Michael Eric Dyson is upset that Drake’s blackness was ignored in his rap battle with Kendrick Lamar.
Michael Eric Dyson Upset About Drake Denying Blackness in Rap Battle
On Sunday (May 19), sports journalist Stephen A. Smith posted a video clip from his eponymous talk show that features his interview with cultural critic and author Michael Eric ·Interview with Michael Eric Dyson. Their conversation was about Dyson’s think piece published in the Philadelphia Citizen last Wednesday (May 15), which described the infamous lyrical feud between Kendrick Lamar and Drake as a proxy war on social issues.
Dyson specifically expresses his anger that Drake’s blackness was ignored and somehow colonized during the fight. The professor acknowledged that the Toronto superstar is Jewish, but he is also black and it would be disingenuous for people to ignore that he is black.
Dyson wrote in the review: “The surprising and discouraging speed at which Drake is being tarred and feathered into being inauthentically black says more about the reactionary nativism of pure identity worship who, like Gangsters police the boundaries of blackness as much as racist police. “In Kendrick’s claustrophobic blackness, Drake goes from a brilliant embodiment of rap genius to a cultural mogul when a white supremacist culture treats him as such. To be inconsequential, he must prove himself worthy of being called a Negro.
In an interview with Smith (see below), Dyson elaborated on what he laid out in the editorial.
“I’m angry that Drake got fired and faded, and he’s been Drake for 15 years, and you act like you don’t know that, [and] Now he’s not really black?
“Idris Elba is from the UK, challenging his racial identity, saying he’s a culture vulture while he’s black – ‘He’s from Canada, he’s not real’ – Idris Elba Elba is from England and people still love his performance in The Wire,” he continued. “So why not raise suspicions about Drake outside of our geography, outside of our nationality?”
“As a result, his efforts to expand hip-hop’s horizons, even artistically, are underrated,” he added. “We must stop this narrow, punitive, harmful, limiting view of black people.”
He concluded: “Instead of embracing diversity and brilliance across the board like Drake, this kind of ad hominem rhetoric would be a fairer fight and then we can make an estimate of what’s going on.”
Dyson believes that instead of questioning Drake’s blackness, the focus should be on assessing his lyrical ability and comparing it to Kendrick Lamar.
Lil Yachty is disappointed with so many artists teaming up with Drake
On the latest episode of the Safe Place podcast, Lil Yachty shared his thoughts on the Kendrick Lamar and Drake rap battle. The Atlanta rhymer said he liked the fight but didn’t like that so many artists were ganging up on Drizzy.
“I think Drake has been dealing with this from the beginning,” Bote said in the interview below. “He was never really liked. That’s unfortunate.”
“I really wish it was just Drake and Kendrick. It’s kind of like when Kendrick comes out and’s like, ‘I hate this guy,’ and everyone ends up being like, ‘I hate him too.’ It’s a really great show Fighting, I don’t think we’ll ever have anything like this again,” he continued.
The Atlanta rapper went on to say that before the fight ended, people thought Drake was the loser because he had been on top for so long and the rapper wanted to see him go down. He also thinks the rap wars are over, calling “Not Like Us” the nail in the coffin.
Yachty added that before the rap battle ended, people thought Drake was a loser because he had been on top for so long and fans wanted to see him lose. Finally, he thought the battle was over after K-Dot dropped his diss song “Not Like Us.”
“I think it’s all over,” Yachti admitted. “I think it ended with ‘Not Like Us’. It was really great.
Bote did say, however, that he didn’t think Drake won or lost.
Read more: Drake appears to admit his rap war with Kendrick is over
Check out Michael Eric Dyson’s comments about Drake’s black identity being dismissed during his lyrical battle with Kendrick Lamar.
