Music — Andscape

Meet Charm La’Donna, the choreographer behind Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’ video

Nilea Cosley — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 12:28:55 +0000

In the world of dance, where rhythm and artistry meet, Charm La’Donna stands out. A veteran choreographer and artist, La’Donna has worked with musicians like rappers Dr. Dre and Lil Baby, and singers Dua Lipa, Selena Gomez, Meghan Trainor, The Weeknd, and others. Behind her success is a story of determination and a desire to create space for others to shine. La’Donna’s passion for dance is evident in how she talks about her career and how her eyes light up when asked about her journey. But it hasn’t been easy.

“Sometimes [my] counterparts get more than I do, even though I know I’m capable and have the same résumé. There are moments when I’m the only Black person, let alone woman, in the room — and I take pride in that,” La’Donna said of her experience in the entertainment industry. “Many ask if I’ve ever felt imposter syndrome. I say no because I know I belong there. I’ve put in the work, the hours, and dedicated myself to my craft.”

For the Compton, California native, working with rapper Kendrick Lamar on his concert, The Pop Out: Ken and Friends, the “Not Like Us” music video and representing their city felt like a full circle moment.

“Something about being with Kendrick and being home, it just hits differently. I’m just overwhelmed with joy all the time,” La’Donna said.

In a recent interview on Andscape’s Rhoden Fellows podcast, La’Donna reflected on her career, her inspiration, the challenges she has faced in the industry, and her dreams for the future.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How did you get the opportunity to work with Kendrick Lamar?

I’ve been working with Kendrick for about 10 years. My mentor, Fatima Robinson, first started working with him when I was assisting her. As our relationship grew, we just began to vibe. And then I started choreographing for him.

Can you walk us through your creative process when it comes to choreographing?

I hope this is not a cliché when I say this: I do what I feel. I never create anything before I walk into the room. I always create only in spots in real time because that’s where I draw my inspiration from — what’s happening in real time. Sometimes, going in with a plan of what you think should happen could block you in creativity because you’re trying to set that one thing that in your mind should work this way, and sometimes it doesn’t work like that. I take into consideration how the artist feels and how the dancers feel. So, I would tell you I’m all about space in real time.

Who has been your biggest inspiration throughout your journey?

Well, I will say my mom. She was the woman, amongst many in my life, who has pushed me and inspired me to be me, and to attack any and every dream. I can’t mention my story without mentioning Fatima Robinson and her impact on my life since I was 10.

My grandmother passed away last year. I remember not knowing what my purpose was or how I was going to do this. She would always keep me grounded and remind me, ‘You are exactly where you’re supposed to be.’ So those are my key inspirations.

As a Black woman in your field, have you faced any hardships?

100%. I will say I’ve been blessed and fortunate to be under a mentor, Fatima Robinson, who’s also another Black woman who’s opened a lot of doors for me, and even though there are some doors she’s opened, there are some doors I’ve had to open for myself. I fight for what I’m worth.

I’ve done everything to prepare myself to be in the room, and all I gotta do is walk in there like God sent me. There have been situations and things that have been said, but nothing stops me, and I truly believe nothing stops us. As one door closes, I open five more for the girl behind me.

I have so much to say, but for now here’s me walkin on a tight rope
I appreciate all the LOVE!
Give me a sec I gotta take this one in

NOT LIKE US
Directed by: @davefree and @kendricklamar
Thank you to my @pglang fam

Love y’all pic.twitter.com/9zkPeaB5Xc
— Charm La'Donna (@CharmLadonna) July 5, 2024

What motivates you to keep going through hardships?

It’s knowing my gifts and loving every aspect of what I do. It’s getting the message from the girl saying, ‘Charm, you’ve inspired me. It’s getting videos of the little girls looking at my work and dancing; they have somebody who looks like them that they can emulate. I’m so blessed and grateful to do what I love and make a living. I pour my heart into it and don’t take any of it for granted. But there are days when I just don’t wanna get up. I’ve lived in survival mode my whole life. Sometimes, I’ve had to stop and tell myself that I’ve made it, stop surviving, and start living because I constantly go.

For a very long time, I didn’t know how to say no because I thought that if I said no, I was missing out. So now I’m in the space where I’m truly living, and I’m appreciative of everything I’m doing—those things that keep me going.

What has been the most fulfilling memory you’ve made thus far?

It’s hard to pinpoint one moment, but every project and artist I’ve collaborated with has been fulfilling in its own way. I’m just in awe of how we can explore art — whether it’s pulling off a Super Bowl performance in a week or connecting with artists from different backgrounds.

I’m from Compton. And there’s a connection between Kendrick and me, coming from where we come from. But, connecting with other artists from different places and being able to help execute their vision is very important to me. I find little things in every single project. You know. I was able to choreograph the Super Bowl during COVID-19. We pulled it off in a week. In every project, whenever I feel like I can’t do something, I can do it.

You’ve already accomplished so much in your career. What is your end goal?

I want to have a nonprofit with dance. I want to get into directing movies, making films, bringing dance stories to life in a different way, and writing. I’m a kid of the arts. I love it all. I just see myself forever growing. I still do my mentorships. I bring young, aspiring choreographers or just young girls to my team. Some of my girls have turned into assistant managers, and all these things just to be around, and that’s what I want to take on another level.

The Hot Boys reunion shouldn’t be taken for granted

Justin Tinsley — Fri, 05 Jul 2024 12:53:08 +0000

Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter celebrated its 20th anniversary June 29. While the album represented a sonic and lyrical shift forward for him, one song in particular was a nostalgic glance back at a previous chapter. “I Miss My Dawgs” was his love letter to his former labelmates — and more importantly — Juvenile, B.G. and Turk, his fellow Hot Boys.

“But every family ain’t filled with gangstas, that’s real/ And that’s real and I would never turn my back,” Lil Wayne rapped then. “Or turn you down even if you turned around, motherf—er / But history is history / I miss you and I know you missin’ me.“

Two decades later, the song — which Lil Wayne once performed with B.G. in the mid-2000s — is having a full-circle moment. All four members will reunite on stage in their hometown of New Orleans at the 2024 Essence Festival, which began July Fourth. The official billing calls the show a celebration of 30 years of Cash Money Records. Label co-founder Bryan “Birdman” Williams is the headliner, and Cash Money’s all-everything producer, Mannie Fresh, will appear. Yet, calling the reunion of one of rap history’s more celebrated and complex groups historic only tells half the story. It’s one of time, aging, and, surprisingly, one of a reunion that’s happening in the first place.

By the late 1990s, American pop culture had a boy band addiction. Groups such as the Backstreet Boys, N’Sync and 98 Degrees lived on shows such as MTV’s Total Request Live, but hip-hop’s chaotic and bouncing answer to cookie-cutter pop hits were the Hot Boys. They were young, intense, and extremely and unapologetically Black. To varying degrees, each member became a star on his own. As a unit, The Hot Boys were rock stars. Albums such as Get It How You Live!, Guerilla Warfare, 400 Degreez and Chopper City in the Ghetto were unrelenting. Singles like “I Need A Hot Girl,” “Back That Azz Up” and “Bling Bling” not only soundtracked the turn of the millennium, but they also altered the lexicon.

Grand success in the music industry is often the preamble for an even grander fall. The Hot Boys disbanded in 2003 after their final album, Let ‘Em Burn — and this is where the story becomes complicated. Turk was involved in a shooting with a Memphis, Tennessee, SWAT officer in 2004 and the incident would eventually land him in prison for nine years. B.G. and Juvenile blamed Cash Money Records’ alleged financial improprieties (a claim that has followed the label for most of its existence) for their exits. Lil Wayne called himself “a prisoner” to the label in 2014, marking the start of years of airing his grievances against the company he carried on his back for much of the 2000s. B.G. was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison in 2012 for possession of a firearm as a convicted felon. Lil Wayne — who eventually became the most famous Hot Boy — served eight months in Rikers Island following a gun conviction in New York. Juvenile is the only member of the group who hasn’t served time.

Because of this and the various animosities with the label and each other, an actual reunion has never occurred until now. (All four members did reunite on Turk’s song “Zip It” in 2012.) A homecoming of this magnitude happening at all is an act of God. Retrace the history of the Hot Boys, and the hit records and albums are the most famous chapters of the story. Nevertheless, it’s a depressingly dark story at points, too. Drug use plagued the group and essentially eliminated a lot of its potential. B.G.’s and Turk’s admitted use of cocaine and heroin were unavoidable issues within the label’s internal politics. They would later come to understand how those substances warped their careers and lives.

“[Birdman and Slim] wasn’t with it. They used to hate that s—,” Turk said in a 2022 Drink Champs interview. “Why would a person condone their money getting high when it’s f—ing their money up?”

From left to right: Rappers Juvenile, B.G., Turk, Birdman, Lil Wayne of the Hot Boys, and producer Mannie Fresh attend The Source Hip-Hop Music Awards on Aug. 18, 1999, at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood, California.

Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images

“It started after one of my lil homies got killed, and he snorted dope. After his funeral, [we said], ‘We gon’ snort a bag for our partner,’ ” B.G. said in a 2009 interview, then six years clean. “I would’ve never started snorting dope [when I was 15] if I knew it was gonna take me on the road it took me down … It played a role in my career. It made me not as creative, not as heavy [into] hustle mentality [as] I would’ve if I was of sober mind.”

Even today, hurdles remain. Earlier this year, the expectation was that B.G. would have to return to federal prison after violating his probation. A probation officer said that B.G., now a Las Vegas resident, didn’t obtain proper permission to perform with Lil Boosie in February. On Tuesday, the situation was reported as resolved: B.G. wouldn’t have to return to prison, but he’d have to submit any lyrics he writes for songs to his probation officer for review. The decision calls into question an age-old argument that has only intensified over time regarding rappers, rap lyrics and how they are handled in the legal system. It’s another stark reminder that nothing has ever been a straight path northward for the Hot Boys — not even their success.

“We spoke about [doing a tour] a couple times. Everybody got situations — like B.G. just coming home. So he gotta work it out,” Lil Wayne said of a possible reunion. “Can he travel? Can he tour? Juvie ready. Turk ready. We just gotta see if Geezy can move around or not.”

Yet, success realized is still success worth celebrating. Juvenile’s late-career resurgence, led by his 2023 Tiny Desk performance and congressional resolution in his honor, warmed my heart. Lil Wayne’s peak is in the rearview mirror, but features on records such as Flau’jae’s “Came Out a Beast” prove that being a naturally gifted wordsmith will always be in his arsenal. And in a genre that has lost so many key figures at such young ages, all four Hot Boys on stage will be a critical moment. Groups like UGK, A Tribe Called Quest, Mobb Deep, De La Soul, and even R&B stars such as TLC are forever missing part of what made them legendary. And since this event will be held in New Orleans, the city the Hot Boys helped put on the world’s stage, only sweetens this gumbo-flavored pot.

“Me, Wayne, Turk and B.G., all of us gon’ be on stage with Mannie Fresh and Birdman,” Juvenile said in a video in June. “And we done already started working on the Hot Boys album.”

The Hot Boys grew up in a grotesque music industry, and there’s no way to value how much was taken from them. Their music was specifically graphic, giving listeners a glimpse into four young Black lives from the bottom of the map. But they are also Bayou artifacts. Ones who helped transform places like the Magnolia Projects, Hollygrove, and the 17th Ward from places of economic impoverishment into birthplaces of transformative art. Ones who made soulja rags and white t-shirts high fashion. Ones who had an entire generation of Black youth and young adults far beyond the Big Easy’s city limits calling themselves “hot boys” and “hot girls.” Ones who brought pride to their city — even while simultaneously carrying their demons, self-inflicted and societal — long before the New Orleans Saints won the Super Bowl. And ones who survived New Orleans when it was a murder capital and not the city most infamously associated with Hurricane Katrina.

“That Hot Boy s— still in me n—a, word to Giggity, n—a / And I ain’t got time to speak the history,” Lil Wayne rapped in 2004 on “I Miss My Dawgs.” “I miss you and I know you missin’ me.”

It only took 20 years, but now Lil Wayne can say this to their faces. Not every story ends like that.

Where does Drake go from here?

Justin Tinsley — Fri, 21 Jun 2024 18:49:07 +0000

Kendrick Lamar’s 35th birthday — Drake released Honestly, Nevermind. The house-music-inspired album carried the record “Massive,” featuring the salient melody, “I know my funeral gon’ be lit ’cause of how I treated people.” On June 19, two days after his 37th birthday, Lamar ensured those lyrics would never again be heard in a celebratory light.

Lamar’s Juneteenth concert, “The Pop Out,” wasn’t a funeral. Dubbed “Gangchella” on social media for its heavy focus on artists from various Los Angeles neighborhoods and gang sets, it was a lyrical and figurative declaration of allegiance, thus making Wednesday night a pivotal shift in Drake’s career. It also begs the simple yet complex question.

What’s next for Drake?

Of all the questionable decisions Drake made during the battle, perhaps the most baffling was attempting to use Lamar’s hometown against him. From fashion to social media, artificial intelligence and even on wax — Get more love in the city that you from, n—a, he rapped on “Push Ups” — Drake’s miscalculation played out on the world’s stage and directly into Lamar’s favor.

On the battle’s final punch, Drake waved a proverbial white flag on “The Heart Part 6.” By then, the venom of “Euphoria” was still very much potent. The vindictiveness of “Meet The Grahams” — released only minutes after Drake’s heater of a diss in “Family Matters” — made sure the beef hit a point of no return. And “Not Like Us,” had already become a firestorm he couldn’t extinguish. Wednesday’s concert for Lamar was yet another wicked display of bullying that made Drake’s loss all the more poignant.

Much like in 2015 with Meek Mill and certainly in 2018 with Pusha T, Drake’s supposed character flaws were the primary target of Lamar’s siege. Lyrics such as “Only YOU like being famous” (“Euphoria”), “Take that mask off, I wanna see what’s under them achievements/ Why believe you? You never gave us nothin’ to believe in“ (“Meet The Grahams”), “Your reality can’t hide behind Wi-Fi (“6:16 In L.A.”) or the ubiquitous A-minooorrr and the Atlanta-centric third verse bomb (“Not Like Us”) cut with a sadistic edge. Where Drake asserted dominance for years, reminding peers and foes of chart success or his bank account, none of that mattered to Lamar, a superstar in his own right.

Now, Drake sits in a position he’s never been in. The wave of disdain is inescapable given Lamar’s massive star power and the potency of the laundry list of improprieties levied at Drake. The issue with Lamar, as it was with Pusha T before him, wasn’t that Drake is biracial. How Drake viewed his Blackness became not just a topic of discussion but a weapon aimed against him. Punctuating that with an instant-classic concert streamed on Amazon Prime on Juneteenth is as calculated as anything Lamar has done.

“You are silent in all Black issues, Drake. You really are,” Pusha T said in an interview shortly after their spat. “You don’t stand for nothing. You don’t say nothing about nothing … You have all the platform in the world. You were so passionate back then? No, you weren’t… You gotta think about who a person really is. That’s why it’s OK for you to take that [blackface] photo like this. You don’t know where you stand at.”

“How many more fairy tale stories ’bout your life till we had enough?“ Lamar asked rhetorically during the beef. “How many more Black features till you finally feel that you Black enough?“

Listen to much of Drake’s music in the last several years, and much of it is based on moving wiser and more strategically than his foes. However, on the biggest of stages against the most dangerous of his enemies, Drake showed that the art of war is not his trump card. He was outclassed, outthought and out-barred, leaving him in quite an unfamiliar spot for himself, fans, and critics.

Drake attends a game between the Houston Rockets and the Cleveland Cavaliers at Toyota Center on March 16 in Houston.

Carmen Mandato/Getty Images

“Business as usual” isn’t an option for Drake. There’s no dropping a song or even an album, expecting that to erase whatever mistakes the past may be polluted by. After his spat with Pusha T, the dwindling quality of his music came louder and louder into question. But Drake continued to hold a viselike residency at or near the top of the charts. The stain of the past, though, haunted Drake. Fans relentlessly reminded him of the loss he admitted to taking on a 2019 Rap Radar interview. Drake continued to take not-so-veiled shots at Pusha T on records like Travis Scott’s “Meltdown” and Jack Harlow’s “Churchill Downs.”

This is wholly different. Lamar was not only the superior rapper in the battle. Lamar warped Drake at his own game with an anthem that’s already the song of the summer and the No. 1 song in the country. “Not Like Us” could be nominated for Song of the Year at the 2025 Grammys, likely among several other awards. At every social gathering and many sporting events nationwide, there are bound to be endless people partying to a hit record, calling Drake a pedophile, fake friend and “colonizer.” Outside of that exists records and no-turning-back bars attacking every fabric of his persona — down to surgically constructed abdominal muscles.

A constant theme in Drake’s music has been his part paranoia/part aggression toward the music industry praying for his downfall. Maybe it was jealousy or Drake’s own actions. Whatever the answer, those chickens came home to roost. There is no erasing that from the moment “Like That” was released in March, aside from The Game and Snoop Dogg, the rush to publicly support Drake’s defense was insignificant. In the most intense moment of his career, the greatest hitmaker in rap history was a man with no country and a general with no army.

It is essential to note Drake’s career is not “over.” He is still a “star.” Whatever direction he decides to undertake in music will be in demand. That being said, the value of a Drake feature (aka “the Drake stimulus package”) and single moving forward — once the most powerful commodity in rap — is unclear. Sexyy Red’s “U My Everything” and Snowd4y’s “Wah Gwan Delilah” were both released after the beef. Neither became major hits, and the latter was widely panned. Even Drake’s feature on the remix to 4Batz’s “date @ 8” in March was dubbed “lukewarm” by Billboard.

Nevertheless, the coveted title of the greatest of all time he chases is no longer in reach. The losses don’t eliminate Drake from such contention. His music becoming baseless, starved of motivation and deprived of meaningful creativity lately has done that. It’s how he moved in said clashes and how, at times, doltish those moves were. In hindsight, they come off even more so. As if they weren’t already, his lyrics will be dissected to an intense degree, and how he stood and fell against Lamar will be judged. Talking recklessly on records is par for the course in hip-hop. Yet, the moment Drake does so again — and it will — he’ll be reminded of how spring 2024 objectively changed the direction of his mammoth career. This logic, fair or not, will follow Drake.

“I like Drake with the melodies,” Lamar rapped on “Euphoria.” “I don’t like Drake when he act tough.”

As Lamar and seemingly all of Los Angeles took a victory lap, Crip and Blood-walking on the charred remains of the beef on stage at “The Pop Out,” so came the questions of when Drake would show face and in what fashion. Regardless, the rest of Drake’s career has already begun. His cultural cachet has never been under this sort of pressure, but where Drake goes from here is entirely up to Drake.

The only place he can’t go back to is what and who he once was. There is no escaping this. Not now, not ever. He can thank Lamar — and himself — for that.

Kendrick Lamar’s ‘The Pop Out’ concert turned hate into love

David Dennis Jr. — Thu, 20 Jun 2024 15:37:10 +0000

Six weeks ago, the Drake and Kendrick Lamar feud felt like it had turned the corner from a fun dream matchup of lyrics and wit to a nasty, joyless fight based on accusations, dark songs and discomfort. Drake dropped “Family Matters,” which accused Lamar of domestic violence. Minutes later, Lamar released “Meet the Grahams,” a brooding, hateful track claiming Drake had fathered a secret child. While the move gave Lamar the upper hand in the battle, it felt like we’d all lost some joy that we’d gained from the prospect of rap’s two biggest stars putting out their most driven music to prove who was the best.

Less than a day after “Meet the Grahams” hit the internet, Lamar dropped “Not Like Us,” and everything changed. The song was the final knockout blow to Drake. And on Juneteenth when he performed it five times to end Wednesday’s “The Pop Out: Ken and Friends” show, presented by Amazon Music, turning a track — and a moment — centered on his disdain for a rival rapper into a moment of unity. And love.

When it was announced that Lamar would host a concert in the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California, fans immediately began speculating about what Kung Fu Kenny would do at the show. After all, his dissection of Drake had been so strategic, calculated, and relentless that anything was possible. Would he drop a new song? Would he parade out every rapper who’s ever dissed Drake? Would there be a release of some new, devastating information about Toronto’s very own?

Lamar did none of those things. Instead, he performed his Drake disses interspersed between some of his biggest hits to create a show that rivaled any we’ve seen in rap and the best rap concert I’ve ever enjoyed through a TV screen.

But don’t get it twisted: He started with the Drake stuff. Namely, opening his set with the full six-minute version of “Euphoria,” his first full song in the battle. Artists usually don’t perform rap songs this long, especially those that are mostly just bars, at concerts. And they definitely don’t have the audience belting out every word. But “Euphoria” is different. It’s one of the greatest diss tracks ever released and full of lines like “what is it, the braids?” that are endlessly quotable. Lamar’s breath control during the show allowed him to articulate every line of the song with perfect inflection. And while “Euphoria” includes an endless barrage of Drake jabs, if you looked at the fans as they rapped along, they were screaming out lyrics with pure joy on their faces. Because Lamar’s concert was about more than a vicious round of attacks on an enemy. It was a celebration.

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Most of the show’s body was a trip down Lamar’s memory lane. He reminded us that he has always had hits and anthemic songs like “Money Trees” and “Humble.” The former came with a guest appearance from Jay Rock with the rest of Black Hippy, Schoolboy Q and AB-Soul, jumping in and out of songs for a long-awaited group reunion. Finally, we got a shock Dr. Dre appearance, which was the show’s only blemish as it’s another example of alleged abusers being platformed in moments that are supposed to promote ideas of Black unity, again putting all of us, especially Black women, in a place of having to overlook harm to get to the enjoyment.

After Dr. Dre exited the stage, it was time for the main event: “Not Like Us.”

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When Lamar dropped the song a few weeks ago, there was that dark cloud over the battle. If “Euphoria” was Lamar as rap’s big, bad boogeyman, “Not Like Us” was him as a gentle but dangerous giant putting the entire West Coast on his back, crushing anything in his way.

With one infectious, silly, playful song, Lamar turned the feud into a moment of joy. Yes, the song includes some of the most pointed and ferocious lyrics of the battle — besides asserting that Drake tried to colonize the Atlanta sound, Lamar also straight-up calls him a pedophile. But it’s also become something more than a track about Drake.

“Not Like Us” is a rebuke of culture vultures. It’s a song about reclaiming Black American culture from people who dive in, glean what they want from it, and try to steal it for themselves. It’s a song that evokes pride and joy beyond a simple one-on-one rap squabble. Yes, Drake was the bomb’s target, but the shrapnel of “Not Like Us” can land on anyone within a five-mile ideological radius. When the song was released, viral clips showed parties full of Black people joyously singing along, dancing and embracing. “Not Like Us” became a No. 1 hit and the song of the summer.

Lamar understood the cultural impact of the song. So he finished his set with five performances of “Not Like Us.” The first three seconds of the first rendition took the roof off the Forum as fans erupted having heard the song they showed up to sing along to — but Lamar stopped after the first verse. Then he started the song over and was silent as the entire crowd rapped every word. May I remind you, the song is 6 weeks old. The third time, he rapped the song with producer DJ Mustard on stage.

He did it again as the stage began to fill up with as many luminaries from all walks of West Coast life, from NBA ballers Russell Westbrook and DeMar DeRozan to rappers YG and Schoolboy Q and, yes, even Tommy the Clown. Lamar made it a point to mention that the stage was full of people from different sections of the LA area, representing different gangs, some of them rivals, all coming together peacefully and celebratory for a Juneteenth party. Then we got the song again. And again.

Even though Lamar was rapping about Drake, it didn’t feel like Drake was anywhere near the song anymore. Instead, the lyrics “they not like us” were a rallying cry for maintaining culture and identity in the face of those who try to take it away. It was a moment of triumph in a city where some of the biggest streaming events of the past few years were funerals for rapper Nipsey Hussle and Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant. It felt like a balm for a whole region.

The Pop Out concert, especially the ending, was a moment for Kendrick and the entire West Coast to remind us that they are bigger than their tragedies. They’re resilient in their peace. Unyielding in their happiness. They’re unwavering in their love of the culture and unabashed in their willingness to dance when joy is at their feet. These are the things they popped out and showed us.

Five times.

Five performances of a song that is the unofficial Juneteenth ’24 anthem. “Not Like Us” is a defining West Coast song that will never go away. It’ll be remembered for how it closed out Lamar’s victory lap over Drake. It’ll be remembered for the unforgettable moments and the dancing we saw on stage Wednesday night. But it’ll also be remembered as the song that turned a battle of negativity into a chance to remind ourselves that we are dope.

As Lamar and about 50 of his closest friends exited the stage at the Kia Forum, “Not Like Us” played one last time. It reminded us that while the song’s initial goal was to put the final nail in Drake’s proverbial coffin, Drake’s destruction is now a byproduct of a song that united, restored and reminded.

This is how a battle based on hate turned into an anthem that showed us love.

Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant continues his Nike Producer Pack sneaker series with music producer Bink!

Dan Resnick — Tue, 18 Jun 2024 12:19:56 +0000

Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant’s decision to feature legendary music producer Bink! in the most recent Nike KD17 Producer Pack shocked him. Before their joint studio sessions in the winter of 2023, the basketball star and rap beatsmith had no working or personal relationship. After those sessions with Durant, Bink! randomly got a cold call from Nike to inform him he would receive his own sneaker.

The quick bond between Bink! and Durant can be attributed to their shared passion for music, especially hip-hop. Bink! is known for grandiose, often soulful and hard-hitting beats despite staying largely under the radar after 30-plus years in the game. His résumé and discography span waves and generations. He’s crafted records with Jay-Z (“1-900-Hustler,” “Blueprint (Momma Loves Me)”), Drake (“You Only Live Twice”), Rick Ross (“Santorini Greece”), Dr. Dre (“It’s All On Me”) among many others.

The design of Bink!’s KD17 sneaker is a testament to the producer’s underrated and understated legacy. It features subtle flourishes that, when unwrapped, reveal Easter eggs related to his career, upbringing in Virginia, and personal history in music. Before the shoe was launched, Bink! spoke to Andscape about what it’s like to design a custom sneaker for one of the biggest brands in basketball footwear.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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How did the Bink! KD17 come about?

This was totally Durant’s idea. There was no pitch or anything of that nature. We recorded with 38 Spesh, Ransom, Durant and myself for a couple of days. It was a good session with a good vibe, but I didn’t think much about it. A few months later, Nike called me and said Durant wanted me to be involved with the Nike campaign. So I’m like, ‘OK, cool.’ So I’m thinking, ‘I wonder what kind of beat he wants for this commercial.’

I texted KD and said, ‘Yo, am I being catfished? Nike saying something about a Nike commercial.’ KD said, ‘Yeah, I’ll call you in a minute.’ So before Durant called me, Nike called me back, and I said, ‘So what kind of beat does Durant want?’ They were like, ‘Beat?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, what kind of music? What’s the vibe?’

From left to right: Music producers The Alchemist, Bink! and Metro Boomin headline the latest installment of Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant and the Nike KD17 Producer Pack.

Nike

He was like, ‘He doesn’t want a beat. He’s giving you a shoe.’ He had to break it down and give me the backstory on the Producer Pack they did previously with Cardo Got Wings, Boi-1da and 9th Wonder. The Nike rep told me [The] Alchemist, Metro Boomin, and I would be the new recipients this year. It was flattering and startling at the same time.

How long have you known KD? How did you and Durant get introduced originally?

I haven’t known KD for too long. When we did the recording session, it was my first time meeting him.

Did he reach out to you, or how did that all come together?

38 Spesh reached out to me. 38 Spesh and Durant are close, so they orchestrated that together.

What was your reaction when you found out that it was a sneaker?

I didn’t know how to feel about it because I never had a sneaker. So I’m like, is this s— real? What is this? What’s going on right now? So it took a long time to kick in, you know?

Nike

The green and gold accent colors are a callout to historically Black Norfolk State University, located in Bink!'s hometown. (Nike)

Nike

The Nike KD17 x Bink! uses a mixture of denim and leather to create a more durable sneaker. (Nike)

Nike

The name of music producer Bink!'s company, Humble Monsta, appears on the outsoles of the sneakers. (Nike)

So he didn’t give you any heads-up. You just got a call from Nike one day saying, ‘Hey, we need you to make a sneaker. KD selected you’?

That is why I called and asked him, ‘Yo, is this real or are you all playing with me?’ He didn’t even forewarn me, so I was like, ‘What the hell is going on right now?’

Once you found out what you were doing, what were the next steps in the process?

We started doing the layout last June. We started doing a bunch of Zoom meetings and stuff like that to assist me in designing the shoe.

Did they tell you what shoe you were going to be doing?

Yeah, they told me that whatever the design of the KD17, we would have full creative control in making our own custom pair of those.

How does it feel that you have a KD sneaker coming out?

Listen, bruh, I’m still really trying to process it all. It hit me a lot at the photo shoot in Cali, and it was just some really dope production. It was amazing.

The heel of the Nike KD17 x Bink! includes an illustrated hand sign representing Virginia.

Nike

What are some of the elements that you added to your custom design? I noticed your signature on the side and an icon or logo on the back.

That’s a Virginia thing. That’s two up, two down, which is VA. That’s what we throw up to represent where we are from. I wanted to make it a Virginia shoe.

But I selected everything. The colors were a mixture of the high school I attended, Maury High School in Norfolk, Virginia, and then Norfolk State, which has a marching band I grew up adoring. I loved to listen to them at their football games. My mom would take me to the parades and the football games to listen to the band. And I’m just an earth-tone guy. It’s a mixture of those three things. That’s how I came up with the shoe design.

Very nice. And how about the ‘Easy’ on the heel?

Oh, that’s Easy Money Sniper. That’s KD’s stamp right there.

The ‘Humble Monsta,’ that’s you?

That’s me. That’s the name of my company on the bottom of the shoe.

Are there any other details we missed?

It has a beige sole with orange speckles, and brown denim is on the ankle collar. The detail that you may not notice is that the hands on the back of the shoe are a tattoo. It’s identical to a tattoo I’ve had on my arm for years. I sent them a picture of [my tattoo], and they put it on the shoe.

Music producer Bink! was featured in promotional images for the Nike KD17 Producer Pack.

Nike

And the translucent sole is so you could see the Humble Monsta? Is there any other significance to that? I also noticed the back almost looks like basketball leather.

Right. And that’s what it is. It uses denim, leather, and then almost like mesh. I love those type of shoes because they’re hard to get dirty. Wipe it down, and you should be straight, you know? You can have that shoe for a long time unless you’re that hard on the shoe.

You said you wanted to create a long-lasting shoe, and you’ve been involved in hip-hop for 31 years. Does the sneaker’s longevity tie in with your own?

I’m absolutely representing staying power. It’s a blessing to be in something this long, still relevant, and not lose a step.

And since you’re affiliated with Metro and Alchemist, it’s like three different generations of producers in some ways.

Alchemist and I are in the same class. We came in around the same time. Metro is the new blood, but I’m in great company, you know?

How do you feel about being affiliated with KD after just knowing him for a short time? He is obviously from the DMV area as well. Is he somebody you’ve been a fan of? When did he first get on your radar?

When he first came into the league, maybe a little before, it was a phenom to be that tall and handle the ball like you’re 5 feet 10. That’s crazy. I always thought he was a phenomenal basketball player, so for him to recognize me for my craft, like I recognize him for his, was an honor.

How many pairs will you keep for yourself and your family?

I’m making sure I get them all a pair, but I just need two pairs, one pair to put up and one to put away to never touch again.

It’s for the archives and the museum, right?

Yep, that part. It’ll be right next to my drum machine.

Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’ could be the next great sports anthem

Keith Murphy — Fri, 07 Jun 2024 12:27:27 +0000

On an early May evening, Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Gavin Lux made his way to the batter’s box in the third inning against the Florida Marlins as rapper Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” blasted from the speakers. As walk-up music goes, the acclaimed Compton, California, lyricist’s KO of Drake — which was punctuated by a deeply personal battle — was eyebrow-raising. Lanier “DJ Severe” Stewart, the Dodgers’ musical director in charge of song placement, was initially apprehensive about playing the bruising song.

“I’m a fan of both Drake and Kendrick. I wanted to tread lightly because I didn’t know how controversial ‘Not Like Us’ was going to get in terms of the lyrics,” Stewart told Andscape. “But the song kind of built up on its own because now that Gavin and other players [around the league] have requested it, I have free license to play it.”

Yet hardly anyone imagined “Not Like Us,” a show-no-mercy diss track, being tapped as the next omnipresent sports anthem, potentially joining such beloved jock jams as Queen’s “We Will Rock You,” Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train,” Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock’s “It Takes Two” and Usher’s “Yeah!”

In just a month, Lamar’s song, which was produced by DJ Mustard, has already become a go-to crowd-pleaser for Stewart. Dodgers resident DJ Fuze has used the track to get fans fired up during pregame warmups. Even acclaimed Dodgers organist Dieter Ruehle added the chart-topping song to his traditional playlist.

Lamar has long been embraced by the Dodgers faithful. Now the Pulitzer Prize-winning artist, who is as well known in LA’s culture as Pink’s Hot Dogs, lowriders, and Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, scored a mainstream hit that has gone beyond the late Dodgers sportscaster Vin Scully’s sacred baseball cathedral.

TNT used “Not Like Us” during its NBA playoff broadcasts. The song has been played in arenas across the NBA, from TD Garden in Boston to the Target Center in Minnesota (shout-out to Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards). The Las Vegas Aces, the WNBA defending champs, have added the anthem to their playlist, as have the Chicago Sky and the Seattle Storm.

The Michigan Wolverines, the 2023 College Football Playoffs champions, seemingly took sides when they used “Not Like Us” as the soundtrack to their 2023 season. And overseas, Lamar’s song was played during the Feyenoord Rotterdam soccer match in the Netherlands.

Rapper Kendrick Lamar performs at Life Is Beautiful 2023 on Sept. 23, 2023, in Las Vegas.

Christopher Polk/Billboard via Getty Images

“‘Not Like Us’ works at every level,” Stewart said. “Sports are very competitive. People like to talk crap to the opposing side. Everybody is going to take hold of that ‘they not like us, they not like us‘ chorus. It’s a very direct song. It’s basically declaring to the other team, ‘You ain’t on my level.’ “

And it’s not just the pros. On social media, followers of marching bands at historically Black colleges and universities have been abuzz over potential arrangements for “Not Like Us” in the upcoming football season. Fans have even posted potential drum major choreography and marching band sheet music.

For Jana Lynn Walker, Florida A&M graduate and former piccolo player in the universities’ famed Marching “100” band, “Not Like Us” has all the makings of an HBCU game-day staple. Walker co-hosts the X Spaces series After Hours, which breaks down The Joe Budden Podcast and envisions Lamar’s song becoming a homecoming favorite.

“From the beginning fanfare that would be emblazoned by the brass and woodwind sections, supported by the backbone beat by the percussion to the sousaphones driving that bass line, the song has the ability to turn a crowd into a community,” Walker explained. “HBCU bands uniquely keep the spirit of the Black culture experience alive through music, and with Kendrick’s ‘Not Like Us’ showing its cultural relevance as well as being a smash hit, playing it is not only a no-brainer, but a welcomed gift to the repertoire.”

Sports anthems date back to “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” the seminal baseball sing-along first penned in 1908. Fast-forward to 1977, when Chicago White Sox organist Nancy Faust heard fans at Comiskey Park singing the chorus of the 1969 hit “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye,” after a four-game sweep of the Minnesota Twins. After that, she began playing the song when an opposing pitcher was removed from the game and soon, “Na, na, na, na, hey hey hey, goodbye!” became a familiar chant at sports events. The modern-day sports anthem was born.

Today, it’s unimaginable not to hear Guns N’ Roses’ “Welcome to the Jungle” roar throughout NFL stadiums, whipping fans into a frenzy amid kickoff, or witnessing NBA revelers wave their arms from side to side as Naughty by Nature’s celebratory “Hip Hop Hooray” fills up arenas. There’s a communal element to great sports anthems, as the best often transcend generations. Frankie Beverly and Maze’s 1981 classic “Before I Let Go” is just as popular as Juvenile’s 1998 jam “Back That Azz Up” on the HBCU marching band playlist.

Then there are the evergreen songs, Metallica’s “Enter Sandman,” and the White Stripes’ moderate hit turned global soccer stadium battle cry “Seven Nation Army,” which have become so synonymous with sports that you forget they had a previous life. This is why “Not Like Us” is so different from what Stewart described as the “low-hanging fruit” of jock rock spectacles.

“I try to find songs that are different from the norm,” said the veteran Dodgers DJ, whose playlist includes everything from 1960s guitarist Jimi Hendrix’s “Fire” and Cameo’s 1976 funk jam “Rigor Mortis” to tejano singer Selena’s classic “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom” and rapper Skee-Lo’s self-effacing gem “I Wish.” “I like to pull the older crowd in first, but I don’t want to make it so easy for them. I want the fans to pay attention even when a team is getting cooked,” Stewart said.

It remains to be seen if “Not Like Us” will inspire the sports anthem delirium of, say, Tag Team’s 1993 “Whoomp! (There It Is),” a surprise crossover for the group, peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. With more than 4 million copies sold and several high-profile television commercial placements, Cecil “DC the Brain Supreme” Glenn and Steve “Rolln” Gibson have lasted well beyond the duo’s one-hit wonder status.

“Our bread and butter is performing at halftime shows, NBA arenas, NFL stadiums, first pitches at the MLB, and now we are working on NHL third-period performances and the upcoming World Cup,” Glenn said. “Because ‘Whoomp! (There It Is)’ is worldwide universal.”

As for “Not Like Us,” Tag Team is rooting for Lamar to join them in the pantheon of sports anthem royalty. “It’s right in your face: it’s catchy,” Gibson said. “Whatever key ‘Not Like Us’ is in, it’s exciting. When you hear that sound it triggers something like the House of Pain’s ‘Jump Around.’ There’s something magical between Kendrick and that beat.”

42 Dugg is chillin’ ahead of new album: ‘I don’t feel no pressure. I know I’m going to be OK’

Jessica McKinney — Fri, 31 May 2024 12:24:33 +0000

“I’m focused,” 42 Dugg said sternly over the phone. Even through the receiver, his tunnel vision is evident, and the silence that follows his declaration only amplifies his determination.

Born Dion Marquise Hayes, Dugg’s renewed drive is undeniably fueled by two significant events: his release from an 18-month prison stint in late 2023 and his forthcoming album, 4eva Us, Neva Them, set to drop soon. This album marks his first solo release in three years and his first project since the collaborative mixtape Last Ones Left with EST Gee two years ago.

Although he has dropped several singles, including “Wock N Red” and the most recent summer anthem, “Win Wit Us,” Dugg’s delayed releases have been noted by both fans and his mentor and CMG label boss Yo Gotti.

“I’ve learned a lot of lessons from [Gotti], but the latest one has been to release the music. He been on me heavy about that,” the Detroit spitter told Andscape. “I just be taking my time. But he was like, ‘You ain’t drop in years.’”

Now, the moment is almost here, and 42 Dugg hints that fans will experience different sounds and vibes from his new project. While there will be more “turnt” tracks, including a collaboration with Sexyy Red, the album also features vulnerable records reflecting on his time behind bars.

42 Dugg spoke with Andscape before the release of 4eva Us, Neva Them, where he shared stories behind the making of his album, his thoughts on rap beef, and teased unreleased music featuring Playboi Carti, Veeze, Lil Baby, and more.

Our conversation has been lightly edited and condensed.

42 Dugg’s new album marks his first solo release in three years.

CMG Records

How are you feeling? Your album is dropping soon, so I’m sure you’re excited.

Yeah, I am excited. Right now, we’re tweaking the last little mixes, hearing everything, and making sure everything is good. We’re definitely excited for y’all to listen to it.

You announced the title, 4eva Us, Neva Them. What inspired that name?

Just being from Detroit. Where I came from, everybody felt like it was us against the world. Detroit vs. everybody. I put a little spin on it.

You’ve helped boost Detroit’s position in the game, but do you still feel like people exclude your city from conversations about dominant rap scenes?

I wouldn’t say counting out. It’s just easily overlooked. But right now, it’s the best it’s ever been for Detroit [rap].

Do you feel any pressure with dropping this new album or to continue putting on for Detroit?

I don’t want to say pressure, but I always want to do my best for the fans. I feel like pressure for myself to just do better. But as far as everybody else, nah, I don’t feel no pressure. I know I’m going to be OK.

Let’s talk more about the album process. When did you record this project?

I’ve just been recording it since I got out. Some songs I got on there are from before I got out. I just recorded it since I got out at my house, wherever I’m at. Miami, wherever.

How much music did you record over this time?

30 to 40 songs.

How did you narrow it down to a concise project?

I went with how I felt.

“Win Wit Us” dropped on May 16, and it sounds like it could be in contention for song of the summer. Is there a story about how that came together?

I was at home, and we were just talking about different stuff. You know how different people pop out of nowhere? Somebody was talking about that, and then I listened to the beat, and I was just like, “They wanna win with us.”

What would you say is your favorite song on the album?

My favorite song is probably this song called “Need You.” It’s really sentimental and deep. Those be my favorite songs.

What’s the message you want people to take away from “Need You?”

It will make people think about the people they lost, the people they miss.

A clip of you and Sexyy Red shooting a music video has been circulating on social media. What can you share about that collaboration and video shoot?

Sexyy Red was just turnt and dancing. She’s real cool.

It seems like a perfect collaboration because both of you make pretty energetic music. Did you discuss the possibility of working on more music in the future?

Yeah, for sure. I’m in a car, telling her my different ideas about what we should do going forward.

You mentioned liking the more sentimental records. Are you interested in collaborating with an R&B artist on a romantic song?

For sure. I’ve been trying to think about doing slow songs. I wanted to do them on this album, but everything is moving so fast. We could really get to where we needed to. But I got a few songs with Jacquees and stuff like that.

At your Welcome Home concert in January, many people said you helped squash the beef between rap groups Team Eastside and Doughboyz Cashout. Why was this an important moment, and why was it important that it happened at your show?

It was an inside Detroit thing. It was like you always had to pick sides. They were constantly pitting the two groups against each other. So I said, how about we just settle it on stage through music? Shake hands. Yeah, it was cool. I wouldn’t necessarily say I ended the beef. I just ended the conversation of who’s better.

It was a great moment for Detroit and rap fans, though. What are your thoughts on rap beef today? We just witnessed one of the biggest ones between Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar.

It was necessary as far as competition goes, and it’s good for music. It’s tricky, though, because people have to choose sides.

Would you like to share anything else about the album process? Do any other memories come to mind?

It came together being around my family and friends and the different emotions and feelings we all went through. I just kind of put them into the music—about how I was feeling in jail, stuff like that.

You seem like you have a great support system. Did you feel love from the fans and industry at large?

Yeah for sure. Even Sexyy Red with her baby daddy being locked up. She was telling me they’d play “Free Merey.” I love hearing that type of stuff because that’s the type of feeling I was trying to get.

Playboi Carti shared a video on Instagram Stories when you, Playboy Carti, Veeze, and Lil Baby were in the studio. Do you guys have any songs together?

We always making music. We got about ten songs altogether.

When are you planning to release any of them?

I’m waiting like you!

What Kendrick Lamar taught me about facing my enemies

David Dennis Jr. — Thu, 30 May 2024 15:16:02 +0000

Kendrick Lamar has spent the last couple of months airing out more than a decade of built-up tension and ill will he’s had for his rap rival, Drake. Lamar has dropped five diss records since the end of March, with three coming in rapid succession over the course of a weekend. He’s channeled all that aggression and animus into a tactical takedown of rap’s biggest star in the most embarrassing, public way possible. Lamar has had four diss records chart on the Billboard Hot 100 (three in the top 10), calling Drake a phony, a liar, a master manipulator, a man who has issues with his Blackness, a deadbeat father, a gambling addict, and someone hiding an 11-year-old daughter. Much of the rap world has crowned Lamar as the man who runs the genre and shut down his nemesis, carving up someone he’s hated for years in a public humiliation.

Through it all, I’ve vacillated between aspiring to be like Kendrick Lamar and envying him for the way he’s punished someone he feels so strongly about. I’ve dreamed about wanting to inflict this type of embarrassment and harm on people I despise, but watching the fallout from Rap’s Big Feud has made me reconsider.

Let me explain.

There are a handful of people in the world who I actively hate.

Former friends. Former family members. People I once trusted. And people who have felt the comfort of cold silences and passive aggression for years. The thing they have in common is an acute ability to gaslight to the point that they can pretend any act of vengeance would be unprompted. But I know what they’ve done to me. And I know what they deserve.

If you’re reading this, I’m sure you’ve been here, too. The problem with these cold wars is that the person who finally pushes the button to heat things up looks like the unprompted aggressor. So we wait. We wait for the moment the enemy slips up and reveals themselves deserving of our wrath. But when you wait too long, that desire to attack begins to eat at you. Until that anger becomes part of you.

I find myself creating fictional interactions where I’m prompted to unload on the people I despise. Where I can finally tell them — and, honestly, the world — how I feel and why these people deserve the bad things my particular wrath would bring to their lives.

“Euphoria” felt like Lamar finally exhaling something that had been sitting in his lungs for ten years, burning on its way out.
David Dennis Jr.

When I’m in the shower, I let the water wash over my face while I mouth what I’d say to my enemies if the moment came when their plausible deniability disappeared, and they did the thing that allowed me to be my most brutal self to them.

I’ve dreamed about it. A lot.

But I’ve also spent the last few weeks thinking about Drake’s retreat and where that leaves Kendrick Lamar. Professionally, Lamar will probably bask in his victory — there’s a rumored “Not Like Us” video dropping soon — before fading back to his life of calm in between albums. He’ll still have to weather some of the rumors from the feud, namely Drake’s allegations that Lamar abused his partner. Though, admittedly, the burden of responsibility to deny isn’t as heavy for Lamar, considering Drake is the only source of the rumor. Still, a subset of fans will always demand answers from the Compton MC. Lamar will also have to reckon with his own musical contradictions, namely his willingness to get into rumors, mud-slinging, and moralizing about the treatment of women to tear down Drake even though Lamar featured Kodak Black, who plead guilty to first-degree assault and battery of a high school girl in 2021, on his last album, Mr. Morale And The Big Steppers.

These controversies will, for the most part, blow over as Lamar has arguably become rap’s new top dog. It’ll be interesting to see how the rapper who said, “Only you like being famous,” to Drake on the diss record “Euphoria” has now become as famous as Drake and maybe as famous as any rapper has ever been, thanks to the beef that has been the pop culture story of 2024. Lamar’s next album will be as anticipated as any album in rap history. It will likely be brilliant, as he hasn’t given us any reason to expect otherwise.

These predictions are good fodder for barbershop debates and discussions about the state of hip-hop.

What I’m fascinated by is what’s on Kendrick Lamar’s heart and how he’s caring for it.

It’s clear that Lamar has had a deep disdain for Drake since their cold war started a decade ago. As the two traded subliminal jabs, Lamar’s always seemed to contain a deeper vitriol that warned that if/when he and Drake butted heads, it would be a no holds barred fight. When Drake told his rival, “Your sh– is not that inspiring,” Lamar would snarl on beats and drop lines like, “They liable to bury him, they nominated six to carry him,” alluding to Toronto, known as “the Six,” where Drake resides and the idea that he’ll one day die because of their feud.

Lamar carried on like this for years. Every project — from his albums like DAMN and signature “Heart” freestyles to the Black Panther soundtrack — had a handful of disses and warnings aimed at Drake. But it was unclear how much animosity Lamar had built up for all those years until he unleashed his first full-throated diss, “Euphoria,” a few weeks after Drake’s first direct salvo, “Push Ups” dropped. While Drake was rapping about Lamar’s shoe size and his record label earnings, Lamar was saying things like, “I hate the way that you walk, the way you talk, I hate the way that you dress,” in a song that ripped Drake for wanting to appropriate Black American culture and for his feuds with Black women. “Euphoria” felt like Lamar finally exhaling something that had been sitting in his lungs for ten years, burning on its way out.

On “Not Like Us,” the final song of Lamar’s barrage, he raps that he has five more songs recorded to diss Drake. But a few days after its historic release, Drake had seemingly removed himself from the fight. “This sh– was some good exercise,” he rapped on “The Heart Part 6,” his last song in the feud.

I wonder how Lamar reacted to his opponent backing down and what he feels now, having only released half the songs he’s recorded to let the world know how he feels about Drake. Two of the unreleased songs are rumored to be particularly devastating, but Lamar has already said a lot about Drake — enough to nearly snuff out his superstardom or at least put some clouds in the way of his shine. But knowing he still has twice as many songs in the vault makes me wonder if Kendrick Lamar is content with his victory or if the points at the end of the final nails in the Drake coffin still poke at his flesh. Does he still write lyrics about Drake in his notebook? Is there closure?

It wasn’t until I started thinking about the aftermath of the Kendrick Lamar and Drake feud, particularly the former’s reaction to his victory, that I started thinking beyond my revenge fantasies for those I wanted to aim my own “diss records” toward. I started thinking about what would happen to me after I’ve said what I had to say. When I’ve confronted, fought, embarrassed, humiliated, or even ruined the people I feel deserve it. I don’t know if I’d stop playing out future arguments in the shower. I don’t know if I’d hold on to that hope that they’d ask for it again so I could unload any new slights or deeper cuts. I don’t know what victory would even feel like in matters of emotional violence.

I’d always thought that blasting my enemies would free me of those things I held deep inside. But when I think about Kendrick Lamar and what he’s still holding and what he may or not still be feeling about Drake, I wonder if the sweetness of his victory is accompanied by the freedom from his ill feelings. I’m not gonna lie: despite what my therapists, friends and confidants tell me, I still want to hit people with my own version of “Euphoria.” But I also know it won’t bring me the peace I thought it would. I have to release that on my own. I don’t envy Kendrick Lamar anymore. I envy those who know how to find release without dropping the bombs first.

I have to want something more than clapbacks, disses and aggression. I have to want the same thing I want for Kendrick, Drake and everyone carrying the weight of disdain for an enemy.

I have to want to be unburdened by the weight that bogs us down and keeps us knee-deep in mud. My freedom depends on it.

The Kendrick Lamar and Drake feud is over — or at least it should be

David Dennis Jr. — Sat, 04 May 2024 20:10:53 +0000

The moment every rap fan has been waiting for finally happened: On Friday, Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s battle came to a climatic explosion of songs. The day started with Lamar’s “6:16 in LA,” which was followed by Drake’s seven-minute barrage “Family Matters,” which Lamar quickly chased with a six-minute gut-punch called “Meet the Grahams.” The songs gave us rap’s two biggest stars at their most biting, most determined to win and most nasty. The feud has gotten more personal than anticipated, and Lamar’s execution feels like he landed the most impactful blows. The night would mark one of rap’s most unprecedented moments and a fight we’ll discuss for years. But due to the devastating nature of each rapper’s allegations and lyrics, it’s probably time for the diss records to stop — or at least go back to the type of rhyme battle this started as, if that’s even possible.

We’ve been waiting for Lamar and Drake to air out their grievances for a decade, ever since Lamar called out Drake on Big Sean’s “Control” in 2013. The two have been trading subtle jabs since, and it was only a matter of time before we got a full-on battle. The fight would always happen — think Manny Pacquiao versus Floyd Mayweather, which boxing fans demanded for years — the two best in the world circling each other with rap fans anticipating the eventual matchup. But unlike the boxing match, Drake and Lamar are meeting in their prime. Their jabs are as crisp as ever, and their haymakers are still to be feared.

At the start of this battle, it was clear Lamar had a plan. Each song he dropped left a breadcrumb for a later one and a hint that a big left hook was waiting. Drake’s responses, especially his poorly executed “Taylor Made Freestyle,” which used artificial intelligence to mimic Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg’s voices, have felt more off-the-cuff and reactive. That tension between calculation and spontaneity played out Friday as the day started with Lamar’s “6:16 in LA.” He posted the song to Instagram along with a zoomed-in picture of a pair of Maybach driving gloves and spent three minutes alleging Drake can’t trust his friends and he has leaks in his camp. The song, again, was precise and sent the internet on a scavenger hunt to find hidden meanings: Did 6:16 refer to Shakur’s birthday, Father’s Day, the date “Euphoria” aired, Bible scriptures or any other theory hip-hop Reddit could uncover? The song made it known that Lamar at least had an idea of what Drake was planning, and it was all because his inner circle wasn’t so inner: “Are you finally ready to play have-you-ever? Let’s see / Have you ever thought that OVO is workin’ for me?”

“6:16 in LA” dropped days after Lamar’s “Euphoria,” making it two records in a row. This flipped Drake’s most famous victory, his 2015 “Back To Back” moment where he released two consecutive songs dissing Meek Mill. Lamar also continued his deep character analysis and deconstruction of Drake. Still, it felt like he was holding something back, promising there was more he wasn’t saying.

As the day went on, it seemed inevitable that we’d hear Drake’s response sooner rather than later. DJ Akademiks, the Brian Windhorst to Drake’s LeBron James, alluded to something happening. And as we crept closer to midnight, the response felt inevitable.

In Friday’s late hours, Drake unveiled a seven-minute music video called “Family Matters,” where he unloaded on everyone from Rick Ross to The Weeknd and A$AP Rocky. In a vacuum, this song would be one of the strongest diss records of all time as each of those artists caught serious heat from Drake (“I ain’t even know you rapped still ’cause they only talkin’ ’bout your ‘fit again,” he hilariously tells A$AP Rocky). But those were appetizers. The song would always be made by what he would say to and about Lamar.

“Family Matters” is some of the best rapping Drake’s done in his career. He knew he was up against the premier lyricist of our era, and he stepped up tremendously. “They shook about what I’ma say, but textin’ your phone like, ‘We already won,’” he raps with a command of the beat that flexes why he’s more than the singing and dancing pop act Lamar has tried to portray him as. The song isn’t without some cringeworthy moments, not the least of which is the line, “Always rappin’ like you ’bout to get the slaves freed,” as a pejorative. It’s just an odd line to employ, especially as many of the jabs aimed at Drake focuses on his relation to Blackness. It’s also reminiscent of his “whipped and chained like Black American slaves” line from last year’s “Slime You Out.”

That line was buried, though, by so many of the other noteworthy moments in the song. Drake used “Family Matters” to levy some major accusations at Lamar, namely that he abuses his partner and that his child’s father is supposedly Lamar’s longtime collaborator and business partner, Dave Free. The song had everything that a knockout blow in 2024 requires, for better or worse: accusations, tea, lyricism, wittiness and vitriol. The song should have been the talk of the weekend.

But, again, Lamar was ready. Mere minutes after “Family Matters” dropped, Lamar released his second diss record of the day with “Meet the Grahams.” This time, the album art is the same as “6:16 in LA,” but the image is zoomed out to show alleged prescriptions to Ozempic and other medications in Drake’s name. The song features a haunting beat by Alchemist (the producer supposedly sent it to Lamar without knowing what it’d be used for) that has the Compton, California, MC in a near-whisper taking turns addressing everyone in Drake’s family, from his son to his mother, his father, and an alleged 11-year-old daughter Drake kept a secret.

The song is not enjoyable to listen to and doesn’t feel like it was intended to be.

Hearing “Meet the Grahams” feels like listening to a terrifying voice note meant for one person to consume. Lamar opens the song, talking to Drake’s son Adonis telling the 6-year-old, “Dear Adonis, I’m sorry that that man is your father, let me be honest / It takes a man to be a man, your dad is not responsive.”

Lamar follows with more revelations and accusations, this time claiming Drake and his label, OVO Sound, are involved in sex trafficking. He even compares Drake to Harvey Weinstein, the former film producer and convicted sex offender. This was it. This was everything Lamar had been alluding to in his previous songs, and it was uncomfortable to hear. The sheer power and viciousness of “Meet the Grahams” and the timing, adding to the belief that Kendrick had access to people in Drake’s camp, overshadowed Drake’s release.

And it felt like the definitive victory for Lamar.

The adrenaline from Friday — rap’s biggest luminaries trading diss records in real time — was exhilarating. It was one of the most exciting nights in rap. But we’ll be left with some tough realities when that rush wears off. The allegations the two men levied at each other — domestic violence, sex trafficking, general mistreatment of women — are severe. And it’s even more troubling to address when each man’s feigned concern for women falls apart under interrogation. Drake raps like he’s appalled by Lamar allegedly beating women in the same song he shouts-out rapper Chris Brown and after years of defending Tory Lanez, who shot Megan Thee Stallion. Lamar can talk about his concern for women, but that falls flat when he used his last album as a way to platform Kodak Black, who had been accused of raping a high school girl before pleading guilty to a lesser charge of first-degree assault and battery in 2021.

Neither man has any moral high ground when it comes to this issue. They just sound like they’re parading out Black women’s trauma to one-up each other in a hypermasculine rap feud. And it will only serve to have rabid fans digging up dirt on the women who get name-checked in each song while also looking up clues to identify an unnamed 11-year-old girl who may or may not exist.

This is how rap feuds go, of course, with women as props for male rappers to insult one another. And it’s a trope that’s as tiresome as it is unnecessary, childish and harmful for no reason. Shakur did it to Faith Evans when he dissed Biggie. Jay-Z did it to Carmen Bryan when he went at Nas. And Pusha T did it to Sophie Brussaux when he dissed Drake. Rappers sling mud, reveal dark secrets, and go for the proverbial death blow, with women being both the nuclear bomb and the collateral damage.

If this is the final stage of this feud, then we’ve seen enough. It’s over, and it’s time to call it anyway. Lamar out-rapped and out-executed Drake from beginning to end — that’s hard to debate. But we’ve also veered so far away from what we came here for — a battle of lyrics and wit — that there’s no point in continuing.

We’ve had our heavyweight fight. We’ve had a night we won’t forget. If Drake and Lamar want to return to show who can rap better, let’s do it. But we may have strayed too far into something else, something too personal entirely, and it doesn’t feel like the next moves will be fun.

Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Euphoria’ diss to Drake sets the stage for rap’s next great feud

David Dennis Jr. — Fri, 03 May 2024 12:27:00 +0000

A few weeks ago, I wrote about Kendrick Lamar’s “Like That” verse, where he dissed fellow rappers Drake and J. Cole. In that piece, I related Lamar’s desire to be the greatest, no matter who it upsets, to Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant’s desire to be better than his peers. Since then, Drake has released a pair of his diss records, “Push Ups” and “Taylor Made Freestyle,” baiting Lamar to respond. So on Tuesday at 8:24 a.m. West Coast time, a clear homage to Bryant, Lamar tweeted out a link to a full-fledged, six-minute onslaught of insults aimed directly at Drake’s neck. The song, “Euphoria,” and his follow-up, “6:16 in LA,” which dropped early Friday morning, makes it official: the top two MCs of their class are in a musical tug-of-war to see who will come out on top. Right now, though, they’re holding their Big Jokers close to the vest while trying to control the narratives about how the battle will be won. With the release of “Euphoria,” we know that Lamar is ready for a full-on, no-holds-barred roasting session, and he’s going to cut deep. The battle is officially on.

“Euphoria” is a chaotic surgical dissection of Aubrey Graham. It’s at once playful — Kendrick talking about how much he likes Drake’s singing and wanting him to keep doing that is hilarious — and venomous. Lamar layers insult on top of insult. Some of them are as direct as possible: “I hate the way that you walk, the way that you talk, I hate the way that you dress, I hate the way that you sneak diss.” Other insults take longer to decipher, like when Kendrick says, “V12, it’s a fast one,” he’s not talking about an engine, he’s actually talking about a machine that helps people lose weight, referring to the rumored cosmetic procedures Drake has had in recent years.

The challenge of dissing someone as culturally omnipresent as Drake is that we’ve already heard it all. He’s one of the most memed rappers ever, having already weathered Pusha T’s allegations that he is an absent father and Meek Mill’s claims that he uses ghostwriters. Recently, Rick Ross dissed Drake by repeatedly calling him a “white boy,” and clowning his private jet. So grabbing a unique insult was always going to be a challenge. But Lamar takes all the low-hanging fruit and adds something to each one.

For instance, instead of calling Drake “white boy,” Lamar insinuates that Drake uses Black culture — specifically Black American culture — as a costume for fame. “How many more Black features till you finally feel that you’re Black enough?” he asks Drake on the song. When Lamar says that he doesn’t think his opponent likes women, it’s not a jab at Drake’s sexuality. It’s about his history of insults and feuds with women. And beneath the surface of it all are the veiled threats that he’s willing to talk about Drake’s history of interactions with underage girls that are questionable at best. Like the double entendre of the word “pacify” in the line “you make music that pacify ’em.” At more than six minutes long, “Euphoria” is sensory overload and lyrically dense.

His follow-up, “6:16 in LA,” released via Instagram, is a calmer, kinder open-heart surgery. The song is another warning to Drake that he has disloyal friends in his circle, and Lamar has dirt on the Toronto rapper that he’s unafraid of scooping up and dumping on the world. And he did it all over multifaceted bars that will take days to dissect.

Throughout both tracks, Lamar slips in and out of pockets and styles, using multisyllabic internal rhymes and metaphors to construct a song that’s as blistering as it is layered.

Frankly, they’re the type of songs Drake has never seemed to be able to pull off.

This isn’t a slight to Drake, who is a great rapper in his own right and can make great music without the lyrical flexing Lamar does. There aren’t many artists in the world who can put words together like Lamar.

Drake certainly tried. After “Like That” dropped, Toronto’s own responded in 21 days with “Push Ups,” but it was light work instead of the knockout blow some were hoping for. Drake had to respond to Lamar but didn’t want to play his entire hand. So he decided to toss in sophomoric insults about Lamar’s shoe size and height, which are fair game and entertaining enough, before talking about Lamar owing half of his publishing to his former label, Top Dawg Records. Drake followed it up with “Taylor Made Freestyle,” which employed AI versions of Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg to diss Lamar. The song was mainly a troll, a play on social media to bait Lamar into a response. It seemed like Drake was just checking off the boxes required of him so far: He had to respond to Kendrick in some fashion, especially after the embarrassment of bowing out of the Pusha T feud without a definitive comeback. However, the tenor of his battle with Lamar would always be predicated on how aggressively the Compton, California, MC would approach the battle and how Drake would have to respond.

For now, that’s where the battle is being held, with the two megastars fixing their narratives to convince fans of how they should determine a victor.

“Push Ups” is fought on Drake’s home turf, where he raps about publishing deals, topping charts and who holds the most power in the industry. It makes sense for Drake to want to keep the fight there, as his chart numbers are untouchable. So when Rick Ross claims to have more money than Drake, it feels hollow and unbelievable. Lamar knows this and isn’t concerned about fighting about charts and money (“only you like being famous,” he raps on “Euphoria”). He said as much on “Like That” when he said, “Prince outlived Mike Jack,” alluding to the fact that artistic respect was more important than record sales to him.

My artistic preference leans toward Lamar’s version of this beef. I don’t care about the rappers’ record deals or who has the most hits. I care about who will deploy the most masterful teardowns of their opponents. And these teardowns need to be set to music. Drake won’t win with memes and social media jokes. His destruction of Meek Mill was complete, thanks to two great diss songs and a shrewd understanding of the internet. Those social media accouterments won’t work in this battle. This is about music. And now it’s Drake’s turn to show that he can make the music that makes rap’s lyrical demigod bleed.

Even if Drake fails, he will try, showing him at his most motivated to prove doubters wrong. So, at the very least, we get new music from two of rap’s biggest stars who are determined to be their best. When the dust settles, both of their careers will be fine. They’ll both be safe.

It’ll be us, the fans, who stand to benefit from the same type of competition that rap was built upon. For now, we wait. because it’s only going to get better.