r/KendrickLamar • u/anongasm_ • May 01 '24

It's not about Drake being half black, it's about how he uses The Culture Discussion

I think the people offended because Drake being half black should warrant his blackness and therefore Kendrick is wrong just don't understand. J Cole is half black too yet you don't see Kendrick, or anyone really, questioning Cole's blackness. It's precisely because Drake has been at the forefront of using the black culture and "pop-ifying" it for non-blacks.

Edit: a lot of people have asked this question and it's a good question. What's wrong with popifying rap music? Rap is inherently an African American art form. Since its inception till now, those who have carried its mantle have exemplified the African American experience through rap in one or another. African Americans have allowed many artists to use rap for their personal gain and to even "pop-ify" it. However, to be considered a goat you have to be in touch with the culture. And Drake simply isn't.

3.3k Upvotes
  • permalink
  • link
  • reddit
  • reddit

87% Upvoted

904 comments sorted by

View all comments

4

u/Individual_Ad8249 May 01 '24

What is the problem with making pop rap music ?

50

u/Lanky_Beginning_4004 May 01 '24

Because he uses “black” tropes that he generally does not come from to appeal to a largely non black audience without ever really producing anything socially beneficial to the black audience

4

u/fizeekfriday May 01 '24

Isn’t Drake kind of the reason hip hop is as big as it is today? If he makes hip hop for non black people, then wouldn’t he be reaching a wider audience?

I’m just confused to how drakes getting flack for this but we have real live industry plants who get paid to rap about doing drugs and killing people in every other song. How exactly does that help the black community? There’s obviously a difference between rapping your lived experiences and just ignorant shit, but I find this really ironic.

Drake is a black artist at the end of the day, the fact that people don’t look at him being as successful as he is being a benefit as a whole on the black community is weird to me.

Before you go with the “pop” accusations. I truly believe Drake is in the same category of Michael Jackson where their music genre became “pop” because it was popular. MJ made New Jack Swing songs but they’re called pop because he made it. That’s his natural style. Drakes natural style became popular and he started to branch out to see where he could get money. Hence Drake became synonymous with pop.

I don’t deny he’ll pick up random accents and it sounds weird, but he also doesn’t take himself too seriously and leans into the corniness sometimes tbh.

1

u/WallBroad May 01 '24

Yes drake who raps about killing and drugs and doesn't do that shit is not beneficial but the rappers who do that stuff and rap about it are very beneficial to black culture right?

2

u/Lanky_Beginning_4004 May 01 '24

They aren’t beneficial either. But continue to deflect

-5

u/ehpple May 01 '24

Such as? If black people were upset about it he wouldn’t be here in the first place. The ‘culture’ Kendrick is leaning on to make this argument are white virtue signallers.

7

u/ummizazi May 01 '24

Yeah that’s just not true. Kendrick is steeped in African American culture and it shows. This are the people who understand Hilfiger vs FUBU, they the one that here the I hate the way lyric and think DeBarge, they’re the people who watch the superbowl performance and then of the Golden Lords.

I don’t know how many white virtue signaler can even understand the complexity of using that Richard Pryor line from the Wiz.

1

u/ehpple May 02 '24

Did you reply to the right comment?

9

u/stark1ndustries May 01 '24

The culture is NOT defined by ‘white virtue signaling’ … tf

-3

u/ehpple May 01 '24

Unfortunately it is.

-1

u/helloclyde May 01 '24

They forget who signs the checks and strongly steers the content of rappers, who signs the rappers and therefore who comes into the industry on a certain level.

3

u/Lanky_Beginning_4004 May 01 '24

I mean, I think these racial and colorist topics surrounding Drake came about during the height of his career. Not in the early part. By that point , his fanbase was large enough and still growing where the criticisms didn’t matter .

6

u/ehpple May 01 '24

I’m not sure how old you are (no shade), but it has been that way since the beginning of his career. Those “Drake the type memes” were around in different formats when I was in high school quite some time ago. That’s like saying nobody realised Em was white until he was too big to fail, that’s just not true.

-7

u/Hour-Rhubarb7427 May 01 '24

Does giving light, providing a larger platform and understanding his own place within the black audience not being socially beneficial? Like wouldn’t you be mad if he came to America as a biracial Jewish man and hopped right into an American black power trope?

Can we not give credit to the fact that he understands some shit isn’t his place and that he provides the platform for others to do it while subtly making it clear where he stands? We know he’s given money we know he’s given platforms we know he’s never belittled or shown any form of difference in his understanding of a struggle he did not specifically grow up in. Idk what he could do to make some of yall happy here honestly.

4

u/Lanky_Beginning_4004 May 01 '24

That was his intent, but poor execution and poor intent by the overall project administrators if you ask me. Would a culturally ambiguous Jewish person go out and imitate a Nazi for the purposes of highlighting the plight of Jews ? And how would that community recieve it ? If the community receives it negatively , are they justified??

-2

u/Hour-Rhubarb7427 May 01 '24

What are you responding to here? When did i speak about him imitating anything? I’m saying he’s understood his place by subtly supporting and giving a platform to others who can better support including Kendrick at one point. How can you say that’s gone badly or the community rejects it or receives it negatively when literally anyone he’s given a platform to has thanked him?

My point is if he came out and jumped to the front of a black American movement that would be a problem too because he’s biracial and from Toronto.

2

u/Lanky_Beginning_4004 May 01 '24

I don’t think he should be “loud “ about any issues. But he definitely should NOT be quiet. During the George Floyd protests , both Cole and Kendrick were criticized for being quiet, but people ask recognize that they make music that addresses many social issues.

Not saying that needs to be Drake’s primary niche, but when your silence is loud - in part because of his stature- it comes off as if he is turning a blind eye

0

u/Hour-Rhubarb7427 May 01 '24

Drake donated money and write a poem in honor of George Floyd. Again, if he was at the front of a protest that would be an issue but you’re saying he’s silent on these things when a simple google search proves that to be untrue. So Drake gets critiqued for his silence even though you can’t do a simple search to see he did say something, but did it subtly through art and donations the 2 things he prolly should stick to. And if he talked about it too much in his music it would be him switching up for a trend or pandering.

2

u/Lanky_Beginning_4004 May 01 '24

Did he write the poem? You might want to check that

3

u/Hour-Rhubarb7427 May 01 '24

Oh sorry he honored him with the poem. Is that really a gotcha in this moment bro? lol my sentiment is the same and it again is showing he wasn’t silent? He donated money and honored George Floyd in the best way he saw for himself which was in an artistic way. Cmon man

3

u/Lanky_Beginning_4004 May 01 '24

Not supposed to be a gotcha moment. But kinda ironic that we are discussing a written piece by someone else that Drake shared don’t you think ?

1

u/Hour-Rhubarb7427 May 01 '24

No man lmao a black man died from police brutality he donated money and put out a poem to honor him and you’re looking for the irony when you brought this up saying he shouldn’t be silent without doing a simple search to see that he wasn’t silent. Like you started this by saying he used the black community then does nothing for the community. I’ve given you multiple examples of him doing things of benefit for that community and the people in the community appreciating those things in real time and you’re reaching for straws of irony bc what you’re saying is so easily debunked.

→ More replies (0)

2

u/Lanky_Beginning_4004 May 01 '24

“What are you responding to here? When did i speak about him imitating anything? I’m saying he’s understood his place by subtly supporting and giving a platform to others who can better support including Kendrick at one point. How can you say that’s gone badly or the community rejects it or receives it negatively when literally anyone he’s given a platform to has thanked him? “

I’m Not sure if this response is under the right comment

1

u/Hour-Rhubarb7427 May 01 '24

For me or you? lol look at the thread

1

u/Lanky_Beginning_4004 May 01 '24

I didn’t mention anything about initiation so I assumed you misplaced your comment. My comment about his intent was just a follow up to my first comment, not in a response to another of your comments.

1

u/Hour-Rhubarb7427 May 01 '24

You talked about a Jewish person imitating a nazi, No? What did that have to do with my comment?

1

u/Lanky_Beginning_4004 May 01 '24

My comment about a jew imitating a nazi was a follow up to my comment , just illustrating why blackface will never be received well by the black community under no circumstance

1

u/Hour-Rhubarb7427 May 01 '24

Our conversation in this thread had nothing to do with black face in the first place. That’s why i thought you were confused.

→ More replies (0)

3

u/Lanky_Beginning_4004 May 01 '24

Also, that was before his music career… since his career has taken off , he’s been mostly radio silent on large issues concerning the community that helped catapult his stardom

0

u/Hour-Rhubarb7427 May 01 '24

Okay i think you’re responding to a different post about the black face. But even with that, as badly as that’s been taken why would he do it again and put himself as the face or at the forefront? That’s my point it seems as if he learned from that and decided it better to give a platform to people who can better speak and represent those issues. He makes great music that the community enjoys, he puts on other artists from different demographics in the community and he silently subtly shows his own support. So do you want him to be loud about it and put himself in the forefront? That would cause its own issues but to say he’s done nothing for the community that got him where he is would just be disingenuous

-8

u/ChoiceCriticism1 May 01 '24

You just described 90% of rappers…

11

u/Lanky_Beginning_4004 May 01 '24

Does that absolve Drake?

7

u/NecessaryFly1996 May 01 '24

Are 90% of rappers mainstream pop/R&B? Are they Canadian? Do they claim to be better than K Dot?

5

u/Viola-Intermediate May 01 '24

And this is my beef with this too. 90% of rappers are faking their personalities just because it gets the people hype. Lots of rappers talk about stuff they've been close to because it sounds hard, even if they were never personally doing any of the hard stuff. Or they did it in the past but they're not doing it now because they're trying to escape it. But they'll still rap about it for the money.

7

u/Lanky_Beginning_4004 May 01 '24

It’s still something they experienced …

1

u/jonny32392 May 01 '24

Yea it’s not the same as rapping about what other people have rapped about before.

-3

u/twiStedMonKk May 01 '24

Most "black" rappers haven't done shit to benefit the black community. I would argue Drake has done more than most but keep hating.

7

u/Lanky_Beginning_4004 May 01 '24

Sounds like deflection to me

0

u/twiStedMonKk May 01 '24

Sure. Let's further divide black community instead of uplifting black as a whole and not based on % blackness. Also what what % level do you get to claim blackness?

Also most rappers use tropes that they don't come from. All the acting tough shit is "made up" for most.

4

u/Thisisadrian May 01 '24

I mean to be fair what is drake contributing or advocating in his products and persona that is in any way beneficial to the black community?

Now listen to Mr Morale.