This has definitely been one of the more hot-button issues in the Kendrick Lamar and Drake beef, and a tough one to break down.
The battle of Kendrick Lamar versus Drake still has folks grasping for more, but what’s the rush when there’s so much left to debate? Of course, many of the topics, themes, and elements of this beef etched themselves into the hip-hop history books long before this flare-up. Folks have discussed Drizzy’s biracial status for over a decade, and K.Dot has always found it hard to be the biggest rapper trying to say something deeper about the industry and systems that he found success in. On that last note, though, Brand Nubian’s Lord Jamar agrees with the Compton lyricist’s view that his Toronto rival’s use of the n-word is “cringeworthy.”
Moreover, Lord Jamar posited that Kendrick Lamar never said that Drake can’t say the n-word: just that it’s cringe. He thinks that Aubrey Graham uses too many accents and voices in his music for his use of the word to come off as genuine, calling out “all these different Drakes that this motherf***er comes out with.” “The only reason why he kind of gets away with it is that his father’s Black,” Jamar added later on. Not only that, but he pointed out that the OVO boss grew up with his white mother, not Dennis Graham.
Lord Jamar’s Thoughts On Drake Using The N-Word
Lord Jamar says he agrees with Kendrick Lamar’s rap lyrics from the song “Euphoria” that it’s cringeworthy when Drake says the word “n*gga.”
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— The Art Of Dialogue (@ArtOfDialogue_) June 28, 2024
Furthermore, Lord Jamar suggested that Drake did not engage with that word in the same way that biracial folks that grew up in a Black environment did. “That s**t is catchy, he do make some catchy f***ing s**t,” he conceded, albeit in a way that theorized on why he “gets away” with this. Overall, it’s a very complex issue that has much deeper roots than just hip-hop. But it’s important to understand that attacks on the “Tuscan Leather” MC can be misguidedly discriminatory, invalidating, and exclusionary, and that Kendrick Lamar’s criticism of his use of the n-word is not a simple matter of being biracial.
Meanwhile, folks will sadly always clown Drake for whatever reason, and it’s usually not as deep as this. But there’s a lot of nuance that every party involved in this specific breakdown is missing out on. As such, it’s key for media consumers to see both sides of the argument and reach a more comprehensive understanding of the matter, especially if they are not Black themselves. Until then, these words will inspire many more debates like this.
