Kanye West and Drake both have recently released new albums within one week of each other, but both decided to not celebrate together. Rather, both decided to take jabs at one another.
Roughly 10 years ago, Drake was seen with one of Kanye’s ex-girlfriends in public, and that is where this feud apparently began. However, there is no concrete evidence to support this was where it all started. After this sighting, their public squabbles became apparent, but the two could have been fighting behind the scenes beforehand.
The fighting really caught the public’s eye in 2018 when Pusha T’s “Daytona” album, produced and partially written by Kanye, was released. On the track “Infrared,” Pusha fires shots at Drake for ghostwriting some of his songs. This is initially where I heard of the feud and became interested in what both sides were saying.
“Duppy Freestyle” by Drake was released shortly after “Daytona,” and everyone was amazed, including me, with Drake’s response. He admitted to having a few other writers around to help with a few verses and there is nothing wrong with that. Drake pops a few shots towards Kanye, saying he isn’t even as talented as half of the artists sign to Kanye’s label, G.O.O.D. Music. It was an impressive diss track considering Drake doesn’t write many disses.
But Pusha and Kanye conjured up “The Story of Adidon,” which murdered “Duppy Freestyle.” Pusha doesn’t hold back on Drake, revealing Drake had a kid with an adult film star and alleging Drake cares more for “Adidas press runs” than his own child. While this itself is a brutal attack, Pusha then throws some potshots at Drake’s parents, music label, and producers. I couldn’t foresee Drake coming back from this, as it was embarrassing for everyone in his circle. While he tried to come back at Kanye and Pusha with “I’m Upset,” Drake only came off as a whiny loser with nothing important left to say. It would have been way better to not say anything at all.
This brings us up to now, where Kanye and Drake released albums one week apart. This extension of their beef has been ending up in Drake favor, as he was able to garner 9 of the top 10 spots on the Billboard hot 100.
While on the surface it is very entertaining to watch a few millionaires fighting over petty musical differences and personal life issues, it becomes much sadder the deeper you go. Inflated egos got broken hearts because one pompous jerk slightly offended a rich narcissist. The both of them couldn’t shut up and now they both ended up getting embarrassed at some point.
The only side I am willing to take is the one who I think makes better music and that is Kanye. No offense to Drake, but Kanye has clearer artistic intentions and ambitions as an artist. Drake just wants to make money, and he is willing to churn out some mediocre beats with cringey lyrics and feature lackluster and lazy artists on his tracks. Pusha and Kanye were able to put out two fantastic disses on Drake, while Drake couldn’t find any good way to come back to them. As far as I am concerned, Kanye wins this feud.
Alex Ross
Alex Rossis a third-year Communication student at Lock Haven with a focus in Journalism. This is his second year as an active member of the Eagle Eye and has been the Arts and Entertainment editor, News editor, and an active writer. He focuses on writing reviews for the A&E section, but has written stories for news, sports, and opinions. Outside of the newsroom, Alex enjoys record shopping, reading classic literature, and analyzing films. Alex hopes to work for a film or music news site as a writer or editor after graduation.