Today was my first day of summer vacation, and I accomplished shit all. Like nothing. It’s been this muggy, overcast, no sun bullshit punctuated with rain for a week now, and it is sucking the life out of me and killing my sinuses.
Currently I am totally sucked into the Kendrick Lamar/Drake blood feud, and I have to tell you, I am having the best time online since the aughts with websites like Kissing Suzy Kolber and YTMND and other sites like them. You know, back when the internet was fun and there were tons of blogs and everything wasn’t corporate or overrun by fucking nazis.
It’s been entirely too much fun. I’ve loved Lamar since the days of Section 80 and Good Kid, and I have always, for whatever reasons, hated Drake. I think I’m on record on twitter or elsewhere that the only good Drake song was the Poetic Justice by Kendrick himself in which Drake was just featured. For those of you not following along, Drake has basically screwed over everyone he has ever worked with, has generated a ton of bad blood with basically the entire community, Kendrick warned him to not start shit, Drake did anyway, and now Kendrick is just repeatedly bodying him. I’m not going to go too deep into it, but he’s basically called him out on a lot of unseemly shit that has been open rumors until now. Liking young women, not claiming his own kids, pretending to be whiter when it is convenient and blacker when it is convenient, not writing his own music, having lipo and other plastic surgery, etc.
And he’s just soo much better than Drake and Drake is sooo out of his league. Lamar is a Pultizer prize winner. As one person said, it’s as if JK Rowling decided to have a battle of words with Toni Morrison. On top of the diss tracks released by Lamar, Drake was dumb enough to pick a fight with a pretty influential record producer named Metro Boomin, telling him to “Metro, shut yo ho-a– up and make some drums, n—a.” And so Metro did just that, and the other day released a track called BBL Drizzy (BBL stands for Brazilian Butt Lift and Drizzy is Drake’s nickname.” But he didn’t stop there, he released it and asked everyone to make their own diss tracks using the track he created.
So now we have the spectacle of people all over the world making diss tracks in multiple languages using Metro’s beats. I’ve seen them in French and Japanese, I saw one using interpretive dance, and today I watched one using… American Sign Language.
I understand that for many of you this makes no sense and is pointless, but I am here to tell you it is immensely entertaining and I LOVE a good train wreck.
Speaking of train wrecks, I see that Stormy Daniels finally got her day in court today, and apparently went into detail about how she and Trump had sex all those years back, discussing how he said it was ok that he and Melania don’t even share a bedroom and how they did not use a condom. All I could think about was back when the Lewinsky scandal was in the news and all the Republicans and religious nuts and moral scolds in the media were all “What am I going to tell my children?”
Now they’re all gonna vote for Trump. And btw- you don’t have to talk to your children about this. You just don’t.
I guess that is all I have.
HumboldtBlue
Barack trolling Joe.
hrprogressive
The internet definitely peaked with YTMND, it’s been all downhill since.
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
Wow, Michelle Yeoh and Katie Ledecky together is everything, everywhere, all at once.
The images of the ceremony are so moving:
Retired teacher Opal Lee (photo)
Astrophysicist Jane Rigby (photo)
Olympian Katie Ledecky (photo)
The stunning Michelle Yeoh (photo)
Al Gore (photo)
Elizabeth Dole (photo)
Phein64
This feud has made it onto the pages of the WaPo, got a shout out on MSNBC, and I heard two youngsters talking about it today at the St Louis Zoo. My 26-year old middle son had to explain to me what it was about, but I don’t have enough of a dog in the fight to care one way or the other. I’ve got a copy of “To Pimp a Butterfly” on my car’s harddrive, but don’t know much about Drake, other than that other old white people seem to like him, which may be enough said.
Scout211
Consider me educated in the diss war between Drake and Kendrick Lamar.
I have to admit that I am much more interested in the diss war between Taylor Swift and Kim Kardasian, recently renewed by a track* on TSwift’s latest double album release.
Diss wars through music can be quite entertaining.
*thanK you aIMee is the song in question. Well, not really in question.
schrodingers_cat
I am following the greatest drama on the planet, on Twitter. Over a month long general election in India. The voting is going to take place in five phases. Currently the third phase is going on.
Steve in the ATL
Kendrick Lamar was never on DeGrassi.
Game, set, and match.
Princess
Are you following it closely enough to know that a security guard was shot and seriously injured in a drive-by shooting at Drake’s house in Toronto last night?
That kind of takes the fun out of it for me.
HumboldtBlue
Dogs and problem solving.
Ohio Mom
As I understand it,Trump paid Daniels hush money because he thought that if this story came out, it might sink his chance to get elected.
From this I extrapolate, had she not taken the hush money, and let this story leak out, maybe we would have been spared Trump?
I finally got fed up with watching Ohio Dad and his brother flail around about what to do with increasingly frail Ohio MIL. Three weeks of this is enough.
I called Jewish Family Service this afternoon and tomorrow a nice social worker will meet with Ohio Dad and MIL in her independent living apartment and walk them through hiring homemaker/personal care aides through their agency so Ohio Dad does not have to keep spending his waking hours helping his mother with her activities of daily living.
The three of them are mad at me for butting in but Ohio Dad needs to go back to his work-from-home gig. As well as see to his share of running this household.
I think it’s hard for them to have their collective bubble popped. She’s a frail 92 y.o., she’s not going to regain her strength.
Trivia Man
@schrodingers_cat: Worlds largest democracy… if they can keep it
schrodingers_cat
@Trivia Man: I am rooting for the INDIA alliance against BJP.
twbrandt
I couldn’t care less about the Kendrick Lamar/Drake thing, although it’s awful that a security guard was shot.
@Ohio Mom:
So sorry you have to deal with this. I hope it works out.
Juju
I think I’ve heard of Kendrick LaMar, but never actually heard anything by him, but who’s Drake? Also, I’m oldish.
stupid autocorrect added an e where one was not needed.
Delk
Pitchfork called it the most miserable spectacle in rap history.
grumbles
Have trouble caring about celebrity slap fights, but don’t begrudge those who enjoy. My guilty pleasures are also easy to judge.
I do have one suggestion/request for protests – please have at least one sign, handout or other easy to locate conveyance of your message. Bullhorns are great for noisemaking, less great for comprehension when your ‘horner doesn’t practice good bullhorn-enunciation. Also, I’m an old man with old-man ears that have been around loud things too much, and just have trouble with distorted speech. But the point is I can’t raise a fist in solidarity if I don’t know why I’d be doing it.
Suzanne
I had a funny/terrible dog ownership moment today. I took the puppy for a run at lunchtime (first run since the half-marathon on Sunday)….. and she took a crap in the middle of a crosswalk. With oncoming traffic. So I dragged her to the sidewalk, and then I ran back out into traffic to bag up her turd.
Like, what the fuck.
Another Scott
@Juju: I’m pretty sure Drake was the “musical guest” on SNL once. I saw it, but have no memory of the performance.
Dunno if KL has been on SNL.
Yes, it’s sad that my knowledge of rap is filtered through SNL. Yes, I need help…
Cheers,
Scott.
Harrison Wesley
@Suzanne: And I’ll bet you wish you had had some of those Trump diapers now, don’t you, libtard?
Jackie
@Another Scott: I’m even more clueless than you re Rap.
I don’t think my life is ruined.
sukabi
@Scout211: lol… I like that one, Taylor really shoves the knife in.
dexwood
More shit not to care about and ignore. Off to read an Irish novel. Goodnight.
Phein64
@Another Scott: Chance the Rapper has been the host on SNL, and I wish they’d have him on again. Now there’s a youth who doesn’t have to get off my lawn!
HumboldtBlue
Kendrick Lamar is an artist and poet. Drake… Drake is whatever Drake is.
Dogs man…
smith
It may not affect the nomination, but still a significant number of Republicans are coming out to cast a protest vote against the Defendant. Returns in Indiana tonight show almost 22% for Haley.
Citizen Dave
I know pretty much zero about rap, but via twitter got into the last two shots in the feud. Kendrick’s Not Like Us and the last Drake one. I could gather right away Team Kendrick is the place to be, and Drake is a douche. Reading the lyrics and the Wiki article on the feud (yes it exists), it reminds me of the glory days of Jim Rome’s sports radio show, with in-joke upon in-joke. The rap feud is much funnier. Hilarious, in fact.
NotMax
Haven’t clue one who or what these are. And not the slightest whit of curiosity to find out.
Must be a young’un thing.
Snapbackcap
RFK Nephew freestyling over BBL Drizzy made my day
HumboldtBlue
@NotMax:
Here, old man, have a snicker.
NotMax
@HumboldtBlue
You laugh but except for the helmet that’s basically me going down and back up the steep driveway to the mailbox on the street.
:)
TBone
@smith: 👍 the largest voting bloc is anti-Rump.
TBone
This is a good wrap-up meme for today 😆
https://twitter.com/JoshMankiewicz/status/1788000786271932738
Hoppie
@Citizen Dave:
“the Wiki article on the feud (yes it exists)”
Made me go look, and wow! Who knew?
NotMax
@TBone
Did someone say feud?
:)
HumboldtBlue
@NotMax:
You need Gary.
NotMax
@HumboldtBlue
Can’t pull the wool over my eyes. I’ve seen The Music Man. Gary’s in Indiana.
;)
mrmoshpotato
Won’t someone pleeeeeeeasse think of the children?! (and not call it Consensual Cocksucking Gate at the age of 15!) (Oops! I did! Go fuck yourselves Newt and dead Ken!)
Juju
@Another Scott: I must have missed that episode, or I just don’t remember.
Librarian
Drake? Don’t they make Yodels and Ring Dings?
Another Scott
@Juju:
I don’t remember this bit, but, man, given recent events…
Cheers,
Scott.
Juju
@Another Scott: thanks for that. At least I might be able to pick him out in a lineup now.
Origuy
When I see the name Drake, the first thing I think of is the brewery in San Leandro. I think their top seller is a double IPA called the Denogginizer.
NotMax
@Librarian
Leave us not forget Devil Dogs.
Chacal Charles Calthrop
Yeah, but this song was so amazing when I just heard a snippet of it in a cafe I asked the barista who it sang it. She gave me a strange look and said, “Rhianna,” as if everyone should know that. Anyhow, the song is “work,” and Rhianna sings it with Drake: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HL1UzIK-flA
so I guess that puts me on the Drake side of the feud.
Gloria DryGarden
@David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch: I watched the whole ceremony on YouTube before a thread here mentioned it. I cried most of the way through. Pretty moving.
Gloria DryGarden
@Jackie: tee hee. Nope, I don’t think I’m missing anything. Besides, in my hood, I hear it pounding in other peoples cars, often enough. It’s a disturbance of the peace, for me..
Gloria DryGarden
@Suzanne: I’m sure you hated it, but you made me laugh!
sab
@Suzanne: Dogs, gotta love them.
sab
@Ohio Mom: Yay for Jewish Family Services. I wish there had been an Episcopal Family Services but there wasn’t. Says a lot about those respective communities.
bobbo
I guess the disgrace of Drake means I have to shelve my green OVO sweatshirt, a gift from my nephew.
WHAR CAKES?
Lurker and too late for the convo anyway, but I thought this was a good POV on the Kendrick/Drake feud:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/may/08/drake-kendrick-lamar-diss-battle-women-survivors
Killjoy signing out