
Decent article but next time when you try to remain unbiased, do better.
this article is wack. meek may be from philly but that doesnt mean hes gonna automatically be a great rapper. cassidy already checked his ass. meek cant even say anything too outlandish cuz he got a PO to answer to (prolly rick ross that fat cop muhfucka). this nigga will do some dumbass shit and land back in jail, drake will go down at the top of his game and go down as a legend, and prolly fuck nicki in the ass while meeks in jail.
But cassidy was checked by gillie da kid. Nobody brings that up
Bro. This was Drake being non chalaunt about the beef. Addressed it and back to business. He Don’t care what meek thinks. If Meek really come at him on a song Drake may drop a 5am in Toronto type track. He not gonna drop a diss record cause of a tweet. But for now Tweet Mill hasn’t even released a track. This was nothing more than warning shots. Dumb article. Wow.
U can tell they don’t know shit about the 6 that’s okay cause we running shit in the game rite now anyway but we been fickle with hip hop since it started we just never had a rapper relevant that was our own get your facts straight but we only get our hip hop through pop stations foh
Please…them Philly rappers wack as hell. The South took over cause the North (as a majority)(I live in DC via GA) is lame. Big Ups to the West and Mid West. Cassidy, Freeway, Meek Mills…man, stop, please…. really stop. I tried to listen to a Meek Mill album once. I couldnt lower my lyrical standards, and punish my mind in such a way.
Word.
Iggy azalea wrote that 1 , weak ass white boy . . .
Drakes not white dumb fuck
so annoying article.. Toronto had Main Source which introduced Nas long before alot of philly MCs you mentioned. Nas shouts out Main Source almost everytime he is in Toronto becuase he made his debut on Breaking Atoms. Large Profressor is from Ny but Main Source Djs were (and still are) Toronto natives. Toronto is filled with caribbeans and NYC was born by Jamaicans in NYC so Toronto has always found NY hiphop relatable from the early days. Plenty of underground MCs with followings in toronto from day one. mentioning Freeway or Cassidy next to Drake is like mentioning Das EFX with Biggie Smalls. They just didnt have the same impacts. ROots and Schooly D are closer to appropriate.
Drake’s track is well-written lyrically and has plenty of double meaning and clever word-play. Its understated hiphop and its great. Sets a new precedence. Its not traditional. Drake has never had the need (ehmm…lack of balls) to follow the rules.
Comparing Drake to Puffy is absurd and everyone knows this..even the 10 bands (average Drake song) is very different than Drake’s versio. lyrically if you look closely plus this Quentin guy has a line there from Started From the Bottom and talks about Calabasas- where Drake lives? why? Seems suspect. this quentin Millar sounds more like a Drake fan immitating Drake than the other way around. Seems implausiable that all these years Drake could get away with ghost-writing when he has always had a huge target on his head. You guys and your anti-Drake “fake drake” fantasies. Collaborating in hiphop has been cool for years and plenty of legendary MCs have done it. Stop romanticizing the past.
NYC was born by Jamaicans? Your a fuckin idiot! Lolol
“Drake’s track is well-written lyrically and has plenty of double meaning and clever word-play. Its understated hiphop and its great.” HAHAHAHA!! That’s funny. “Sets a new precedence. Its not traditional. Drake has never had the need (ehmm…lack of balls) to follow the rules.” What new precedence? It is traditional. And Aubrey’s always following the rules.
Truth. You can run Drake down all you want just don’t diss tha city. It is a pity when most niggas run out of excuses so make up something bout someonev to make their hate stick. Pathetic.
Preach. Dont talk about the Tdot scene when you dont know its history. Ask Kane AND Rakim And BDP where they were first comin to do showz in the 80s. Tdot. I was at the shows, the concet halls etc. We had a scene long before the south and midwest and it bubbled off nyc. We just didnt have a music scene or infrastructure to support local artists. But hip hop culture has existed here from time so do the math.
Bruh, WizKid is not a rapper. I repeat NOT A RAPPER. Please ensure you don’t make that mistake in categorizing him. He’s an Afro-pop artist. Its actually an affront to all other Nigerian rappers calling him a rapper. Get your facts right. I’m just a concerned Nigerian rap fan.
Thanks homey
—- Nigerian Rapper
“Charged Up” by Drake’s
Drake = Ja Rule. WEAK ass response. Meek Mill pulled his hoe card. this was just as bad as him being exposed
Drake is not street, but brilliant. Well written article. I like how Drake handle the situation. More over, the volume of work Drake has as a rapper, does it really matter if he had a ghostwriter now and again. The dude can write/rap still. Meek better pray Cassidy aint jump out at him again.
MADCHILD is still the best rapper from Canada! All Day
Mr. Marcus, get your facts right and keep it tight. WizKid is not a rapper, he is an Afro Beat (Afro Pop) artist. Nigerian rappers are Modenine, Rukus, Boogey, M.I Abaga, Vector, Olamide etc but WizKid is not!
that was his point..
illie don’t mind em fake facts no proper findings
Whats traditional?Detroit is closer to Toronto then New York and name a functioning rapper from New York who you would feel comfortable pitting against EMINEM OR ROYCE?The problem isn’t where they’re from,the problem is no one expects anything from MEEK but people want to see DRAKE taken an L soooo badly that they’re backing a lame duck.How could he win a battle that no one in his camp can cosign?Your girl who is bigger then you can’t back you,your BOSS can’t back you,you just messed up your money for NO REASON!Meeks the cat that gets popped in front of the bodega because he cant keep his mouth shut about the kid he robbed.
Wiz kid is not a Nigeria rapper he’s an afro beat pop star