It happened. Drake dropped a “diss track” or at least the Drake equivalent on his Apple One radio show OVO Sound Radio and it was a lot of things. If you judge the reaction by the Drake stans then Meek is down for the count. But, of course, we’re here to judge this thing objectively.
There’s more than a few ways of looking at “Charged Up.” Here’s Meek Mill’s view.
So, What do you think of “Charged Up?”
Andre: A, yo. My boy just hit me with the straight logic. “The first rule of rap fandom is to lower your expectations,” he said. True. True. But this “diss” track or whatever you want to call it doesn’t do the basic requirements of what a diss track should do. It’s ridiculously low-key. I guess there’s a chance he was looking to come off like some kind of Michael Corleone character. All swag, no sweat, right? But instead it seemed like he just kind of didn’t want to be there. I get it. This whole “does Drake have a ghostwriter” thing is really inconvenient. But, when someone puts their foot to your throat the least you could do is come back with a little verve. But whatever, I can’t tell the man how to rap. Let’s look at the bars, right. Well, I’m still looking. Which is another basic tenet of putting out a diss record: you probably should call the person out by name. And, you know, you probably should say something worth saying. “Come over to OVO to get your bread” is not saying anything. Ugh. Look, this is the social media age and everyone knows who came for Drake so why is he acting like some struggle rapper tried to diss him on kanyetothe?
Ay, Dios Mio! So the 6 God came with no energy and no real shots at Meek. Yeah, there was that line about how he could’ve possibly gotten it on “Only” style with Nicki Minaj, but Nicki said that didn’t happen and so I’m likely to believe her.
Look, there are two things that really, really disappoint me about the track (I know, I know it’s probably not finished or whatever, but then why release it?). One is the way he dismissed Meek Mill’s accusations. Someone saying you don’t write your own rhymes is a serious accusation in Hip Hop. I don’t care if it’s 2015 or 1995, that’s a serious accusation. And, yeah, it may be that no one cares anymore because Twitter, but that doesn’t mean rap doesn’t care. Lying underneath the nugget of logic that says “of course people have had ghostwriters in the past, what’s the big deal?) is a deep well of disappointment. Disappointment because his record is tarnished. It is. It’s tarnished in a way that can’t be changed even if I forget about this all tomorrow. Rap won’t forget. It won’t. Secondly, he didn’t address the knock on his integrity. That’s what this is about. It’s about an assumption of integrity. That’s a childlike thing, and rap, no, Hip Hop still has it. It has it the way America had it before Kennedy got shot. It has it the way Rock had it in the 60s/70s. It has it the way Jazz had it. And you can’t go around saying you’re “Charged Up” and act like Hip Hop doesn’t have that childlike belief in the integrity of its artists and not address yours.
Ural: Keeping in mind, if Drake actually wrote “Charged Up,” at least he kept things in the booth and left social media alone. Considering the ghostwriting allegations that stunned Hip Hop this week plus the whole “BlackBerry” freestyle controversy years back, Drizzy showed some balls. On that level, it’s always appreciated. He took a chance and everyone is excited. I’m guessing the bar was set so low for Drake to respond, saying anything was going to rile up his rabid fanbase and rap media folks just trying to ensure they’re on the winning side. That’s more of a testament to his popularity and power, not to whatever artistic abilities he has as an emcee. On its own merit, “Charged Up” is kind of disappointing. Comparing it to the history of rap beefs and their subsequent diss tracks, the track isn’t near the levels of “Hit Em up” or “Takeover.” Not by miles. Everything sounds just as uninspired as Drizzy’s tone.
The fact is, Drake didn’t actually address the allegations and subsequent proof. Instead, he just took a shot Meek through his relationship with Nicki. It’s similar to the same thing he did with Tyga. At the time, the line was great because there was a hint of truth and comedy. Plus, Tyga was already a parody in and of himself. The line regarding Nicki felt like it was coming eventually. And yes, so what if Nicki is the bigger artist of the two? Does it matter? We live in a society where women are becoming higher earners than their male counterparts anyway. Hell, next year, America may elect its first female president.
Then there’s this crapshoot line: “Cops is killing people with their arms up and your main focus is to harm us?” The past couple of years have been a huge year in terms of racial violence against blacks by the police. Throughout that time, Drake has yet to make a bar, reference in an interview or anything. From Trayvon Martin to Sandra Bland, I don’t remember him mentioning any of those controversies at all. Did I miss something? The line feels forced and unnecessary; no bite at all. Why does this lyrically matter to him now? “Charged Up”s lack of aggression could mean that this is just a warning shot of something greater to come. Right now, Meek’s career should remain intact if he can get off of Twitter and make a response. At the moment, everything feels like an elementary school yard fight where people are just pushing each other. No good swings, no haymakers the size of Sharkeisha. If this is the standard of rap disses in 2015, there’s a reason why there hasn’t been a great lyrical epic since Kendrick’s “Control” verse. Why? Because, K.Dot named names without actually dissing anyone.
Andre Grant is an NYC native turned L.A. transplant that has contributed to a few different properties on the web and is now the Features Editor for HipHopDX. He’s also trying to live it to the limit and love it a lot. Follow him on Twitter @drejones.
Ural Garrett is a Los Angeles-based journalist and HipHopDX’s Senior Features Writer. When not covering music, video games, films and the community at large, he’s in the kitchen baking like Anita. Follow him on Twitter @Uralg.
There was no need for him to come hard, you knew Who he was talking about. That feature line was hard, that starstruck line and then your girl told you to get your bar is up(that’s a damn slap in the face) . And Funk Master flex is irrelevant (no one listen to him, no one ask him for a gig, he’s ass) .. The dude is barely making bronze on every album, this dude is going platinum every album … You can’t ghost wrote your last three or four albums… I think this was just a nice jab (something subtle but needed)
The title of the song and the flow were all part of the diss. The title charged up and he’s flowing like he half sleep. The whole thing was well crafted. Most people lookin at it all wrong. It’s very smart. The title itself is a diss. Meek charged up.
You guys are fucking STANS til day infinity..I bet if Drake fell down a flight of steps, you’d be all “Now see, he meant to do that..that was all a part of the plan..” gtfoh meek is no lyrical genius, but if he comes with something HARD and personal in his diss tomorrow then he wins this bout ’til Drake comes with something harder!
Still didnt address teh shit even though we HAVE THE PROOF! Drake’s hiphop cred is GONE!
If Drake can’t plausibly explain how he isn’t performing others’ lyrics, it won’t matter how irrelevant Meek or Flex is because Drake will remain a fraud. Many rap fans are willing to put up with rappers being gangster/pimp superheroes in their songs but karaoke rapping is too much. What Drake wrote or didn’t write is suspect now – there have been many, many artists who have made very big careers recording and performing others’ songs. Drake lost as soon as he decided not to address the accusations.
I agree those lines RIGHT THERE is like a STIFF JAB followed by a HOOK! I’m not even a Drake fan but I can appreciate those line……..one thing is for sure, I BET MEEK FELT THE STING FROM THEM JOINTS!! Lol
I think ya’ll are missing the point of this track. I don’t think Drake put this out here in the same space as “Ether, Hit em Up, Takeover etc”. This is just a quick left jab. Chess not checkers gents
Ok so even if it is just a warning it still doesn’t explain the lack of bars. Flows all stop n go with filler lyrics it’s just ehhh not good not bad. You’d think drake would wanna make every bar count in this situation. Plus there’s no way Meeks getting another response from drake haha dude knows he can’t talk shit without being fake
So that reference track drake copied is fact! And flex is very relevant to drake right now cause he will release those new reference tracks. Drake has lost all credibility. He is a karaoke artist. Copy and past. Do you guys have any standards in hip hop? The song was weak and he didn’t address it. What’s his excuse. He has been exposed. If what drake is doing is ok with you then can anyone that wants to exploit hip hop come in and copy let’s say biggie,nas,or jays lyrics and claim he is a legend and best in the game? Can let’s say honey boo boo come in and start rapping and say she is the king of hip hop??? Smh
Honey Boo Boo has bars, nigga!
Lost all credibility. 99% of rap is about them murdering someone. Knowing they never have, even it it came close to it, doesn’t mean they actually have.
Rap now is a lyrical movie, Al Pacino wasn’t really Scarface but people still treat him the same.
Who cares if he is t writing all of it, it’s good music. The label is creating music that people like.
Rap is the only genre that cares like that.
Rick Ross is a fraud and meek mills is signed to him. Hmmm
why would he say the boy name that would give the scrub more followers..Jay said nas name then nas woke up and went plat.. but he didn’t say none of them dipset boys name and what happened.. Meek gained more fans because of nikki that’s why he sold what he sold..By the way he is signed to Ricky Rozay I mean Ross and his raps are fiction…
do remember drake naming meek mill only helps “meek mill”..,u guys like formal dis tracks but drake knows naming only helps his career not his. drake defended himself without helping meek’s record sales. that the goal. he didnt come all wildin out cuz like ll cool j vs canibus…drake is running the game, meek is trying to create publicity to sell records…meek mill needs to come out wildin…drake doesnt need to even address this clown..
@ yep your right so very true. Drake is winning right now. Come out angry why? Study the 48 laws of power or or the art of war and you will understand how this works. This is an opening salvo and the anti will be upped in the future if need be.
Law #4 always say less than you need to.
Everyone got the point of what he was saying and he didn’t have to turn the beef bigger or promote Meek Mill. That’s called being smart and savoy about the situation. Especially since these clowns and their crew like to take things to the street and shoot up tour buses these days over music.
What if one of those bullets hit Lil Wayne, then everyone is mourning and talking about how tragic and unnecessary it was. Drake has nothing to gain an everything to loose by having some silly rap beef with a guy most people never heard of. All to make “hip hop purists happy” please get a clue.
“Six God is watching, I just hope you’re prepared to face him”
Andre and Ural act like every song Drizzy has put out in his entire career has been ghostwritten by someone else. Silly journalists lool
I’m glad Drizzy didn’t call him out by name. What purpose would that serve? Probably give Meek a sales boost. Fuck that! Let him wallow in his middling status. Drizzy has handled this entire situation masterfully
Meanwhile Meek is still tweeting. That nigga about to get washed lol
I feel sorry for HipHopDX if you guys are writing all the articles. The track obviously was just a warniThe track obviously was just a warning track. It wasn’t meant to be crazy aggressive anything like that it was just a warning. But you guys are f****** clowns anyway so it doesn’t matte
These staff reactions are pretty biased and the analysis is pretty one-dimensional . You don’t have to be a Drake ‘stan’ to appreciate the jab he threw out. It’s more of a warning than a diss. But let’s simplify it by calling it a diss track. It’s a laid back beat (clearly on purpose) with a laid back flow (clearly on purpose). ‘Charged Up’ means ‘ready to go,’ and that’s how the track should be judged; as a brush back pitch, letting Meek know “6 God’s watching, hope you prepared to face him.” And by that standard, the track is clever (Apple/Tidal double entendre), cutting (Nicki references), and has the added value of being true (Apple deals, guest features, Meek having trouble selling). Also…SO WHAT he didn’t drop his name. Only a fool doesn’t know he’s rhyming to and about Meek. Jay was the king of dissing dudes for a whole verse without dropping their names.
As far as the accusations, he does need to do address them. Doesn’t need to be on wax, though. Drake is like Blake Griffin: extremely talented, light skin, hatted on, polarizing, entertaining, and hated by his peers (because he’s soft or not in their mold, but goes so hard on game day). If you want a preview of what Drake is capable of in ‘diss track’ mode, listen to ‘Lord Knows.’
I look forward to a Meek response, although, his last back and forth with Cassidy was pretty piss poor. If Cassidy was a mainstream rapper, people would have paid more attention to the body he caught.
Jusssst back it up real quick. “It has the added value of being true”. Haha wow what has hip hop come to nowadays. Who gives a fuck if what you say is true if you ain’t saying shit that matters. I could rap about how I had a turkey sandwich for lunch and it would be just as important to society as over half those bars.
@ray you wouldnt be complaining if they were dick riding drake right? hop off homie so the rest of the stans can get on…
“rumor has it..” hasn’t done you niggas any good…
Week mill
Well obviously y’all here writing epistles and expressing your one-sided narrow minded opinions …. Charged Up…. To most, at least to me is deffinately effective. From the get go Drake’s approach to rap was never the usual cliche stuff… That’s why he blew up so big so fast. His lyrical aapproach and structure, coupled with his melody and tone as always complimented his work. He approached responding to the allegations from a more Mature point , more like a father to a son.. A teacher to a student, like vibe.. Which is right, because Meek is nowhere near Drakes category… The song is basically saying ” are u sure u want to do this?” …. N I think it was well said.
It doesnt matter.. Meek exposed him AND flex is exposing him!!
I was expecting him to address it but I guess there’s nothing he can say, being that we
HAVE PROOF that quentin miller has been creating songs for Drake!
if youre defending a guy that doesnt even write his own rhymes then thats just sad for the genre of hiphop
r.i.p hiphop
Who are these people lol? ,fucking idiots
Meek mill is a fucking idiot he’s not even on drake level yet meek mill only makes 3 million a year he shouldn’t be talking so I suggest meek mill to shut the fuck up
You guys only have 2 people on your staff??
Man both of these bols need to go to rap genius and study the lines …they clueless…smfh
Lmao the song sucked bro, ain’t nothing these reviewers can do
Stop listening to the songs together ural and andre so we can get some actual perspectives
A diss track by Drake is equal to a diss track by Will Smith. Drake will never say anything shocking because his fan base doesnt wanna hear it. He is a “pop” act that uses hip hop as a platform to get music out. You think hes gonna come out cussing and talking all reckless? People would be like what the fuck? Lol
you’re the idiot thinking you have to cuss and talk reckless to get at somebody. You’re one of the people who thinks they won an argument by being the loudest smh.
Whatever Reality. Your a fuckin pussy dog yo probably win an argument by calling the cops and runnin your mouth like a lil bitch lol
Hip hop been dead first, less than 10 artist making music without trying to cater it to the billboards. The over analyzing of this petty beef is hilarious, they were just doing songs together,and yall comparing to historic diss tracks is senseless, all the major beefs have a few subtle jabs before all out name dropping and get in the ring diss tracks. Be patient where they at with it now its hardly worth all the attention, and he definitely ain’t the only rap hero borrowing bars, dudes been weak
After reading those reviews I am beginning to think that there needs to be someone on staff with integrity enough to breakdown the lyrics. This is a hiphop site right. You all arendismissing him because his flow was laid back, which is his style, and because the beat was smooth, which is also his lane. That makes no sense. You the reviewers need to do better and get your bars up. How can I trust your judgment if you are lazy in your craft. Wordplay is the name of the game actually listen to the song and report back. Or are yall getting a word from higher up?
Only 2 ppl on staff here? No breakdown of why u thought it was inept bar for bar or line ny line?
Someone ghostwrote this acticle…..
Fire article, weak song lmao, shit was the definition of disappointment
Charged up is sooooo wack
I can’t get over how weak that Drake song was, I was actually expecting the beat to change and he would really start to go in but nope they just played it again, weak wack
Meeks whole rebuttle with Cassidy was that he had more money rolexes and ghosts…this puts him in an awkward position with a dude who fucks more and better quality bitches, makes ALOT more money, and can out talent him lol. Watch he allow it to be a social media battle do interviews and tweet about it but not drop anything. Anyone who doesnt know that, this is chess is silly. You dont throw your best shot first ever. You bait a nigga into thinking you coming half ass, let him shoot his shot, then you lay him out. Unless your Cassidy who just went straight in on him and ross for like 10 min straight lol. His response ” I got more money” haha. What these sites need to do is have the battle rappers rate this shit…personals get under people skin alot more rather than a whole bunch of jumpin around and yelling. if he going to flex tomorrow he better bring some bars, we dont wanna hear the same shit. the ghost writing thing isnt gonna fly him but so far in this battle.
Meek has a history of battle rap; Drake doesn’t. I’d say it’s ill advised to presume Meek won’t respond. I can promise a much better and more aggressive track from Meek. Also, are you around when Drake and Meek have sex with women? You sound like an idiot. You don’t have to be a fucking celebrity to have sex with very very very attractive women. Clearly we know you aint getting none!
Drake never said this was a diss song. All the idiots who heard it said it was. So review that.
Nigga review how I’m dropping my balls in your Mom’s mouth! How’s my technique?
It says Meek Mills Diss ON THE FUCKING TRACK DUMBASS
Sigh just because some random uploader called it a disstrack don’t make it a disstrack….smh
Same thing I was saying Drake never called this a diss i think it more of a response
Let’s face it. Drake is scared of Meek. He doesn’t want this to become more than rap. He spit a couple vague disses. Everyone knows Meek background and that is one of the biggest reasons Meek is so respected in the game. He’s real and got a bunch of real dudes around him. Drake ain’t from that life and wants no parts of that. Meek right, “baby lotion soft!”
Meek a Drake fan, so much so asked Drake for a feature on both his albums and had had the nerve to name a song Lord Knows, 2 of Nikki’s biggest songs on her album got Drake on it.
He signed to Rick Ross bruh cmon how is that being real? Lol
Meek is slightly respected because he is a battle rapper who is trying to transition to the big league but his behavior has been noted especially within his camp. His mouth is dangerous and not in a good way. He is bitchmade. He also has a limited IQ which limits his flow and his voice is irratating and will limit his fans like Freeway who is lyrically better than him. Meek just did a song with P Reign and it is big in Canada, he is not gonna win messing with Drake. People out here are trying to get their dough up so they will make a song with you and party with you but does he have any real alliances. Rick is in the house for a while. He is gonna eat off this tour based on Nikki. Will he fill those arenas on his own? Nope
Drake responding to Meek is like Jay-z responding to Soulja Boy!! Why????
truth hurts
He’s spoke on the racial violence on 6pm in New York.
And I heard someone say something that stuck with me a lot
Bout how we need protection from those protectin’ the block
Nobody lookin’ out for nobody
Maybe we should try and help somebody or be somebody
Instead of bein’ somebody that makes the news
So everybody can tweet about it
And then they start to RIP about it
And four weeks later nobody even speaks about it
Damn, I just had to say my piece about it
Exactly how can this guy be a writer and doesn’t even do his research before writing an article lol hiphopdx man I swear lol
Had nothing to do with racial violence.
This shit is boring
Typical watered down entitled rap by Drake. I guess you guys were expecting some Lupe bars???? LMAO #weak
Drake has avoided a direct rebuttal to any of the attacks on his character or ability. Not surprised by the approach with this one. Shouldn’t have called it a diss track though. He didn’t need to respond to Meek on this one, Meek actually did himself a disservice, numbers will fall off on next week.
I’m beginning to think nobody in the game actually likes drake, and drake knows this on some level so he responds and moves in a way that leaves all core hiphop fans shaking and scratching their head with dissappointmemt, irritation, and nostalgia, for lost era that showed genuine excitement and unpredictibabiity (part of the draw to meek mill)
Meanwhile, the kids are eating up every crumb, convinced that they are part of what is both new and different. Are they wrong tho…? But is it better this way..?
people fear what they dont undastand, hate what they cant conquer…words of Nas…Drake is d new improved Jay-z…so much hate!!!
WHere you from gs??? This comment makes no SENSE OR CENTS….
Men lie, women lie…….numbers dont
MADCHILD is still the best rapper from Canada! All Day