They say styles make fights.
What we’re seeing here are two rappers standing on top of the game at different sides of the spectrum. There’s Drake, the hitmaking machine who’s never backed down from a challenge. Then there’s Kendrick, the more complicated lyricist who’s managed to collect plaques without chasing commercial appeal, but someone who hasn’t been battle-tested like the person he’s currently in the ring with. This doesn’t mean Kung Fu Kenny isn’t familiar with the “Secretz of War“; he’s a student of the game, after all.
On “Taylor Made Freestyle” — the diss track Drake was forced to take down — Drake goes on a rant at the end, telling Kendrick he hopes he’s in the lab cooking up quintuple entendres. That’s just what Kendrick did on this latest diss track “6:16 in LA.” If you let the chatter online tell it, the title is a play on numerous things. One is an obvious play on Drake’s timestamp series. Another is a nod to Ice-T’s “6 ‘N the Mornin’.” But once you get into numerology games, you slowly start to resemble that Always Sunny meme with Charlie losing it in front of an evidence board trying to tie everything together.
Here’s a list of all the things the song title could maybe refer to:
- – June 16 is Tupac’s birthday
- – June 16 is Canadian Father’s Day
- – June 16 was the series premiere of Euphoria
- – June 16 was Nicole Brown’s funeral
- – 6:16 can also be applied to various Bible verses (see Ephesians 6:16)
- – This tweet
- – The song features a sample of Al Green’s “What A Wonderful Thing Love Is”
- – Al Green once got hot grits poured on him in the morning.
All that, plus Jack Antonoff (frequent collaborator of Taylor Swift, oft-mentioned by Drake throughout this feud) produced the song alongside Sounwave — and the streets are even saying the cover art is a picture of Drake’s Maybach driving gloves.
We haven’t even gotten to the bars yet. We have to mention a line from “euphoria” first, though. Remember when Kenny spit, “‘Back To Back,’ I like that record/ I’ma get back to that, for the record”? Who knew he was talking about himself surprising everyone with another diss track so soon? The guy is an acrobat, the Simone Biles of Rap.
Below, we compiled a list of what we thought were the best lines off “6:16 in LA.” This was a diabolical showing from the King of the West. With rumors of a Whoo Kid disstape on the way, we await the King of the North’s next move. God, I love this game.
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“It’s time that you look around on who’s around you, before you figure that you’re not alone/ Ask what Mike would do”
Just gonna leave this here.
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“Your lil’ memes is losing steam, they figured you out/ The forced opinions is not convincin’, y’all need a new route”
Rap fans used to be better informed. They used to be curious. And pundits used to be independent regardless of if they had personal preferences or not. Some of these cats are bought and paid for, is what Kendrick is saying.
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“A hunnid n—as that you got on salary, and 20 of ’em want you as a casualty/ And one of them is actually, next to you/ And two of them is practically tired to your lifestyle, just don’t got the audacity to tell you”
Drake has rapped about being paranoid.
“Who’s callin’ my name? Who’s involved now? Tell me who I gotta down, I’ll do a song now,” he raps on “Can’t Have Everything,” and his mom can be heard at the end talking about the tone of some of his music. Then the next year, in 2018, when he dropped the Scary Hours EP, he kicked off “Diplomatic Immunity” by rapping, “Diplomatic immunity, f—k ’em/All that peace and that unity/ All that weak sh—t’ll ruin me, f—k ’em.” This whole time he was worried about his fellow artists when he really should’ve been worried about the people around him, is the message Kendrick is trying to send.
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“There’s opportunity when livin’ with loss/ I discover myself when I fall short”
This s–t gets #deep. How are you supposed to respond to introspective and honest bars like this?
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“God, my confession is yours, but who am I if I don’t go to war?”
Oh, man, this thing is getting spooky. Who is Kendrick, but a soldier of God? This battle has been interesting because each member of the “Big 3” seem to have a hard time going through with this. They were all once friends, but their stars have gotten too massive for all three to be able to stand on top of the mountain together. This battle was necessary to reset the game and get rid of the secret animosity and bad blood.
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“But let me tell you some game, ’cause I can see you my lil’ homie/ You playin’ dirty with propaganda, it blow up on ya/ You’re playin’ nerdy with Zack Bia and Twitter bots/ But your reality can’t hide behind Wi-Fi”
OK, let’s stop with the Internet *nerd emoji* gimmicks and keep this s–t in the booth. Propaganda is part of the game, though. I guess there are, maybe, more honorable ways of getting the win.
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“Can’t ‘Toosie Slide’ up out of this one, it’s just gon’ resurface/ Every dog gotta have his day, now live in your purpose”
Imagine beefing with somebody and they say some condescending s–t like this? You would have to reevaluate your life. You’d have to really look inward before responded because, damn, is it really you and not them? You gotta fall back and reflect right quick.
A new hit isn’t gonna get you outta this pickle.
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“But the industry’s cooked as I pick the carcass apart”
Kenny is a lion roaming his kingdom, that stretches as far as the light touches, as he picks apart the industry. This guy is on some other s–t.
It’s finna be a long summer.
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“Yeah, somebody’s lyin’, I could see the vibes on Ak’/ Even he lookin’ compromised, let’s peel the layers back”
Drake has been using Akademiks as a conduit to leak news and music. Kendrick hasn’t resorted to these types of tactics and feels like his opponent is manipulating public opinion in his favor.
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“Conspiracies about Cash, dawg? That’s not even the leak/ Find the jewels like Kash Doll, I just need you to think”
Drake’s leak is running around like Carmen Sandiego? Where in the world is this leak coming from? Homie is like Leo in The Departed, just sniffing around and chewing through wires.
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“It was fun until you started to put money in the streets/ Then lost money, ’cause they came back with no receipts”
Remember that Pusha T tweet back in 2018 about $100K being put into the street to drudge up skeletons?
Looks like Drake has been trying to dig up dirt on Kenny instead of letting the pen do the talking. Leave the games alone, this thing of ours is about bars and always has been.
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“Fake bully, I hate bullies, you must be a terrible person/ Everyone inside your team is whispering that you deserve it”
Drake isn’t paying his guys enough? We’ve seen this type of stuff in crime dramas. Hired goons always go with the highest bidder.
It’s a tale as old as time.
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“I’m sorry that I live a boring life, I love peace/But war ready if the world is ready to see you bleed”
What the hell is Kenny on, man? This is such a diabolical line. He’s taking this thing seriously, as he should. There’s real history being made with this battle. These are the moments rap fans obsessively talk about, or at least that’s how things used to be. I sound like an old man yelling at clouds but this is history, you understand?
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“These images trouble you, know the wires in your circle should puzzle you/ If you were street smart, then you woulda caught that your entourage is only to hustle you”
It’s almost like Kendrick is trying to talk some sense into his old friend before it’s too late; or maybe it already is. Only time will tell.
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“Are you finally ready to play Have You Ever? Let’s see/ Have you ever thought that OVO was workin’ for me?”
This beef is the messiest in recent memory in terms of the rumors and music swirling around. Leaks in your operation like The Weeknd said on We Still Don’t Trust You. Now Drake has to walk around the table with a bat like Al Capone in the Untouchables. It’s time to really get his mob boss on.
