If you’ve been living under a rock. . .
By now you’ve all heard how Philly’s own Meek Mill launched a Twitter firestorm against Drake the other night, claiming the OVO captain has been using a ghostwriter for his material.
The supposed penman goes by the name Quentin Miller, and we’re still trying to find out if there’s any truth to Meek’s claim.
Drake finally issued somewhat of a response last night, when fellow rapper Hitman Holla (Gerald Fulton Jr) posted a direct message conversation he had with the Canadian emcee on Instagram.
There are a few questions that beg to be answered before the dust finally settles here. What role does Meek’s girl and Drake lablemate Nicki Minaj play in all of this? If it’s true that Drizzy gets help writing, how big a deal is that, really? Not to mention – there have been countless rappers that have used ghostwriters (Dr. Dre, Lil Kim, Diddy to name a few), is Meek gonna call out everybody???
Why rap needs this. . .
Battle raps are one of the building blocks of hip hop culture, and for that reason alone we should all have our fingers crossed that this war-of-social-media turns into a full fledged battle between two of the top emcees in the game right now.
The 90’s had the notorious (pun intended) feud between Pac and Biggie. The 2000’s had Jay Z and Nas. Rap has been peppered with countless other ‘battles’ between lower profiled artists for decades, but for casual and mainstream listeners, those conflicts barely register a ripple in this genre’s vast ocean.
In an era that features some of the most watered down lyrics and subject matters in the history of rap, the game needs this. It’s not about violence or hate, but about bravado and skill. If these two can do this — and do it the right way — they’ll bring back a whole slew of fans that have lost faith in the music that they once loved.
Think Nas’ Ether. Think Kendrick Lamar’s verse on Control.
So I’ll still check Twitter and IG for the next round of this championship bout, but here’s to hoping that this will transfer over into real songs sooner than later.
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