Commentary: Drake and Kendrick Lamar's rap battle is defining hip-hop’s future

NEW YORK: If you’ve spent any amount of time on the internet in the last couple of weeks, it would be nearly impossible to avoid these two names: Kendrick Lamar and Drake.

No. At the time, hip-hop was being blamed for being too dangerous and poisoning the minds of the youth during congressional hearings. The genre became so ingrained into popular culture that when its 50th anniversary was celebrated in 2023, critics wondered if it had assimilated into the mainstream so much that it completely abandoned its subversive, progressive, sociopolitical roots.At first glance, the Kendrick-Drake battle might simply seem like a face-off between two of the genre’s most talented acts, but it’s more than that. They represent diametric visions of hip-hop’s future.

Things started off relatively tamely after Kendrick declared war with a guest verse on Future and Metro Boomin’s Like That, which hit number one on Billboard’s Hot 100 in April. Drake responded by using the bouncy Push Ups to joke about Kendrick’s height, the critical dip in sales of his latest album Mr Morale & the Big Steppers and allege that he was being extorted by his mentor.

Both artists deployed misogyny and homophobia, using women as ammunition to take down one another instead of treating them like human beings. It spurred discussions about why hip-hop hasn’t evolved past the tired trope.

Source: Entertainment Trends (entertainmenttrends.net)

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