Over the past 72 hours, the tension that’s been building between Drake and Common since December finally peaked, thanks to Common’s retaliatory lines on “Stay Schemin (Remix).”
Leaving his target’s verse on Rick Ross’ original song intact, Common
delivers his blow, boldly calling Drake out by name, leaving no more
room for “subliminal shots.” The gauntlet has officially been thrown and
now Drake makes the decision to let it all rest, or dive in headfirst.
For Common--who quieted Ice Cube's talk of him being a “soft” rapper in
1996 on “The Bitch In Yoo”--the battle is just a natural part of the
game. “It’s just about MCing and once you step in there, you’re in the
ring baby," Common says. “Especially if you’re gonna say ‘I’m the
champion.’” Check out the timeline of Common and Drake’s beef.
Common is questioned about taking subliminal shots on “Sweet."
“Sweet” was the third single from Common’s ninth album
The Dreamer/The Believer
and a few lines on the track immediately jumped out ("Singing all
around me man, la la la/You ain’t mutha----ing Frank Sinatra"),
prompting questions and rumors about whether he was specifically calling
Drake "soft" on the track.
Drake responds to Common’s comment during a live show.
During a December show in Las Vegas, Drake reportedly responded to
Common’s verses and his interviews, saying, "I might sing, but I ain't
no bitch. If Common got something to say, say it to my face."
Common confirms “Sweet” diss was directed at Drake.
After initially dodging a few questions about where exactly those shots
on “Sweet” were aimed, Common finally gave a direct answer during an
interview on "Sway in the Morning," referencing Drake’s reaction to
“Sweet.” “He opened his mouth and said some things, so if that’s what he
want—all that subliminal [talk]…you could do that too, but say it now,"
Common said. "The verse is about me but when you hear some of the stuff
on the chorus it’s like you can’t help but think about dude and I guess
that’s what he felt. So at the end of day he fits in that category, he
already embraced it, so wear it.”
Drake’s producer Noah “40” Shebib weighs in on the tension via Twitter.
40 on Common calling Drake “soft”: @common, I remember being called a
bitch in grade 9 cause I had your cd. Good thing I also had 456 by kool g
rap on me. Now that's real After "one day it'll all make sense" came
out I spent months arguing weather or not @common was hip hop. Everyone
was saying it was too rnb. I'm not dissing, just facts. I love common. I
also love swv and John b.” 40's tweets triggered a response from Q-Tip,
who urged 40 to keep it light and not disrespect Common.
Drake officially responds to Common on “Stay Schemin.’”
Up until this point Drake had remained relatively quite on the “beef” but when Ross dropped his anticipated
Rich Forever
mixtape, Drake used the track “Stay Schemin’” to direct a verse at
Common, spitting, “It’s feeling like rap changed, it was a time it was
rugged/Back when if a ni--a reached it was for the weapon, nowadays
ni--as reach just to sell their record."
Common calls Drake out by name on “Stay Schemin (Remix).”
Common’s swift response to Drake on “Stay Schemin’ (Remix)” officially
made this the first legitimate rap battle of 2012. After going
back-and-forth for a few weeks, Common specifically called Drake out by
name--in addition to calling him Canada Dry--making it impossible for
the Young Money rapper to ignore him.
Drake’s boy, The Weekend, plus Rick Ross and Scarface chime in.
Geto Boys frontman Scarface addressed the clash on Twitter, commenting
on the negativity that surrounds rap battles--“There is a certain level
of respect all men have to have for one another any form of disrespect
means you are prepared to DIE #f--karapbeef"--which prompted a retweet
from Rick Ross. The Weeknd, on the other hand, clearly took sides,
writing: “That was the worst comeback ive ever heard,” he wrote.
“Reminds me of someone’s drunk uncle."
Cash Money CEO Birdman adds his two cents: "It's Drake or Nothing."
During a radio interview, Birdman responded to a question about his
position on the beef. He was clear in stating that Young Money isn’t in
the business of profiting from diss records, but he also vowed to
support Drake in whatever way he needed. “Drake the homie so we ride or
die, ain’t no second questions about that, but we’ve never been a brand
to make records and want to make money off of making records off other
people, that’s not what we bout,” he said. “So to me, however the young
homie deal with it, we behind him, we supporting him 100 percent with
our life, so that’s just what it is.”
COURTESY OF MTV
