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RZA has claimed that Drake made a mistake in trying to go bar-for-bar with Kendrick Lamar in their rap battle.
Wu-Tang Clan legend shared his thoughts on the high-profile beef in an interview with Complex and questioned Drizzy’s decision-making.
“First of all, Kendrick is the natural lyricist, and Drake is a trained lyricist. You could train a fighter and he could be good, then you got those natural fighters who also then go through training,” he said. “So that’s a different chamber there. And while Drake got bars forever, Kendrick’s bars’ potency was stronger.
“So the battle bar-for-bar was something that was just not good advising on Drake’s camp in the sense of just getting in that fight without really taking some more training for that. When Kendrick wrote the letter to his son or his daughter and to his [mother], Kendrick is going to come like that. Nas, Kendrick, Eminem, Raekwon, certain people are going to break your shit down to the element.”
He continued: “But in doing so, I do think that a lot was said, and Drake is a powerful artist in our culture. He helped the culture when the culture needed it. He expanded it with his melodies and he raised a generation too, and you can’t take that away from him.”
RZA also said he hopes that the former collaborators can eventually make peace: “It took years for [Nas and JAY-Z] to swallow that pill and then come and shake hands on it. So hopefully it is not the same. Hopefully this generation can take it as fun like how the beginning generation took it more for fun.
“Hopefully as they mature more as humans, they would go, ‘Wow, that shit was crazy. That shit was fun. I ate you up, son. You know what I mean? But yo, I love that other joint. My son love your joint. My son love your joint.’ And here we are for the culture coming together.”
Fellow New York rap legend 50 Cent also recently reflected on the feud, but argued that Drake did not come off second best, contrary to popular opinion.
Speaking to Billboard, Fif recalled the pep talk he gave the 6 God following his perceived defeat: “I was telling him, it’s not him. I’m listening on the outskirts, it’s not you. Don’t let yourself think that for a second.
“On some real shit, I said, ‘They said you lost, okay. Well what did you lose?’ What exactly did he lose if he got $300 something million on his last tour? You didn’t lose a motherfucking thing, man.”
The G-Unit mogul also revealed he urged Drake to stay in the studio — advice he appears to have heeded considering he has released a slew of solo material and guest features since the beef cooled off in May, and also has a joint album with PARTYNEXTDOOR on the way.
“If that’s the moment, you keep your creative energy in the right place, and keep creating,” he recalled telling Drizzy. “If you slow down because you feel, ‘What the fuck?’ The resistance will make you feel like your material isn’t good.
“Then you gotta figure out how to keep pushing, how to keep creating — because that’s what it feels like to you at the moment. That shit was good for Hip Hop. It made both of them create quality material faster.”
As for those upset at him taking Drake’s side, 50 said: “[People] look and go, ‘Ahh, I’m automatically supposed to be on Kendrick’s side because of my association with [Dr.] Dre.’ And I love Kendrick, but I’ll say it to you: I didn’t see where what [Drake] did was wack at any point.
“They giving [Drake] the, ‘Oh you wack, you finished.’ I’m like, ‘Nah, come on.’ That’s the system trying to make some sort of resistance and it’s from the consistency.”
