The Drake Effect
My thoughts on Kendrick Lamar vs Drake
Over the span of my nearly two decades in the music industry, there’s one question I’ve been asked more than any other: what do you think about Drake? To quote Soulja Boy, “Drake?!!” As a Canadian rapper, this became the default query I received during interviews, social events and family gatherings as of around 2009. Generally, I didn’t have much to say. It always struck me to be a rather irrelevant thing to ask me about. If it was the ‘80s, you wouldn’t ask Bad Brains what they thought about Color Me Badd.
But the circumstances of Kendrick Lamar’s war of words with Drake have caused me… to break my silence.
I’ve spent the past couple weeks writing a piece about Drake and Kendrick for my Hazlitt column that’s finally out now. In it, I try to bring context to their conflict for the uninitiated. The flurry of diss tracks also coincided with my east coast tour dates, making it a particularly unforgettable journey. I attempted to capture the startling immediacy of what that week was like.
It felt somewhat strange to write openly and plainly about Drake and his impact on Canadian rap and culture. There’s almost been a kind of curtain of silence where criticism of him has been frowned upon among artists in the country. There’s this idea that we have to be happy that he brought attention to Canada and pledge fealty to him under all circumstances, even if that attention was mostly reserved for himself and his business interests.
I was careful to be as fair and balanced about the conflict as possible. But I was also determined to be honest about what it’s been like to have such a monumental figure taking up so much space in my world for so long:
“But with each successive hit album, his outsized influence on Canada and the country’s rap scene grew. I distinctly remember the shift when being a Canadian rapper went from being an oddity to a commodity. After a certain point, every interviewer I spoke to wanted to know my opinion of Drake. His shadow loomed larger and larger until it seemingly blocked the world’s view of the rest of us, like the moon eclipsing the sun. The pioneers who came before him like Maestro Fresh Wes, Michie Mee and Kardinal Offishall suddenly became footnotes in his story. Every rapper in Canada was suddenly judged by how they compared to Drake and his megastardom, even if they weren’t shooting for the same goal.”
I discuss the phenomenon known as the Drake effect in my piece. Whenever Drake would drop a featured verse on an artist’s song, they would get a bump in popularity. Drake would get cultural cachet and street credibility in return. Curiously, he rarely collaborated with Canadian artists and usually only did so if they were signed to him.
As for the battle itself, it was largely a Feel Bad experience for everyone involved. Drake had his reputation seemingly irreparably damaged and we saw the hero of hip-hop go lower than we thought we would ever see him go. It made me wonder where hip-hop beef can possibly go from here:
“Looking back on this battle, it feels like an example of what can happen when men have unresolved trauma: they inevitably take it out on others. Kendrick may have won the battle in the court of public opinion, but what has he lost by stooping so low? His album about the importance of therapy and dealing with trauma was initially ignored by the masses but now he’s been rewarded with a number one hit in which he gives into his most base impulses.
Both sides weaponized abuse in a post-Me Too world where getting cancelled is the ultimate form of social death. Intimate partner violence, homophobia and pedophilia were played up for yucks and as Gotcha moments in this battle. How much more of an appetite do we as a culture have for rap battles where gay people, women and children are collateral damage?”
As ugly as it was, there was some great music in there too. “Not Like Us” is a major song of the summer contender with Kendrick finally giving the world the Los Angeles rap anthem we all knew he was always capable of. “Family Matters” features one of Drake’s best rapping performances of his entire career. The battle was nothing if not interesting. I was clearly captivated enough to write endlessly about the subject! Let me know your thoughts on the piece in the comments.
Read my piece about Drake and Kendrick Lamar in this month’s edition of my National Magazine Award-nominated (!) Hazlitt column, Mind In Bloom
My friend Geoff Fitzgerald shot me performing at one of the many incredible waterfalls in the surrounding area around Hamilton for FLOOD. How fitting. Watch me perform “Exceptional” above.
I had a wonderfully in-depth conversation on One Boro with Alex Narvaez. I haven’t had the chance to do many of these longform, on camera podcast interviews. It was a real pleasure to chat with Alex and talk about the Canadian music scene among other topics.
You can find me updating my playlists or hanging on Twitter and Instagram. You can listen to my music on Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp and you can get Cadence Weapon merchandise here. Read my monthly column in Hazlitt. Pick up your copy of Bedroom Rapper here and please rate it on Goodreads.
Bravo on the Hazlitt piece. Great stuff.
I’m a fan of yours love to meet you one day
Great writing thank you