Conflict on Display: Rap Battles
Jan 9, 2019 19:22:34 GMT -7
Post by Darth Draconis on Jan 9, 2019 19:22:34 GMT -7
Not sure if anyone here follows the rap industry at all but a while ago there was a beef I thought was absolutely to die for. Eminem versus fucking everybody he could think to name (Kamikaze was a well-named album) gave rise to some of my favorite songs in recent years: MGK responded to the diss aimed his way with a track called 'Rap Devil' (an obvious callback to 'Rap God'), and Eminem came back at him with 'Killshot'.
Imo the whole album was Eminem lashing out at anyone and everyone in an effort to kind of find himself again after the choppy, wigged out anti-Trump freestyle and the failed 'Revival' album that followed (relative to how well his previous albums have otherwise performed in commercial sales and popularity). That's not a criticism either, this was the right move imo and not only do I not mind that he took aim at a few artists I like, I'm glad he did. These battles, these artistic conflicts, brought out some real gems and whether he was being an asshole in doing so or not, he acted as a catalyst. The flow and lyrical prowess here are off the charts, but it doesn't have much real bite to it (maybe because, as Eminem said outright in the 'Killshot' track that "I just don't like you punk" which makes it easy to go at someone in a broad, sweeping way, but that consequently doesn't cut as deep). MGK was one of the few to answer the many disses Eminem dished out in 'Kamikaze'.
Though he's less skilled lyrically, he admits as much throughout the track and points out that's not the only factor, being a superior rapper isn't a sufficient answer to some of the barbs he lobbed at Eminem, they spoke to a lot of shit that's happened behind the scenes, and Kelly minced no words in calling out the rival he acknowledges as having once been one of his biggest idols. Everything in this track bites pretty deep imo, and he dropped the music video literally like a day after Eminem's surprise album dropped (they're on the same label and rumors are that someone gave MGK the heads up months in advance that Em's diss-laced album was coming out, he didn't have specifics, was just told that there were going to be a bunch of disses in it, some of it aimed at him). The flow itself is sick, delicious, arguably superior to the flow in the track he's answering.
I'd say this was a better track than 'Not Alike', the song that kicked this shit off, but while again demonstrating lyrical superiority, pretty well matching the smooth flow, and producing a masterful delivery... he mocks Kelly's track, technically answers all the 'Rap Devil' disses right down the line, but fails to hit back as hard as Kelly was hitting in 'Rap Devil' or truly negate or overcome several of the digs leveled at him. That's my take on it anyways, in a nutshell, and I'm not even sure that I can say anyone "won" this battle in my book; Kelly hasn't produced an answer to 'Killshot' (and probably won't) but I tend to agree with what he said in an interview when he was asked if he was going to. Why would he? Killshot was on even footing with 'Rap Devil' (and not on the basis of real talk in the lyrics, Kelly beats him on that but sheer lyrical skill on Eminem's part balances it out to be about a stalemate imho) and none of what Eminem said in that last track about being one of the greatest, about being more commercially successful than Kelly, was anything Kelly hadn't voluntarily and preemptively acknowledged in 'Rap Devil', admitting he knows Eminem is a g.o.a.t. (greatest of all time).
I think MGK solidly made the points he wanted to, and Eminem couldn't truly stomp on him because where he was coming from is "I just don't like you and I'm gonna find a way to rag on you" where Kelly was coming from a place of "I don't like you, and here's why". That said, if I'm right in thinking Eminem was trying to pull himself back together via a Kamikaze approach then I think it's fair to say he succeeded. Most of 'Revival' genuinely sucked imo, and that's not just because he put it out in close proximity to his bitching about Trump (though I think the angst, bitterness, and hatred for him may have been negatively effecting his art in a more subtle sense, and was part of what he had to claw his way through to get back to what we see in Kamikaze), it's just a crap album. Compare any track on 'Revival' to any song on 'Kamikaze' and feel free to tell me if you find any on the former that are genuinely better, but... idk but it'll be interesting to see if anyone wants to (or can) defend the strange piece of work; doesn't seem like a proper Eminem album, to me. 'Kamikaze' did.
Who do you think won though, if anybody? What order (from best to worst) would your rank these tracks in?
Imo the whole album was Eminem lashing out at anyone and everyone in an effort to kind of find himself again after the choppy, wigged out anti-Trump freestyle and the failed 'Revival' album that followed (relative to how well his previous albums have otherwise performed in commercial sales and popularity). That's not a criticism either, this was the right move imo and not only do I not mind that he took aim at a few artists I like, I'm glad he did. These battles, these artistic conflicts, brought out some real gems and whether he was being an asshole in doing so or not, he acted as a catalyst. The flow and lyrical prowess here are off the charts, but it doesn't have much real bite to it (maybe because, as Eminem said outright in the 'Killshot' track that "I just don't like you punk" which makes it easy to go at someone in a broad, sweeping way, but that consequently doesn't cut as deep). MGK was one of the few to answer the many disses Eminem dished out in 'Kamikaze'.
Though he's less skilled lyrically, he admits as much throughout the track and points out that's not the only factor, being a superior rapper isn't a sufficient answer to some of the barbs he lobbed at Eminem, they spoke to a lot of shit that's happened behind the scenes, and Kelly minced no words in calling out the rival he acknowledges as having once been one of his biggest idols. Everything in this track bites pretty deep imo, and he dropped the music video literally like a day after Eminem's surprise album dropped (they're on the same label and rumors are that someone gave MGK the heads up months in advance that Em's diss-laced album was coming out, he didn't have specifics, was just told that there were going to be a bunch of disses in it, some of it aimed at him). The flow itself is sick, delicious, arguably superior to the flow in the track he's answering.
I'd say this was a better track than 'Not Alike', the song that kicked this shit off, but while again demonstrating lyrical superiority, pretty well matching the smooth flow, and producing a masterful delivery... he mocks Kelly's track, technically answers all the 'Rap Devil' disses right down the line, but fails to hit back as hard as Kelly was hitting in 'Rap Devil' or truly negate or overcome several of the digs leveled at him. That's my take on it anyways, in a nutshell, and I'm not even sure that I can say anyone "won" this battle in my book; Kelly hasn't produced an answer to 'Killshot' (and probably won't) but I tend to agree with what he said in an interview when he was asked if he was going to. Why would he? Killshot was on even footing with 'Rap Devil' (and not on the basis of real talk in the lyrics, Kelly beats him on that but sheer lyrical skill on Eminem's part balances it out to be about a stalemate imho) and none of what Eminem said in that last track about being one of the greatest, about being more commercially successful than Kelly, was anything Kelly hadn't voluntarily and preemptively acknowledged in 'Rap Devil', admitting he knows Eminem is a g.o.a.t. (greatest of all time).
I think MGK solidly made the points he wanted to, and Eminem couldn't truly stomp on him because where he was coming from is "I just don't like you and I'm gonna find a way to rag on you" where Kelly was coming from a place of "I don't like you, and here's why". That said, if I'm right in thinking Eminem was trying to pull himself back together via a Kamikaze approach then I think it's fair to say he succeeded. Most of 'Revival' genuinely sucked imo, and that's not just because he put it out in close proximity to his bitching about Trump (though I think the angst, bitterness, and hatred for him may have been negatively effecting his art in a more subtle sense, and was part of what he had to claw his way through to get back to what we see in Kamikaze), it's just a crap album. Compare any track on 'Revival' to any song on 'Kamikaze' and feel free to tell me if you find any on the former that are genuinely better, but... idk but it'll be interesting to see if anyone wants to (or can) defend the strange piece of work; doesn't seem like a proper Eminem album, to me. 'Kamikaze' did.
Who do you think won though, if anybody? What order (from best to worst) would your rank these tracks in?