Alright, so in light of the beef I have a think piece that I'd like to share with ya’ll. This a loooong read so if you don’t care cool but if you do enjoy.

Before I get into my thesis, I'd like to say I am one of the people who, after thoroughly a***yzing every track in the beef, I believe Kendrick is the victor. Shout to both and Drake for a great show.

I'm also a firm believer that all of the allegations made by both parties should be void until proof is provided, that each party is innocent until proven guilty, and the burden of proof always falls on the accuser. Drake doesn't have to prove he's not a pedophile. You can't prove that you're not a pedophile. You can state that you're not, and he did that. Kendrick does not have to prove that he's not a woman beater. Proof needs to be provided by the person or persons making the accusations. And until proof emerges, they're innocent until proven guilty.

Now that that's out of the way, I wanted to shed some light on a dichotomy that exists between these two but has always existed in hip hop since very, very early in its early beginnings: There has always been a rapper within the culture that is a visionary who is at or near the top, and then there's always been a rapper who is a capitalist who is at or near the top of the game. It's not at all unique to Drake and Kendrick. A lot of people don't realize that this is what has always existed among the top players in our culture.

The Visionary Vs The Capitalist

The visionary artist generally always seeks to maximize their artistic potential, and they focus on more on things like complex topics and subject matter, social commentary, and crafting new sounds that push boundaries push the boundaries of the genre. On the other hand, the capitalist aims to leverage their high level of talent and skill to achieve commercial success and widespread popularity and ultimately dominance of the genre. There's always gonna be overlap between the two, but the top rappers in the game usually align more closely with one or the other.

Drake & Kendrick

Kendrick is obviously a visionary. He focuses on showcasing the highest level of technical ability and delivering thought provoking lyrics and social commentary. He also pushes boundaries sonically, experimenting with, sounds and genres that aren't necessarily popular such as Jazz. Every album he has released so far showcases a commitment to artistry and a desire to create a lasting impact in the genre and an impact on society.

On the other hand, we have Drake who is very much obviously and clearly a capitalist. He makes music inspired by his personal experiences and emotions, and he focuses more on himself than larger social issues. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. He's taken his personal narratives and mastered the art of crafting hits and dominating commercially all while maintaining a high degree of technical skill that rivals the best rappers in the game. His ability to blend different popular genres with hip hop has extended his reach and allowed him to build a massive global following and become the biggest artist of the streaming era.

Before Drake and Kendrick, this dynamic existed in every era since the 80s. Here are the biggest examples of it:

Rakim & LL Cool J

You had Rakim, who was a visionary, finding new ways to flow, and and creating formulas for lyrical complexity that would be adopted by so many others for years to come. In the same era, LL Cool J dominated commercially, had several hits, expanded his reach by creating songs that appealed to women, songs about love, songs, for the club, and he focused on longevity at the top of his game.

Big & Pac

We also have the classic example of Biggie and Pac. Even though Pac certainly made hits and was very commercially viable as an artist, his primary focus was his message. He was a visionary. His message revolved around social justice, empowerment, and the struggles of the black community. He often spoke out against racism, inequality, and violence, while also advocating for unity, love, and change. Biggie didn't have any overarching goal of that nature. Big was a phenomenal rapper with high levels of technical ability (some would argue the highest ever) and he was a hitmaker. His goal was to dominate the game on every release, drop hits on every release, and maintain his reign as the king of New York.

Jay-Z & Nas

Then we had jay z and Nas. Again, there's gonna be some overlap because all of these brothers are talented brothers. But for the most part, Jay z's goal was to maintain appeal in the streets while also maintaining appeal commercially. It was all about balance once he hit his prime. And he also focused on making sure every album had hits and that every album performed well commercially. And he had collaborations with different artists that expanded his reach. He was a capitalist. Nas was a visionary. There were times where Nas did well commercially, but his primary focus was portraying the realities of street life via storytelling and commentary on social issues, as well as his lyrical prowess and imagery. He also made it his mission to carry on tradition of authentic New York hip hop.

Kanye West & Lil Wayne

Another example Kanye West and Lil Wayne. In their relative time that they shared the spotlight, Lil Wayne was a capitalist. He wanted to drop as much music as he possibly could while he was hot. He didn't spend a whole lot of time worrying about any particular creative vision for a project. He just made music, and he capitalized off of it. He made hits, sold a 1,000,000 records in the 1st week, and flooded the streets with mixtape after mixtape and feature after feature. Kanye West was also commercially huge, but we all know his primary focus has always been his creative vision. Every single album that he has released has always had a particular theme musically, creatively, and conceptually. He's invented several styles of rap that didn't exist before before him. He's blended several genres with rap. He is a visionary.

Ultimately, there are plenty other examples of this and there is a lot of overlap but these were the examples that stick out most in my mind.

Co-Existence or Beef?

Sometimes the tension between these 2 ideologies can coexist but sometimes they lead to creative friction. In the case of LL and Rakim, or Wayne and Kanye, they coexisted. In the case of Big and Pac, Jay and Nas, and now Drake and Kendrick, that tension became friction and eventually lead to beef.

Conclusion

While while the visionary and capitalist ideologies seem like they're at odds, they both play crucial roles in the evolution and growth of hip hop. Visionaries pushed the genre forward artistically, while capitalists helped to expand its reach and influence on a global scale. They both need to exist. They balance each other. There couldn't be one without the other.

my brother did his whole dissertation on this beef

move to politics sxn please

chat is this real

The problem with framing it as visionary vs capitalist is all these guys are capitalist, pgLang is literally a media house for corporations and has billionaire backers and funding

words have meanings

Like I said there is overlap, every rapper is a capitalist and every rapper is a visionary to some extent. Rappers usually lean more in one direction though

Well Kenny is covertly leaning into capitalist.

I mean yeah Kendrick dropped some anti-capitalist bars but I think you doing too much lol

“A visionary’s vision is scary - start a revolution, pollute the airwaves, a rebel” - Che Guevara

if we are talking strictly music like OP is, then no he isn’t

the pretty boys vs the petty boys...

jay went to cuba and came back an even bigger capitalist
jay referencing basquiat in his music and style but is everything he wouldn’t stand for

OP is a great poster man I appreciate the effort everyone else hating

The cycle never ends

Wayne was the capitalist when most of the music was free and Ye went onto become a billionaire. Strange timeline

Preciate you bro always been solid

I just be trying to give the people a different perspective they may have not thought about

I can get a little wordy though so I understand the hate lol its all good

lol

If anything the capitalist works with taylor swift and imagine dragons

Ah yes giving out free music for the joy of the art is capitalism. Billionaires are evil btw

Fair point

Its not a clean a***ogy but its just another way to think about it

grow up nigga

OP is correct.

There's no distinct line in the sand as we all are brought up under capitalism, either suffering, maintaining or prospering and the vast complexities of life blur the line and paths people go down, our character and expression

I've always compared Kanye's art to the fine art culture, visionary and expressive, yet very torn regarding its economic value vs cultural value and the "value" of such concepts. Kanye's expression sadly exists under capitalism and it shows, naturally

Yeah there’s really no escape to capitalism and we all play the game

I feel like there are certain artists who lean into it and have it as their highest priority and there are others who prioritize their vision above it

I see a pattern swinging from the capitalist to the visionary, back and forth. With trap running the sound we been in the capitalist Era for awhile. This might be the moment that finally turns the tide