Odeisel
It was supposed to be about Big Sean. In Derrick Rose fashion, Big Sean had declared himself one of the best rappers alive, despite heavy evidence to the contrary and his coming album was to be proof of his ascension. To that effect, he unloaded heavy, dropping a lead single featuring not only the underground guy that really isn’t (Kendrick Lamar) but also the enigmatic Jay Electronica. The single, Control plays more like 3 separate songs by each rather than three verses and features one of the best verses I’ve ever heard from Big Sean. The story, though, comes with Kendrick Lamar, who claimed Supremacy over his entire generation of Hip-Hop.
The verse set the internet on fire, inspired memes and got everybody taking shots at everybody. It inspired comeback rhymes , got cats who can’t rhyme mad as fuck and got cats who can rhyme to go for their pen like you go for your guns. Suckers tweeted about it while legends like Big Daddy Kane said if you feeling a certain way get off Twitter and grab a mic.
Joell Ortiz came with some thunder that wasn’t quite Kendrific and the bol Cassidy had a response with lots of bars but lacking in that detonation that powers so many of the modern emcees. Lupe Fiasco, perhaps the most skilled of this generation (although not the most responsible in holding up the flag for it) came with a superior retort, but no matter how you feel about the various tracks, that isn’t the point.
For a few days and for however long this lasts, Hip-Hop was a true sport again. Not ABC Wild World of Sports shit like midget tossing and those bullshit Olympic sports that no one outside of Greece gives a damn about. It was bloodthirsty, spine tingling, what’s going to happen next competition. For a few days, it hasn’t been about taking your bitch. How much bigger someone’s house is. No one asked the difference between the G4 and the G5 or the 4.0 and the 4.6. They had their pride tested and to the best of their ability, the music and the skill mattered again.
Fans who not two weeks ago were laughing at rappers actually trying to show skill were now touting Kendrick as the greatest thing since sliced bread and his verse as Holy Scriptures. I don’t know about all that shit. But what I do know, is that this verse was both timely and necessary. It’s time for this generation to get off their ass and start going for the gusto. It’s time for them to give a fuck and start supplanting 40 year old emcees and take their rightful place in the front of this music. And even then, young Kendrick is showing deference to a Jay-Z that he just finished dragging all over the place saying basically the same shit on his Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe Remix.
In one verse, for however long it lasts. Kendrick Lamar has brought Hip-Hop back. The spirit of competition and the desire to be better than every other soul toughing the mic is what powered some of our greatest emcees to unparalleled heights. When it’s you and that one mic, your crack, your Blood or Crip ties, your Bugatti and your Tom Ford clothes don’t mean a fucking thing. It’s the battle that Canibus lost when he dropped a dud album after putting LL on the ropes.
I’ll leave you with this. We haven’t had a posse cut with this much venom since Beasts From The East, where Canibus relegated on of the greatest emcees of all time (Redman) to an afterthought and hijacked the song from the hosts (The hot at the time Lost Boyz). It’s really up to the fans and the record buyers to forge a different outcome from then, but enjoy this Hip-Hoppers.
Savor this week like your local tax free weekend. For you rappers out there, Kendrick Lamar just through you the Alley Oop ( I know French people, I know). You now have quite an excuse to give more than a fuck whether or not you can rhyme. At this point it doesn’t matter who comes back to respond. What matters is that at the heart, rappers give a fuck. We have the Good Kid from the Ma.a.D City to thank for that.
