Drake vs. Kendrick: Let’s End This.
Have you ever thought of what would happen if the United States and Russia decided to go into a nuclear conflict? What would the fallout, no pun intended, be? Would anyone survive to tell the tale? See, rap has already seen two titans go head to head once before with The Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac. The fallout was mother's crying, brothers writing eulogies and a rap community so shaken that no one was sure if anyone would be able to come back from the event. Even though we've seen greats go at it from time and time again ever since, such as Nas and Jay-Z, Ja Rule & 50 Cent, none of them were at the level of a Biggie or Pac. Until now. Neither Drake or Kendrick Lamar are at the levels of rapping ability as those two legends were, but in terms of relevance in the public culture, it's very much similar. Two giants. One crown. Very personal. While we've heard subliminal shots being thrown at each other (Drake on The Game's 100, Kendrick on King Kunta), neither of them have openly declared war on the other. I like that, let's keep it this way.
So what do we have now? A cold war. Both of them are most likely stockpiling nuclear weapons that could destroy the others career. The only people talking about this hypothetical battle now is us. In our hearts, we have already decided a winner, even though none of us want to openly say that we want the destruction of the rap game.
But who's better?
It's hard to decide, since they both reside in two different parts of the game. Kendrick, is a rapper who uses his mastery of poetry, realism and the fundamentals of rap lyricism to excel in ways that few rappers can do these days. Let's call him Russia. Drake, on the other hand, is an MC who has mastered crowd control through witty bars, intricately formed albums and music that doesn't just sound pleasant to the ear, but that can switch over between melodic singing and braggadocios bar spitting. Let's call him the United States. These are two different entities, that if brought together like they had been on A$AP Rocky's hit song, Fucking Problems, can not just bring the house down, but burn the entire neighborhood in a blaze of glory. Let's call that the Allies taking Germany in World War II. I suggest you watch the video below to understand my point better.
As Ice-T describes it, an MC controls the crowd and a rapper can spit. They're not the same and they aren't interchangeable, but one can switch from one to another. Who is a better MC? If one truly analyses what he says, Drake wins by a landslide. Drake has made every concert he's been a part of an emotional roller coaster of a show. Whether that be OVOFest in Toronto or the major stadiums that he sells out in Australia. It's debatable for Kendrick Lamar, while he can command the crowd, he is not able to bring the crowd to its feet like Drake does. Proof? OVOFest 2015. Drake brought Will Smith and eviscerated Meek Mill with Back to Back meme's playing in the background in what looked like a powerpoint slide. The move ended any chance for Meek, one of the most explosive rappers of our generation, to come back from it. Drake used the freestyle to attack Meek Mill's arguments, career and manhood, but that performance killed him.
Drake can be a rapper at times, but he doesn't do it as much as the fans want him too. Maybe out of personal preference? Who knows. But what we do understand is that Drizzy will probably never be as socio politically inclined as K-Dot because he's too popular and doesn't have the same background as the Compton rapper (remember, he's from Weston Road in Toronto). So by in large, Kendrick is a better rapper than Drake. They shouldn't try to enter what the other does, because then we have messy things and they're taken out of their own elements. Kendrick has shown a mastery for lyricism that many of us haven't seen since Eminem was at his peak. He doesn't need witty bars because they write themselves.
For the sake of continuity, I must address my Modern Top 5 Rappers article. I put Drake before Kendrick in that article. Personally, I feel as if it's interchangeable depending on the factors presented. If we talk about an MC, it's Drizzy. If we talk about a rapper, it's Kung-Fu Kenny. Because the terms are interchangeable in the public eye, I therefore generalized it for the title of article. But why does Drake beat Kendrick in my list? Not because I like one more or less than the other, but because Drake has proven that he can be more of a rapper than Kendrick has proven he can be more of an MC.
In conclusion, no one wins if they go to war. We need to stop comparing apples to oranges. The United States and Russia. Drake and Kendrick. An MC versus a Rapper. Us fans keep adding fuel to a fire that we started. If they decide to go on a full fledged war, then they will do that. Let's be fans and watch in awe and not try to be too involved because that's when we blur the line between the artists and the men.