Any time Drake is the topic, expect a contentious debate among hip-hop fans.
G.O.O.D. Music’s Pusha T sparked another one after blasting the Young Money/Cash Money (YMCMB) rapper, and camp, in his latest track, “Exodus 23:1.”
On the track, the Clipse rapper places Drake and YMCMB squarely in his cross-hairs, spitting, “Beef is best served like steak, well-done get a gun in your face, b*tch n*gga” in the songs opening bar’s. In a stinging second verse, he indirectly dissects Drake’s YMCMB situation saying, “Contract all f**ked up, I guess that means you all f**ked up/You signed to one ni**a that’s signed to another ni**a that’s signed to three ni**as, now that’s bad luck.”
The shot earned a swift counter from YMCMB franchise player Lil Wayne, who has had beef with Pusha T in the past, tweeting, “F**k pusha t and anybody that love em” on Thursday afternoon.
The jab was latest slight towards YMCMB’s crossover machine, but did it cross the line of rap beef decorum? Along with Rick Ross’ Maybach Music Group, G.O.O.D. Music and YMCMB practically own urban airwaves. While jockeying for position atop the genre has been peaceful thus far, there was the unspoken anxiety to see which camp would make a bold leap for the crown.
Summer time beef is practically a hip-hop institution. Listeners have seen classic battles like Jay-Z-Nas dominate the rap conversation, while teetering on the edge of decency. Inevitably, beef crosses the line into matters the listening public usually aren’t clued into. On “The Takeover” from 2001’s The Blueprint, Jay-Z famously went in on Nas’ pockets:
“You ain’t get a coin ni**a, you was getting f*cked and I know who I pay, God, Searchlight Publishing.”
The shot may have been lost in the barrage but it hit home that rappers are often times counting each other’s money.
What’s more telling – Lil Wayne’s public defense was a necessity, but did little to squelch the ongoing debate: What’s with this Drake character?
Serious hip-hop heads can’t quite wrap their heads around the former actor turned emcee. Even with his rabid popularity, there’s an underlying distate for Drake that stems partially from his success, and in some cases, his Jewish and Canadian roots or mixed heritage. The rapper has never shied away from the role those factors play in his music DNA. But for every time he’s assertively defined who he was over a record, his authenticity remains a constant debate.
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Could it be his frequent collaborations outside of his label home with MMG? His features are vastly different from Nicki Minaj’s increasingly pop agenda. Yet, just before fans are lulled into believing he’s got the juice on one of the gritty street anthems he’s graced, they catch themselves questioning the tropes discussed because it stands in stark contrast to the life they imagine him actually living.
His wildly successful resume can even provide ammo at times.
Take Care sold 631,000 copies in its first week, but its overwrought cover art became a punchline. His music has been accused of being Lifetime-movie soft more than a few times, with few relating to his chronicling of the trappings relationships in the public eye and how hard it is to be young and rich. Some will never get over the fact that if he never rapped again, he’d probably be set from Degrassi money.
His detractors just seem to want a definitive answer to the question: ‘Who is Drake?’ The vexing dilemma that his duality creates has proved to deliver affable results on some tracks, but only before assembly-line pop tunes overtake any progress he made.
Part of it is the YMCMB assembly line, which doesn’t flinch at subtracting overwhelming substance in favor of whatever is popular. Sales numbers have proven that this approach isn’t so bad. Not helping Drake’s cause are overzealous fans who flood social media with professions of love, usually followed by arguments steeped in style over substance.
There’s little debate that Drake is immensely talented. It’s his talent that raised expectations to begin with.
While Take Care was redeeming in many ways, listeners who bought Thank Me Later expecting So Far Gone still have to scramble to roll their windows up when blasting his music. Thus far, Drake has pulled off being a jack of all trades with unprecedented success. His refusal to accept the notion of his brand of hip-hop being any less legitimate because of his background garners considerable respect. As does his hand in making the venerable palatable to the mainstream.
Now, a gray area exists full of artists striving to emulate his model, when there’s no concrete answer to what that is.
As the search to pigeonhole Drake rolls on, his competitors and even fans keep suggesting he man up, while reluctantly attending his shows. They turn up the volume on “The Motto” or “H.Y.F.R.” on the way there, before ultimately having a great time. They send snarky tweets at any hint of him being disingenuous, while he’ll continue cranking out feather soft ballads, like “Marvin’s Room,” to grate traditional hip-hop sensibilities. If there is some solace, it’s in knowing that every verse that falls short of expectations will be welcomed with a Wheelchair Jimmy meme to put everything right back in perspective.
As he continues to string together hits, Drake seems content with being all those things people love and hate. Maybe the beauty of being a punching bag is thick skin.