On Tuesday, tensions between the United States and Canada reached a boiling point — not between President Trump and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but between American rapper Pusha T and Canadian rapper Drake.
Pusha T, a label-mate of Kanye West, put out a track intended to disrespect Drake, titled “The Story of Adidon.” It brings up Drake’s father and how he was absent through much of his upbringing. It mentions how Drake had a son with a stripper he’s tried to keep quiet about, and that his close friend Noah “40” Shebib is going to die soon as a result of his multiple sclerosis condition.
The culmination of this incredibly personal “diss track,” however, stems from Pusha T releasing an album on Friday, titled, “DAYTONA,” in which Push criticized Drake for using a ghostwriter on the song “Infrared.” He equated Drake’s success to Trump winning the presidency, inferring that they both had outside help: Trump through the Russians, and Drake through ghostwriters — one of whom is named Quentin Miller.
“The game’s fucked up. N––a’s beats is bangin’, n––a, ya hooks did it. The lyric pennin’ equal the Trumps winnin’. The bigger question is how the Russians did it. It was written like Nas, but it came from Quentin,” Pusha T raps.
Drake responded less than 24 hours later with “Duppy Freestyle,” rebutting claims that he has a ghostwriter.
“Whoever supposedly makin’ me hits, but then got no hits sound like they need me,” Drake raps. “My hooks did it, my lyrics did it, my spirit did it I’m fearless with it, yeah.”
What makes Pusha T’s song cut even deeper is that the artwork for the song features an old photo of Drake in blackface.
You can’t make this stuff up.
This probably all seems bad, but it’s a good thing for hip-hop. For the last few years, this segment of the music industry has been entrenched in a war with Trump. The irony of it all is that Trump was once an admired figure in the genre. Between 1989 and 2014, 60 percent of references to Trump in rap music were positive, while only 14 percent were negative.
The moment Trump began his candidacy in 2015, the hip-hop community channeled all of their ire directly at the Republican candidate and now president. For almost three years, rappers put out music which, if it wasn’t focused on making money, objectifying women, buying cars, or getting high, was about Trump. The anti-Trump theme has been played out, especially after Eminem’s BET freestyle.
With the Drake-Pusha T beef, however, hip-hop is finally getting back to its roots: the battle rap days. We haven’t seen a rivalry between two rappers escalate this quickly since Jay-Z and Nas went down this path in 2001.
It’s good for record sales (or in this case, number of streams), it’s good for the culture, and it’s good to shake things up.
And while some believe that this particular feud is crossing a line of decency, I’ll have to remind you that it’s 2018 and the rules of decency aren’t applicable anymore.
With that being said, expect an angry Pusha T and even angrier Drake to give us some memorable music this summer. It will be, as the kids say, lit.
