"These are my peers, my ilk, who I AM ABOUT TO MURDER"
― OH MY GOD HE'S OOGLY (DJP), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 21:16 (eleven years ago) link
It comes off less "I think these rappers are shit" and more "I think these rappers are my yardstick"
― lex pretend, Tuesday, 13 August 2013 21:19 (eleven years ago) link
Lex is right. He is a) pointing out his group of peers, and b) positioning himself as their leader. The interesting question would be why he did not mention Schoolboy, Ab-Soul or even Danny Brown, who are all closer competition than, say, Tyler. I get that the ones he picked are more likely to be recognized by the general public and more commercially viable in general, but it still seems like a weird omission. Why not include his own crew in this circle of competitor-friends?
― longneck, Tuesday, 13 August 2013 21:22 (eleven years ago) link
Well it is still part of a rap verse. Does it have to be all encompassing?
― MarkoP, Tuesday, 13 August 2013 21:30 (eleven years ago) link
today's rap doesn't have proper footnoting
― OH MY GOD HE'S OOGLY (DJP), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 21:31 (eleven years ago) link
i don't think Danny Brown is really anybody's competition, or at least any more significantly than Timmy The Maker.
― some dude, Tuesday, 13 August 2013 21:36 (eleven years ago) link
thomas the tank engine
― rap steve gadd (D-40), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 21:40 (eleven years ago) link
― OH MY GOD HE'S OOGLY (DJP), Tuesday, August 13, 2013 5:31 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
we have rapgenius for that now, so yay?
― "Dave Barlow" is the name Lou uses on sabermetrics baseball sites (s.clover), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 21:52 (eleven years ago) link
this verse is whatever and it's not even a diss
― k3vin k., Tuesday, 13 August 2013 22:06 (eleven years ago) link
Yeah I didnt get much dissing from that idk
― Hooks on Phoenix worked for me (Spottie_Ottie_Dope), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 22:07 (eleven years ago) link
it's definitely a boast rather than a diss, I just think it's funny that it's causing garment-rending
― OH MY GOD HE'S OOGLY (DJP), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 22:08 (eleven years ago) link
what dan said. Internet is being OMG KENDRICK ON TEH WARPATH about this is confusing. Solid verse obvs.
― blinded by aggro (forksclovetofu), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 22:20 (eleven years ago) link
half expected there to be a thread on this
― ty based gay dead computer god (zachlyon), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 23:15 (eleven years ago) link
92Q played the whole thing 3 times in a row, WKYS played "ether" and then played kendrick's verse
(as i drove home from work)
narratives too, old djs talking abt the old days and how this guest verse is going to liek singlehandedly "bring hip hop back", it just sounds like nostalgia imo
― ty based gay dead computer god (zachlyon), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 23:17 (eleven years ago) link
as the wet blanket on many such occasions, i gotta say i see nothing wrong with people being excited about this. it's a fun verse! his delivery on "MUFUCKA I SELL IT!!!!" is absurdly entertaining.
― some dude, Tuesday, 13 August 2013 23:21 (eleven years ago) link
what am i doing wrong where i'm only seeing people be grumpy about the hype and not the hype. i am clearly not following the right people.
― da croupier, Tuesday, 13 August 2013 23:22 (eleven years ago) link
it's just a bummer to be told to calm down about a verse before i even knew it existed
oh to be clear i really enjoyed my ride home tonight. i enjoyed old hip hop heads sounding so EXCITED. i don't think there's anything wrong with nostalgia.
sorta wish i could actually pay attention to jay elect's verse tho, maybe it's good
― ty based gay dead computer god (zachlyon), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 23:24 (eleven years ago) link
the silly thing is JE's verse probably would've sounded good in between Sean and Kendrick, there was really no reason to leave him out to dry at the end there
― some dude, Tuesday, 13 August 2013 23:27 (eleven years ago) link
yeah k's verse obviously should've been last anyway?? it's weird.
― ty based gay dead computer god (zachlyon), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 23:28 (eleven years ago) link
they def hurt jay by positioning him that way
totally on board w/ Al on this one. Fun song, felt like it injected some life into the corny JUST FRIENDS vibe of current rap
although the return-fire disses better be a lot better than joell ortiz's. The main problem is that no one wants to ACTUALLY diss kendrick, no one wants to get under anyone's skin, they just want to rap in complicated ways about how they are the best.
i want to see people take the gloves off, imo
― rap steve gadd (D-40), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 23:31 (eleven years ago) link
i said this in a piece i wrote about it but this is about to turn into a bunch of olympians diving for the judges rather than a bunch of wrestlers clamboring into the ring. i def prefer the latter situation when it comes to rap music
― rap steve gadd (D-40), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 23:32 (eleven years ago) link
gunplay should go at him
― sisilafami, Tuesday, 13 August 2013 23:37 (eleven years ago) link
kendrick literally says "i respect y'all" in his verse. the kiddie gloves aren't coming off
― k3vin k., Tuesday, 13 August 2013 23:38 (eleven years ago) link
It's amazing that "competition" is such a foreign concept in rap right now that people are shocked a rapper suggested he wants to be better than his peers. I think that's where most of the backlash is coming from.
It's a great verse, though.
― Evan R, Tuesday, 13 August 2013 23:43 (eleven years ago) link
Kind of interesting how Kendrick makes the verse fit his persona. It's a battle verse in structure, delivered on his own non-confrontational, neutral-territory Sweden terms, so it doesn't feel like he's casting himself as something he's not
― Evan R, Tuesday, 13 August 2013 23:46 (eleven years ago) link
I also think he tapped a hunger for golden-era one-upsmanship that a lot of contemporary, "we don't need nostalgia" rap fans didn't realize they had. It's also fun watching people reconcile that.
― Evan R, Tuesday, 13 August 2013 23:48 (eleven years ago) link
thought the whole thing was terrible tbh
― r|t|c, Tuesday, 13 August 2013 23:53 (eleven years ago) link
i don't particularly want this song to inspire any diss records, or more 'competitive' rap -- i dunno where you guys have been that you think rappers saying they are the best/want to be the best has been scarce. he basically says the same kind of thing that you could find in a dozen other songs by himself, kanye, cole, drake, all these other post-jay wannabe kings of rap, only difference really is he names names, although i don't think the naming names itself makes the song better or even more an act of aggression per se.
― some dude, Wednesday, 14 August 2013 00:01 (eleven years ago) link
radio caller said that this would raise the WHOOOLE game, all those rappers he called out will suddenly... become better rappers cause they were called out, which, lol (can u imagine drake trying harder)
but kendrick does always sound to me like he wishes he was in the early/mid 90s and he's lonely no one else wants to play his game. should really stop calling it a diss track
― ty based gay dead computer god (zachlyon), Wednesday, 14 August 2013 00:09 (eleven years ago) link
idk i feel like in the buddy-buddy my-cosign-will-help-you-crack-my-demographic type shit it's nice to just have dudes competing rather than guesting for branding purposes
― rap steve gadd (D-40), Wednesday, 14 August 2013 00:11 (eleven years ago) link
i don't get how this is that much different than Drake doing his little "watch me take it" shots and then having Jay photo ops and Kanye concert cameos to make sure people know it's not that serious. you know Kendrick is gonna be on new songs w/ damn near everybody he named in the next 6 months. like literally half of all rappers spitting constantly rap about being the hottest/greatest, it's only when they're really in contention for the title that people talk about who they're putting themselves above.
― some dude, Wednesday, 14 August 2013 00:18 (eleven years ago) link
xp does kendrick really think of j cole and wale as his "competition" tho, like if he's really trying to place himself next to nas
― ty based gay dead computer god (zachlyon), Wednesday, 14 August 2013 00:24 (eleven years ago) link
well that's a semantic question, he's saying he's already on nas's level and has left the coles behind or at least is aspiring to that, just depends on whether you're taking him at face value or figure he knows he's kind of inflating things for fun.
― some dude, Wednesday, 14 August 2013 00:26 (eleven years ago) link
― some dude, Tuesday, August 13, 2013 7:18 PM (9 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
fwiw i like when drake does it too although i wish he'd name names
and there is something backhanded about the exclusions in kendrick's lists fwiw ...
― rap steve gadd (D-40), Wednesday, 14 August 2013 00:29 (eleven years ago) link
i mean, also, kendrick raps circles around drake
there's this part of it that just strikes me as standard backpacker vs pop rap ranting that people aren't really latching onto. could've called out every indie crit rapper he used to get lumped in with, instead he chose the most successful recent freshman listees and drake. if he's treating these guys like he's the head of the A-list but they're not even on that list, not a lot of people are going with that. also he's like buddies with half of them lolol
― ty based gay dead computer god (zachlyon), Wednesday, 14 August 2013 00:30 (eleven years ago) link
he's trying to find a cross between 'skillful, craft-oriented rappers' and 'actually popular.' i think that's a fair goal for a rapper of his particular tradition. i don't think its 'backpacker vs. pop'. its basically him vs. all the other current successful rappers who aspire to the same vague approach to hip hop
― rap steve gadd (D-40), Wednesday, 14 August 2013 00:35 (eleven years ago) link
i kinda just assume kendrick just wrote what he felt like writing and put in the first names that popped into his head without doing some special checklist -- guys like kanye or wayne that aren't on that jay/em/nas lyrical pedestal but aren't in his immediate circle of newer peers just didn't fit into the 2 categories he talked about, doesn't mean he needed to be more thorough or think about their feelings, shit doesn't matter.
― some dude, Wednesday, 14 August 2013 00:37 (eleven years ago) link
yeah i mean thats the other thing hes not a damn rap historian, hes a rapper, who basically just mentioned his friends
i mean why else would he mention (fellow LA resident) tyler the creator but not someone like idk danny brown
― rap steve gadd (D-40), Wednesday, 14 August 2013 00:49 (eleven years ago) link
OH SHIT KENDRICK BEEFING WITH DANNY BROWN
― ty based gay dead computer god (zachlyon), Wednesday, 14 August 2013 00:50 (eleven years ago) link
i realize SD might also be responding to my implication that the exclusions are backhanded but i do think that implicit in the diss is the idea that if you weren't mentioned you don't matter but that's more for his peers, IMO, than legends like Tip or Wayne. Although I still think it's kind of odd he wouldn't consider them
― rap steve gadd (D-40), Wednesday, 14 August 2013 00:53 (eleven years ago) link
yeah i suppose it's meaningful in a inkblot kind of way. but it also makes sense to me how Kendrick would see himself in the lineage of Eminem and Jay but not T.I.
― some dude, Wednesday, 14 August 2013 00:57 (eleven years ago) link
i always thought T.I. was a dude who saw himself in that lineage ... i mean for awhile ppl were calling him the jay of the south or whatever
― rap steve gadd (D-40), Wednesday, 14 August 2013 01:05 (eleven years ago) link
yeah...i think a lot of the status afforded to Jay or Em (or even Wayne) is that they kept making blockbusters even after the fell off, and T.I. ended up without that kid of longevity at that level. obviously doesn't mean much about music, but it has let him gradually slide out of those conversations.
― some dude, Wednesday, 14 August 2013 01:14 (eleven years ago) link
all i typed was "k" in youtube search box and it suggested this
― johnny crunch, Wednesday, 14 August 2013 01:16 (eleven years ago) link
i guess ill listen to it
― johnny crunch, Wednesday, 14 August 2013 01:18 (eleven years ago) link
did Paul McCartney really tell him he was a black Beatle?
― President Keyes, Wednesday, 14 August 2013 01:23 (eleven years ago) link
im trying to imagine being a music writer having to generate a thousand or something words on this
― johnny crunch, Wednesday, 14 August 2013 01:29 (eleven years ago) link