Just a few weeks ago, I wrote about Kendrick Lamar’s “Like That” verse by which he dissed fellow rappers Drake and J. Cole. In this text, I related Lamar’s desire to be the best, regardless of who it upsets, to Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant’s desire to be higher than his peers. Since then, Drake has released two diss records of his own:Push-ups“And”Taylor created freestyle” prompting Lamar to respond. So on Tuesday at 8:24 a.m. West Coast time, in an apparent tribute to Bryant, Lamar tweeted a link to a full-fledged, six-minute onslaught of insults aimed directly at Drake’s neck. Song, “Euphoria” and its sequel, “6:16 in Los Angeles”, which dropped early Friday morning, is now official: two of the best MCs of their class engage in a musical tug-of-war to see who will win. However, at the moment they’re holding their Big Jokers close to the vest in an attempt to control the narrative of winning the battle. With the release of “Euphoria,” we all know Lamar is prepared for a full-on, no-holds-barred smoking session and intends to cut deep. The battle has officially begun.

“Euphoria” is Aubrey Graham’s chaotic surgical dissection. It’s each funny – Kendrick talks about how much he likes Drake singing and desires him to keep doing it, which is funny – and venomous. Lamar consists of insult after insult. Some of them are as direct as possible: “.” Other insults take more time to decipher, corresponding to when Kendrick says, “”he isn’t talking about an engine, he actually means a machine that helps people drop pounds, alluding to rumors of cosmetic procedures Drake has undergone lately.

The challenge of defaming someone as culturally ubiquitous as Drake is that we have heard all of it before. He is certainly one of the most memed rappers in history. He has already managed to survive allegations from Pusha T that he’s an absent father and Meek Mill that he uses ghostwriters. Most recently Rick Ross Drake disgusted repeatedly calling him a “white boy” and clowning his private jet. So capturing a singular insult has all the time been a challenge. But Lamar takes all the low-hanging fruit and adds something to each of them.

For example, as an alternative of calling Drake a “white boy,” Lamar insinuates that Drake uses black culture – specifically black American culture – as a fancy dress to gain fame. “” he asks Drake regarding the song. When Lamar says his opponent doesn’t like women, it is not an attack on Drake’s sexuality. It’s about his history of insults and feuds with women. Beneath the surface of all of it are veiled threats that he’s willing to speak about Drake’s history of interactions with underage girls, which is questionable at best. Like the double meaning of the word “pacify” in the poem “.” Lasting over six minutes, “Euphoria” is overloaded with senses and lyrically dense.

Its follow-up, “6:16 in Los Angeles,” posted on Instagram, is a calmer and kinder open-heart surgery. The song is one more warning to Drake that he has disloyal friends in his circle, and Lamar has dirt on the Toronto rapper that he isn’t afraid to scoop up and unleash on the world. And he did all of it based on quite a lot of measures that may take several days to analyze.

On each songs, Lamar dips out and in of pockets and styles, using multi-syllable internal rhymes and metaphors to create a song that’s as arresting because it is multi-layered.

Honestly, these are songs that Drake has never been able to create.

This is just not a slight against Drake, who’s a terrific rapper in his own right and may make great music without the lyrical flexing that Lamar does. There are few artists in the world who can put words together like Lamar.

Drake definitely tried. After “Like That” dropped, inside 21 days Torontonians responded “Push-ups” but as an alternative of the knockout punch some were hoping for, it was light work. Drake had to answer Lamar, but he didn’t want to play his entire hand. So he decided to drop a second-grade insult about Lamar’s shoe size and height, which was fair and amusing enough, before talking about Lamar, who owes half of his publishing credits to his former label, Top Dawg Records. Drake followed this up with “Taylor created freestyle” which used AI versions of Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg to discredit Lamar. The song was mostly a troll, a social media play intended to lure Lamar into responding. It appeared like Drake was simply testing out what had been required of him so far: he had to respond to Kendrick indirectly, especially after he embarrassed himself by withdrawing from the Pusha T feud without eventually returning. However, the consequence of his battle with Lamar will all the time rely on how aggressively the Compton, California MC approaches the battle and the way Drake could have to respond.

For now, there’s a battle occurring there, with the two megastars tweaking their narratives to persuade fans how they need to select the winner.

“Push Ups” takes place on Drake’s home turf, where he raps about publishing deals, topping the charts, and who has the most power in the industry. Wanting to keep the fight there is smart because his chart numbers are untouchable. So when Rick Ross claims he has more cash than Drake, it feels hole and unbelievable. Lamar knows this and doesn’t care about fighting for charts and money (“,” he raps on “Euphoria”). He said the same thing in “Like That” when he said “”, referring to the undeniable fact that artistic respect was more necessary to him than record sales.

My artistic preferences lean towards Lamar’s version of this beef. I do not care about rappers’ record deals or who has the most hits. I care about who will perform the most masterful takedown of their opponents. And these breakdowns have to be set to music. Drake won’t win with memes and jokes on social media. His destruction of Meek Mill was complete thanks to two great diss songs and a clever understanding of the Internet. These social media gadgets won’t cut it on this battle. This is about music. And now it’s Drake’s turn to show that he could make music that makes rap’s lyrical demigod bleed.

Even if Drake fails, he’ll try, showing him the best motivation to prove his doubters fallacious. So at the very least we’re getting recent music from two of rap’s biggest stars who’re determined to give it their all. When the dust settles, their careers will probably be superb. They will each be secure.

It’s us, the fans, who will profit from the same style of competition that rap is built on. For now we wait. because it is going to only recuperate.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mary J. Blige is bringing her mission of empowering women beyond music to her hometown – with the help of the singer’s superstar friends.

Taraji P. Henson, Tiffany Haddish and Jill Scott and other stars and experts will join Blige on her behalf Women’s Power Summit and Festival starts on May 10. Her three-day event over Mother’s Day weekend in New York will feature live shows, comedy acts, a gospel brunch, panel discussions and workshops specializing in technology, beauty, entrepreneurship and financial literacy.

On Thursday, organizers announced additional speakers including Henson, Marsai Martin, Method Man, Larenz Tate, Tasha Smith, Michael Rainey Jr., Angie Martinez and Pinky Cole. The event will likely be hosted by comedian Jess Hilarious and podcast host Gia Peppers.

“We teach each other, support each other and lift each other up,” the R&B singer said in a recent interview. “We help each other stay in our businesses and maintain our mental health and so on.”

Blige launched the Women’s Power event in 2022 after years of seeing women at her live shows “hanging on every word like my life belonged to them.” The singer felt she was connecting with concert-goers as she told her own deep stories about overcoming pain.

“I thought to myself, ‘Let me do more than just sing for them,’” said Blige, a nine-time Grammy winner who has won an Emmy, two Oscar nominations and will likely be inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame later this 12 months.

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“In the middle of my songs, it just jumps out at me,” she continued. “Some words of inspiration. People love it. My team and I thought, “Why don’t we just create a festival with the same theme?”

After two successful years in Atlanta, Blige moved her festival to her native New York. He will play an enormous concert at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, with guest appearances by 50 Cent, Scott, Fat Joe, Jadakiss, Lola Brooke and Muni Long. Robert Glasper will headline a jazz concert at the Blue Note Jazz Club, and Haddish will take the stage for a comedy act at the Apollo Theater.

Blige stated that in addition to entertainment, she wants to provide resources that may uplift and encourage participants to succeed in life.

“I do my job,” she said. “I’m doing what I was sent to Earth to do. I do my job by uplifting women and letting them know you’re not the only one. You can come here as a safe haven and find comfort.”

Brian McKnight has avoided web drama amid backlash over his seemingly non-existent relationship with his eldest children.

On May 1, McKnight shared two videos on Instagram, telling his fans that he was heading to the south of France to spend time with his mom and dad with his wife Leilani.

McKnight publicly disowned his sons Brian McKnight Jr. and Niko McKnight with his ex-wife Julie McKnight. The first couple was married from 1990 to 2003. The “Crazy Love” artist also has a daughter, Briana, whom he described as “out of wedlock” on social media, with his ex Patricia Driver. She was born during his first marriage. The singer also has one other son, Clyde, with an unknown woman.

The “Back at One” singer also described his older children – all of whom have black moms – as “products of sin” and “evil.”

However, McKnight apparently has nothing but nice things to say about his stepchildren and young son with Leilani and fans reacted to the drama on social media and condemned the singer for how he treated his eldest children online.

“So Brian McKnight married Julie McKnight, had 2 sons with her, Brian Jr. and Niko, he cheated on her with Patricia Driver and had a daughter, Briana McKnight, who Julie treated as her own – she disowned EVERYONE – got a new wife and step children and I haven’t looked back. Jesus,” wrote one user.

The 54-year-old singer was also nicknamed “Toxic & Childish” and after announcing his upcoming concert in Detroit on Instagram, fans were delighted with him once more.

Following the backlash, McKnight took to Instagram and in a single of his “weekly replies” announced that he and Leilani were going to France for a vacation.

“Hi everyone. We’re on our way – we’re about to board a plane for a little romantic getaway,” he announced he said. “To the south of France, to the French Riviera – a little time for mom and dad.”

In one other video shared the identical day, McKnight gushed over his wife as she waited for a flight and sipped rosé during lunch at London’s Heathrow Airport.

After swiping at Leilani’s plate to exhibit her lunch and cleavage, the “Find Myself In You” singer giggled and it ejaculated“Mommy and Daddy don’t have to keep quiet tonight.”

The “Still in Love” singer received enormous support from his fans after his posts. “Can’t anyone make me hate Brian McKnight. Especially bitter, hateful mother trolls.” he wrote one. Another echoed this sentiment. “His family drama has nothing to do with me. I love him as an artist and always will.”

It’s unclear whether McKnight will proceed his social media streak while in Europe, but not everyone seems to be on his side.

Two other people said: “I listen to Brian McKnight and I’m disgusted by his actions, hmm… but I won’t turn it off slap” and “Brian McKnight drives straight to where it’s hot and there isn’t any sun shine“

I listen to Brian McKnight and I’m disgusted by his actions, smh….but I won’t turn off that slap. 🫠

— Bad Lil Vibe (@ayyethats_bri_) May 3, 2024

McKnight will perform on June 9 in Detroit on the MotorCity Casino Hotel.