Kendrick Lamar once again stunned everyone this year with another out-of-the-blue track. "The Day The Party Died" saw the Compton marksman take aim at a lot of people across the hip-hop industry, particularly Drake and DJ Akademiks. It was essentially a commentary on the current state of the genre and that he's wanting to change it for the better. Presumably, one of those steps was exposing artists like Drizzy for not making substantial music. However, he was wrestling with how to exactly go about this as he says in his third verse. "Sometimes I wonder what Lecrae would do / F*** these n****s up or show 'em just what prayer do? / I want to be empathetic, my heart like Dee-1".
It's safe to say he chose the former, but Lecrae and Dee-1 were both appreciative of the shout out, nonetheless. Recently, the former responded to the name drop with "Die For The Party". His track similarly touches on those themes about the landscape of rap. Now, as of yesterday, the Louisiana native, Dee-1, has done the same with "Call It Like It Is". While K. Dot and Lecrae's shots were more subtle, Dee takes a more up front approach. Joe Budden catches one to the dome in clever fashion, and he also addresses the noise around him supporting Lamar over Lil Wayne for the Super Bowl by shouting out the fellow NOLA icon. "And we gon' be alright, that's what Kendrick Lamar said / And in the words of Lil Wayne, the sky is the limit, yeah". Like the others, Dee brings a lot of passion and it's worth a listen.
"Call It Like It Is" - Dee-1
Quotable Lyrics:
I don't care if they sold millions, are you hearin' their message?
Poisonin' our whole community, everybody hypnotized
Why you think nobody respect black people? No big surprise
(Call it like it is) and I love New Orleans, my city
But I love God way more, I don't care if none of y'all with me
We celebrate bein' stupid and everybody so gangster