The Daily Zeitgeist - Trendrick Lamar's Euphoria 5/1: UCLA, RFK Jr., Kendrick Lamar, Drake

Episode Date: May 1, 2024

In this edition of Trendrick Lamar's Euphoria, Miles and special guest host Prop discuss pro-Israel goons attacking peaceful pro-Palestinian protesters at UCLA, RFK Jr. getting a lot of conservative media attention, and a deep dive into the Kendrick vs. Drake beef!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I'm Keri Champion, and this is Season 4 of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. Every great player needs a foil. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Listen to the making of a rivalry.

Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. On the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Elf Beauty, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. Hey, I'm Gianna Pradenti. And I'm Jermaine Jackson-Gadson. We're the hosts of Let's Talk Offline from LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts. There's a lot to figure out when you're just starting your career. That's where we come in.

Think of us as your work besties you can turn to for advice. And if we don't know the answer, we bring in people who do, like negotiation expert Maury Tahiripour. If you start thinking about negotiations as just a conversation, then I think it sort of eases us a little bit. Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jess Casavetto, executive producer of the hit Netflix documentary series,

Dancing for the Devil, the 7M TikTok cult. And I'm Clea Gray, former member of 7M Films and Shekinah Church. And we're the host of the new podcast, Forgive Me For I Have Followed. Together, we'll be diving even deeper into the unbelievable stories behind 7M Films and Shekinah Church. Listen to Forgive Me For I Have Followed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Kendrick Lamar dropped a track at 8.24 a.m. If you didn't pick up on all the details there, right after the People's Goat, LeBron James was eliminated from championship contention. There's a lot in there.

And we are going to get into that because I do think that is relevant and it is absolutely trending all over Twitter. And who better to do that with than our very very most favorite mc from the zeitgeist universe from the podcasting universe not just an mc just a poet a father a scholar uh purveyor of fantastic coffee mr prop himself jason do i call you jason better can i just call you look the government's fine you know i'm saying you can you can definitely do that you have crossed that that threshold into being able to say well look i'm gonna call you prop anyway please welcome prop thank you so much what's up with it how's everybody feeling you know i'm saying like man scorched earth right now you've scorched earth absolutely um we are gonna get to

that you know because we have been texting each other non-stop since the the track came out being i know what the fuck he's talking about why the fuck did he think he accepted this guy what the fuck is going so exactly we're gonna have a bit of a moment to do that but first we are gonna get to some trending stories because there is some pressing news happening in our world outside of just you know the fun rap beefs that we have out here uh the first one is ucla my alma mater it is trending because i like i referenced in other episodes i was proud to see that the students at ucla have also created an encampment in solidarity with the people of palestine and also urging the regents of the uc system to divest uh from israel if possible and you know and also

advocating for things like a ceasefire but mostly it's about trying to cut financial ties uh with an apartheid state and it's been a peaceful protest uh and things were peaceful until last night when a group of pro uh israel pro-zionist demonstrators count i guess counter protesters i don't even know if they're counter protesters these people pulled up and just started attacking students um breaking down the barricades hitting them with bear mace uh throwing bricks into the encampment like lobbing bricks over like the fences into the encampment throwing fireworks people are getting hit over the head with two by fours like full-on violent assaults were occurring to peaceful student protesters as the lapd and ucla campus safety they did fucking nothing they jack shit yeah honestly i think as many people were abused this uh were basically describing it as you know just

just letting the goons do the violence that maybe they would do and they said you know what we're gonna sit this one out you guys go ahead and brutalize these peaceful protesters and guess what we'll just look the other way or laugh um which we saw awesome like y'all shouldn't have been out here yeah yeah we tried to tell you yeah exactly it's a really really hard to watch man like that quad i had very fond memories of being on the campus there uh and to see it turned into this like war zone and is being reported on as like this sort of like both sidesy thing like on ABC News or like because of the violence classes have been canceled. And it's like you aren't no one is actually being sincere in describing what's happening. That's like the most frustrating thing with how the news has been covering all of this whether it's trying to just focus on and I'm not did not i'm not saying there are no anti-semitic people that are trying to co-op these

there absolutely are but when you are focusing and disingen like like for example in columbia where there are people doing shit outside of the campus and saying that that's part of the columbia protest that's not accurate and you're painting it with a different brush and giving people a different idea of what's actually happening um we're talking about peaceful protesters who are here who do not who are just as incensed as most people are by seeing the violence unfold there and saying in the way that they feel they can exert their power and influence they're saying i'm trying to put an end to it uh and they're being attacked by just fucking goons. Like, I don't know from where. There's just so much, like, so many thoughts about that.

It's like, you're just from just knowing, not even deep history, but just, like, recent history. It was almost like, we knew this day was coming. That, you know, we're told from elementary school elementary school that like what makes our country different is right. You have free speech. And if you don't like what's going on, you can vote, you can protest, you can make your voice known. You know, you vote with your wallet, you vote with your you know, you vote with your feet. And then you go to college and you're like, oh, word. OK, well, yeah, here's our request. And my wings a little bit and I'm going to spread my wings and you're like oh word okay well yeah here's our request let me spread my wings a little bit and i'm gonna spread my wings and you're met with violence and it's like well i mean y'all were

the ones that said and then the part that even blows my mind too i'm like i'm looking at the faculty and staff well not necessarily the faculty but i'm looking at the adults in the room and i'm like ain't you the kids of like Vietnam War protesters? And weren't they college kids? Like, don't you? What's wrong with y'all's memory? From what I remember, they weren't on the wrong side of history protesting against that war. It seems like they was correct.

Huh. So weird, man. So that's what we're going to do. Yeah, it's really troubling for people who are part of any marginalized or oppressed community because this country, America, is a white supremacist capitalist patriarchy or an imperialist capitalist patriarchy. However you want to do that. But you begin to push against any of those tenets, you will be met with state violence. It just doesn't matter. If you are there to support those tenets, you will be supported by the state.

And it's just very easy you know it's yeah if you're running adrift of what the true values are of the united states if the police are fucking you up or protecting you based on you exercising that right exactly yeah just taking a second to reflect to yourself to like okay who's on my side of the fence and in like when at some point you should look at the look down your bench on your side and be like oh wait am i on the wrong team here like what's 12 why is my jersey why are you wearing the same jersey as me you know like at wait why i got this thin blue line on my jersey where'd that come from yeah you know like that should be your warning sign and be like wait hold up wait are we wait are we actually saying

the same thing yeah i don't think we're saying the same thing if wait you know you should it should make give you pause you know uh i just hope that i mean the shout out la times at least had an accurate description in their headlines where they were rightly describing that the violence was one-sided and coming from the supporters of the israeli government uh and like again we're talking full-on they're like hitting kids over the head and shit it's wild this is where we're at and i i i really encourage everybody to like just like in 2020 when people wanted to say fucking weird shit to try and obscure and distract from like what people are actually trying to say also we like every time this happens we have to be able to articulate what is actually going on and not let

these people completely change the narrative and try and you know uh yeah completely discredit what is being done at ucla and at usc these are like every organizer that i know and have seen have been like yeah no come come have lunch come through like and it's like because it's a camp and i know at usc they was doing like anti-semitic classes like inside of the thing it was teaching like the history of anti-semitism and how we want to make sure that this is not what we're saying they have to really put people yeah like you know they like these and yeah these protesters were like look this is not what we're saying this is what are we saying here's the history of this

you know um they had to understand like you know i'm saying like yeah yeah and all many college campuses because i think that's the other thing too we talked about this on yesterday's trending episode is no one is also acknowledging the fact that there are also many jewish students that are also participating in this many jewish people jewish students are disturbed because they see the aggression of the idf and netanyahu as being like that makes me unsafe in the long run if this is how this is the representation of a jewish state is and people are going to conflate the two and i don't that's not what we're about. That's not what this religion is about, but it's being, and also by weaponizing anti-Semitism,

that's the whole thing where they'd be like, oh, so you're against the whole Jewish religion. It's like, you're not hearing what I'm saying. Yeah, and now I can't, now I can't point at it. It's like when everything was, when everything was human trafficking, right? Like when everything was that, it's like, now I can't point, or everything's grooming. Like you're gay, you're a groomer. If everything's grooming, then nothing's grooming. Then nothing's grooming. Now I can't actually point at anti-Semitism

and be like, no, that actually is. Which is wild, too, because then, I remember how the evolution of these sort of protests went, too, because then even when you had Jewish voices for peace, they're like, no, we're, how are you going to call me anti-Semitic? I'm telling you, I'm against what's happening. And then they go, well, you're not Jewish not jewish or whatever and then it's always a moving goal

post and again it's just if you're in service of oppression then the police are there for you if you're trying to fight for equity then the police will always be against you so yep good good formula uh to just check around yeah next story is rfk jr that he's trending now this is this was sort of like presented in like oh the trump camp is sweating because rfk but a lot of polls show that trump is comfortably but not not comfortably he's like six points ahead of biden right now i wonder why i can't have anything to do with these students are screaming about on campuses across the country. But I guess recently he's starting to pop up. RFK Jr.

Starting to pop up more and more on these right wing outlets. Like he's becoming a mainstay on Fox News. The mainstay on Newsmax. He's now starting to be like on Ben Shapiro's podcast. Talking to Glenn Beck. He's talking to Megyn Kelly. You know, just everyday pieces of shit. And while he's out there being like, you know, fucking Biden, talking shit about

Biden, you know, he's definitely, he's going after a very specific audience here. Like, especially when you go on these bro podcasts too, you're kind of being like, look, you know I'm not woke, so why don't you vote for me? And that's where I guess the Trump co-campaign manager has come in to say, quote, it's concerning and beyond logic that there are some conservative platforms that continue to give a voice to someone that is called the NRA a terrorist group who believes in eliminating gas-powered engines believes in a 70

tax bracket and generally subscribes to the same school of thought as carl marx oh yeah that's invoke marx baby yeah yeah just call whatever like oh what exactly what what dimension yeah point at it i'm sorry are you can you please point are you a scholar of marxist thought or no yeah i. I don't know. I just know if I say the word, people are like, fuck that. And that's just how it goes. He's, he's interesting to me, dude. He's like, have you guys, okay, you guys, have you watched, I just finished it.

The, uh, the three body problem. I started watching the first episode recently. I don't want to ruin it. Sure. But I'm about to kind of okay so all right spoiler alert just spoiler alert skip through this if you're sensitive to three body problem you don't hear nothing about it i skip ahead one minute yes i won't tell you how the the movie ends but ultimately if you have the the gravitational pulls of three bodies, whether it's two stars and a planet or three stars and whatever, their gravitational pull and rotations are, you can't predict them.

They're impossible to predict. That's called the three body problem. So if you're on a planet that is too close to three different suns, you're gonna get pulled into the gravitational pulls in different ways. So you can't predict whether your planet's gonna be, you know what I'm saying? So that's a three body problem. Yes, it's unpredictable.

You just go wherever the gravity pulls you. And to me, RFK. Forget the three body problem here. Three body problem. I'm like, this is so- The third body is entered. The third body is just throwing off the gravitational pull. So like to try to everybody for everybody.

So to even try to even predict what he's trying to do or who he's trying to talk to, he's like, you can't, this just, this guy is going to siphon off wherever he can. And in some senses, brilliant.

You know what I'm saying? Like I go wherever I don't, cause the man don't care. Like he don't care. Like, no, he really doesn't'm saying like i go wherever i don't because the man don't care like he don't care like no he really doesn't yeah i go wherever y'all listen to him he's yeah he's like such a weird ass broken clock because he says like he says shit that i'm like no that's true like you know regulatory capture is a fucking issue like these climate things are an issue and then he's like but then you know covid was meant chinese people were immune like shut the fuck oh my god damn it yeah it's like out of here yeah you was going good for a

second there yeah and that's yeah and let's not yeah let's not forget he was like the poster poster child for the whole anti-vax movement like when it came to like childhood immunizations you know what i mean so whatever rfk we'll see where you end up but honestly like i know a lot of people will try and blame you if biden loses but i honestly just with the way this man is leaving right now it's he's making it very difficult for people to be like like are you hearing what people are saying like what how will you be a responsive president you're not a responsive president right now and i don't want fucking donald trump to lose or to win no maybe a freudian slip uh-oh no like i don't want fucking Donald Trump to lose or to win. No. Hey, Freudian slip. Uh-oh. No, like, I don't want Trump to win.

And because of that, I'm like, motherfucker, you need to figure out how to fucking get people to vote for you. Yes. Help me help you. Like, I just, God damn it, man. Like, you can't be, like, you're so frustrated to where you're like, I mean, like dog is the sky blue like what is the lowest hanging fruit the lowest like this is and i'm like the lowest bro just even if we just talked about this on hood politics even if you just okay the kids ain't gonna let you get away with this but even if you just say the two words ceasefire yeah like if you just say that's the lowest hanging fruit right but you

like oh i'm mad about this i don't want you you know we you know we really mad and you know i'm telling that yahoo i oh bb i'm not had i'm not i'm not going for it now come on over here to the to the candy store pick whatever gun you want yeah but be careful because i'm mad right bro exactly right then take away his dessert i am like you're not really mad no no it's all it's all just optics but the thing is like people are too tapped in now for that kind of shit to work like the smoke and mirrors it's not having the same effect and also it's to the point now where other congressmen are like man i got like a little old white ladies also asking me what the fuck is up with the ceasefire so it's not just it's not just

like arab americans or muslims it's it's or like it's many people the majority of democrats are like yes or like i disapprove of this yeah i was with you for a little bit you know i'm saying like yeah it's like i was with you for a second there but i mean come on bruh like y'all you ain't seeing what i'm seeing like you ain't have ain't have to kill them all, G. Like, nope. You know? Yeah, it's, we'll see. Like I said, every time I'm like, November, take your time.

Take your time. Please. Take your time. I don't have the strength right now. And I'm like, bro, like, I'm sorry. I know we got to move on. But I'm like, again, low-hanging fruit. Like, you can't i mean you just you really

finna just let this abortion thing slip through your fingers bro like yeah that's an easy one well like i'm yeah well they they were fucking around too long by being like if i'm president i will do this shit cut to your president and you did not fucking codify roe versus what like you didn't even you couldn't even do that so yeah because again both parties they they're just playing in everybody's faces. They just want to, they want to angle shit in front of people to get them to the polls and then just take it out.

And then, but then some, then you get some shit like the Dobbs decision and shit gets real. And now all of a sudden they're like, well, it's really complicated, but there are people's lives at stake here. For sure,

man. Like that's really like, you know, go to stay blowing a three,1 lead right there bro like how you how you how you lose dubs cuz like this yeah it's 60 years homie you lost the 60 like how you yeah you had a lot of time because again it's easier to just yeah raise the specter of the boogeyman than to actually take care of shit because that we're not yeah we're not the we're not in the business of actually solving problems here um all right let's take a quick break so we can regroup

regather ourselves center ourselves so we can come back and discuss objectively with no west coast biases even though i have my dodger blue on my phone dome right now of course this kendrick lamar and drake beef uh and we will be right back i'm jess casaveto executive producer of the hit netflix documentary series dancing for the devil the 7m tiktok cult and i'm cleo gray former member of 7m films and shekinah church and we're the host of the new podcast forgive me for i have Together, we'll be diving even deeper into the unbelievable stories behind 7M Films and LA-based Shekinah Church, an alleged cult that has impacted members for over two decades. Jessica and I will delve into the hidden truths between high-control groups and interview dancers, church members, and others whose lives and careers have been impacted, just like mine. Through powerful, in-depth interviews with former members and new, chilling firsthand accounts, the series will illuminate untold and extremely necessary perspectives. Forgive Me For I Have Followed will be more than an exploration. It's a vital revelation aimed at ensuring these types of abuses never happen again.

Listen to Forgive Me For I Have Followed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Gianna Prudente. And I'm Jemay Jackson-Gadsden. We're the hosts of Let's Talk Offline, a new podcast from LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts. When you're just starting out in your career, you have a lot of questions, like how do I speak up when I'm feeling overwhelmed? your career, you have a lot of questions like, how do I speak up when I'm feeling overwhelmed? Or can I negotiate a higher salary if this is my first real job? Girl, yes. Each week, we answer your unfiltered work questions. Think of us as your work besties you can turn to for advice. And if we don't know the answer, we bring in experts who do, like resume specialist Morgan

Sanner. The only difference between the person who doesn't get the job and the person who gets the job is usually who applies. Yeah, I think a lot about that quote. What is it like you miss 100% of the shots you never take? Yeah, rejection is scary, but it's better than you rejecting yourself. Together, we'll share what it really takes to thrive in the early years of your career without sacrificing your sanity or sleep. Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Keri Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports,

where we live at the intersection of sports and culture. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry, Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Every great player needs a foil. I ain't really near them. Why is that?

I just come here to play basketball every single day, and that's what I focus on. From college to the pros, Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Angel Reese is a joy to watch. She is unapologetically black. I love her.

What exactly ignited this fire? Why has it been so good for the game? And can the fanfare surrounding these two supernovas be sustained? This game is only going to get better because the talent is getting better. This new season will cover all things sports and culture. Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke.

And we're back. So, look. I hate to say I told you so, but didn't I? Yes. Is your audience up to speed? Do they know the whole cheesemake? I guess we'll keep it here. For those, it's okay.

So if you are not interested in hip hop, I get it. People have different flavors. Good for you. Let me put you on to something right now. We're talking about the Drake and Kendrick Lamar beef. Drake is now one of the of the i think the highest selling artists of all time because he took over michael jackson's thing and now he's like i'm the king uh and said he's the greatest ever he's the goat kendrick lamar has taken exception to that this is a very condensed version because there's also there's like sneak dissing going on for years but anyway for like a decade kendrick has also been like

you know he released a track with Metro Boomin and Future about a month ago. You know, basically, just taking some general shots his way, him and J. Cole's way. J. Cole entered the beef, and then he immediately said, no! And yo, Doe,

let me out, man. I don't want this. I don't want this. I don't want this. I don't want it. And you know what't i shouldn't have even recorded a diss track he released a diss track to respond to kendrick and then he pulled it because he said it didn't feel right to him he didn't believe in it as an artist then that's your prerogative as an artist fine other people rushed it he probably could have taken his time but yeah yeah exactly yeah i get it if you weren't feeling it you weren't feeling it and it was like at kendrick's line it for y'all that are interested kendrick's line referencing cole

was in reference to a song that cole did with drake years ago but the bar in that song was kind of like a throwaway like that's just one thing towards yeah cole so cole could honestly be like well the verse ain't about me it's's about you. Yeah. I really don't have to respond because he's not even dissing me. Yeah. But a lot of people were like, you know, in their bag on his behalf. You don't let him do that? Anyway, so then Drake basically released two response

tracks. One using the AI vocals of Tupac Shakur, which did not go over well with anybody in this part of the country or even his estate who are like we might have to ask with a cease and desist for that foolish foolishness yes um and then kendrick they're like what all the drake fans are saying when's kendrick gonna drop it's been so long tick tock tick tock kendrick drop a track called euphoria six and a half minutes and it is scathing i would say vicious um and also yeah also loving and like teaching like teachable like this is a teachable moment like just in the only way that kendrick can

yeah yeah because there is a tweet from uh rainy ov For those of y'all who listen to Victory Light, Mero's podcast, he's on that show. He tweeted basically to sum up what the Drake diss was versus the Kendrick response. He said, Drake, colon, you wear small shoes. Top makes you do push-ups. That's the person from Top Dog, the label that Kendrick was on. And I make more money than you. Was sort of like the distillation of Drake's diss. Kendrick's would be, the distillation would be this you have never been secure in your identity a canadian

cosplayer could never represent black american culture i'm raising my kids and you can't relate um yeah different levels to the responses i don't know i mean like i don't know what part you want to talk about specifically like for me i just i get that there's right now it seems like most people are so entrenched in their fandom like you have people who can't see past their fandom yeah and there are people who i'm like i just love to see this era of like rapping like you say something then you say something that you say something you say something because look yeah whether or not drake takes an l it doesn't change the fact that he is the this man sells there's no yeah yeah there's yeah uh producer brian's dropping dropping stuff in here that i was going to say like i think there's there are some things to calibrate here

first of all to understand that like okay the number one song on billboard is taylor swift she's off of the number two three four she's she's the top 10 the top 10 songs on billboard are taylor swift so let's calibrate the conversation with that yeah right you know right yeah and then secondly like you said like overall it's it's two grown men millionaires writing poems about each other relax guys you're live it's not that serious yeah it's not that serious it's not so even for us as fans to remember that like oh yeah go cry on a bag of money. Like, it's fine, you know? But- Yeah, but also I think- Yeah, but I was going to say,

like there's a history in hip hop, whether it was, you know, Ice Cube and Eazy-E, whether it was Jay-Z and Nas, whether it was Pac and Biggie, like there's a history of how- 50 Cent and Ja Rule. 50 Cent and Ja Rule, where- A man of 20 years ago.

Yes, and diss tracks have always been good for the overall culture of hip-hop because yeah it brings out the best in all of these artists but i think specifically with this one why i think this is so important is because they represent kendrick and drake have always represent two opposite approaches to being hip-hop stars Yeah. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Cause Kendrick, Kendrick ain't on Instagram. Like he don't post memes. Like he don't, he don't pop out.

Like he don't do that. You know what I'm saying? And I don't walk through. It was none of that. I don't do none of that. Like I will give you the bars and I'm going home. And then Drake is obviously like, he's a pop star.

Yeah. And he's a child actor. So he's used to being in the spotlight in a different way. And, you know, people take that for what it is. And is and people say well this is what Drake's more popping or whatever I personally it's like I don't think you can really I can't I don't compare them because they're not the same they're not making the same kind of art you know I get like yeah there's some like Drake bangers you're like oh yeah this shit's fun it's a fun track but is it like an is it like kendrick lamar like a p kendrick lamar kind of track is has you engaging with in a different way and again this is a matter of taste i'm not saying objectively or whatever but this

is how i relate to the music um and the beef is interesting too because kendrick is getting at a lot of other critiques that people have about drake namely one about sort of always like suddenly you're you're like a road man from the uk and you rap like this or you're you're doing this other kind of flavor and you're kind of constantly sort of shape-shifting and using yeah yeah people are like yo you're kind of appropriating the culture uh without actually sticking up for black people when things are actually happening or speaking about the culture in a way that feels constructive rather than just being like let me sort of curate and

cherry pick the things i like to sell records and then that's it there's a sophistication yeah there's a sophistication of this conversation in the sense that like you know i was sexing you the the the the corny analogy of like you know the captain of football team dating the cheerleader prom king homecoming queen homecoming king but all he wants to do is like just kick it behind the bungalows and smoke weed with the cool kids that's all that you want but all the cool kids are like you're lame and it's fine just go be the prom king like stop that's fine like it's fine just go be that like you will never be accepted by us and it's not that it's not that we're not trying to excommunicate you it's just that's not who you are right you know so so so the conversation that kendrick kicked kicked it up a notch is

the saying the quiet thing out loud which is like you can't just put this on and take it off. And it's and and yeah, that insecurity about like, you want this, right? Yeah. Right. Yeah. You want all of this. Kendrick is like, I'm really from this. And it comes from an authenticity.

And it's like so stop like just just stop being what you're not like you know what i mean he's like growing up in compton and living growing up in compton is a lot different than being a child actor living in toronto and the levels of racism are different like they're just they're just cultural differences yeah and that's why anyway it's interesting again where everyone was like oh're just they're just cultural differences yeah and that's why anyway it's interesting again where everyone was like oh like it's not just going to be like sort of like a simple you know because if you think about the last battle that drake was in or beef he was in was with a push of t and he was responding and push a t just basically came

back with like here's a picture of you in blackface i don't know what's going on yeah and you're actually a terrible father and it was just sort of like it was like this version was like oh yeah it was almost like okay that's okay kind of cheating but it definitely ended it like yeah yeah yeah and i think a lot of people are wondering and people know now like kendrick lamar is witty and they're like all the memes and stuff on the internet like i don't know if kendrick lamar might not be the person to be he's not the guy it's not the tree you want to be barking up no at all yeah yeah and i just i appreciate like rappers rapping and you know for y'all that know me and miles like like we like i like my rappers rapping if

i like throw parties in long beach i want sometimes sometimes it's been that ass over you know i'm saying sometimes you want that because that's good hands on your knees yeah hands on that's great but then if it's like when i'm putting in my headphones if i want to hear somebody like really like love the craft and love the art i'm like i'm not i'm not putting a drake album on you know like started from the bottom isn't all right no you know what i mean like exactly there's a reason why and i know you're lying because you didn't start from the bottom you know but then there are drake fans who are like his mom had to rent a basement apartment that they lived in and that's what he was referring to and i'm like and that's fine or whatever but like when you start talking about

gun violence and shit like that that's not your life a lie me a lurin past guest we love on the show she was like kind of really stated it very succinctly in saying that like to this this is a tweet from her because a lot of drake fans are like you know just up in arms about people's analysis of what this track was quote the fact that drake stans are trying to insist hip-hop a genre culture created by black people to give voice to black people and our experiences shouldn't critique his exploitation of blackness and people confirms why kendrick said he's speaking for the culture with his critiques of drake non-black hip-hop fans clearly need to hear this

black people and black culture will always be central to any analysis of hip-hop and rap music let go of this colorblind analysis you want us to embrace just so you feel like your opinion is equally valid when talking hip-hop and look yes i'm not saying people's analysis is invalid or whatever but there's a reason when people are saying like why are you talking about that it's because that's that's what hip-hop was coming out of you know black and brown people you just see an art form that it's really inseparable yeah and and in none of this you know jay call is just as light-skinned and nobody has any question about his position and placement in the culture. And his lyrics, too.

Yeah. He tells you where he's at. Yeah. Yeah. It's like no one no one questions that. person that is remotely somewhat attractive and have been in a club with drunk people you know when someone's complimenting you and when someone's being slimy you get it and it might be the same words right yeah it might be the same words brian i see brian he brought it up the same thing same way like marlon craft that's that's a boy. I've never questioned his place in culture.

You know what I'm saying? Because I'm like, there's no question about who you are because you carry yourself in a way that's different. And it's like, you know what it is when you're looking at it. And Drake has always been something for me that, personally, I've always had to bite my tongue about because I'm just like, I feel like this, I don't want to rant here, but this is the thing i i to say about try to get this thought out it's like

when you're when you're someone like him who has been considered you know traditionally attractive right successful you're like you weren't policed like the rest of us ugly boys that were taught when stuff was corny like we were taught in seventh grade like don't do that it's corny right right right he didn't learn that because the girl still giggled and he was on tv and no matter what he did so then when you warming up you know in the ncaa on the University of Kentucky team I'm like Brett did you go to Kentucky did you ever live in Kentucky your family go to Kentucky like does anybody what connection do you have to this that's corny don't do that right the idea of thinking I'm gonna do an AI Tupac no one we would all know yeah you would say. I'm not going to do an AI biggie.

No. That's untouchable. You're, again, proving you're not really one of us, man. You would know that. Or doesn't understand the sacredness of certain things. Whatever. And that's where I think, again, that's why they're in different lanes. Yes.

He is a celebrity, and he is able to do things like pull up to UK's basketball team,'s basketball team, things like that. Cause he's, he's a pop. Cause you're a star and it's great. He's a star, but he's a star and you, and you're not, you're not, you're not a bad rapper. No, but also when you have, but these, but this, but this is what this beef has also revealed. It's like, you're, there's really levels to this shit though. Also break. Like you, you absolutely have the gift of creating like great hooks absolutely albums that can chart and kendrick lamar is like just a grinding mc who's in the trenches and is just i'm here for

the black boat yeah take up just taking the taking it seriously people like whoa what is like a quintuple entendre on these things it's like man he kind of yeah he's he's messing with that's how he thinks about his own lyrics so again i just like that again that all these things create this sort of sequence of back and forth i've been like here's a track is it fun we get to talk about it we get to analyze it we get to critique it yeah um and again i think just like as long as it stays as a yes music like nobody's dying this is great keep it keep it that it's everything it's good it's good for everybody and i think getting caught up although look like i'm saying i'm a fan of kendrick i'm from la i personally and i don't think that has anything to do with why i believe kendrick is just a more gifted mc i think

objectively he is just in a different level lyrically yeah but that's my take and that's how i feel but that's what i like to see because then you see what drake does and you're like oh okay that that was antagonistic. We'll see where it goes. Yeah. It doesn't, doesn't mean he can't rap, but it's just like in the arena you're stepping in that the brilliance of it is to be like,

I'm going to go at the one thing you want because you're right. I don't have as many hits as you. You're absolutely correct. So I'm not going to go pound for pound for that. The one thing you want is our cosine and you will never get it yeah yeah he's like you are not a goon remember that you're not a goon it's okay and that's okay not everybody's i'm not a goon i'm not a goon i never claimed goon i don't want that life i am a nice boy which is what j cole did like he was like look man i'm a college i'm a college kid that just wanted to smash girls like that yeah that's all i'm a nice guy i'm a nice guy i'm a

conscious rapper like yeah so y'all got y'all have it ah but anyway i'm sure this will continue and prop will have to i'm sure i have to have you back as inevitably because i don't think this is gonna end uh with kendrick i don't i don't i mean who knows but end. No, it's not over. I mean, who knows? But I have a feeling, based on Drake's memeing and stuff that's happening right now, he may be cooking something up. My prediction is this is more akin to, this isn't Biggie and Tupac.

This is more akin to Jay-Z and Nas, to where it's like, we get Ether, we get these classic songs that show up and again, push the culture forward. I will say this though. Like if we're talking about making hits, memorable songs, catchy, sing along, move the crowd, move the club. Yeah. The Eastern seaboard and the South, you have that. I am a, I bleed, I bleed California.

Everybody knows like, but you're not taking that you're not you can't take that from them however if it comes to like taking the gloves off and like i'm gonna eat your children like like versus yeah yes it's it it's got to be the west coast because i'm like you have to cite tupac who's i mean the first lyric out his mouth was first i fucked your wife like that's the first bar yeah like that's where you're starting the song yeah so like like if anything if this distracts like we does this like yeah yeah we're this what we do out here yeah we have we don't have gloves on there's no gloves it's great we're not friends we're not friends that's but that's what's off it It's like Game of Thrones.

It's like that's how the West Coast kingdom is. And that's how the West Coast kingdom is. We all have our different strengths and weaknesses. And that's where we go from. I mean, yeah, look, we had our little moment, too, with the hits. But look, it's coming back. We got a lot of artists, though, now. We have a lot of artists now.

It's a good time. Yeah, it's a good time. We're all winning. But anyway, that is our old head rap analysis episode for you all. Thank you so much for listening. We are going to be back tomorrow with a whole new episode. Prop, thank you so much for joining me.

Definitely check out Hood Politics. Because it's a fantastic show. I'd love to have you back. Thanks for having me. Of course. Long live hip-hop. We'll talk to you later. Bye. I'm Carrie Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports.

Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. Every great player needs a foil. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Listen to the making of a rivalry. Caitlin Clark versus Angel Reese on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

Presented by Elf Beauty, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. Hey, I'm Gianna Pradenti. And I'm Jermaine Jackson-Gadsden. Elf Beauty, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. like negotiation expert Maury Tahiripour. If you start thinking about negotiations as just a conversation, then I think it sort of eases us a little bit. Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jess Casavetto, executive producer of the hit Netflix documentary series Dancing for the Devil, the 7M TikTok cult. And I'm Clea Gray, former member of 7M Films and Shekinah Church.

And we're the host of the new podcast, Forgive Me For I Have Followed. Together, we'll be diving even deeper into the unbelievable stories behind 7M Films and Shekinah Church. Listen to Forgive Me For I Have Followed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.