Drake V. Kendrick

For me, in terms of modern rap, the two players that loom largest are Drake and Kendrick Lamar. Before I might have included Kanye, and I still love Kanye as an artist, but Yeezus wasn’t for me.

I’d always consider Take Care vs GKMC. This comparison made sense. These were two albums largely concerned with the backstories of two emerging forces. Sure, the backstories were drastically different in terms of content, but still, comparable.

Thats changed with To Pimp A Butterfly. That album departs from backstory, and moves into the realm of political commentary. It details the sorry state of race relations in the US. The vulnerability and self-critique are still present, but they’re part of a larger canvas; that canvas is a call for change. Change as a nation, and change within the thinking of every individual of whom that nation is composed.

So the Drake V. Kendrick debate is over for me. Drake’s IYRTITL saw a continuation of Drake from NWTS. To Pimp A Butterfly is something else. The two really can’t be compared anymore.