Michael Eric Dyson comes to the defense of Drake after his Blackness was called into question during his recent rap beef with Kendrick Lamar.
In a recent interview on “The Stephen A. Smith Show,” Dyson shared his thoughts on the rap battle and said that the Toronto native should not be dismissed because he’s Canadian and half-Jewish. “I’m pissed that Drake gets dismissed, off the scene, when he’s been Drake for 15 years and you act like you didn’t know that, and now he’s not really Black? Dyson asked.
He continued, “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 added, “So why is it that being outside of our geography outside of our nationality raises suspicions about Drake?”
“So what he’s done to expand the horizon of hip-hop is underestimated, even artistically. We have to stop this narrow, punishing, pernicious, limited viewpoint about Blackness.” The New York Times best-selling author also said that Kendrick Lamar is one of the greatest rappers in hip-hop and argues that Drake is on the same level as him.
“Kendrick Lamar is a brilliant rapper and a formidable foe. But so is Drake. And what he’s done to expand the horizon of Hip Hop is underestimated, even artistically […],” Dyson said. In the beef between the rappers, Kendrick Lamar has questioned Drake’s racial identity and more.
In his song, “Euphoria,” Lamar raps, “I even hate when you say the word ‘n***a,’ but that’s just me, I guess/ some s**t just cringeworthy, it ain’t even gotta be deep, I guess.”
What do you think about this?