Michael Eric Dyson is upset that Drake‘s Black identity was dismissed during his rap battle with Kendrick Lamar.
Michael Eric Dyson Upset Over Drake’s Black Identity Dismissal in Rap Battle
On Sunday (May 19), sports journalist Stephen A. Smith posted a video segment from his eponymous talk show featuring his interview with cultural critic and author Michael Eric Dyson. Their conversation was about Dyson’s think piece in The Philadelphia Citizen, published last Wednesday (May 15), describing the infamous lyrical feud between Kendrick Lamar and Drake as a proxy war on various societal issues.
In particular, Dyson expressed his anger over how Drake’s Black identity was ignored during the feud and somehow he became a colonizer. The professor acknowledges that the Toronto superstar is Jewish but he’s also Black and for people to ignore that he is Black is disingenuous.
“The astonishing and deflating speed with which Drake was tarred and feathered as inauthentically Black says less about him and more about the reactionary nativism of cults of pure identity that police the boundaries of Blackness like a rogue and racist cop,” Dyson wrote in his commentary. “In a single spurious stroke of Kendrick’s claustrophobic Blackness, Drake went from a brilliant embodiment of rap’s genius to a cultural carpetbagger who must prove that he deserves to be called Black when a white supremacist culture sees him as little else.”
In his interview with Smith, which can be viewed below, Dyson expounded on what he was addressing in his editorial.
“I’m pissed that Drake gets dismissed, off the scene, when he’s been Drake for 15 years and you act like you didn’t know that, [and] now he’s not really Black?” Dyson questioned.
“Challenging his racial identity saying he’s a culture vulture when he’s a Black man-‘he’s from Canada he ain’t real’-Idris Elba is from the UK, people still love him on The Wire,” he continued. “So why is it that being outside of our geography outside of our nationality raises suspicions about Drake?”
“So what he’s done to expand the horizon of hip-hop is underestimated, even artistically,” he added. “We have to stop this narrow, punishing, pernicious, limited viewpoint about Blackness.”
“The kind of ad hominem remarks as opposed to a full-on embrace of the rhetorical diversity and splendor that is Drake that would be a fairer fight then we could make an estimation of what’s going on,” he concluded.
Dyson believes that rather than questioning Drake’s Blackness, the focus should be on evaluating his lyrical abilities and comparing them to those of Kendrick Lamar.
Lil Yachty Disappointed With So Many Artists Ganging Up on Drake
On the latest episode of A Safe Place Podcast, Lil Yachty shared his thoughts on the Kendrick Lamar and Drake rap battle. The Atlanta rhymer said he enjoyed the battle but not the aspect of so many artists ganging up on Drizzy.
“I think Drake has dealt with that s**t since the beginning of time,” Boat said in the interview below. “He’s always not truly been liked. It’s unfortunate.”
“I really wish it was only Drake and Kendrick. It kinda seemed like when Kendrick came out and was like ‘I hate this n***a’ everyone was like finally like, ‘I hate him too.’ Which is kinda p***y. It was a really good battle. I think that we’ll never get something like that again,” he continued.
The Atlanta rapper went on to say people deemed Drake a loser before the battle was over because he’s been on top for so long and rap fans want to see him fall. He also deemed the rap battle over, saying “Not Like Us” was the nail in the coffin.
Yachty added that people thought Drake was a loser before the rap battle was over because he’s been on top for so long and fans wanted to see him fail. In the end, he deemed the battle over after K-Dot dropped his diss track “Not Like Us.”
“I think it’s over,” Yachty acknowledged. “I think it ended with ‘Not Like Us.’ It’s a banger.”
However, Boat did say he didn’t think Drake won or lost.
Read More: Drake Seemingly Acknowledges His Rap Battle With Kendrick Is Over
Check out Michael Eric Dyson’s commentary on Drake’s Black identity being dismissed during his lyrical feud with Kendrick Lamar below.
