Everyone loves a good fight or battle, whether it be in real life or in the movies. The type between two heavyweights where the fans of both sides hold their hearts in their hands, even as they chant and pray for victory in their fave’s favour; while the neutrals just salivate at the sight and taste of blood thas no connection to them.
In music, it is even better because no physical punches are thrown. There are no bloodied noses, no swelling of the eyebrows, no red eyes, or bruised knuckles. Just verbal jabs aimed at discrediting the other’s credibility.
But unlike physical fights which always seem to escalate quickly from verbal exchanges to ‘knuckling down’, this particular fight has been brewing for over a decade. There have been subliminals thrown by both parties for the best part of 10 years that only seemed to escalate earlier this year when the short black dude decided to throw the first direct punch (it’s always the short guys with the biggest audacity).
A musical battle is always a beautiful thing to witness especially for us hiphop fans. So much so that sometimes we even pray for it and try to find subs where there’s probably none. This was the reason when “Like That” by Future and Metro Boomin ft Kendrick Lamar dropped, we all begged for J Cole and Drake to reply, even when there was no direct shot at J Cole. But you can’t blame us fans for doing so because hip-hop has always been competitive, and over time, we’ve been spoiled by battles like 2pac v Biggie, Jay Z v Nas, MGK v Eminem, 50 Cent v Ja Rule, Pusha T v Drake, etc,.
You can imagine how disappointed many of us were when J Cole decided to apologize after giving the answer to our prayers with the song “7 Minute Drill”. But our disappointment was shortlived and our joy was revived when barely a week later Drake dropped his first official installment in the battle. Actually, “Push Ups” was the first real diss track of the whole battle. The battle line was officially drawn after a decade of subliminals.
This was a different battle because it had an elongated promo, numerous teasers, and different shades of anticipation. It was also a battle between opposites in all senses. One is a pop star, chart-topper, who raps, sings, and loves the spotlight. He’s a proper celebrity. The other is a quiet, secluded, conscious fellow, whose social presence is near nonexistent. He’s private and is supposedly community and family-oriented. The only thing they seemingly have in common is the fact that they have been two of the most dominant and consistent rappers of the last 15 years. They are fondly referred to as part of the “Big 3” of the current era. So was this the best rap battle ever?
The last statement is a stretch to some (especially those who cling to history like life depends on it). But all the pieces of evidence are there to show that this might be or is the best rap battle ever.
THE SHEER AMOUNT OF MUSIC
In most, if not all battles over time, the number of songs usually revolves around 3-4 songs before a winner is declared. But this battle delivered a total of 8 quality music masterpieces. It took Drake indirectly waving the white flag on the last track for a winner to be declared.
This is even more impressive considering that most of these songs were delivered in the space of one week, without necessarily downgrading the standard. It takes a lot of creative prowess, imagination, and musical expertise by both camps to be able to maintain such momentum in so short a time without watering down on quality. At some point, both sets of fans were shocked by the back and forth, and YouTube reactors were put on full-time mode just to keep up with the pace of events happening. It is possible that both rappers could have made a complete mixtape out of this if they wanted to.
It felt like a fight between two renowned heavyweights who had been longing for an opportunity to have a taste of each other’s blood. The production was topnotch, the beat switches were exquisite, the lyrical prowess was super and the musical diversity was absorbing. There was a sinister song (Meet the Grahams), a bop (Not Like Us), core hip-hop songs (Family Matters/Push Ups/Euphoria), and sentimental songs (6:16 in LA/The Heart pt6).
Family Matters had a rhythmic coherence of a seasoned warrior humping on his high horse into battle with his unsheathed sword slicing through his enemies' throats like a knife through jam and The Heart Part 6 had more of a self-exploratory feel than that of a rap battle.
This was a battle that coaxed exquisite penmanship from both camps and revived the importance of lyricism in hip-hop.
INTRODUCTION OF STRATEGY
Battle rap is just like any other competitive sport. But unlike in most sports, rap battle is usually not won on strategy, but on the creativity and ruthlessness of the lyrical punches. It's either your penmanship and delivery are topnotch or you're going to end up on the losing wagon. Then step in Kendrick Duckworth Lamar.
As stated earlier, this was a lyrical exhibition of the highest proportions, but many who observed the battle will also agree that this fight wasn't won on just lyrical prowess, but also on strategy. Where Drake's strategy was a simple hit-bait-kill formula, Kendrick was busy plotting how to psychologically tear him to shreds while doubling down on everything Drake throws at him. This is why a track like Euphoria has aged so well because it now sounds like a prophetic proclamation, predicting all of Drake's moves. Drake fell horribly into the trap, and it begs the question if it was a product of naivety, sheer arrogance, or straightforward stupidity.
It was predicted that he would attack the family front and all he did was attack the family front. It was predicted that he would refer Mr Morale and the Big Steppers, and he did. However, the biggest strategic hit by K-Dot was the timing of the track Meet the Grahams. It wasn't just a hideously scathing diss, but a double entendre in itself as it was timed perfectly to take off all the steam from Drake's bombshell in Family Matters.
So while Drake was busy taunting and baiting online, Kendrick was busy plotting strategies to counter all his musical moves and turning them into his weapons because he knew that the battle would be won on wax and not on social media memes. His musical releases were strategic, just like his psychoanalysis of his opponent. Euphoria was the warning, setting the tone for all that was to come. On 6:16 in L.A., his character and that of his crew were called into question. On Meet the Grahams, his complete personality was psycho-analyzed and dismantled from the roots, and his conflicting identity issues were laid bare for everyone to pick apart. At this point, Not Like Us was nothing more than a victory anthem meant for the clubs and the streets. By the time Not Like Us was dropped, K-Dot had done back-to-back on Drake twice, leaving little room for recovery.
THE GENERAL IMPACT ON THE INDUSTRY
This has to be the biggest gain from the battle. For over a month, the whole music industry was awakened to the relevance of true rap hip-hop. This wasn't just a battle for the rap fans but for the whole industry and the world at large. The charts were dominated by tracks from the battle, songs from the battle were 9n rotation at NBA games (including the ESPN halftime studios), there were challenges and trends on TikTok about the battle, etc. It was a hip-hop hostile takeover. Most music channels, podcasts, and radio stations relegated other issues to the background to focus their beam of light on the two big elephants squaring off on the musical scene. It was a topic on all blogs and events. Serena referred to it at a sports event, Taraji P. Henson performed her version of Not Like Us at the BET Awards, and ESPN played Euphoria in their studios during their halftime show at an NBA game. YouTube was agog with reactions and conspiracy theories from the U.S. to the Philippines, to Africa, to South America, everyone was awakened to the race of the battle. Even Camilla Cabello had her album delayed because of the battle and every other music released during the time seemed to slip under the radar because Kendrick was calling Drake a pedophile and Drake was calling Kendrick a woman beater.
The sheer quality and brilliance of the battle have now put somewhat of a microscopic lense on other rappers that if you want to be considered as one of the best, you need to deliver lyrical excellence and not just hide behind a good beat while mumbling mumbo-jumbo.
This was a tsunami that swept through the whole industry in a wave of musical proficiency. Kendrick might have won the battle and war, but we can't take away Drake's place in delivering the best rap battle of all time. He showed up, strapped, and delivered casualties, but lost because he came up against a different kind of animal who just seems to genuinely hate him.