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On Tuesday (April 30), Kendrick Lamar had social media collectively clutching their pearls after he laid down the murder game with his Drake diss record “Euphoria.” With all eyes turning to the Canadian actor-turned rapper, Drizzy quickly responded to the song, but in the most 2024 way possible.

Instead of releasing a response record (which everyone wants), Drake took to his Instagram Stories to share a clip from the popular ’90s film, 10 Things I Hate About You, in which Julia Stiles checked off a list of things she hated about someone she had a crush on in the film. An obvious reference to Kendrick’s bars in which he spit: “I hate the way that you walk, the way that you talk, I hate the way that you dress/ I hate the way that you sneak diss, if I catch flight, it’s gon’ be direct.” The clip did little to move Hip-Hoppers who are eagerly waiting to see what Drake cooks up in the kitchen as the beef continues to heat up.

Drake IG story. pic.twitter.com/yIQSMeZtKv

— Elliott Wilson (@ElliottWilson) May 1, 2024

While this wasn’t the response fans were expecting from Drake (he’s apparently trying to laugh to keep from crying), rest assured that he will indeed clap back at some point as he sent a quick message to his man, DJ Akademiks saying, “See you soon.” While some assumed Drake had a joint in the chamber ready to deploy whenever K. Dot responded to “Push Ups” or his “Taylor Made Freestyle,” Drizzy is seemingly soaking in “Euphoria” before getting back in the booth to address Kendrick’s many critiques of him.

Akademiks via his stream; Drake just told him “see you soon”

Something is brewing… pic.twitter.com/Lljq66XE4m

— ALMIGHTEE. (@realalmightee) May 1, 2024

Drizzy really got his work cut out for him with this one. We know one thing for damn sure and that’s that Drake definitely won’t be using an AI version of Tupac on another song. He doesn’t want any legal smoke with the Shakur estate who’ve shown they have no interest in having the Hip-Hop legend participating in any new rap songs from beyond the grave.

The ball’s in Drizzy’s court now. One can only wonder how he plans on topping Kendrick Lamar’s “Euphoria” and if that’s even possible at this point.

What do y’all think of Drake’s response to Kendrick’s latest diss track? Sound off in the comments section below.

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50 Cent, is, once again, weighing in on celebrity gossip swirling around the internet rumor mill. This time, regarding a claim made by boxer Gervonta Davis about retired fighter Floyd Mayweather, who Davis said was being held hostage in Dubai in a series of tweets he previously posted.

Davis recently claimed that Mayweather was “in Dubai and can’t leave becuz he been taking n-ggas money and not doing what they paid him to do.” Davis also claimed Floyd needed “a wire” in order to get “home.”

“Let me call 50, we gotta get this n-gga home by Monday,” Davis tweeted, to which 50 responded, “Oh nah this shit is real.”

Gervonta Davis x 50 Cent

#Boxing
pic.twitter.com/pssfvwud9L

— Danny (@dantheboxingman) April 27, 2024

“[Davis] would not say no shit like that if it wasn’t official,” the G-Unit CEO continued. Me and Champ be beefing but he my brother. I got some money if he need it !”

For those who are wondering (because you care—you know you do), here’s how we got here, according to HipHopDX:

The beef between the boxers stems from “Pretty Boy Floyd” saying earlier this week that other fighters were emulating his flash without putting in the necessary work.

Davis took this as a direct insult and unloaded with his hostage claim in return.

Mayweather’s social media indicates that he was indeed in Dubai at the beginning of this month, though there is no evidence that he is being held there.

Fif, of course, isn’t shy about trolling Floyd Mayweather, as he did back in February when he roasted the boxer for his stance on Diddy’s recent sexual assault allegations.

Lawd, what did Mayweather say about Diddy? (Not that it would take much for 50 to go into troll mode behind the deeply embattled Bad Boy mogul.)

“I’m not gonna speak bad about P. Diddy,” Mayweather said on The Pivot Podcast at the time Diddy was accused of rape by singer Cassie and other women. “‘Cause he still a Black man. Mistakes happen. And I can’t say if it is or not a mistake, but things happen in life. And P. Diddy’s business is P. Diddy’s business. It’s not my job or anybody else’s job to go on the internet and stomp him and kick a man while he’s down.

“My take on it is: it’s not my business. I don’t think it’s right at all and I don’t condone it,” Mayweather continued. “Even if that happened to my daughter, I would be hurt but that’s a choice that my daughter made.” (For the record, no woman has ever made a choice to be raped or sexually assaulted, if that’s what Mayweather was implying.)

In February, 50 noted on Instagram that “they didn’t even ask him about this,” in response to Mayweather’s remarks.

“Champ is you stupid or is you dumb? Get me the f-ck out ya head, you sound like a hater. DIDDY DO IT ? COMING soon,” Fif’s post continued.

Maybe it’s a social media thing, but can anyone remember a time before now when rappers and boxers were this into celebrity gossip and male cattiness? Weird, right?

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Kendrick Lamar has finally dropped his retort to Drake, and it’s a doozy. Called “Euphoria,” K. Dot went in on The Boy for over 6 minutes and seems to address just about every issue social media has been discussing ever since he dropped that verse on “Like That” and all the reactions it inspired (particularly “Push Ups”).

euphoriahttps://t.co/oTSoAYmtiy

— Kendrick Lamar (@kendricklamar) April 30, 2024

At 11:24 a.m. ET, Kendrick dropped a YouTube link with the words “euphoria,” and heads have been analyzing the ensuing verbal beatdown ever since. The track opens on a Quiet Storm vibe (courtesy of a Teddy Pendergrass “You’re My Latest, My Greatest Inspiration” loop) with Kendrick using an almost spoken word delivery, saying, “Them super powers gettin’ neutralized, I can only watch in silence, The famous actor we once knew is lookin’ paranoid, now it’s spiraling/You movin’ just like a degenerate, heavy antic, it’s feelin’ distasteful, why calculate you, not as calculated, I can even predict your angles.”

Alright then. Soon enough, K. Dot goes to a frantic flow loaded with barbs aimed at the 6 God’s dome. And there are plenty. Like, “I got a son to raise but I can see you don’t know nothing ’bout that.” Or, “When I see you stand by Sexyy Red, I believe you see two bad b*tches, I believe you don’t like women, that’s real competition, you might pop ass with ’em.”

And if you really know, you caught the homage to DMX.

Kendrick Lamar – Euphoria: pic.twitter.com/Ny3hzPGzXC

— nah. (@FEELZ_____) April 30, 2024

Listen to “Euphoria” below, and check out the reactions in the gallery. Yeah, Xitter is going to be talking about this one for days.

This story is developing. 

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For decades, the official “Women in Hip-Hop” discussion focused on the scarcity of female MCs with record deals. As the story went, (straight) men didn’t want to hear women rap; at best, they wanted to f*ck them. The added cost of their makeup and hair was a popular cop-out. And despite valiant displays of unity,… ... Continue Reading

For decades, the official “Women in Hip-Hop” discussion focused on the scarcity of female MCs with record deals. As the story went, (straight) men didn’t want to hear women rap; at best, they wanted to f*ck them.

The added cost of their makeup and hair was a popular cop-out. And despite valiant displays of unity, such as Lil’ Kim’s “Not Tonight” video, the industry insisted that there was only room for one queen at a time.

But over the last four years or so, the emergence of a post-Nicki Minaj bumper crop of “rap girlies” has shifted the conversation. This class of young, fun, profane and pretty-in-the-face MCs includes Brooklyn’s Lola Brooke, Atlanta’s Latto, Memphis’ GloRilla and Hackensack, New Jersey’s, Coi Leray.

Their aesthetic fairy godmothers are Lil’ Kim, Foxy Brown and Trina. Their best-selling big sister Nicki Minaj showed them how to fuse raw sex appeal and a pop sensibility with undeniable lyricism. Favorite cousins Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion taught them the value of sisterhood.

As a Gen Xer who is almost as old as the maybe-official birthdate of Hip-Hop, I’m happy to see so many female rappers becoming stars. But I’m also conflicted about what they’re selling.

I’m all for girls getting the bag, but I’m concerned about the materialism that sometimes stands in for self-worth. I dig p*ssy-power anthems like “WAP,” but I’m doing so under the specter of white supremacist stereotypes of Black sexuality. I’m interested in the queering of Hip-Hop by artists like Young M.A, but I’m bored by the nameless femmes they visually deploy to compete with men.

So far, I’m not that auntie who once dropped it low to “My Neck, My Back” but now blames Sexyy Red for everything wrong in the culture. But I refuse to pretend that misogynoir in Hip-Hop no longer matters.

If it didn’t, Megan Thee Stallion wouldn’t have endured years of low blows and harassment for being shot by a balding Canadian sadist. Oprah Winfrey wouldn’t have withdrawn her support of Off the Record, the HBO documentary about some of the women who Russell Simmons allegedly raped. Serial abuser Dr. Dre wouldn’t have a new Global Impact Grammy in his name. And people wouldn’t be more upset by the idea of Sean Combs having sex with men than allegedly raping, trafficking and beating women.

Despite the stubborn misogyny of Hip-Hop—and American culture in general—more female rappers have been able to break through thanks in part to visual platforms like TikTok and Instagram.

“We are living in an era, a time, a moment where, I don’t believe we’ve had so many women rappers simultaneously having success at the same time,” said Ebro Darden on Rap Life Review last March. “I don’t know if there’s been this many ever, and I think that’s phenomenal.”

Sexually explicit lyrics have been acceptable for decades, but girliness has been taboo. That’s why it was so wicked of Lil’ Kim to hop on Mobb Deep’s “Quiet Storm” remix and accuse her rival, Foxy Brown, of “comin’ in the game on some modeling shit.” Today, being model-pretty, hyper-femme and slim in the waist is damn near a prerequisite for making a hit song.

To better follow the current crop, I’ve been watching video mixes curated by a Chicago DJ named 3 Snapz. Since 2021, her Queens series has served as a compendium of bad-b*tch rap from around the country. For instance, the 2024 edition features mainstays like Meg and Cardi, pop stars like Doja Cat and Ice Spice, and a thrilling contingent of Big Apple bullies — Scarlip, Armani Ceasar, and Connie Diiamond with Remy Ma

But with a few exceptions, like Flyana Boss and the U.K.’s Cristale and Teezandos, the visuals draw from a finite set of cliches: The girlies are smacking a*s in the strip club! They’re twerking in the parking lot with their friends! They’re hanging out of luxury car windows in bikini tops! They’re bossing up in leather, fur and lingerie! 

The irony of this NC-17-to-XXX fever dreamscape is that most of these women are decent rappers. They might not have the gravitas of a Ms. Lauryn Hill or the lyrical dexterity of Nicki Minaj, but they know how to ride a beat, talk their shit and make solid records. And they aren’t doing it to prove anything to men. They’re competing with one another. Latto illustrates this ethos in “Sunday Service.”

“These bitches corny, soon as monkey see, then you know monkey do/ Do you rap or do you tweet?/ ‘Cause I can’t tell, get in the booth, b*tch.”

In the video, she punctuates the line with a “Get in the booth b*tch” T-shirt.

To be sure, there have always been women MCs whose beauty, flyness and sex appeal are as important as their music. (Think Salt-N-Pepa, Eve and Trina.) But as Rapsody pointed out in her excellent Tiny Desk Concert, there used to be more variation among the top acts.

“I try to do something different because nowadays you see one particular image of us [as] sexy. Everything is real sexed up,” the self-proclaimed “girl next door” said. “Like I grew up on Lauryn Hill, MC Lyte, Queen Latifah, Missy Elliott, Jean Grae; all of them were different. They had different styles and showed you all sides of what sexy and beautiful is as a woman.”

On a 2022 episode of Caresha Please — an artifact of face-card Hip-Hop culture—Saweetie illustrated the limitations of prettiness as a brand.

“I feel like I blew up too quick, to the point where I was being booked for shows, for campaigns, for brands, and no one really cared about me going to the studio,” the Bay Area native said. “My love for music just got put on the back side.”

SEE ALSO: HHW’s Top 30 Greatest Female Rappers Of All Time, Ranked: 2024

In an industry where it can be easier for artists to make more money doing brand partnerships, haircare lines and beauty ads than they do selling music, Saweetie’s commitment to getting in the studio is significant. Rappers like her stand on the shoulders of pioneers like MC Sha-Rock, friendly rivals like Roxanne Shante and Sparky D., and late-’80s glamor girls like Oaktown’s 3.5.7 and J.J. Fad. And then there are the more obvious lineages: La Chat and the late great Gangsta Boo birthed GloRilla, Latto and JT. Missy Eliott begot Tierra Whack, Leikeli47 and Flyana Boss. Ms. Lauryn Hill created a lane for Akua Naru, Sa Rock and Mumu Fresh. Queen Latifah and MC Lyte wrote the blueprint for Rapsody, Noname, Chika and Flau’Jae.

Superstar Megan Thee Stallion continues to expand what it means for a female rapper to be the total package. Yes, she is known for her body, twerk proficiency and raunchy lyrics. But she also fought her way out of an exploitative 360 record deal, linking a “groundbreaking” agreement with Universal Records that will allow her to own her masters and publishing while benefiting from the label’s distribution system.

And while so many of the current crop of female rap stars are proud to be pretty in the face, I like how grounded they are. As Brooklyn’s Lady London purrs on the remix of Ciara’s “Da Girls”:

“This is for the girls on the grind/This is for the girl that’ll work full-time./ This is for the self-made girls, yeah, the self-paid girls/ Better never let ’em change your mind./ Girls who fly, girls who thrive, livin’ out dreams that money just can’t buy.”

 

Akiba Solomon is an NABJ Award-winning writer and editor from West Philadelphia. The Howard University graduate has written about Hip-Hop culture and politics for The Source, XXL, Vibe, Vibe Vixen, Essence and Colorlines. Solomon is the co-author of two books: “Naked: Black Women Bare All About Their Skin, Hair, Hips, Lips, and Other Parts” and “How We Fight White Supremacy: A Field Guide to Black Resistance.”

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