Rakim believes that the recent battle between Drake and Kendrick Lamar was a good thing for Hip Hop, and it “put a lot of things in perspective.”
In an interview in Billboard published on Friday (July 26), writer Angel Diaz asked the God MC if he’d been paying attention to the all-consuming feud. Diaz characterized it as Drizzy representing the “mainstream” to many fans, while K.Dot “represents the genre in a more traditional sense.”
This framing brought out a thoughtful answer from Ra.
“I think that [the battle] was important, because these brothers are at the top of the game, and revered hip-hop,” he replied. “You know, a lot of people in that position won’t accept no challenge, because they got too much to lose. So, it was dope that these brothers put the mainstream success down and said, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’
“The battle put a lot of things in perspective — because it showed the difference between real hip-hop and mainstream hip-hop,” the legend continued. “Younger artists now know that there’s a difference. A lot of them didn’t even understand that.
“They just listened to the majority, not knowing that a lot of people don’t categorize what they were hearing as real hip-hop. The battle was very needed for the genre. I tip my hat to them brothers.”
The sometimes-reclusive Rakim has been giving interviews lately to promote his new album G.O.D’s Network – REB7RTH, his first since 2009’s The Seventh Seal.
While the God MC provides vocals (verses and/or hooks) on six of the project’s seven songs, his main job on the project was not as a rapper, but as a producer. He also provided scratches.
“I always was attached to making beats,” Ra told Grammy.com. “But I got to the point where I’m confident with my production now. I got the chance to produce the album and jumped at the opportunity.”
G.O.D’s Network — REB7rth features a boatload of guest artists, including Kurupt, Masta Killa, Method Man and B.G. In addition, there are contributions from four deceased rappers, courtesy of executive producer Matt “M80” Markoff.
Nipsey Hussle, Fred the Godson and Prodigy all have rhymes, and DMX shows up by way of a prayer. All of the vocals, Markoff explained, were “in my stash or under my ownership.”
Eminem is not top 5 or top 10. Maybe top 15. Good as a lyrical/battle rapper but I am not a fan of his rap beefs for example Mariah carry, moby, Christina Aguilera, nick cannon, benzino and MGK. he doesn’t battle anyone that is actually relevant or worthy in hip hop. He is almost pop rap if you think about. Not saying he not good but he ain’t 2pac, notorious BIG, DMX, Lil Wayne and jay z, scarface, Big Pun, Big L, Andre 3000 etc let the Em fans flood the comments talking about how his album went platinum or this or that. He sold more than DMX or biggie sure but that doesn’t make him better or more entertaining and I think hip hop heads understand why he has sold more
Em top 5 for sure. This article isn’t even about him and here you are writing multiple paragraphs about him. He is rent free in your head lol shaaaaaaaady is back
Em is definitely top 5. Love the new album
Anybody relevant or worthy in hip hop respect Eminem hence why his “battles” are mostly pop stars. Eminem won’t respond with an entire song if you’re just trying to diss him to hype an album. He doesn’t want to give you the spotlight because he knows that what you want. See the Game as a reference.
A guy like Ra I’m just going to show respect for him. Bendrick put a lot of black folks in a bad position. That’s all there is to it
GAY GREG 😂
Not really. It was a very lame beef IMO. Last dope beef I can think of was the ones involving G Unit, 50, Game, Ja Rule, Em, etc. Those birthed some solid songs. Drake has always been a pop rap star, and Kendrick was insanely dope, but now raps like the other ratchet artists who are super annoying. If anything, this beef hurt the genre. Made hiphop appear more childish. It didn’t spawn any truly great songs that’ll last through time.
The rap battle does nothing. If you were a Drake fan before, you will be a Drake fan after. If you were a Kendrick fan before you will be a Kendrick fan after. But, if you’re a Kendrick fan, this battle is not going to persuade you to go out and buy a SchoolBoy Q, Jay Rock, Glasses Malone and etc albums.
My penis, Top 5
Only people who didn’t like the beef are butthurt Drake fangirls who are acting like it was bad for rap when it was just bad for Drake. Anything bad for Drake is good for rap.
What’s very much needed for the genre is for a artist to make a album with 14 to 16 tracks and no more then two features. If you game is that tight you should be able to stand on your own two feet, Lloyd Banks can do it. Carry on!!!