In todays United States, everything is Polarized. Whether it is Music, pop culture, sports or politics, Americans are more divided than ever before. This is not always a bad thing. This heavy polarization has led to a lifetime of exciting rivalries in sports, nuclear bombs of diss tracks from rappers aimed at one another and has created a plethora of fashion for people to compare and contrast. Fandom is at its peak and continues to grow. Especially for Black Americans. Black Americans are obsessed with celebrities in a way that is almost impossible to understand. This polarization can also lead us to fantasies about famous stars competing with one another on the biggest stage. In one corner you have arguably the most popular celebrity representing Los Angeles, California specifically. A fiery, competitive, legendary figure who uses competition and competitiveness as a Popeyes Spinach almost. The mentality and work ethic of this figure became a cultural philosophy and a symbol of excellence and greatness in their respective field. On the other hand, you have a figure with exceptional longevity in their craft, the ability to reinvent themselves and become more versatile like no other in their respective field has. While simultaneously being able to control one’s own narrative which a lot of celebrity’s struggle with. Being the biggest star in their realm and maintaining a quality business portfolio is also a key ideology of this person. The domination and evolution of this person has created a diehard fanbase that is ITCHING to see them compete against the extremely loyal fan base of the competitive but tactical other person. If you haven’t caught on yet many would assume that I am talking about Kobe Bryant vs Lebron James and the rivalry that was created by their fans. But I am not. This is about the rap beef Between Drake and Kendrick Lamar. The Drake Vs Kendrick Lamar rap beef felt like the 2008, 2009 and 2010 NBA seasons that NBA fans and pop culture fans waited on the edge of their seat to see Kobe and Lebron in the finals but never got to witness.
Kobe and Lebron played in the NBA at the highest level at the same time for about 7-8 years give or take. From 2006-2012 both players were respectively at the top of their game in some fashion. Kobe winning MVP of the regular season in 2008 and going to 3 straight NBA finals trips (2008-2010) bringing home finals MVP in 2009 and 2010. All meanwhile Lebron won MVP in 2009,2010 and 2012 going to the finals in 2006, 2011 and 2012, bringing home finals MVP in 2012. As you can see in this time period both players were almost magical figures to pop culture because of their greatness. The unfortunate part for us fans is that in a playoff do-or-die situation we never got to see these two square off. We have gotten to see some incredible rivalries throughout NBA history, Bird and Magic (LAkers vs Celtics), Michael Jordan (Bulls) vs Pistons, Lebron vs Curry, Lebron vs KD, and even LAkers vs Spurs (Kobe vs Tim Duncan). But the one the fans wanted to see the most never happened. The groups of energy/ followers didn’t die down just because they never faced off. This energy just shifted somewhere else. And I believe that there is no better example than the Kendrick vs Drake feud. This is what Black pop culture, the world was waiting for. We do acknowledge that in the United States, fandom is polarizing, and we do not leave space for legends to co-exist. But they can. There is space for legends to co-exist. But that doesn’t mean we still don’t want to see them compete for supremacy.
The Kendrick to Kobe analysis and comparison was a little bit easier than comparing Drake and Lebron. True at some point Drake and Lebron have been quasi- besties but in today’s climate after the rap battle with Drake being unhappy with Lebron for supporting Kendrick. Drake dropped a diss song towards Lebron called “Fighting Irish” (LeBron’s High school was the “Irish”) … let’s just say they aren’t on the best terms. But it still doesn’t take away from their similarities as humans and entertainers. Anyways, Kendrick and Kobe are both very deep intellectual thinkers in their respective crafts who focus on work ethic and precision. Both have stories and legends around their name that show their almost obsession with perfectionism. Their fan base is a little bit more eclectic than the Lebron and Drake similarities. Lebron and Drake are like the 2 popular kids at school who most people like and they just keep finding ways to have ultimate success. Both Drake and Lebron have a desire to be liked in contrast to Kendrick and Kobe who really keep to themselves and try to live more of a private lifestyle and more humbled approach in media. Kendrick a poetic genius and Kobe a multilingual speaker both share the idea of spreading knowledge in their craft. Kobe won an Oscar for the short film, “Dear Basketball” and Kendrick won a Pulitzer Prize for his album “DAMN”. In a sit-down interview in 2017 Kobe Bryant even admitted when asked what NBA player Kendrick reminds him of, he says “ME”. Kendrick even paid homage to Kobe multiple times after his death dropping his diss song euphoria at “8:24” an ode to Kobe’s jersey numbers while in the NBA. As you can see Kendrick and Kobe didn’t exactly have a bromance like Drake and Lebron, but their respect for each other was great leading Kendrick to narrate a Nike commercial called “Kobe Taught us Better”.
Drake even plays into this in my opinion. In the song Stories about my brother Drake says “Thats how you gone find out you not Kobe Bryant to us. Man you not Kobe Bryant to us at all.” As this rap beef has transpired, we can clearly see that Drake has gotten wind of the Kobe to Kendrick comparisons and puts in on front stage that he disagrees as a jab to Kendrick. This leads us to Drake thinking he is better than Kendrick because of his ability to master reinvention without losing identity. Drake has been in the game since 2009 and has been on front stage since, not really having a chink in his Armor until this feud with Kendrick. The same can be said for Lebron. Since 2003, over 20 plus years he has been one of the best, if not the best player in the game. Drake is tied at the top of the list for most top 100 billboard charting songs, in contrast Lebron is the all-time leading scorer in NBA history. Their longevity is untouched and makes their career even more valuable. “How I go from 6 to 23 like I’m Lebron?”- Drake on his song nonstop.
The extreme polarization of America today has caused these two legends to be rivals. People want to see greatness challenged and they also want to see greatness succeed. Kobe and Lebron played in the NBA at the same time for almost 13 seasons and never once played in a game that was for all the marbles. As a fan you would not think this because how people see them as bitter rivals off the strength they were both at the top of their game for a very long time at the same time. This same phenomenon is seen with Kendrick and Drake. Fortunately for us fans we actually got to see them battle it out this time unlike Kobe and Lebron. From countless video game covers to magazine covers, to watching them win and lose championships Kobe and Lebron are the face of a generation. My generation. The idea of them playing in a championship round was a dream for many kids like me. Although it never happened, this energy and battle of ideologies was captured and put on full display in the Drake and Kendrick rap feud. Like Kobe and Lebron are the face of a generation of athletes the same must be said for Drake and Kendrick in the music world. They have held down the fort in hip hop for almost 20 years now. Whether or not the 2 are finished actually making diss tracks towards each other in unclear, but what is clear is that the fans loved it and were waiting on this type of battle for DECADES.
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