Michael Eric Dyson is coming to Drake’s defense amid his high-profile rap feud with Kendrick Lamar by shutting down the criticism against the rapper’s biracial identity.
The academic, author, and radio host appeared on the Stephen A. Smith show on Sunday, May 19, to explain his recent thinkpiece for The Philadelphia Citizen about the “proxy war” the rap battle sparked. His article highlighted the societal issues represented in the lyrical war related to Drake’s racial background and presence within hip-hop culture.
According to Dyson, Drake doesn’t deserve to be “dismissed” due to him being half-Jewish and growing up in Toronto, Canada. He feels the focus among hip-hop fans should stay on each rapper’s lyrical ability and musical contributions.
“I’m pi**ed that Drake gets dismissed off the scene when he’d been Drake for 15 years,” Dyson said.
“And you act like you didn’t know that now. ‘He’s not really Black.’ Oh, he was Black. But he’s recorded more songs with Jay-Z than most of these rappers. Last time I checked, Jay-Z is real. He ain’t fake.”
The Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar rap feud took the hip-hop community by storm in recent weeks. The two Grammy Award-winning rappers took extreme jabs at each other’s careers and personal lives. Kendrick got the streets buzzing with catchy lines that told Drake to stop using the N-word or colonizing Atlanta’s top rap acts.
It was lines like this that made Dyson feel like Drake’s Black identity was being dismissed in a way that undermined his cultural contributions to hip-hop and pop music.
“Challenging his racial identity, saying he’s a culture vulture when he’s a Black man. ‘He’s from Canada. He ain’t real.’ Idris Elba is from the UK. People still love him on “The Wire,” Dyson explains.
“So why is it that being outside of our geography, outside of our nationality raises suspicions about Drake?”
Dyson received mixed responses to his hot take, with some agreeing to the “hypocrisy” he called out and others explaining why the ordained minister “missed the point.”
“When Kendrick quotes DMX, Drake quote “10 things I hate about you”; and you think it’s about Drake’s complexion?” one YouTube user wrote.
“He was black because he was recording more songs with Jay-Z!!!? Damn …He lost me right there after one minute,” added someone else.
Others agreed with Dyson’s stance that Kendrick shouldn’t attack Drake’s racial identity to win the rap battle.
“Kendrick fans fail to realize .. when you have to defeat someone using their racial features, you’ve already lost,” one person wrote.
“Drake never deserved the hate IMO, but if I was him, I’d do like Kanye and turn my back on the culture,” added someone else.