Once upon a time in a universe far, far away, HipHopDX used to host blogs. Through Meka, Brillyance, Aliya Ewing and others, readers got unfiltered opinions on the most current topics in and beyond Hip Hop. After a few years, a couple redesigns and the collective vision of three different Editors-In-Chief, blogs are back. Well, sort of. Since our blog section went the way of two-way pagers and physical mixtapes, Twitter, Instagram and Ustream have further accelerated the pace of current events in Hip Hop. Rappers beef with each other 140 characters at a time, entire mixtapes (and their associated artwork) can be released via Instagram, and sometimes these events require a rapid reaction.
As such, we’re reserving this space for a weekly reaction to Hip Hop’s current events. Or whatever else we deem worthy. And the “we” in question is me, Andre Grant and Ural Garrett. Collectively we serve as HipHopDX’s Features Staff. Aside from tackling stray topics, we may invite artists and other personalities in Hip Hop to join the conversation. Without further delay, here’s this week’s “Stray Shots.”
“Pound Cake / Paris Morton Music 2”
Who did it: Jay Z
Andre:There’s been a tenuous cold war happening between these two for some time. They end up on each other’s records where they throw subtle shots at each other over the course of their 16s. This time, Jigga got the better of Drizzy with lines like “I had Benzes ‘fore you had braces…” and “The homies said, ‘Hov’ it ain’t many of us / I told ‘em less is more niggas, there’s plenty of us.” Was Jay doing that thing where he subliminally disses the emcee he’s on a track with? Of course. We’re talking about Hov’ right?
Ural: Who would have thought that Hov and Drizzy would finally get together again on wax after that catastrophe that was “Off That” from The Blueprint 3? Having Nothing Was The Same end with “Pound Cake / Paris Morton Music 2” was the proverbial icing on the cake with two of Hip Hop’s biggest pop culture icons together. While Drake spit enough bars to keep up with Jigga Man, Roc Nation’s head managed to keep the conversation around him with this line: “I’ve done made more millionaires than the lotto did/Dame made millions, Biggs made millions/Ye made millions/ Just made millions/ Lyor made millions/ Cam made millions/ Beans’ a tell you if he wasn’t in his feelins.” Yikes.
“Champion”
Who did it: Nas
Andre: This little paid attention to track off Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday:… Roman Reloaded was underwhelming even with the additions of Jeezy, Drake and Nas. Everyone seemed to mail it in except Nasir, though, who proceeded to body the record with lines like “I saw my first two million dollars, I was 23 / I’m barely a man, yet, I had some killers under me.”
Ural: Having Jeezy, Drake and Nas on Pink Friday… Roman Reloaded track “Champion” could have possibly been the next “Monster.” However, Nasir Jones managed to school everyone with relatively ease with Drizzy coming off with the weakest verse. Meanwhile Nicki and Jeezy would probably tie for the second best.
“Hell Yeah Fuckin’ Right”
Who did it: Lil Wayne
Andre: “HYFR” had the utterly cringe worthy yet ridiculously catchy and meme worthy chorus, “Do you love this shit? Are you high right now? Do you ever get nervous?” But what it mostly had was a particularly salient Lil Wayne delivering some of the best bars he’d delivered in a while, knocking Drizzy back on his heels. These two had been going back and forth on each other’s records for a while now with wins on both side. This one goes to Wayne if not only for the line, “My nuts hang like ain’t no curfew, bitch, if you wave then I will surf you..”
Ural: It’s safe to say the video for “HYFR” will be probably become more iconic in the future than Drake’s actual verse. This was totally Weezy’s party with his catchy as hook and verse like Andre mentioned above.
“Unforgettable”
Who did it: Jeezy
Andre: “When I say fo’ life you say fo’ever,” croons Jeezy and right there in the opening bars Jeezy shows a newly minted Drake what it’s like to bodied on his own record. There’s an indelible charm to Jeezy that Drake just doesn’t quite know how to capture yet, and while he was relatively green (you can tell because they gave Jeezy some chorus duty, which is something that would never happen now) he just gets lost under the current of Jeezy’s grizzly tenor.
Ural: Thank Me Later was a large disappointment in terms of large major label debuts. “Unforgettable”s sample of Aaliyah’s “At Your Best (You Are Love) should have lit a fire under Drizzy’s back considering his love for the late great singer. But, Jeezy takes the cake without much effort. From the looks of things, Drake was going through the lyrical motions. Thankfully, he fared better for what could be considered his only true classic Take Care.
“Blessings (Extended Version)”
Who did it: Kanye West, Big Sean
Andre: Look, this one isn’t his fault. The original version just had he and Big Sean so Champagne Papi wasn’t stressed. Then, suddenly, Kanye comes out of nowhere to remind everyone why he’s one of the greatest of all time. HIs stream of consciousness is so mature at this point that he conveys exactly what he means to with no real fuss. Yeah, Drake killed the hook, but Kanye’s verse made the extended version one of the most sought after tracks of the year. This isn’t to say that Big Sean’s verse wasn’t murder, either. This might be one of the best verses of his career, and there’s no doubt they both came correct because of Drizzy’s presence on the track.
Ural: Drake’s hook for “Blessed” was a lot higher profile than his actual verse because Kanye’s verse is arguably his best this year besides the guest verse to Tyler, The Creator’s “Smuckers.”
“Fuckin’ Problems”
Who did it: Kendrick Lamar
Andre: Kendrick Lamar murdered this song. His “Bitch, you know you want this dick!” line is as aggressive and rappity-rap as he gets most times. No one on that track was ready.
Ural: Ironically, “Fuckin’ Problems” is one of OVO’s few collaborations where he took an active role in production through his Champagne Papi alias. Verse wise, K Dot made everyone else’s verse, even the core artist A$AP Rocky, damn near unnoticeable. Guess Drake was another casualty of Lamar’s lyricism.
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.
Foolish article… In What way was drake bodied on any of those tracks..his verse on blessings was.obviously the most quotable and his flow was on point.. They all murdered that record..drake has been up there on every record with those mentioned.. Take drake off any of tbose record alotta ppl probably wont even know those songs..stop posting bullshit dx
Wrong
I don’t agree with Pound cake . Hovs bars were alright but to say that the line about making millions was the nail in the coffin…nah bruh. Drakes bars were better in my onion in
Ummmm……Forever…….Eminem…….
Was thinking that too
Lol all of these were highly debatable.. Drake was better on pound cake and much better then ked Rick on fucking problem… Kendricks verse was actually trash. Nas did take champion tho
Agreed.
You guys are lost…or dont understand hiphop. First off, “Off that” was released before ” Light it Up” so that the intermediary Drake and Jay-z collab. “Light it Up” actually may have been a better contender for Drake getting bodied. “Pound Cake” – Are u nuts? drake had better bars than hov. that was the consensus. “HYFR” – nope. once again, both verses are dope. Fuckin problem-Kendrick’s bars are good but he didnt murder Drake. In fact, everytime, i was at the club and they played this track, they cut it off at Kendrick’s part (just being real). you are right about unforgettable.
Yo. The DJ was cutting off “Girl, I know you want this dick” at the clubs you are at? You got some shitty clubs bro. That is by far the best song to take a bitch to the can at after you yell it at her wasted main. You slippin
For argument sake, if he did get bodied on six songs, that’s it? Dude is like on 100! So 94% is bad?hahahaha
Go back to school bum nigga!
Honestly “Light Up” he got kille like someone else mentioned but understandably so, 1st major album with a major featured artist. Talking top ten guy coming after your verse… still, he bodied too many tracks, and features himself that wasn’t just filler tracks on an album. damn near every feature in the last five years exception of few with drake on it has received heavy air play…
so….
slow newz day article.
lets be real, drake bodied on these tracks:
Who Do You Love – YG
Migo – Versace
Right above It – Lil Wayne
Rico / Amen – Meek Mill
Used to – Lil wayne
Rick Ross – Stay Schemin
could go on for days…
Versace yes. The others no. Amen = Decent. Who Do You Love = Rappin’ 4Tay’s verse from Playaz Club. Right Above It = Lil Wayne in complete dominance (Gonorrhea though Drake devoured that.). And Stay Schemin’ = Okay comeback to Common. But I will agree Drake has fucked up other people on tracks.
Andre and Ural are at it again. Kendrick Lamar’s verse on F**kin’ Problems was trash and any hip-hop enthusiast would agree. But of course, you guys are subjective and Stans so I wouldn’t expect any objectivity here.
They don’t know what being bodied is. BODIED in hip-hop is some Renegade shit man not no corny pussy shit like Fuckin’ Problems.
Kill em all… dead bodies in the hallway!
The title should be changed to “6 times drakes ghostwriter got bodied on a track”….drake and his ghost writing crew always get bodied. Only when he is on tracks with his own ovo crew is when he outshines them.
How stupid are you idiots? This 22 year old guy who just popped off (QM) wrote Drake’s whole catalog? STFU with that old lame as joke man. BTW I’m not big on Drake but if you niggas gonna discuss hip-hop discuss it in facts not emotional bitchy hate remarks yo. This nigga wrote Alicia Keys Unthinkable bro… So he don’t wrote his own rhymes? Y’all not even logical man A nigga get super famous and the first thing to do is hate. Next thing you know y’all motherfuckers gonna hate Cole and K. Dot if they don’t already hate him. Smh grow up nigga. Oh yeah and them reference tracks damn it’s so funny how the nigga QM was credited on the songs that were used as reference tracks and those tracks only.
It’s not hate….. Nobody is saying QM wrote his whole shit, he only wrote 6 songs from his If Your Reading This Its Too Late.
But Anthony Palman has written a plethora of songs for Drake on his first 3 albums. Dude is all over that shit and credited. Just because you don’t read liner notes, doesn’t mean anybody is hating on Drake. This shit has been infront of everyone’s face for years but if you don’t read, how would you know? All you have to do is look it up for yourself. Take the wool from over your eyes.
@great track,
Bwwwhahahahahaha!!!!! You are to emotional calm down. Drake has ghostwriters. Deal with it. This isn’t the first time someone said he has ghostwriters. So far gone had a track called the calm that was written by someone else. And drake just admitted in a recent interview that he has writers…geeeeeeez relax don’t kill yourself it’s not that serious. I enjoy drakes music but he isn’t an mc he is an entertainer like diddy
Man did Ural just call Take Care his true classic? Had a few cool songs but that album is far from timeless. Drake is more of a fad. Once his popularity fades he’s not gonna get played by hip-hop fans.
tru he the best microwave rapper ever cuz of the units he move but he like make your fav song for that month then u don’t wanna hear that shit next year
Yoooo preach bro. I listen to drake I can’t stunt. But I can’t listen to his old shit. It has no classic feel. I give his songs two years tops before it gets played out. It’s hard to explain but I can’t name one drake song that came out two years ago that I don’t wanna turn from when listening to.
facts all the way around but that fucking problem chorus was mean
he ain’t nothing but a beat biting, 0-100 [diddy] hotline bling cha cha [d.r.a.m.], lyric stealing r.i.c.o. [rappin 4 tay] bitch made pop singer. milli vanilli has more street cred than this lipstick wearing cb4 cocksmoker.
Wait. So he’s only had 6 features throughout his career? Haha
go fuck your daddy’s mouth, after your sister’s mouth of course.
Why are blacks so stupid sometimes, why do we hate success so badly? Even if Drake had some help from others(like everyone else does), he’s also written for others which we very much aware of, this dude has made it to the billboard like a hundred times(do you know how many of your fav rappers are struggling to be there?), ghostwritters couldn’t have written all those songs for him. That’s hard work and it pays, we need to push all that energy we waste hating into something profitable. I’ve got this friend who used to talk so much shit about Drake, I made a collection for him and all he plays in his car now is Drake, cuz dude talks about shit we can all relate to. He would be black people’s God if he came from a gang banging community. Not everyone wants to hear about the street and gangstar shit, and talk about hip hop even Biggie’s first hit was juice. Fuck outta here with all that hate, he who condemns a lot has never tried anything himself
We all know you’re white.
Most of those Billboard hits are just features. That’s not impressive. And your story about your friend sounds like a lie because no one magically changes their mind in a snap. You sound like a butthurt fanboy getting sensitive over your idol getting criticized. It’s not hate at all. Also, the only people who relates to Aubrey are suburbanites and rich people.
Who eva wrote this bullshit article is simply a drake hater…get a life hatin ass nigga
Suck my big black dick
Drake definitely had the better bars on Pound Cake:
“Debates growin’ ’bout who they think is the best now
Took a while, got the jokers out of the deck now
I’m holdin’ all the cards and niggas wanna play chess now”
Are you fucking kidding me, DX? Jay-Z was the one who got bodied on this track!
And Drake’s verse on Blessings was dope as fuck too. And I dont know why you are mentioning Fucking Problems because no one had a great verse in that.
Don’t you mean Quentin Miller? Kas you must be a HUGE Drake fan reaching like that. lol
I am a neutral Drake fan who gives respect where respect is due. Quentin Miller? All Meek and Flex could prove after all their big talk was that he wrote a couple of hooks for Drake and ONE verse that he probably didnt feel like doing for Meek. Every rapper has had hooks written for them some time or other.
Unless you can prove that Drake’s best shit has been written for him, quit ranting about ghostwriters.
Wow u reaching if you think Drake bodied HOV.
If you want to know more about ppl who have written for Drake all his entire career, check Anthony Palman. He is a credited writer on Drake’s first 3 albums. Anthony Palman aka Hush aka Young Tony. Used to be a big battle rapper in Toronto. Do your homework before you run to defend your favorite rapper.
Pick up any album and check its credits, you will see lots of credited writers on the songs. Does that mean all rappers have ghostwriters? Your argument doesn’t stand.
Cake cake cake cake cake… GTFOH DX
Nah Drake killed Kanye on Blessings..
Mad I can’t get this time back. This article is garbage and a total waste of my time.
Erm… Are we forgetting “Forever”?
Wackest column yet. Kendrick must sleep in your mouth, I mean, at your house.
This article is just silly, they don’t even mention any good bars on most of these. Just songs where people had good bars with drake on the track, if drake got bodied everyone else on the track did. This is terrible just lacing some lyrics and artist names with drake for page views. This is intensely disappointing hipdopDX
This is disappointing because who is Drake to be bodied? He gets bodied on almost every track, there is nothing unsual or spectacular about that. Drake is an average rapper on a daily. He sings better than rap. FACT
He gets bodied on every track? Nigga is you drunk? Stay Scheming verse alone was shitting on niggas badly
It didn’t.
He got bodied on some but let’s talk tracks that would have gone nowhere with Drake’s feature:
Money To Blow
Say Something
Aston Martin Music
What’s My Name
Fall For Your Type
Moment 4 Life
I’m On One
She Will
No Lie
Amen
Believe Me
100
R.I.C.O.
Other songs may have survived by the artist doing it solo or with another artist
Why does this editorial have so many grammar errors? Y’all professionals right? Just because its supposed to be a blog piece doesn’t mean you can cut corners. This piece is a disgrace to the culture
Drake is a better singer than rapper. His ghostwriters listen to too much trap style rap. I like his old writers they had better flows and lyrics.
What about Forever????
Are we not gonna mention Forever? If he wàsnt dead by the time Kanye was done, which he was, Shady ate him alive..
oh yeah, but I think Em killed lil wayne and kan’ at that song, since Drake was just an upcoming start….s
Yeah that’s true
Jay-Z bodied him on Light Up
T.I. bodied him on Fancy
Nickelus F bodied him on AM 2 PM
However…
Drake bodied Jeezy on Unforgettable
Drake bodied J. Cole on both tracks they’ve been on together
Drake bodied Kendrick on Poetic Justice
Drake bodied Kanye on Blessings…Ye first was weak
Nope.
Nicki most def bodied drake on “up all night”…that’s for damn sure
Big Sean has bodied Drake 4 0 in their encounters! First it was “Made””(“say she like all girls, I turn that bitch co-ed”), then it was the “All of the Lights remix”, then “All Me” and finally “Blessings”.
But Drake getting bodied aint that rare, a more provocative discussion would be tracks where K.dot got bodied!
why is no one mentioning Ignant Shit? Lil Wayne left Drake in the grave on that joint.
So there’s no mention of Nicki killing Drake on “Up Al Night” but you mention Jay-Z killing him on “Pound Cake” when he really didn’t. Another slurp fest article but Andre and Ural, nothing new to read here.
This was a waste of time. HipHopdx, tighten up
I wouldn’t say Jay bodied Drake on pound cake. In terms of bars, Jay and Drake are equal on that track.
I’ma get you a red nose you’a CLOWN CAKE
drake gets “bodied” every day by a lot of other not as famous rappers…put him next to anyone on funk volume, strange music, shady records, any of them…bet anyone that listens to all these fruit baskets right now, and everyone of them would lose..dont talk about bars when NON of the mention artists have next to none…like wayne’s verse in HYFR? shit is actually weak..people need to do research on hiphop before claiming some of these “fire” bars are actually hard..if thats what you want to call it.
this article was wack as fuck
I told my grandson, “Morty, there’s a lesson to be learned here. I can’t tell you everything but the most effective and efficient way to body someone in the rap game isn’t to go right for the jugular, there’s no showmanship or skill there. You have to skillfully and cunningly soft-pitch a few subliminal verses to your enemies, knowing they can’t help themselves to go full-throt, and then when they think they have you dead-to-rights, you bring out John Wick, a body bag, and all the homework you did. Morty I said too much, just look out for a guy named Pusha T, I promise Morry in three years it will all make sense.” Rick Sanchez