Kendrick Lamar 'Control' 'King of NY' Verse Sparks New York Rap Debate: Big Daddy Kane Speaks [LISTEN]
Kendrick Lamar's self-proclaimed "king of New York" reference on Big Sean's song Control roused a debate about the state of New York hip-hop.
"I'm Machiavelli's offspring, I'm the king of New York / King of the Coast, one hand, I juggle them both," Lamar raps on the song, which was released this week.
The reference spurred several rappers from The Big Apple to criticize their fellow New York emcees for not representing the city and its storied hip-hop history in the right way. The local and national conversation about the decline of New York's rap scene started in the mid 2000s, when rappers from the country's southern regions began to dominate rap charts and the airwaves. The city has never been able to return to the glory days of the 1990s, when New York was reportedly at the forefront of rap music.
"If ur upset that a 'West Coast' rapper claimed King of NY..... U CAN ONLY BE MAD AT URSELVES... U DID THIS," tweeted Queens rapper Action Bronson on Tuesday.
Bronson, like many rappers who stay true to the purist rap style practiced by emcees like Nas and Jay Z, blamed New York rappers who adopt a more dumbed-down rap style for the city's artistic decline. Brooklyn rapper Talib Kweli echoed Bronson's opinion in a Tuesday tweet.
"Y'all new NY rappers ready to stop rapping like y'all from down south yet? #kingofny," Kweli wrote.
The young generation of New York rappers also took to the social media website to discuss Lamar's verse. Joey Bada$, an 18-year-old Brooklyn rapper, addressed Lamar's rap by tweeting, "How can yall think I'm hating on Kendrick right now? Much respect to him for bodying everybody. This day marks a new rap game kno dat. Haha."
Even one of New York rap's founding fathers, Big Daddy Kane, took to Twitter to join the conversation by urging local emcees to defend their city in the best way they know how.
"ATTENTION M.C.'S: Complaining about @kendricklamar verse on twitter is Gossip. Getting in the studio trying to write a better one is Hip Hop," he tweeted.
Listen to Lamar's verse of Big Sean's Control below.
