Amidst a pandemic and nationwide protests against police brutality, the Pusha T and Drake feud lives on.
A leaked track from Pop Smoke’s new album featuring Pusha T, Young Thug and Gunna found Push low-key dissing Drake. Thug called out Pusha for his lyrics, while Push clapped back and intimated that Drake is a snitch.
Drake didn’t squander the moment to respond during his latest singles run. He retorted a couple of shots both towards Push and Kanye West’s way through a U.K. rapper’s new song.
It’s just the latest round of drama that the younger half of the Clipse and October’s Very Own has been embroiled in for the past decade. It seems like the beef is always making headlines.
In a June interview with Rolling Stone, Noah “40” Shebib finally addressed Pusha T’s shots at him on the scathing, 2018 Drake diss, “The Story of Adidon.” 40 told Rolling Stone that Pusha’s bars about his multiple sclerosis made him feel “like shit.”
There’s no doubt about it: Pusha T crossed a line. Underhanded disses come with the territory of rap battles, but a person’s health should never be brought into the equation.
And yet, it should be remembered that Drake dealt the first low blow in regards to health. On the dual-Pusha T/Kid Cudi diss “Two Birds, One Stone,” Drake ridiculed Cudi over his mental illness and disease of addiction.
Pusha T Is Full Of Laughs Following Drake's Rap Radar Interview
Both Push and Drizzy disgraced themselves by using someone’s health struggles to assert their superiority. This tactic is, ultimately, a weakness, and 40’s recent interview is a reminder that it has no place in Hip Hop in 2020. Especially not amidst a global pandemic that has claimed more than 400,000 lives worldwide.
One might note that, in Drake’s case, it was Cudi who kicked things off with an emotion-fueled Twitter rant aimed at Drake, and, ironically, Cudi’s mentor Kanye West.
Though West was initially angry, he backtracked by calling Cudi his “brother” at a concert. A month later, it became clear why. Kid Cudi shared that he had checked himself into a rehab facility for depression and suicidal urges. His brave announcement prompted the #yougoodman Twitter trend, aimed at promoting mental health support and awareness amongst African American men.
While everyone should be held responsible for their actions, Kanye, who has since shared his own battle with bipolar disorder, clearly understands how a brain disorder can strongly influence behavior. And engaging in a war of words with a man who was clearly not well would have shown a glaring lack of compassion.
This was apparently lost on Drake. While Cudi was recovering in the hospital, he released “Two Birds, One Stone” and saved his most biting words for Cudi: “You were the man on the moon, now you go through your phases/Life of the angry and famous/Rap like I know I’m the greatest and give you the tropical flavors/Still never been on hiatus/You stay xan and perc’d up so when reality set in you don’t gotta face it.”
It was a distasteful diss, spit at a time when Cudi couldn’t practically respond on wax. It also displayed an ironic lack of self-awareness from an artist who devoted so much of his music to sharing his feelings. Writers and fans alike were not impressed at Drake’s apparent regressive views on mental illness and drug addiction.
The diss track also took aim at Pusha T, and was the latest in years of back-and-forth barbs between the two. Things remained quiet until May of 2018, when Push dropped the seven-track DAYTONA, a masterful foray into coke rap produced entirely by Kanye.
The album was tight, focused and consistent, but the final track, “Infrared,” made the most noise. Over a brooding beat, Push called out Drake for his use of a ghostwriter and all but called him a sellout.
Drake responded the same day with “Duppy Freestyle,” which brushed aside Pusha’s swipes and turned the table on him by questioning his street credibility.
Five days later, Pusha T returned with “The Story of Adidon.”
There have been more vicious diss tracks (see 2Pac’s all-out vitriol aimed at The Notorious B.I.G. on “Hit Em Up”) and more relentlessly scathing personal attacks (Nas’ lyrical assault on Jay-Z on “Ether”) but never before had a single record done so much to damage one person’s image, let alone someone of Drake’s star power.
It was brilliantly constructed, from the cover art displaying a photo of Drake in blackface to the usage of No I.D.’s “The Story of O.J.” beat from Jay-Z’s 4:44.
But it was Pusha’s big reveal that Drake had a secret child that caused the most trauma.
“A baby’s involved, it’s deeper than rap/We talkin’ character, let me keep with the facts/You are hiding a child, let that boy come home/Deadbeat muthafucka playin’ border patrol, ooh.”
Duppy Freestyle vs. The Story Of Adidon: By The Numbers
There’s no denying Push used Drake’s lovechild for sport. However, he also seemed genuinely disgusted at his adversary’s apparent indifference toward his own seed:
“Adonis is your son, and he deserves more than an Adidas press run, that’s real.”
It was genius. Pusha T labeled Drake a deadbeat father, the lowest of the low in Hip Hop. Drake, who angered traditionalists by disrespecting his elders and using a ghostwriter, was being taken to task for violating yet another one of Hip Hop’s rules.
That’s one of the reasons why Pusha T’s attack on 40 is so disappointing. By going at Drake’s character, he came off as self-righteous, even if he did use Drake’s family for sport. But Push seemingly couldn’t resist, or possibly had Drake’s shots at Cudi on his mind, and decided to turn a serious illness into a punchline.
Drake was furious. After posting a response to the resurfaced blackface photo on Instagram, Drake appeared on HBO’s The Shop to tell LeBron James about how Pusha T crossed a line in needling 40 for having M.S.
“Now when you mention defenseless people who are sick in the hospital that passed away, that really sent me to a place where, you know, I just believe then and believe now that there’s a price you have to pay for that,” Drake said. “It’s just, it’s over. Somebody’s gonna punch you in the fucking face.”
His anger was understandable, but his response was ridiculously tone-deaf and hypocritical. He had, less than two years before, done exactly what he was railing against.
It’s been said before and it bears repeating that brain disorders are not a punchline. Hopefully, the one-size-fits-all term of “mental illness,” eventually gives way to talk of specific diagnoses, because the term carries so much stigma with it. The brain is a physical component of our bodies, so an illness is just that: an illness. And that goes for M.S., sickle cell anemia, opioid addiction and any other disease that rappers use as ammo during petty beefs with each other.
Hip Hop was built on battling but if these two are going to use that age-old premise to spew pettiness on their platforms, how “Hip Hop” is that, truthfully?
Opioid usage is a choice. MS isn’t.
“The Great Controversy between” Christ and Satan. Do yourself a favor and get yourself a copy.
Your white privilege is reeking here
I’ve never been clear on how this started. Clipse did a song with Birdman, then they had a falling out with Wayne, which apparently translated into a beef with Drake.
This article was damn near soft. There are no rules when it comes rap beef on wax. When drake mentioned Push’s wife his assault on 40 and the mention of his son was a go. No matter if 40 has a disease or not. Everything has to be watered down in this world now smh. Drake is soft. He can’t beat Pusha and he knows it. The whole rap world knows it!!!
No, you’re wrong. This article was soft. Not “damn near.”
that beef is enTertaining…….BECAUSE IT ISN’T REAL. LOL
Licking nuts is entertaining, cuz I like the way it feels lol
Dear Mr Gibson, Please Stop Plugging Your Music On Every Post…It’s Unprofessional and Childish. It creates the opposite effect, people will either ignore you or go to your site to troll or bash you. Here’s some advice,develop a more positive marketing strategy and you’ll get better results.
I think the article forgot to mention about how pusha said that he got the baby info from a girl 40 was with. I’m surprised no one asked drake about that.
Anyway, if people want the beef to end, then they will have to do like with ti vs lil flip and jay-z vs nas. They will have to sit them both down and come to an agreement that they won’t diss or sub-diss each other anymore.
Drake overrated
Fuck Drake. Dudes a cornball making music for white chicks, having that one dude write his raps..just corny. Quit crowning this clown!
Don’t be mad bro… Eventually Drake’s run will come to an end in about 20 years so your favorite rapper can have a chance… Pusha L wack T no one cares about him until he mentioned drake… Once you admit that drake is the most famous hip hop artist ever the easier for you to move on ?????
Ummm no. Eminem’s popularity was far greater than Drake’s. 2 diamond albums (no double disc cheat code), 3 classic albums, 100 million albums sold worldwide. Drake is very popular, one of the most popular of all time, but not the most. People actually bought music back then, now people just stream playlists and their favourite tracks for 9.99 a month. And even though the stans all got his albums they still stream his shit. Not as many streams as Drake, but again, the fans bought the albums so we dont know how many times the music is being listened to. Drakes last full album (scorpion) sold 160,000ish in traditional album sales (but had like 750,000 album equivalent units due to streams), em’s last one had 275,000 pure album sales and the one before was like 250,000. Different era, he’s old as shit, and he still truly sells more records. Drake is killin it, but not the most popular ever. Call me when your man sells 1.76 million albums in his first week. Oh, and he actually writes his shit, and he’s still ill as shit 20+ years in the game.
40 shebib was in the scope because as drake’s partner & main producer he has a huge influence on his content. drake & dem soooo thought they won til Push popped up with the response. losers ALWAYS b*tch & moan & yell unfair when their actions elicit a strong reaction LOL
Tupac dissed Prodigy for having sickle cell. Something for you to think about regarding someone many of you claim to be the greatest rapper.
Once the line is crossed then all bets are off. Drake crossed it with the Cudi shit. Drake crossed it by mentioning Pushas girl. Push came back 100 times harder and this beef will never end because that’s how people like Pusha T are. Nobody “disgraced themselves” btw, that’s such hyperbole. We live in some weak ass times. Diss tracks have always been full of foul shit as highlighted by the dude below with the Hit ‘Em Up reference “dont one of y’all got sickle cell or something”. Tupac disgraced himself when he made probably the greatest diss track of all time. Gtfoh with this shit.
Whoever wrote this article needs to be reassigned to country western music. This is his hop. Hip hop is a competitive sport. Rap battles have no rules. Give me a break!
Whoever wrote this article needs to be reassigned to country western music. This is hip hop. Hip hop is a competitive sport. Rwp battles have no rules. Give me a break!
Hip Hop it’s content and artists and even movement can be contradictory and hypocritical. An artist will say one thing and do another. Express one thing and change the next day. Then hide behind whatever reasons that suits them at the time. But how do expect kids to comprehend that.
“There’s no doubt about it: Pusha T crossed a line. Underhanded disses come with the territory of rap battles, but a person’s health should never be brought into the equation.” Whoever wrote this shit just lost all credibility to me as a hip hop journalist. There are no lines is battles. Period.
There’s no doubt about it: Pusha T crossed a line. Underhanded disses come with the territory of rap battles, but a person’s health should never be brought into the equation.
And yet, it should be remembered that Drake dealt the first low blow in regards to health. On the dual-Pusha T/Kid Cudi diss “Two Birds, One Stone,” Drake ridiculed Cudi over his mental illness and disease of addiction.
MAKES 0 SENSE
Both Push and Drizzy disgraced themselves by using someone’s health struggles to assert their superiority. This tactic is, ultimately, a weakness, and 40’s recent interview is a reminder that it has no place in Hip Hop in 2020. Especially not amidst a global pandemic that has claimed more than 400,000 lives worldwide.
MAKES 0 SENSE
Cam said he’d fuck nas’s daughter
Jay said he skeeted in Nas’s baby seat
Pac mocked prodigy’s sickle cell
Mobb Deep said Pac got assaulted in prison
Biggie mocked Pac’s shooting
Em mocked Everlast’s heart condition 737 times
Snoop mocked Suge Knight while he was in jail
Big L said he was gonna rob and kill Jesus
But we “can’t” talk about mental health and MS?