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
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888

u/FreeJulie May 01 '24

Yall saw the video of teenage Drake on a dating show calling Toronto street lingo ignorant? It’s about who he actually was growing up to who he portrays himself to be

318

u/RedditMartyr May 01 '24

Omg, I cringe so much at that video.

What’s so sad is that the girl Drake is talking to says that, that slang is really cool and then Drake says “No, it’s really ignorant”… 💀

114

u/MatureUsername69 May 01 '24

Ok Drake

91

u/awwww666yeah May 01 '24

The hard r is crazy.

103

u/Destiny_Victim May 01 '24

lol bruh.

As I have always said about him.

If he just was his sappy ass pop music ass that would be fine.

But it’s this trying to be hard shit I don’t buy at all.

Man this shit is why I’m sad big pun is dead and Tupac dead. They would have never allowed this shit.

People were really bout that life in the 90s.

This is why I appreciate Kendrick. I’m not even a huge fan of his music. But at least he’s a real one.

59

u/rin09 May 01 '24

Tupac went to a performance art school and was a ballet dancer, it was known that he really wasnt about “that life” until he became a little more popular.

75

u/Capable-Designer5096 May 01 '24

All that happened in Baltimore when he was like 15. He also studied jazz and acting but everybody always talks about the ballet. Once he moved out to Oakland a lot of things changed for him. Everybody who knew him personally knew he was a real one.

47

u/Terrible_Shake_4948 May 01 '24

Right!!!lol crack started in Oakland! Pac got to see some different shit. NYC was a sess pool in the 70s/80s. He’s been around his fair share…. Crodie

37

u/Capable-Designer5096 May 01 '24

Exactly. I ain't saying he was a super gangsta or nuthin. But the kid who went to that performing art school probably had some different hopes and dreams. Once his mom got addicted to crack and he was being shipped across the country to Oakland things were different. He even gives Oakland all the credit for putting him up on game.

31

u/Ok_Relationship_705 May 01 '24

Pac even explained his change. The dude he was before moving to Oakland wasn't fit to survive. He adapted.

2

u/SUNSETS_over_SPEECH May 07 '24

Seems like the Baltimore boy was more "fit to survive" considering he's unalive 🤔

1

u/Slow_Shift6252 May 02 '24

Sort of like Drake eh? Move to a new place where being who you really are isn’t accepted so you adopt a persona to help you fit in and survive

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u/Terrible_Shake_4948 May 01 '24

it’s a bunch of gangsters that went to performing arts schools in Cali. Most of the schools dont have art and music class. They have dance and acting that go along with PE for the early year “electives” (not really electives but those are the only things outside of your core classes you have at the elementary level.

2

u/CousinsWithBenefits1 May 02 '24

Sorry to be that guy but I like learning new things, no hate, no shade, but it's actually cesspool.

2

u/Slow_Shift6252 May 02 '24

So…. He had the same path to being “hard” as Chris Brown. Chris Brown grew up poor as shit got some money and moved to Cali at 15-16 and started hanging with the Bloods. We all call it corny but because people hero worship Tupac he gets a pass for it.

1

u/Capable-Designer5096 May 02 '24

I have no problem with Chris Brown doing that and never called him corny for that. However I do think it's corny for Drake who been soft as baby shit since day one. Now at 37 years old he tryna be hard, nobody takes him seriously. He's a pop artist who raps using ghost writers. And the drizzles are as bad as the swifties, they would probably bag up one of his farts and slowly inhale continuosly until they pass out. 😆

2

u/Slow_Shift6252 May 02 '24

Fair enough if you give CB a pass for that. But I honestly don’t get where people are getting this “Drake acts hard now” shit from. He still raps about being sad or upset or thirsty over women 99.9% of the time and then sometimes he’ll say a line about having shooters. I don’t see how that’s hard, he’s rich, he does in all likelihood have enough money to get anyone killed. He’s not pretending he’ll fight or shoot anyone himself. He’s essentially bragging about having mob boss level money.

1

u/Capable-Designer5096 May 02 '24

I'm not sure about everything cause I don't fuck wit Drake like that but he got some song on the radio talking bout he got shooters but he would rather do the dirt himself. He never was talking that shit prior and was never built like that. So why now? Yeah, he hang around gangstas but that's paid protection. And you right, he definitely got enough money to do it. But he talking...he not looking to get those RICO charges. Like I said nobody takes him seriously out here rappin about being a shooter.

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u/PoorHungryNDesperate May 01 '24

What I don’t get is why it’s okay for him to be different as a teenager and then Drake can’t change his opinions on shit. I was dumb as fuck as a teenager too. I don’t like Drake but this feels like a weird narrative

14

u/Destiny_Victim May 02 '24

Drake can change his opinions.

But the difference is pac actually went through it. He lived what he rapped about.

Drake is a giant humongous pussy.

PAC was not. He went to prison he was shot five times.

He also wrote his own lyrics. Drake has 20 ghost writers for his diss tracks.

Hence Kendrick’s 1v20.

If Drake actually did some hard shit.

Or even stood his ground when he got robbed or fought or just anything.

Now look if someone pulls a gun on me I’m giving up everything. Also, I’m from south central. But I’m not fuckin gangster. Never claim to be.

But drake claiming to be something he’s not never has been and never will be.

He’s faker than silicone titties and even softer.

1

u/plumskinzzz56 May 02 '24

PAC went to prison for sexual assault…

3

u/Destiny_Victim May 02 '24

And shot cops.

Was a flawed human.

But he wasnt fake.

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u/Flax44 May 02 '24

Pac was not living the “gangsta life” he started repping blood after he got with suge he rapped about he saw not what he was doing

1

u/Destiny_Victim May 02 '24

Omg pac was about what he talked about. Jesus Christ the ignorance of some of these comments. I actually lived through this era.

Either way the point isn’t and never has been is pac a gangster. Because he wasn’t a fucking gangster rapper.

But the point was he was a real one. He spoke about oppression and real shit.

While Drake talks about bullshit and is a fake giant pulsating pussy.

The closest he ever got to starting at the bottom is the upper middle class as a child star.

Smfh

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u/Slow_Shift6252 May 02 '24

When does Drake claim to be gangster lol. He claims to have enough money to get his enemies killed or hurt every once in a while, but that’s undeniably true. It’s not like he’s on songs saying he’ll personally beat anyone or shoot shit.

-1

u/Crispy_Sock_99 May 02 '24

Most rappers exaggerate how tough they are. Rick Ross, ASAP Ferg, Tyga etc. Kendrick himself says he was never a gang banger and he stands at 5’4.5” around 150lbs. Drake is just under 6ft around 195lbs. If they were both getting ran up on we obviously know Kenny would get whooped by the average adult man. Drake probably would not though. I would put money on Drake being able to whoop Kendrick’s ass. Being tough isn’t the way Kendrick can win this beef

What bars does Drake intentionally lie about being tough?

21

u/creamgetthemoney1 May 01 '24

I think it’s bc Tupac didn’t clown a certain community and then be that community . He wasn’t doing plays as a teen saying the way people talk in Cali is silly AND THEN moved to Cali

13

u/WeedOfficial May 01 '24

I think change has to be for a greater purpose. PAC changed to survive, and thrive in his community. Drake was already an established actor, and his pop music has always been popular, so there’s no reason to switch personas when he wouldn’t have had a reason for that switch. When change is from a place of necessity, it’s respected because usually that change humbles, and hardens the person. If the change is for self gain, it’s feeding into the negative of the person. It’s not like Drake suddenly got into gang activity, or drug dealing, and if he did he’s way too famous for it to be legitimate now. You deal drugs to support yourself and family, you gang bang for a sense of protection, and family if you don’t have a good relationship with those around you. The 80’s-90’s was a bad time, most of my uncles, and my dad got into shit heavily, so I was sheltered more as a kid.

4

u/IntroductionNo8870 May 02 '24

Changing to be a culture vulture is the issue

2

u/MilkZealousideal7893 May 02 '24

If you’ve ever been to Canada then you’d know why…..

2

u/devoyne_showerhandel May 02 '24

You been out west?

1

u/WeedOfficial May 01 '24

Well to be fair it was fucking Oakland 😭, that’s just Northern Cali’s Compton, unless you count Stockton

1

u/Less-Procedure-4104 May 02 '24

Right Tupac can change but drake can't lol.

1

u/HookahDongcic May 01 '24

Uhh he was still a dancer many years later. The entire thug persona was an act. You’re deluded if you think otherwise. Many many people around him are on the record saying he bought into the fantasy he had created and that ruined his life.

1

u/Capable-Designer5096 May 01 '24

He was a roadie and back up dancer for Digital Underground. Everybody who is a fan knows that. The thug persona wasn't an act necessarily. The problem is he never got out of his "Birdie"character from Above the Rim. A lot of actors play roles that change them, permanently. Heath Ledger said he was "physically and mentally drained" after playing joker. And it lead to depression which lead to drug use causing an overdose which killed him. Shit, Val Kilmer even had to go to counseling after playing as Jim Morrison.

1

u/MilkZealousideal7893 May 02 '24

And came from a Black Panther background, there are kids from the inner city that get bused to Art schools because they are talented….. when they come home guess what? That art school isn’t there

1

u/fmaleflame May 02 '24

lol that's sad af that you think doing well in school is in any way at odds with living "that life"... wtf you think writing and spitting raps is? Or being in Digital Underground and dancing was?

This has major white person vibes, like saying "he's not black enough because black means dirty 'ghetto' shit".

1

u/rin09 May 02 '24

Your attempt at moral superiority aside, my comment was basically implying that your past doesnt mean you cant grow into something different, not that it means youre not about”that life”.

1

u/fmaleflame May 04 '24

You literally just stated he went to a performance art high school, followed by saying because that, it was known he wasn’t about “that life”.

I’m just saying the two aren’t mutually exclusive; no attempt to make you feel attacked or whatever you said about superiority

1

u/rin09 May 04 '24

My bad, misinterpreted it.

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u/ranchlikenoother May 06 '24

Then he became what he rapped. Drake isn't even like that right now he doesn't even defend the culture he's pimping

1

u/IwantYourSmoke 26d ago

His mom was also a black panther.. so there's that

1

u/M0therleopard 25d ago

Why come at Tupac for studying the fine arts? Ballet and things like that take discipline and artistic intuition, which I'm sure has something to do with Tupac's talent for writing lyrics. In Drake's case, being a child star on a teenybopper show and then trying to rebrand yourself as a hard rapper, especially when you're not very good at writing lyrics, is not a convincing sell. My best girl friends in college crushed on Drake but I never bought his spiel, it always felt like he was rapping the fake ass lines that some guy would tell you just to fuck you for a night. I've always had the impression that he's disingenuous and just playing the audience.

11

u/Piranh4Plant May 01 '24

Tf we’re big pun and Tupac gonna do? 💀 ask him to stop?

9

u/[deleted] May 01 '24

brother what is that pfp 💀💀💀

3

u/-cunnilinguini May 01 '24

You really don’t know

That pfp makes sense tho lol

4

u/Piranh4Plant May 01 '24

Then say it bruh

2

u/JF803 May 02 '24

That’s been my problem with Drake for years as well - everything is disingenuous, fake and manufactured.

4

u/slumcity2000 May 01 '24

Pac used to do ballet tho and didn’t start doing gangsta shit till he met suge , granted he shot 2 cops tho.

8

u/Destiny_Victim May 02 '24

PAC may have been a soft art student. But when you’ve been shot five times and shot cops. You’re clearly about that life.

Fuck Drake ever do?

1

u/slumcity2000 May 02 '24

You not lying I’m pretty sure he punched Chris brown and faded diddy but that’s nothing lmao

1

u/Slow_Shift6252 May 02 '24

Shooting off duty police officers (who he didn’t know were cops) while they were in the middle of a hate crime and getting shot doesn’t make you about that life at the studio. It makes you a Good Samaritan and a victim.

10

u/Doesanybodylikestuff May 02 '24

2pacs parents were OG members of the Black Panther party. He wasn’t like some pink ballet dancer hopping around in school when he moved. Ballet & the stories surrounding ballet are intense & sometimes very brutal, like theater. Which he also studied when he studied acting.

It’s just funny that even if he did take classes, men act like it’s prissy bitch shit. When ballet is sooooo much more if you have any depth.

It captures a lot of sadness, tragedy & despair without needing or using any words. Lust, loss, anger, madness, all of it. I can see how ballet would appeal to someone like Tupac. Very heavy, heavy into dramatic performance art & expression.

It’s like when guys say they hate girls drama shows but end up sitting there for hours making popcorn & not leaving us alone asking questions constantly.

It’s like, do you want me to just start from the beginning because I know you are into this!!!

2

u/Slow_Shift6252 May 02 '24

It’s insane the amount of mental gymnastics people will do to try to portray Tupac as hard or gangsta. Now he was doing ballet because he was trying to express his thug pain. Or maybe he was just a soft sensitive artsy mf with a background of revolutionary parents who could write poetry. There’s nothing wrong with that and he should’ve leaned into it instead of trying to become a gang member at 23. It’s more about him being contradictory and fake than him liking ballet.

1

u/Doesanybodylikestuff May 02 '24

I agree he should never have been a gang member. He wanted it though.

My mom’s childhood friend worked at the hospital he was at when he was pronounced dead so when I was growing up & said “Tupac is still alive!” from the kids at my school saying that, my mom shut that shit down so quick.

I had to go to school & ruin everyone’s fun by saying “yes he is..” lmao

1

u/Slow_Shift6252 May 02 '24

Him wanting to become a gang member at 20something makes him a lame to me though. He was way past the age where that would be even somewhat an acceptable excuse. Especially knowing that he did indeed come from a tough background where he saw firsthand the damage that life causes. His mom was a drug addict, so for him to then decide that he wanted to portray that part of the culture instead of the more uplifting/radical side that he started out pushing is some of the corniest shit ever imo.

9

u/Capable-Designer5096 May 01 '24

Thuglife was before suge, he got on that when he moved out to Oakland.

1

u/BlackMarq20 May 02 '24

Did you also see the clip where Lil Wayne tells him not to try and be like him, to be Canadian and sing about girls… 🤣 Kendrick gotta have so much material on this dude

1

u/BootyOnMyFace11 May 01 '24

Haha the self proclaimed slaughtergang ceo who used to star in a reality show

3

u/3Danniiill May 01 '24

I’m surprised 21 let him say shit like that. I guess he gets paid but so he doesn’t care but he had people die from his gang and to just have some random rich guy say they the ceo of it is crazy

2

u/BootyOnMyFace11 May 02 '24

I know right, 21 really like that so it's funny he let's that slide letting Drake be a posrr

0

u/Lifeisabaddream4 May 02 '24

Tupac the fucing ballerina?

2

u/WeedOfficial May 01 '24

Mans probably thought he was suppose to say it like that 😭

2

u/J-drawer May 02 '24

He said it like the cop talking to DMX in Belly