Congress weighs in on the rap battle, beef between Kendrick Lamar and Drake

They hold national public hearings and write legislation. They represent millions of voters across the country and are some of the largest decision-makers in the world.

This week, they voted on whether to vote to remove the second-ranking government official to the president.

But even members of Congress say they’re watching the intense battle between Kendrick Lamar and Drake in their spare time.

“There’s no question Kendrick is the winner,” Rep. Jamal Bowman of New York told The Hill on Wednesday. “So overall, he’s a better artist. He’s a pillar of the culture.”

Bowman launched the Congressional Hip-Hop Power and Justice Task Force with a coalition of Democrats earlier this year.

As Bowman said in an interview, the task force is not set up to cover rap beefs, but is “a platform and an avenue for policy discussions” for people in the community who care. said.

Bowman said of the rap battles, “I hope they inspire others to continue the culture in the best way possible,” adding that he hopes the rap battles “bring attention to the culture” and that “the hosts “It shows the creative talent of the artist.”

The roots of Kendrick and Drake’s battle date back to 2013, but it reached a climax in recent weeks, shortly after the release of “Like That.” In this song, Lamar mentions Drake and his fellow rapper J. Cole, mentioning them all. as the “Big Three.”

Drake and Cole were mentioned by Lamar on a verse of Big Sean’s 2013 “Control,” along with Big Klit, Pusha T, Jay Electronica, Tyler, The Creator, Mac Miller, Meek Mill and more. It was also included in the list of artists.

Lamar later addressed the firestorm sparked by the poem, in which he said he wanted to figuratively “murder” their rivals and make sure their fans “never hear of” them. –And those bars were written for “fun,” the competitive spirit of hip-hop.

“So this is a big part of hip-hop that hasn’t existed in a while,” said Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Frost), the first Gen Z member to serve in Congress, in an interview. Frost said he believes Lamar started “the first attempt to reclaim the culture of hip-hop.”

“I think they both took it to hell, and I think it probably went somewhere it shouldn’t have. But that’s also part of the nature of this problem, can it get that low? So I think it’s a good time to end it,” Frost said.

As for the winner, Frost says there’s no question.

“I’m going to stand up for the American people as a member of Congress,” Frost said of Lamar, adding that as Lamar’s latest diss song “Not Like Us” climbs the streaming charts, Toronto-born Drake is “waving the white flag.” ” he added.

Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), another member of the hip-hop task force, said Tuesday that while she’s a fan of Drake, she doesn’t follow him overall, but leans more toward Lamar. He said he was there. She also said that while her fans around the world are still debating back-and-forth, her colleagues are approaching her on the floor of the House of Representatives and asking her sides in the fight. Ta.

“I think this reminds us of the power of communication through music and why hip-hop is so important, right?” Ramirez told The Hill on Tuesday, adding that after the battle, He pointed out how discourse has dominated social media.

“At a certain time when we’re fighting against so many things, there are members of Congress who are seriously asking themselves, ‘Who’s in the right?’ Kendrick Lamar or Drake?”

Congressional debate over rappers may have just begun, but die-hard fans of Lamar and Drake have been fighting over who is the genre’s true “goat” or “greatest of all time” for more than a decade. It’s here.

Fans have long pitted the two against each other over their lyricism, hits, and overall commercial success.

Drake was also known for his acting skills even before he released his debut album, “Thank Me Later,” in 2010. Additionally, his 2009 mixtape So Far Gone also gained attention on the music charts. Lamar’s first studio album, Section.80, was released the following year.

For both artists, the accolades have only piled up over the years.

Drake has released eight studio albums, won five Grammy Awards, had 13 No. 1 songs in the U.S., and more than 70 songs in the top 10 of Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. . Lamar, who has released four studio albums, has three No. 1 hits on the charts, 13 top 10 hits, and won a Grammy Award in 2018 for one of his critically acclaimed albums, “Damn.” He won the Pulitzer Prize 17 times.

By 2016, even then-President Barack Obama said this after being asked for his thoughts on which rapper would win in a hypothetical mashup in an interview with YouTuber Adande Thorne, known as Swoosie. He gave his opinion on the long-standing debate regarding the two. .

“I have to go with Kendrick,” President Obama said at the time. “I think Drake is an outstanding entertainer. But Kendrick, his lyrics.”

And while President Obama has yet to publicly comment on the fight, a redistributed clip of his response comes as many fans argue that his long-held reputation will hold even when the smoke clears. It has racked up thousands of likes and millions of views over the past few weeks.

President Biden’s campaign also agreed with this. This week, the Biden campaign released a video criticizing former President Trump on issues such as immigration and abortion rights, and featured one of his songs dissing Lamar, “Euphoria,” piggybacking on some of the fanfare surrounding the fight. . It’s in the background.

Now that the rap beef has reached the highest levels of government, it may seem natural to some that Congress would create a hip-hop task force.

Hip-hop, which celebrated its 50th anniversary last August, has often been used as a political tool for Black and brown Americans to highlight topics such as racial injustice and economic inequality. At its launch in February, the task force’s founders said they wanted to continue using hip-hop as a tool to advance current efforts in Congress.

“Especially in this moment, from the Black Lives Matter movement to the Ceasefire movement and the continuing fight for freedom, justice, and equality, now is the time to build political power at an unprecedented level,” Bowman said. said. at that time.

However, Lamar and Drake’s current feud is raising questions about who is allowed to claim black culture and what parts of that culture are allowed, and how misogyny plagues the genre. This has also sparked debate in other directions, such as whether or not there are any.

While the recent battle between Lamar and Drake has certainly reached new heights and garnered huge viewership in terms of streaming, fans have been wondering about the child abuse and domestic violence allegations that the two have made against each other through their songs. expressing concern.

The veracity of this claim is still up for debate, and there is a history of rappers exaggerating claims in rap battles to hurt their opponents.

In the past, conflicts between artists have also become dangerous, with the murders of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. both showing that violence in songs can sometimes lead to personal violence.

Fans expressed concern after a shooting outside Drake’s Toronto mansion left a security guard injured this week.

Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D.N.Y.), perhaps the House’s highest-ranking hip-hop aficionado, did not say which side he took on Tuesday, but said the battle was “between lyricism and lyricism.” He emphasized the importance of staying within the four corners of sexuality. music. “

Jeffries, whose district covers much of Biggie’s home borough of Brooklyn, has previously paid tribute to the rapper from the House floor and referenced his lyrics during President Trump’s 2020 impeachment trial.

“We’ve seen rap battles in the past, but the most tragic thing is that the rap battles associated with the Death Row and Bad Boy conflict spilled over outside the music world and into the streets,” Jeffries said. They spoke, referring to Tupac and Biggie’s record labels, respectively. .

“I don’t want something like this to happen again.”