bels-kdot-responses

 

Well well well…Kendrick Lamar stirred up some controversy last week. Social networking sites were in an uproar with people giving there two cents on the Big Sean track “Control”.  On the song, Big Sean did his thing as did Jay Electronica. But, K-Dot exceeded all expectations and literally woke everyone up with one verse.

 

Just in case you are living under a rock, in his verse Kendrick called out several of his hip hop peers (names included) and challenged them. He even went so far to call himself the “King of New York” knowing good goddamn well he’s from Los Angeles. But, the fact that he had the balls to do this caught rap fans off guard. The “infamous verse” (as it is called now) let it be known that real lyricism is coming back to the forefront. During a time in which labels and marketing/PR teams tend to push an artists image more than their talent, Kendrick’s verse is a wake up call.  The people want to hear more of the talent and the lyricism. Rap fans could care less about who got the nicest Bugatti or Versace chain.

 

Anyway, after the “Control” uproar, there were emcees that got offended by Kendrick’s lyrics.  Surprisingly, it was none of the artists mentioned in the song. However, rappers who were not even mentioned were the ones immediately releasing response or diss records. So, being the rap fan that I am, I listened to them and was quite surprised that several of them didn’t come as hard as I thought they would have (i.e. Cassidy, B.o.B., Papoose).

 

For me, it takes more than metaphors and catchy battle wordplay to make a proper diss record. A rapper still has to have sense of finesse. The use of words just because they rhyme is elementary rapping. A very skilled emcee can make any word sound like it belongs, use words with meaning, thought provoking, and rhythmically on time with the beat.   Therefore, after listening after listening to the following emcee’s responses, I felt like they came correct. So, here are my choices for the Top 3 Kendrick Lamar Responses (in no particular order):

 

JOELL ORTIZ

 

JOE BUDDEN

 

LUPE FIASCO

 

 

It is ironic that two of my choices are from the same label Slaughter House. Joe and Joell is proof that them boys over there got lyrics for days!   But, Chi-town native Lupe Fiasco went all the way in. The way that he mimicked the way Drake, 2 Chainz, Wayne, and several others rap is straight genius.  He didn’t even have to say their names. LOL

 

It’s about time more thought and complexity is being put back into lyrics. Hip Hop really needed this wake up call. I can’t wait to hear what all of these emcees come with next.

 

 

Who were your favorite K-Dot responses?