'Storied': What I wish we discussed about the Drake/Kendrick beef

The first edition of our new guest column, 'Storied,' by Atlanta-based author and educator Julian Rose.

Julian Rose is a community organizer, educator, artist and writer born in Hartford, CT, and currently based in Atlanta. His work focuses on Black Queer Feminism, abolition, solidarity economy, and Black liberation movement building. Julian’s political home is Endstate ATL. This essay is part of his latest guest column at Mainline, entitled ‘Storied.’

Let’s get this out of the way: this beef was fun for me. I found the whole spectacle highly entertaining, which might be the only reason I am taking the time to write this piece in the first place.

I have been talking with my comrades and friends about it a lot; and while I was entertained, I was maybe more annoyed than the average listener, both about the framing of the jabs, but also in the conversations among the audience.

I think it is important to comment on our discussions, because the discourse is indicative of broader cultural attitudes and phenomena, and the stories that will shape our future. I hope it is clear soon that, in writing this, I am critiquing our culture itself—not just talking about Twitter's worst hits.

Over the last few months, things like Blackness, “colonizers,” extraction from Atlanta, “pop rap,” regional sounds, and gatekeeping have all been points of discussion as people have worked to wrap their minds around the behemoth that is the now decade-long rap beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar. I’ve even seen a lot (and yet, still not enough) people comment on misogynoir, domestic violence, sexual predation, age gaps, and the ways women are relegated to the margins of a punchline when rap beefs occur. But so much has been left unsaid, even by people who get paid to cover this beat. When Ebro said Toronto doesn’t have its own sound, it sent me over the edge. And I’ve been there, in the abyss, since then.