Drake, our most sensitive of sensitive boy rappers, was pushed too far. We’re still not getting M.O.P. “Ante Up” type bars from Drake on “Back To Back,” the Meek Mill diss track dropped Wednesday morning, but we’re getting the lyricist at his toughest and most cunning. After what has transpired via fan intrigue on social media after “Back To Back’s” release, Drake at his best may be too much for Meek to handle.
We should’ve known Drake was actually showcasing a level of planning and awareness that rap has rarely seen when he dropped “Charged Up” as what can now ultimately be seen as bait to lure a ferocious Meek Mill out of the metaphorical lion’s den. It’s almost as if “Charged Up” was intentionally silent, abstract and milquetoast, as if Drake wanted the challenge of a yelling and frothing at the mouth Meek Mill to hop on a track and commit devastating acts of lyrical slaughter to the future aspirations of Drizzy’s career. While we have no idea when Drake recorded “Back To Back,” let’s presume that somewhere in the back of his head, he knew that this feud would escalate to him having to spit personals. So bars directed at Meek’s relationship with rap-to-pop superstar Nicki Minaj like, “Is that a world tour or your girl’s tour,” “I don’t wanna hear about this ever again, not even when she tell him that they better as friends” and “Shout out to all the boss bitches wifin’ niggas!” were being developed.
Take into account as well the fact that long before Drake was ever a rapper he was an actor so he understands a great deal about creating dramatic action in order to set the stage. As well, he knows a little bit about how to frame a scene, too. Drake did everything outside of sing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” at the end of “Charged Up” to invite Meek Mill into the scene that he created that in all actuality benefitted Meek’s strengths as a rapper. However, when Meek refused to come out and fight, Drake instead walked into the scene he created and delivered the response he had been sitting on for four days. If we had any words from Meek Mill by which to compare “Back To Back,” maybe its impact would be lessened. But, there’s now seven minutes of fresh, intriguing and devastating material from Drake, and what amounts to less than acceptable Twitter chatter from Mill as a retort.
Let’s also imagine that for Meek Mill, replying to Drake —now that Drake has dragged both his friend and Meek’s girlfriend Nicki Minaj into the fray — is difficult. I mean, Nicki has definitely given Drake multiple lap dances, and God knows what would happen if Drake put that up on the virtual “Summer Jam screen” of the Internet. Meek knows this, and Nicki does, too. Minaj is in the middle of a headlining tour and battling for respect for black female artists against an industry that prefers to call excellence a feature of the art of white performers, so it’s not exactly like Meek has the best timing. So far, everything still seems solid in terms of Meek and Minaj’s relationship, but if word leaked of squabbles and angst over what can’t be a comfortable situation, it wouldn’t be surprising.
In turning a battle rap into a semi-Shakespearean drama, Drake’s delivering soliloquies while Meek’s still learning his lines. In being an emcee not necessarily borne of the same rap tradition as every other superstar rapper in the history of the genre, Drake’s not the one to test in a battle scenario. Drake’s turned a battle into now what will be a play in three acts. Act one, Meek called out Drake for using ghostwriters. Act two, Drake, in a stroke of lyrical genius that’s part bravado and part pop-star magic, turned the battle from a discussion about writing into a referendum on Meek Mill’s credibility as both a rap star and man. Act three? Well, now there has to be an actual battle, maybe a face to face tour moment where Meek either delivers the performance that elevates his career, or he comes out and deviates from the Shakespearean script and heads for something more Japanese, falls on his sword, and accepts the notion that he cannot adequately defend himself.
While this may seem like it’s a lot for just a simple rap battle, in being an emcee whose raison d’etre as an artist is to change the perception of what rap can be, as always with Drake, “nothing [is] the same” anymore.
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.
I remember when Cam’ron accused Jay Z of making secret songs. It was on that diss record with Max B on the hook.
What do you mean by secret songs? How the king of new York rockin sandals with Jeans? Open toe sandals with chancletas with jeans on.
Touché
respect to drake but u gattah wait for meek may b he is too busy sucking nick p***y
You know what for a dude sitting at a desk with a laptop you sure fo speculate a whole bunch of here say shit. Are you in Drakes head? Wait……. ARE you Drakes head. Meek making drake look real thirsty. Remember the great b. I. G didn’t respond to hit em up for months.
Ya but we didn’t have the internet poppin like we do today. Now so eone can record a dong and put it on soundcloud in an hour.
Did you read the article? Do you know what hearsay means?
Fact of the matter is Meek started this “beef” and has stayed awfully quiet after these 2 tracks have dropped. The fact that he has acknowledged their existence by posting silly photos of him with stacks of cash make it all the more likely that he isn’t going to respond. In his mind, he doesn’t need to because he’s got money and a chick…that, my friend, is him bowing out without saying anything. At this point, he’s hoping all the talk dies down.
Let’s not get too extra now, actin like Drake’s redefined battling or some shit lol, stop it. His last song was cool…and that’s about it. Meek hasn’t even responded to be calling Drake the winner like that, so I don’t know how we can pick apart a battle that technically hasn’t happened yet.
time is of the essence in this battle, Drake made it that way by saying “back to back” and alluding to how hes been waiting… The point is if you are a real MC with skills u shouldnt take months to write a response. So yes, Meek will probably respond but the longer he takes the more he will be percievd as a loser. id say he has about a week or maybe 2 weeks but with each passing day the bar gets higher and higher and he will need to ether Drake to win the respect of hiphop heads. and i mean, he cant just win over fans who just hate Drake. He needs to win over fans who like Drake. Thats the sign of a true winner. In 3 months from now, no one will even remember this beef and most will barely care who Meek Mill is. This is the longest 15 mins of fame of his career. He isnt regularly in the news like Drake. He is not a superstar. He is not a full-fledged star. Saying 2pac vs Biggie or Nas vs Jay-Z is absurd. All those MCs were at their prime and were a big deal. This is more like Benzino vs Eminem, Everlast vs Eminem, Canibus vs LL Cool J etc. Canibus had to swing first though. it wouldnt have worked otherwise. The point is if Meek Mill waits too long, he may not even get the press unless Nicki helps him. Drake is already the butt of jokes so its hard to surprise and surprise is key in a battle. U have to look at the MC in a different way. Good luck, Meek
Meek Mill rap like he on a roller coaster and the safety bar won’t go down.
On God, I have never seen this much dickriding in a rap beef ever. We getting to a point now where it seems like every commentator in the media is swinging by drakes balls. This is a hip hop site acting like drake.com so whatever happened to journalism being non biased? Now that I think of it this ain’t no rap beef, this is a popularity contest. SmH at hip hop right now.
Where do they get these dick sucking niggas from? “Lyrical genius pop star magic”
Probably because Meek started this whole bullshit in the first place, if you gonna talk shit back it up! It’s not that people are swinging from Drake’s dick people waiting on some kind of response and we are waiting, how you gonna talk shit about a nigga then tuck your tail, so yeah people are declaring Drake the winner by default.
Because Meek Mill’s diss record was WOAT.
DRIZZY IS STR8 BEASTIN’ ON THESE HOE ASS NICCAS!
King los would kkill dizzy at his own game an as for meek get back to them twitter fingers cuz you got locked up for trigger fingers
Like damn can we have a little bit of time past before we announce a winner? lmaoooo wtf
Meek Mill is being giving to much of a pass its been over a week since he posted his ghostwriter tweet and has yet to drop a rap record . Drake first record was a jab 2nd record was a hook. I gave meek till 10pm wednesday night to respond or he was finished in my book no matter what. And 1 question y not rant on stage in toronto?
You do realize meek is dropping tonight right?
I wish people would stop comparing this to BIG vs PAC. BIG didnt respond because he knew sooner or later is going to spill over into the streets and his foresight was on point, even so he did throw little jabs. Who shot ya, even if not about PAC was perfect timing and served as a diss record regardless of intent. If Meek said nothing at all, he would be better off. The twitter responses in LIEU of bars is what is hurting him. He has time to be on twitter but no time to go in the studio after a show. He should be getting off stage immediate go back to writing his response. Its totally unacceptable to say a dude cant rap and he proves you wrong and all you do is send out tweets.
Meeks just waiting to touchdown in Philly and then he’s going to do what beans did to Jada…. 1000 bars
Meek was a battle rapper before he was signed; Drake wasn’t. Back to back wasn’t all that:it lacked the hard-hitting punchlines and wittiness present in classic diss songs like Ether. Hopefully, Meek gives the fans that hard-hitting grittiness, which he undoubtedly possesses.
Meek literally just slaughtered drake.
“Puff almost caught a domestic when he slapped this bitch”
Revealing Drake got pissed on in the movie theater LMAO
That Puff line was good, and that was it. Meek’s garbage. Back to Back had way better lines. Drake’s first track, which sounded like a love song had hotter bars overall. How in the hell was Meek Mill a battle rapper? My 5 year-old nephew has better bars.
Meeks voice sounds like he’s whining, can the man pronounce words?
What is with all this support for Drake? He’s horrible!
Don’t get me wrong, Meek Mill is weak. He prefers to shout on tracks and get hype. So, this battle is apparently lyricism vs flow. But, that’s all moot as Drake has been exposed for spitting bars written by other rappers.
I hate the argument that everyone uses ghostwriters and that if you’re working in a creative space with other creatives, everyone is bound to have some input in the creation of art. Well I think it’s one thing to suggest a word or sound effect to add to the song, but whole entire bars including inflections and cadence is just an absolute disgrace. This isn’t One Direction.
Then again, Drake has always been super fake. You’re telling me that a mixed race guy with mainly white friends, from Canada of all places, is saying nigga every other word? Bollocks! I live in the UK, loved Hip Hop since I was a kid, and I wouldn’t use nigga every other word if I was an MC. You’ll level at me that this could easily be pressure from record labels and A&R but I just think it’s an extension of how fake he is.
Did everyone here listen to those weak ass diss tracks? Fucking abysmal! Drake sounded like he was whispering sweet nothings into Meek’s ear.
On Meek Mill, he really has no business calling other people fake when his ‘Bawse’ is a former prison officer and took his whole persona, look and background from a street legend. Meek should be releasing track after track smashing Drake. All he needs to do is read Ghostface’s softest rappers in the game list for inspiration.
What happened to diss records? Takeover, Can-I-Bitch, Ether, Kick In The Door, etc. Nowadays we have this mess…
haha “fom Canada of all places”. whats that supposed to mean? so he cant use nigga cause he from Canada? last i checked its Caribana this weekend in Toronto. pretty sure they have a pretty diverse culture in TO(Yes that includes black people).
@ Yas. your lost. hmmm….lets see who has not written some of their rhymes or had collaborators in hiphop: Nas, Ghostface, ODB, Run DMC, Beastie Boys, Snoop Dogg…shall i continue? North America is not the UK. People arent dismissed because they have white friends and are from Canada. Everyone is given shot based on their skills on the mic. its clear u are more obsessed with Drake’s image, the way he looks and not his bars because any true hiphop head knows the key is always to “move the crowd”. Back to Back did that and even u listen closely to Charged Up, there are lots of double meanings, entedrees etc. i can tell you dont understand hiphop lyrics. please understand the lyrics first fully, then, diss the dude. u may not like him- fine – but Drake is clearly a skilled rapper.
even if meek responds now, of which I doubt… he knows drake got sumthin hotter already cooked up shud he dare try to respond….drake just gave mill something to think about (should he step in the ring or let this 1 pass) I mean meek mill is actually depressed ryt now!