Roll up, roll up: it’s the most ferocious fallout in rap history. Or have they?
It’s 2016 and so by now you should be more than aware of how a simple comment can snowball into a ‘reported’ feud, with numerous sources, insiders and any number of social media opinions helping fuel the fire.
Have Drake and Eminem really fallen out? Digital Spy has put together an explainer to get to the truth behind all the hyperbole.
How did this ‘feud’ between Drake and Eminem start then?
Well, first off let’s make this clear: this is how the rumour started, not the actual feud. But there is a feud involved, of course. Basically, Drake and New Jersey rapper Joe Budden have thrown a few jabs over the past month or so. Budden did the unthinkable and criticised Drake’s chart-topping album Views on a podcast (gasp!), and the Canadian star responded with a few on-stage mentions as well as some direct messages on social media. Then Budden released four diss tracks but no-one really batted an eye-lid, let alone Drizzy.
But Joe Budden isn’t Eminem, so why has Slim Shady got involved?
Okay, so Joe Budden is a member of rap group Slaughterhouse and he’s also signed to Eminem’s record label. Saying that though, Slim has shown no signs of getting involved in this particular beef. His apparent involvement stems from elsewhere.
Essentially, Ebro Darden – a radio host on Hot 97 – revealed to his listeners that he was recently speaking to Drake about a rumour that Eminem was preparing to weigh in on this feud. “I [Ebro] told Drake that I heard the rumour was Eminem was going to gear up to come after him,” he explained. “He laughed. He was like, ‘That’s not gonna happen.’ He’s like, ‘He’d never do that. And if he did, I got something for him, too.'”
Naturally, within minutes the whole of the internet was anticipating a blockbuster rap feud. Speculation spread quickly. Hollywood Life called upon all their reliable sources close to each camp and gave us lines about Shady taking the whole rap battle seriously and Rihanna being worried about which side she’d have to pick. All nonsense, of course.
And behold, a rap ‘feud’ was created.
Surely Ebro would want to quickly clarify this rumour he’d just started?
Oh yeah, Ebro was very swift in making sure people knew he was just messing. “It was such a joke and people ran with it… Slow news day. Drake got too much respect for all that…” he tweeted, before
adding : “Facts we was joking…Talked about in jest & fools jumped out the window. I ain’t even think it was a big deal .” Eminem’s manager Paul Rosenberg simply tweeted: “Slow news day I see.”
As for Drake, well he cooly responded with one of his own lyrics in an Instagram post.
So Drake just let it lie and didn’t say anything else?
Well, not really. Being one of the biggest stars in the world, you’d want to put the record straight in a more dramatic rap star-worthy fashion. So what did he do? He addressed it in front of a sold-out crowd at New York City’s Madison Square Garden.
Drizzy pulled out a new freestyle, criticising Hot 97’s “lies” and demanding DJ Funkmaster Flex be fired before he appears on the radio station again. But why Funkmaster and not Ebro, we hear you ask? When Drake was beefing with Meek Mill last summer (yep, these feuds pop up all the time), Funkmaster Flex spent a lot of time hyping up Meek’s diss track on the station.
The DJ also brought up the whole controversy around Drake’s alleged ghostwriter Quentin Miller and basically just very much sided with Meek Mill. Hence why Drizzy now wants Flex fired.
So now back to Ebro: after Drake made his demand at Madison Square Garden, the Hot 97 DJ said that he’s now just going to sit back and watch it all unfold. Get the popcorn etc etc.
Oh jeez. What’s Funkmaster Flex’s response been to all this?
He’s had a lot to say over the weekend actually. The most notable being that the whole controversy around claims Drake uses a ghostwriter was brought upon by himself. Apparently, Meek Mill’s team was suspicious that Drake’s ‘R.I.C.O’ verse had a few subtle digs at him, so the Canadian star’s team allegedly sent over the reference track to them to deflect the accusations. That’s when all the trouble started.
APPARENTLY .
But other than that, Funkmaster Flex also had an almighty put-down up his sleeve for Drake. “First of all, Drake, I’m not really worried about you making me lose my job,” he said. “You want me to tell you why? Seventy percent of your fans wear high heels. The other 30 percent are guys who wear sandals. I’m not concerned about you, bro.” Ouch.
OK, so now this has all blown up, how is Joe Budden feeling about it all?
Not great, to be honest. Yeah, Joe understands that it was his initial beef with Drake on a couple of diss tracks that poked this particular bees’ nest – not to mention him ribbing artist-come-producer PARTYNEXTDOOR for giving all his best tracks away to Drake (and Rihanna in the form of ‘Work’) – but he still has a respect for Drizzy being one of the biggest artists in the world right now.
That didn’t stop Ebro and the rest of the Hot 97 team from grilling him over his involvement though. And when we say grilling, we mean burned to a cinder over maximum heat on a gas-fuelled BBQ. It got so tense that Joe actually walked out of the radio interview.
And what about Eminem?
Well, Slim Shady initially kept very quiet about it all, but then the best thing ever happened. Eminem was a surprise guest at Drake’s Summer Sixteen tour when it stopped by Detroit. They performed ‘Forever’ together and the whole arena quite literally lost their shit.
“Make some noise for the greatest rapper to ever get on a motherf**king microphone. He goes by the name of Eminem – legendary shit tonight,” Drake said. And Eminem was just as complimentary back, saying: “It’s an honour to share the stage with this man right here. Detroit one more time, make Drake feel the love.”
What a moment.
So let us get this straight: Drake is in a feud, but it’s actually with Hot 97 and Funkmaster Flex and Joe Budden and NOT with Eminem?
That’s correct.
But why is everyone reporting that Drake’s in a feud with Eminem then?
Because ‘Drake versus Eminem’ makes a better headline than ‘Drake is angry with a radio station DJ’. That’s why you clicked on this piece and read all the way through, isn’t it?
sports and entertainment connect 
You must be logged in to post a comment.