It was about damn time.
Drake has been nudging his idols for years now, ever since prematurely gunning for the throne on “I’m On One” three years ago. And now, finally, he gets sonned—by name—in the form of an excellent Jay Z verse over his own Soulja Boy’s hit single, “We Made It.”
But instead of looking like this:
He should be doing this:
Because Hova did him a favor. Gender-ambiguous honorific and all. (Jay will never clear this up, btw).
Taking shots at Jay is as cliché as clichés. And while the real Mr. Carter usually reserves his retorts for bitter ex-compadres, government officials or civil rights icons, in Drizzy’s case, Hov came out of the woodwork (with Jay ElecHanukkah!) to respond to quotes from a magazine interview. Sling that tassel over, Degrassi Drake—you’ve officially graduated!
Drake has been trying to reaffirm his leap to hip-hop Supreme Being ever since Kendrick Lamar chin-checked him on “Control.” He’s since released a brilliant third studio album, VIBE’s top pick of the year (that is, before Beyoncé dropped her cherry bomb of a surprise LP) and made us crack up with his rapper impressions on SNL. And while it seems like his rivalry with Kendrick stands at a stalemate, becoming embroiled in a spat with Jay Z puts even more distance between Aubrey and his contemporaries.
This all becomes especially important in a year when Drake’s mentor, Lil Wayne, is poised to show and prove with Tha Carter V, reportedly his final album. There’s levels to this shit, and Jay sees Drake in that upper echelon. And now, all of you haters who are late to the party do, too.
So should Drake respond? HYFR! Regardless of how warm and fuzzy some of his tunes may sound, he’s still a rapper taking part in a contact sport. Time to back up that “big homie” talk on “Paris Morton Music 2.” What does he really have to lose? Hov has long retired from his career-killing days, and even still, this is clearly a small squabble… over Picassos. Even if Drake gets embarrassed by Jay (again?), you’d have to respect him for having the balls to fire back (brrap!).
Silence ain’t always golden, Drake. Do the opposite of your paraplegic on-screen character Jimmy and stand up for yourself, bro. —John Kennedy