In recent Twitter news, rapper Meek Mill — perhaps most famously known as Nicki Minaj’s significant other — went on a Twitter rant in late July. His rant included topics about other rappers, including J.Cole and Jay- Z, but his comments about rapper Drake have received the most attention with Mill (whose real name is Robert Williams), who said Drake doesn’t write his own material.
Meek Mill tweeted, “Stop comparing drake to me too … He don’t write his own raps! That’s why he ain’t tweet my album because we found out!” [sic]
Twitter went crazy, with fans tweeting and responding to Meek Mill. The responding tweets were hilarious, if you ask me, and even started a hashtag, #MeekBeLike.
The tweets also started conversations among Twitter users about previous hip-hop beefs. One tweet in particular compared Meek Mill and Drake drama with Tupac and Biggie’s drama from two decades ago. I hated the comparison and felt as though old hip-hop can never be compared to new hip-hop, because they are two different types of music in two very different spaces.
Their drama is even different within itself. The old hip-hop rivalry was not over music at all; instead it originated with gang violence. It started because Tupac got shot at, at a studio in New York where Biggie and P Diddy (then known as Puff Daddy) were also present, and Tupac believed the New York rappers to be the cause of the hit. The 2015 conflict between Meek and Drake is based in Meek Mill’s claims seem that Drake did not tweet his album.
While Tupac and Biggie’s drama — and eventual deaths — ended in violence among the East coast and West coast (where these rappers where from), Meek Mill’s drama has ended with Internet memes and laughter. I believe the era we’re in now also plays a huge factor. In this day and time, social media plays a big factor in the lives of not only celebrities but us normal people too. Often times meaning our lives play out in front of an entire world, whereas before, the conflicts happened behind closed doors and often ended in high-profile violence.
