why kendrick won the beef

you know you see the the the horay and Hur about it the fact that hip hop hasn't been uh Shake shaking up in a long time you know when in 2024 has any musical moment made as much of a splash as the Kendrick Lamar like that [Music] verse appearing on future Metro boomman we don't trust you album in March the first took direct aim at two of the biggest and most well respected rappers in the modern hip hop landscape Drake and Jak Cole alongside Kendrick Cole and Drizzy occupy semi-comfortable spots in the iconic big three debate for the modern era each having come up around the same time collaborated with one another and carved out spots for themselves in hip-hop history but unlike that Kendrick dispelled any notion of friendly competition or equal footing he argued that he is undeniably the greatest dared Drake and Cole to challenge him for that spot and in the process set off an allout War within hip hop the weeks after were flooded with dis tracks some overt and others subtle Rick Ross had a hilarious song going after Drake Kanye had an embarrassing like that remix attempt jcole would reply to Kendrick with a disc only to backtrack days later and apologized for it and of course Drake went on the offensive taking on these seemingly countless people in the industry who had it out for him Chief among them Kendrick Lamar all the while Kendrick laid low there was radio silence and Minnie started to question if he would even respond until of course he did the very first time I shot me a drake the homie I told me to aim it this way I didn't Point down enough today I show you I learn from those mistakes uploaded to Kendrick's YouTube account on Tuesday April 30th is a 6-minute Goliath of a song directly aimed at Drake with clever bars in Woody punchlines all of which come together to form a formidable track for Drake to overcome and while we could debate on if Euphoria is better than either of Drake's disc records push-ups or tailormade freestyle what interests me most about this song isn't specifically Kendrick shots at Drake instead it's how this track functions on two different levels of course as a surface response to Drake but also as an advancement of the Kendrick Lamar story Kendrick is one of those few musicians who has crafted an overarching narrative through his artistic body of work his debut studio album good kid Mad City told the story of Lamar as a youth navigating street life and trying to rise above his environment to pimp a butterfly was Kendrick's story of finding self-fulfillment through becoming a leader for others dam was a record all about Kendrick struggling with that new found leader status and the insecurities he felt Underneath It All and Mr moral the big steppers was a kind of finale to the last decade of Kendrick's career where he firmly rejected any exalted status presented himself as just another human struggling in a difficult world and revealed some of the most personal information any rapper ever has on a record and while I think it's easy to look towards Kendrick's current streak of hip-hop cont conflict as something removed from his wider musical Story doing so ignores one of the more fascinating components of Kendrick's recent output how it expertly fits into that narrative from an outsider's perspective I can understand how Kendrick's confrontational attitude as of late might seem to be at odds with his journey Mr morale in much too short of a summary is a record about finding self-acceptance through forgiving others Kendrick across the album learns to opt a more compassionate and empathetic Persona as he discovers all people are truly reflections of one another there's even a direct line referencing Drake in that album where Kendrick says it was mature for he and Kanye to settle their differences albeit briefly in 2021 so how can Kendrick seek out to fight with Drake if he's made all this progress to distance from the more aggressive side of himself well we can find the answer to that question on a line from like that in the verse that started this all Kendrick wraps quote my temperament bipolar I choose violence a clear and concise explanation as to why Kendrick despite the growth showcased on morale is still going after Drake Kendrick is presenting himself not as some Noble individual defeating Drake in a lyrical battle but instead highlighting how his attack against the rap Mega star is symbolic of a deeper internal conflict in himself between Kendrick Lamar The reformed person and Kendrick the selfish rapper who wants all the smoke and all the Acclaim Drake has become a character in Kendrick's story an antagonist of sorts that brings out a darker side of Lamar and nowhere is this more apparent than on Euphoria across the track Kendrick takes clear aim at Drake through an endless stream of double on tandas and witty onliners cutting deep into the character and pride of rap's greatest hitmaker yet Kendrick effortlessly underpins this all with subtle nods to his individual story and what it means for him to be going after Drake the title of the track itself in its dual meanings sets the stage for Kendrick's internal confliction Euphoria referring all at once to Kendrick's present state of spiritual elevation in a post-m morale world and to the Bliss of his lyrical domination over Drake in the title alone Kendrick shows us the righteous and the vindictive the wicked and the weak as Kendrick's own Dam might have outlined it 7 years ago Forever The Gemini Kendrick becomes a man Torn Between Two Worlds and consumes his verses in struggle against the self sometimes he's choosing kindness and holding back other times he's embodying the ultimate hater he'll deliver like compliments onto his peers only to outright threaten them a bars later and this conflict for Kendrick as outlined on morale is something he sees mirrored in the lives of others his personal regressions and unhealthy methods of coping symbolic of universal experience it was through this framework that Kendrick found peace on Mr morale as he realized his individual struggles were part of wider human conflicts learning to accept the faults of himself and of others as a direct consequence and you can believe it's something we see plastered all over Euphoria although Kendrick doesn't seem to gather any big conclusions about healing or generational curses from it this time this is a song consumed in other people Gunna W andw Melly Terence Crawford and more all of these individuals become embodiments of Kendrick's Journey building on the concepts of Mr morale in a subtle way quietly driving home the idea that all people are connected and reinforcing this concept that Euphoria far from being at odds with our modern conception of Kendrick Lamar is just a difficult chapter in his musical narrative it's no mistake that each of Kendrick's disses to Drake here are rooted in points made by other people some have criticized this track for a lack of new angles through which Kendrick attacks Drizzy but in drawing on the lines of Rick Ross Future push a te and more Kendrick further frames this track not as some random Outburst but as a universally human moment of aggression and unhealthy coping yes the references are fun but they serve a very real purpose the most genius moment of the track to me from a conceptual angle comes at the start of Kendrick's second verse he lights up the song Here hopping on a propulsive and instantly iconic instrumental and from a first listen you'd assume this marks the true start to Kendrick go going in onake he throws out lines about wealth and status and Street Credibility all stuff that could be read as coming from the perspective of Kendrick as he tears down his opponent but this first segment of the verse separated by a notably whiny delivery in flow could just as easily be read as coming from the perspective of Drake Kendrick embodying his rival on the song reading the verse this way it comes off as false posturing Drake admitting two past failures trying to seem tough and throwing shots at Kendrick in a song that drives the biggest of wedges between two of rap's modern great there's still clear work being done to link them together and show their similarities how Drake and Kendrick Echo one another in strange ways now Kendrick did something similar to this on the Heart part five using expertly written bars with multiple meanings on that song to embody the perspectives of others and show again the universality of experience how Kendrick's life and the turmoil of it wasn't something he grappled with alone but the difference here is that the deeper meaning and commentary of this lyrical technique now goes largely ignored this isn't a Kendrick looking for peace or self-fulfillment this is a Kendrick looking to fight and he could care less about the deeper lessons lying underneath the surface lessons he deliberately laces into the track yet still chooses to ignore the heart plays and ways the mind can't quite figure out in the days since Euphoria first released many have expressed disillusionment with the track feeling it wasn't worth the wait didn't dig up enough dirt about Drake Etc and while I personally love this song and feel it fulfills almost all my expectations for a Kendrick disc in the first round of this ongoing battle I can somewhat understand how I first listen might leave some unsatisfied these are older angles bits of information that have been out about Drake for some time and for as well presented as they are there's only so much damage Kendrick could do with these topics of focus but if you're one of those who heard this song and felt it didn't meet expectations I encourage you to take a closer look at it sift do the lyrics not only as thought towards a specific Target but as an advancement of the Kendrick Lamar narrative doing that has allowed me to see this track as not just a well-crafted disc record but as an expertly devised song one that I don't believe another rapper could make in a year's time much less in a few weeks that's the reason Euphoria is going to stick with me Beyond this summer beyond the 2024 beef cycle because more than a turning point in this battle it marks a pivotal moment for Kendrick Lamar as a person that and it's just a damn good diss track it ain't even got to be that deep I [Music] guess hi guys if you come to the channel often you probably know that I usually pop up at at the end of my videos just to issue a big thank you to you all for watching and of course massive thank you to you guys this time as well I worked super hard on this essay and I'm very happy that y'all chose to watch it but I'm kind of here today in a little bit of a different capacity because surprisingly in the time it took me to make this video which was like 3 days um a lot has transpired there have been more diss track scent the beef has evolved and uh I kind of just have to address it I guess had a few closing thoughts and talk about how the recent developments have affected you know the video that you guys just watched so I am filming this on May 4th uh about 20 hours exactly after the release of Kendrick Lamar's meet the grams and Drake's family matters two songs that are kind of the nuclear level disses we've been getting told about for weeks now in the sense that each track brings up a lot of personal business and allegations for each rapper that if proven true will forever radic change the way we look at either of them Kendrick or Drake and I will just say at this point we have like no additional information so I cannot speak to if either side of this beef is telling the truth or anything like that if there's any validity to these allegations if there are that's a totally different conversation which we will have to have in the weeks to come but as of right now I really do not have anything to add there I am just as unsure of stuff as everyone else is anyone who tells you that they know anything for certain is lying to you um we're still waiting on receipts so what I will speak on is how the three diss tracks released yesterday have affected the video essay I wrote and just Kendrick's Euphoria in general um and I want to talk about if I still stand on what I said in that video essay and if these recent tracks have changed anything which spoiler alert I don't really think they did if anything they strengthen the arguments I made in that video um but I but I do want to explain why exactly I believe that is the case as I'm going to assume youall already know my main thesis in that video is that Kendrick Lamar's Euphoria functions as more than just a drake disc and actually continues The Narrative we saw on Mr Mar the big steppers where Kendrick learned to overcome his personal trauma and internalize pain through connecting himself to the lives of others seeing himself and his own imperfections as mirrored in other people and so I said that Kendrick's Euphoria is a very good embodiment of that lesson on morale because on the track Kendrick makes a lot of references to different people showing the universality of experience how you know the lives of others reflect in our own and also he mirrors himself to Drake in a lot of ways um while Kendrick definitely does not like Drake and does not see them as being all to similar there's a lot of work being done on that track to show how the two have commonalities as just flawed individuals and how the two embody this kind of universal experience of masking their pain with confrontational ISM or vice or whatever so that's my interpretation of euphoria and like I already said these last two diss tracks if anything only strengthened that interpretation for me I don't exactly want to talk about these tracks one by one mostly because I feel like I will probably talk about them again in the future and also that would just take way too long but all around these are two songs that show Kendrick in further confliction with himself struggling to apply the lessons he learned on Mr morale and also balance that with the very confrontational version of himself who feels like Drake needs to be taken down and taken care of and so I feel like I can cohesively articulate that um with some thoughts I wrote down so I'm just going to read those off real quick um so we can all get out of here and have a great rest of our day unless like five more diss tracks drop tonight and then I don't even know what I'll do at that point so Kendrick tried to heal others by revealing generational curses on Mr morale he tried to set others free by opening up about his own issues but Drake is someone Kendrick sees as the ultimate big step and the ultimate fraud tab dancing around the horrible stuff he has going on behind the scenes allegedly so Kendrick is taking Drake to task letting his confrontational side get the better of him a bit definitely regressing in some ways but also putting some of the lessons seen on M morale to work Kendrick definitely tears into Drake on this song but he also leaves the door open for Drake to come back from this he encourages Drake to go and work on himself and do a lot of the self-reflection that Kendrick did on Mr morale and in that way I would say Kendrick again is seeing a lot of his own personal faults reflected in Drake even if he sees Drake as very deplorable and very different from him Kendrick is still like hey you know I've had issues too I think you need to work on yourself I think we all as people need to work on ourselves and overcome kind of some of the stuff that we like to repress and so that is becoming the overarching message of this entire beef at least from Kendrick's side um and it is textbook what we saw on Mr morale and it is exactly what we saw in Euphoria so not really surprised to see it again I do want to close out by just mentioning the most explicit moment we've gotten so far of Kendrick acknowledging that this entire beef is a continuation of Mr morale which comes to us on a really telling line from 616 in La which I am going to read now so in that line Kendrick says quote God my confession is yours but who am I if I don't go to war there's opportunity when living with loss I discover myself when I fall short essentially here Kendrick is saying I know I've done this work and I've kind of overcome the more confrontational side of myself but I feel like I have to get this guy and even if this entire moment reflects really poorly on me and my spiritual progression you know in the past my shortcomings have been a means for me to grow so maybe this will all be for the best those four bars to me are the most telling from this entire beef because they perfectly lay bare just all of what Kendrick is feeling right now and how this is kind of a moment for inner tal for him one that we saw subtly presented on Euphoria but we are now seeing more overtly presented and I'm sure Kendrick you know people are saying he's not done he's going to come back with more stuff maybe more diss tracks or maybe a full project in the near future no matter what it is I am positive that Kendrick will be speaking on this more and we will be able to piece together a more Clear Vision of what exactly Kendrick is feeling right now the stuff that Euphoria only hinted towards so that's really all I have to say on the additional two diss tracks that Kendrick released as of right now um again we're still waiting on further information if the stuff said on either the Drake diss track or the Kendrick Dis Track is true we have a lot of stuff to talk about and unpack I am kind of sad to know that the essay I wrote when this beef was a lot more just competitive based is now kind of you know not going to gel exactly with where the beef is at because it's become so personal and so dark and so uncomfortable but I am here for the art and Euphoria still stands as its own piece of art and this essay is only about Euphoria so I still stand on what I've presented here um as always like I said thank you guys for watching I really appreciate it this essay was a lot of work in a very short amount of time and I hope that my dedication to the craft of making video essays and of celebrating great art even on a time crunch has shown through I am in the process of moving right now so you know this was a lot of work dumped on me at a very busy time but I was able to get it done and I'm super proud of myself so I hope you guys like I said really did enjoy it a very special thank you thank you to all my patrons it is y'all support that keeps this channel going and of course a very big shout out to all my patrons and the shout out tear special thanks to Ana Robin onx Sophie vot Adrien r31 Alex Mirabal and Grace oh and also the podcast is definitely still coming I just obviously had my attention focused elsewhere this week with the Kendrick beef so yeah expect that either next week or the week after okay I think that is everything as always I have been Ellie you have been wonderful and until next time bye

Channel: Making Media Matter

Views: 151,933

Keywords: rap, drakevskendrick, metroboomin, future, likethat, euphoria, ovo, theweeknd, theneedledrop, shawncee, meetthegrahams, theheartpart6

Id: QwC2ssxQNH8

Length: 20min 27sec (1227 seconds)

Published: Tue May 07 2024