7 Lessons We Learned From Drake About How Rappers Should Beef In Hip-Hop’s Digital Age
By this point I don’t have to explain what set off the chain of events that led to Drake and Meek Mill’s now infamous feud. If you’re reading this by now, then you know that Drake dragged Meek Mill for filth at the OVO Fest, and just when we thought that Meek Mill would finally just take the L and bow out, he responded with a live freestyle while on The Pinkprint Tour, with more wack bars, and even threatened to give Drake a wedgie next time he saw him.
So, yeah…
Drake is still the winner, and even 50 Cent had to give your boy sideways props for being stealthy and strategic in the art of embarrassing a fellow rapper. Drake being the first rapper to effectively use a slideshow of memes in concert (which is probably in some ways a nod to what Jay-Z did to Prodigy that time at Summer Jam) as a tool of humiliation was not done on a whim. It was all planned.
In other words Drake is also the type to be calculating and crafty. Here are 7 lessons that rappers can learn from him when it comes to dissing another rapper in the digital age.
1. You Have To Strategize
Meek Mill acted hastily by recklessly tweeting about Drake having a ghostwriter all seemingly because he was upset that Drake didn’t tweet the link to his album. He obviously wasn’t prepared for the fall out.
Meanwhile, not only did Drake react swiftly with two diss tracks, he threw shots at a kickball game, and also made plans for Meek slander at his OVO Fest, which he carried out effectively. Even if he had a team of people giving their input, which he probably did, it’s still smart as hell.
2. Act Fast Meek Mill started it, but Drake already had his first response out within a few days, and then released his second track shortly after that. It took Rahmeek nearly a week to release his first one, and by that time both of Drake’s tracks had marinated in the psyches of #BlackTwitter. A week in the social media era might as well be 10 years, and by that point, people have already made up their minds unless the responding party really comes out with some ether. In this case, it was just a glass of milk.
3. Troll So Hard It’s not just about lyrics anymore now that social media is involved. You also have to be a master troll. Most artists tend to keep their bickering on Instagram and Twitter, but Drake took his trolling to real life. He wore a full battery t-shirt at said kickball game, he wore his “Free Meek Mill” shirt at the OVO Fest knowing it was going to end up all over social media, and then he made a spectacle with that slideshow featuring the funniest Meek Mill memes. If that wasn’t enough, there is also video of Will Smith (one Philly’s hip-hop pioneers on a mainstream level) and Kanye West laughing hysterically at some of the memes. That was so disrespectful for many reasons, one of them being that Meek is also from Philly. Oh, the slander! P.S. Making a spectacle is one of the 48 Laws of Power. Drake passed that lesson. Meek…not so much.
4. Keep It Non-Violent
Drake never threatened violence in any of his tracks, and he managed to take it off social media peacefully thus far. This could change, because you know what can happen when rappers–and by extension, their entourages–with hurt egos get together. Also, It’s safe to assume that Meek had some of his buddies sitting in the studio with him as he recorded “Wanna Know” gassing him up like that garbage was fire. Dudes like that probably have nothing to lose. Meek is on probation and all, but you just never know. Again, he threatened to give Drake a wedgie the next time he saw him, but on the bright side, perhaps that’s his way of coping with not being able to do anything stupid that could get his butt sent back to jail. So, yeah, be careful, Drizzy. But yay for non-violence at the moment!
5. Stay Calm, Keep A Cool Head
Meek has proven that his “twitter fingers” work, but being emotional means that he’s not thinking clearly. Again, Meek Mill, a grown ass man, threatened to give another grown man a wedgie. Go on and marinate on the ridiculousness.
Meanwhile, Drake has been smooth throughout this entire process. People are still on edge, wondering what’s next, and probably constantly checking Drake’s social media, websites, etc. Yaaaaasss for traffic and followers!
6. Don’t Reveal Too Much Too Soon Hip-hop beefs get really ugly, but Drake hasn’t gone below the belt yet. Meek tried with the line about one of TI’s boys peeing on Drake in a movie theater (which is crazy, and another story). However, Drake has managed to bring Nicki Minaj into it in a way that makes her come out on top (you know, the “boss bi–ches wifing niggas” line), and still attacked Meek’s character without getting too personal. Again, this makes us wonder if there’s more because it seems like he has been feeding us the poison slowly and steadily.
A photo posted by Weston Langley (@docpowder87) on
7. There’s A Difference Between Hip-Hop Beefs And Hip-Hop Battles
Using the term beef here is just as an expression, but to get technical, this really isn’t a beef. It’s more of a battle or feud People who grew up in the 90s know what real hip-hop beef is. Real hip-hop beef is when you suspect that someone could very well lose their life or at least catch major fade. People got stabbed, shot, dangled over balconies, and yeah…beef then had the potential to get really, um, deadly. These guys are too busy worried about endorsements, raising their profiles, and hopefully in Rahmeek’s case, keeping his black ass out of jail, for weapons or death to get involved…I hope. So yeah, this is hip-hop beef light.
I gotta say, prior to this I was indifferent to both rappers (although I think Drake is the better artist), but now I have a new respect for Drake, and have even gone back to listen to both artists’ previous music that I didn’t really care about.
Category: Hip-Hop, Pop Culture
About the Author (Author Profile)
Starrene Rhett Rocque is a recovering journalist who often fantasizes about becoming a shotgun-toting B-movie heroine.Subscribe
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This Hip-Hop battle (or shall I say defeat?) is hilarious to me, especially since I’ve been Team Drake since his Degrassi days. Please note, that I’m not a fan that cosigns everything an artist I fancy does, because Drake has disappointed me a few times (e.g. Referring to Kobe Bryant’s wife as a bitch, dating Rihanna, that beard he’s rockin’ now), but I am definitely giving him kudos for how he’s handling Mr. Mill. It’s an example of a professional ass whoopin’!
Happy to see guys keeping it classy.
Good one. This battle takes me back to LL Cool J vs. Kool Moe Dee, only they didn’t have the internet, just vinyl and live shows to debut their back to back diss tracks. I’m sure Drake & Meek will come out of this unscathed in the end, but it’s been entertaining.