The purpose of today's blog is to give my views on the ever so controversial verse dropped upon us by Mr. Kendrick a.k.a. K. DOT on Big Sean's single titled "Control". Let me begin by saying that this entire piece is MY personal opinion. I am not forcing anyone to see my point, to agree with me or to even agree that Kendrick laid the hottest verse not only on this one song, but on a track period, in a long time. I intend to break down the verse, analyze the words and this is because the controversy that surrounds the now notorious verse (at least in the heads of most unsigned, underground and/or battle rappers) is the fact that Kendrick Lamar dropped names, most of which were East Coast rappers and then he titled himself the King of New York......So, if you are ready lets begin shall we?
First, it is my strongest opinion that Kendrick is NOT and probably never will be a "battle rapper", you know the type of rapper that focuses on verbally attacking other artists with multiple punchlines, metaphors formed into what we in the rap world call bars. Most battle rappers engage in diss records, which bring about responses from the rapper in which was dissed and then the cycle of rap life continues. I diss you, you diss me, the fans determine who is better, and then on to the next one. Kendrick is a lyricist, an artist if you will. I really dislike giving him the title "rapper" because this man is much more than an entertainer, his music has meaning, each song paints a vivid picture into who this man is and through his music you can feel his words.....or at least you should be able to, if you can't then you may not be on the Kendrick Lamar level. Chief Keef may be the rapper for you.
Now let me explain why Kendrick's verse on "Control" was NOT a diss track. While Kendrick may be relatively fresh to his fans and the music world, he is by no means new to the music game. Most diss records come from some sort of animosity, beef or down right jealousy between one rapper and another. It can a personal issue, a mis-communication of words, hearsay or just down right publicity motivated. I can assure you that his verse on this single was not motivated by any of the factors above. An example of a "diss track", if it should really be called that would that, is Kendrick's track, "The Jig Is Up" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi2_4esAAFs "explicit language") which is a response to the rapper Shyne calling Kendrick's album Good Kidd M.A.D.D. City trash. Personally, I like Shyne, but he's bananas if he thinks that album was trash. Any who, the "antics" surrounding the jabs each other and landed on Twitter (pictures are below) and this ladies and gentlemen is what and how diss tracks are usually formed.
So, back to "Control", Kendrick did something that no one in the game, thus far has thought to do, which was create enough buzz in the world of Hip Hop to make it interesting again. I know I for one am played out on all of the songs with all of the same people, with the same beats, the same "storyline", the same big booty hoes, the same crack house and popping mollies and sweating. It's like music today is becoming more of a parody than the actual art it once was. In saying that, Kendrick said on record, what every good artist thinks and feels. That he IS going to be better than the rest. He is going to strive to be the best there is in the game. He's going to put in work and EARN sales, fans and titles. So because he dropped a few names (of EVERY artist he has worked with mind you) now he is being disrespectful and trying to claim something he is not? I say that is a negative.
So many of you are focusing on the names that he mentioned, thinking because he said a name he's dissing, when in fact, Kendrick gave props to the GREATEST RAPPER OF ALL TIME (again this is MY opinion) Tupac Shakur, and the lyrics state "I'm Makaveli's offspring, I'm the King of New York, King of the Coast, one hand, I juggle them both,". He then says, What is competition? I'm tryna raise the bar high, Who tryna jump and get it? You better off tryna skydive".
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| Big Sean's "Control" |
The verse describes the declining direction in which rap music is going, referencing popping mollies and rappers turning into Lindsay Lohan. Does anyone else notice how many rappers are wearing leopard print leggings? His goal is to bring the genre of music back to where it once was and I agree that since the departure of Tupac and Biggie, rap music has changed, for the worse. I love the direction K. Dot is going and his style of music and the fact that he is not afraid to challenge even some of the biggest names in Hip Hop and do it without regret. He lit a fire that had yet to be lit.
To date the majority of the responses received from Kendrick's verse, were of course, from known "battle emcees" such as Papoose, Joel Ortiz and Cassidy and while they're tracks were way more substantial than Kendrick's (because it was not a battle track), they still didn't "murder" is effort. They did exactly what was expected. Had he not laid that verse and named himself King of NY, then NONE of these East Coast rappers would have responded. It's as simple as that. Music is something that has to be felt and understood. You can listen to a song a million times and NEVER hear a word that is said, but when someone says something, if even only a one line, that causes the world to stop, drop what they're doing and send a response, then that my friends is what you call a true artist
I'll finish by saying this. Kendrick Lamar will never be the next Tupac, No one will for that matter, He may not be the next greatest rapper alive, but as long as he continues to pursue that goal and continues to be the cause for others raising the bar, then I would say he's doing exactly what any great motivator would do. He's making it happen instead of waiting for it to happen.
On that note, I will end my opinions here and leave you all with the YouTube to link to the song "Control". Then you decide for yourself.
Misses S.A.M. is signing out !
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