A RatedR View: Drake vs. Pusha T
To a rap purist, there is nothing like a genuine feud. When two rappers go at each other, it is a spectacle that makes us feel giddy inside, as if Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Years had decided to come early this year. For the past few years, we have seen some of the biggest rappers in the world - those who are generally considered to be mainstream - get into public spats with other rappers. 2018 has given us a long-awaited battle featuring Drake and Pusha T. Their shared animosity can be traced all the way back to 2006 when Pusha had a falling out with Lil Wayne and Birdman, that eventually bled into the lap of the Toronto native. The two started sending subliminal shots on tracks such as "H.G.T.V" and "Two Birds, One Stone". But the entire thing truly took off in the past week, starting with the release of Pusha's latest album, "Daytona".
The final track on the album, "Infrared" is an explicit attack on Drake and his fellow label mates at Young Money Cash Money. Pusha feels no shame in attacking Birdman's handling of the financial and contractual situations that Lil Wayne finds himself in, as well as speaking on Drake's ghostwriting rumors. Drizzy responded in less than twenty-four hours with the "Duppy Freestyle", which promptly broke the internet with scathing bars that went after Pusha's fiancé, the hypocrisy at GOOD Music, his supposed drug dealing past life. Pusha shot back with "The Story of Adidon", that takes shots at everyone close to the Degrassi-alumni, including his parents Dennis and Sandi, his longtime friend and producer 40. Finally, what seemed to end the entire thing was Pusha T talking about Drake supposedly having a child with an adult actress that he hasn't claimed as his own. At the time of writing this article, there has been no news from Drake's camp on a new song about the situation.
But this entire beef is boring because it's one-sided... In favor of Drake.
Let's step back from the entire thing and honestly assess the situation and the rappers involved. It is evident that Pusha T demonstrates a far superior knowledge of technique, that being syllable work, rhyming and all of that good stuff. It wasn't to be contested. Yet, in a rap battle, which this is, the ability to make bars, their delivery and the impact of it all is the key to winning it. Drake, in “Duppy,”, has a plethora of bars and impact, the only thing lacking is the delivery. While he sounds energized, it is more on the side of a "Charged Up" than it is on the side of a "Back to Back". All the while, Pusha brings an amazing delivery, but suffers because of Drizzy's openness and candor. If you analyze "Adidon", you'll come to realize that no matter what he said, Drake's said it before and possibly even better in previously released songs. There's nothing new, notably the instrumental. The proof?r
Drake's mom's loneliness: "How you a winner but she keep comin' in last place?" vs. "her favorite line to hit me with is 'Who the f*** wants to be 70 and alone?' (From Time, 2013)
Drake's supposed baby mama: "Love that baby, respect that girl /Forget she's a pornstar, let her be your world" vs. "I got the sauce and now shorties keep claimin' preggo" (Diplomatic Immunity, 2018)
Drake's producer, 40: "OVO 40, hunched over like he 80, tick, tick, tick / How much time he got? That man is sick, sick, sick" vs. "I got 40 in the studio, every night, late night / Gotta watch that s***, don't want to make him sicker / That's my n****" (0 to 100 / The Catch Up, 2014)
Drake's dad: "Monkey-suit Dennis, you parade him / A Steve Harvey-suit n**** made him" vs. "Cause my dad called and got me feelin' guilty and ashamed / (...) He say he love me I just hope he doesn't say that s*** in vain" (The Calm, 2009)
My belief is this: if Drake releases another diss track about Pusha T, this will be over. "The Story of Adidon" would have been for not because the OVO runner can insult even the best of his opponents, all while making the crowd love him more by making infectious music. That's what he did to Meek Mill on "Back to Back". Remember that Pusha started this with "Infrared" and Drizzy responded with "Duppy", a clear victory for the Toronto-native. This entire exchange is still up in the air for both rappers, as neither has delivered a definitive killing blow. If I was Drake, I would be angry because you can come at me, but to go at my family and my best friend for things that weren't in their control is another level of low. For Drake, this is an easy one for the taking. But what do I know? I'm a spectator just like you, waiting to see if another bomb will drop in the rap world.