Who Lost The Rap Battle Of The Century?
Drake. Drake lost. After a week of chaotic music releases from two of the biggest artists in the world the dust settled with Lamar reigning victorious in the court of public opinion (as well as my opinion). But what I found most interesting about this battle were the types of insults that these artists decided to hurl at each other. They were mostly insults directed at the person and often the manhood of the other. This was no longer “That’s why I f*cked yo b*tch you fat mother-“ or rumors of prophylactics and booster seats. This instead was a battle questioning the soul and manhood of another man with lines including parental care, sexual assault and domestic violence. A market change from a No Vaseline or Truth, the insults were no longer from a place of hypermasculinity, homophobia and murder, but rather telling another man that he is not a good father, or that his sexual relationships are at the least inappropriate or otherwise violent.
I will admit that I was reading The Will to Change by bell hooks at the time of this beef (a book on love written by hooks with men specifically in mind) so my lens skewed much more feminist than usual, as I battled with my own role in the imperialist, white supremacist, capitalist patriarchy. As such, view this piece as a meeting of the two worlds of my blog, part book synopsis and part hip hop commentary. I guess I shoulda been loved this jam (*holds for applause at my witty joke).
The most damning accusation hurled by Drake was that Kendrick Lamar is a domestic violence abuser, and has perpetrated this violence against his long time fiancé Whitney Alford. While this critique of Kendrick may be seen as shaming the Compton rapper for the patriarchal act of exhibiting power in a physical manner, it has an unbalanced effect on the victim of abuse. Bell hooks writes of domestic violence, within a man who plays into the patriarchal schema, as always just below the surface. The violence and unhappiness of men is a key component to the patriarchy which often exhibits itself through domestic violence. It is thus the patriarchy which needs to be expelled from a mans conception of self in order to diminish such a show of power (or lack thereof). However, the patriarchy as a system is implicated in the interpersonal once legality is placed on top of it. Under Illinois law (where I currently live, however I am unsure of other jurisdictions), children can be taken away from a mother who is a repeated victim of domestic abuse. Witnessing domestic violence is a form of child abuse with multiple studies showing the deleterious effects it has on children, but I am unsure that blaming the victim of domestic violence for their inability to escape a cycle that often takes 7-9 attempts is the correct legislative response. As such, what Drake has done in implicating Kendrick in such an act is shaming the man, but could have the consequence of ripping children away from their mother as well. As such, who is the true loser in such a case? The woman and children implicated, not Kendrick (if Drake’s claims are true which is made harder to believe by other false claims).
One of the through lines of Kendrick’s several diss tracks was the accusation that Drake was a bad father. From the verse starting “Dear Adonis” (when I knew things were taking a turn), to a supposed second hidden child. A man disparaging another man for poor parenting skills is interesting in the context of patriarchal masculinity. Bell hooks describes that male parentage is hindered by patriarchy in that patriarchy forces a man to believe lies about himself regarding the things he likes or loves and forego foundational aspects of personhood in order to fit a provider narrative. Think of the stereotypical father who works, but provides zero emotional support/connection to his children and partner. It is once again, not until patriarchy is expelled from the personhood of a man that he can then become a good father by turning away from defining himself by patriarchy and aligning himself with the things that are truly right for his soul.[1]However, looking even deeper hooks discusses how children are often used as a pawn in patriarchy. She explains how often women/mothers are not able to exhibit power upon their male partners and as such turn to children as an outlet for these frustrations.[2] Similarly, it seems to me that Kendrick used Adonis as a pawn in trying to attack the child’s father. With lines such as “it takes a man to be a man, your dad is not responsive” and “I wish your grandpa would have worn a condom” over the scariest Alchemist production ever. Ultimately, who will these lines affect negatively? The 37 year old multi-millionaire or the 7 year old Kendrick is directly addressing? Once again children are implicated in this battle between men.
The implication of children is not only coming from my own pepe silvia-esque ramblings, but is also in plain sight with both Drake and Kendrick making child sexual assault claims. Kendrick launches the attack at Drake with information that most hip hop fans already knew (the kissing of a 17 year old on stage, the weird relationship with Millie Bobbi Brown, Baka having a weird case). The question is why are these allegations just now seemingly having an affect on the Toronto rappers career. Is it because it wasn’t until now that the allegations were made by a man of power? If so, hip hop needs to check its values. Also, if Kendrick is sitting on additional information on child sexual assault to be used in one of his 10 additional diss tracks instead of reporting it to the police, his values must also be examined. However, this examination is not one way. Drake misinterpreted a song about generational trauma to mean that Kendrick had been sexually assaulted as a child, as a barb. This shows a true coldness toward the emotions of young boys which is implicit in patriarchy[3] (as well as a fault in critical thinking). In each of the instances where these men attacked the others masculinity it seems that the true losers in the implications were either women or children.
It seems to me that the true winner of this battle is capitalism. With Not Like Us going number one on the bill board charts and several other songs from the feud appearing in the top 10, it seems that the conflict was profitable. While I am sure these multi-millionaires will see some benefit from these records, the true windfall belongs to the record labels. These record labels profit from a conflict, the outcome of which would have no impact them. Maybe it’s the current military industrial complex devastating Palestinians and Congolese children, but profiting from battle, rap or real, is not sitting with me well. I am not the only person whose spirit this battle did not sit well with.
J. Cole bowed out of this battle before it truly began because it did not agree with his morals. He did so as, probably, the current forerunner of the big three conversation. This is likely the hardest and most radical decision made by any of the three men involved. The Fayetteville rapper had to know that deciding to forego lyrical violence to align with his own values was going against the patriarchal system which dominates hip hop and thus would bring further attacks on his legacy and manhood[4] However, bell hooks writes of the redefinition of masculinity and the protection of the male soul as the fore front of tearing down patriarchy.[5] She was a firm believer that it was not masculinity that was the enemy, but that patriarchy was the enemy and by getting rid of the true enemy men would be able to know themselves outside of what patriarchal society ascribes to them, to know themselves in an integral way and truly love themselves and others. It is this peace that we as men should be striving for, it is this redefinition of self which is the truest and heaviest lift. It may not always be respected in the moment, but may be respected in hind sight. Look at all the memes and internet apologies which are dedicated to J. Cole having peace in a time of hip hop turmoil. And while memes and the internet are largely fake, may I point to the recent real life footage of J. Cole enjoying a day at the beach while his colleagues are burning with anger and vitriol. Love yourz.
[1] “Only a father capable of being whole can have the integrity to acknowledge ignorance to his son without feeling diminished”
[2] “Some women direct their suppressed anger against men they feel are weak or vulnerable- their sons for example.” “Yet it may be that very powerlessness in relation to grown men in patriarchy that leads so many women to exert emotional power over boys in a damaging manner”
[3] “The first act of violence that patriarchy demands of males is not violence toward women. Instead patriarchy demands of all males that they engage in acts of psychic self-mutilation, that they kill off the emotional parts of themselves.”
[4] “Currently sexist definitions of male roles insist on defining maleness in relationship to winning, one upmanship, domination” “it is no easy task for men to rebel against patriarchal thinking and learn to love themselves”
[5] “Men caught up in the logic of patriarchal masculinity have difficulty believing that their souls matter… Men need to hear that their souls matter and that the care of their souls is the primary task of their being