Nia Abram Wrote A Retrospective Op-ed about the Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar Beef

For Pleaser Magazine, Nia Abram wrote a retrospective op-ed on the cultural ramifications of Kendrick’s year-long crusade against Drake. The piece commemorates the anniversary of Lamar’s release of the smash hit, “Not Like Us.” 

Abram writes, “Kendrick couched his criticisms of Drake in a broader political conversation about hip-hop’s foundational integrity. He implicates hip-hop in the fight for freedom against exploitation. Yet, if Kendrick is asking us to join in the chant to mark Drake a colonizer, if he’s asking the next generation of artists to “respect the artform,” if he’s fighting for the soul of hip-hop, then he’ll need to extend these shrunken platitudes beyond NFL halftime shows.”