Kendrick Lamar's response was worth the wait

“A hunt we're going on.”

This is the song whose tune Omar whistles in the eighth episode of its first season The wireafter he ambushes Wee-Bay and Stinkum, shooting the former in the leg and killing the latter. This is the tune that must have been ringing in Drake's mind as he grew increasingly impatient waiting for Kendrick's rebuttal. Well, it's finally here — and the King in the North is wounded, ducking for cover like Wee-Bay behind that car.

“Their superpowers are being neutralized, I can only watch in silence/ The famous actor we once knew seems paranoid, and now he's spiraling,” is how Kenny begins “Euphoria,” essentially confirming the speculation that he was doing Drake. wait on purpose.

I was one of those people who preached patience — mostly because I remember when to hear a diss track, you either had to go find the mixtape it was on, wait for it to premiere on radio or live on stage, or wait for it to drop album by an artist. A back and forth often took months to complete, not days or weeks. Drake took about three weeks to respond to Kendrick's verse on “Like That” and has since released two songs: “Push Ups,” directed at Rap's Sinister Six (Future, Metro, Kendrick, The Weeknd, Rick Ross, A$AP Rocky) and the very strange and controversial “Taylor Made”, featuring AI versions of 2Pac and Snoop, which he was eventually forced to scrap. And this was all while trying to outdo Rick Ross on Instagram, which is a losing battle in itself. The irony of it all is “Euphoria” making it seem like Kendrick would have responded sooner if Drake hadn't tried to bait him with gimmicks.

But all that is in the past. Today, Tuesday, April 30, 2024 at 8:24 am PST (remember the Kobe line from “8 am in Charlotte“?,) the King of the West hit the button on a diss track that is six minutes and 23 seconds of pure, unadulterated hate. And let's be clear and let the record be seen: Kendrick did not “leak” this diss record to a streamer, nor did he leave any doubt that this track is AI. He didn't expect to put it on streaming services on New Music Friday or attach the song to an album release. No, he put the song on his YouTube page and tweeted the link, taking complete ownership of the moment. This piece is basically that Beef DVD clips of 50 Cent standing outside on a balcony talking to Ja Rule, shaking his head in disgust and saying to the camera, “I really don't like this guy.”

There are so many things to unpack. First you have the song title “Euphoria” and the definition of the word as the single artwork. I'll leave the Genius commentary to you, but we all know Drake is an executive producer on the hit HBO show Euphoria, correctly? The definition might also be a nod to Lamar feeling euphoric after finally getting all that Drake hate off his chest. The song begins with reverse sound from a scene from 1978 The Wiz, where the Wizard (played by Richard Pryor) is exposed as a fake. “Everything they say about me is true, I'm a fake…” says the Wizard. Lamar also mentions the paranoia Drake must have been feeling as he waited for this rebuttal. Then Kenny flips a switch and kicks into overdrive, giving critics and fans what they've been waiting for: a real rap battle.

He throws shots in every direction, telling the Canadian rapper that all the money and power can't stop someone from being lame. He then refers to the game of chicken he's been playing and asks Drake, “Have you ever stomped on your enemy, like with a poker face?” It's basically saying that Drake blinked first after his “Like That” verse shook up the game. It reports that Drake bought one of Tupac's rings and using artificial intelligence to manipulate Pac's voice made the late hip-hop legend “turn in his grave.” And she takes issue with Drake's “fake tough” act, advising him to end his beef with Pusha T before considering to hit back, spitting: “I don't like you going to Pharrell, for him, I inherit the beef/ Yeah , f—k all this pushing P, let me see you push a T/ You better turn on it again, you thinking about pushing me? This is Terrance Thornton, I'm Terrance Crawford, yeah, I've got my legs.”

Kendrick also confirms that this fight isn't really about fun or the crown, it's actually about “love and hate” – revealing that he's also secretly Drake's biggest hater, rapping: “I hate the way you walk, the way who talk/ I hate the way you dress I hate the way you secretly dress/ If I get to fly, it'll be instant/ We hate bitches you say, 'cause they're mistaken for real women/ And mind you, I said 'We', it's not just me , I'm what the culture feels like.” He's clearly sick of Canada's sh-t and has been for a while.

Drake's “Push Ups” and “Taylor Made Freestyle” were good efforts, but for my money, they didn't hit as hard as the “Like That” or “Euphoria” verse. “Push ups” was clever and funny and he was in a difficult position because he had to respond to six different people. “Taylor Made Freestyle,” however, showed a chink in his armor. He came up with a desperate answer and he didn't look much like the boss. I think it revealed just how impatient he was getting as Kendrick gave nothing but radio silence as rumors began to spread about what he had up his sleeve.

This answer was worth the wait. You can't put a timer on art, and I'm not putting a timer on Drake to live up to it. I hope this rap battle continues for the rest of the year, because steel sharpens steel and rap music in general can only benefit from this clash of titans.

Now we wait in the arena for the King in the North to gather his thoughts and respond. But, as Omar said, “You come to the king, you better not lose.”