Kendrick Lamar's Euphoria is Top Tier and Top 5 in culture, principles and power
It's Hip Hop's anniversary month, so it's only fitting that I spend some time with one of my favourite musical genres. When Kendrick Lamar brought a gun to a knife fight in Metric Boomin, he stood on business. "Mother F*^k Big three, Nigga it's just Big Me", fired clear shots at Drake and J Cole. My focus today is Euphoria, but I could write an article on its own just on that. Drake has been throwing subliminals for a while, but this was in response to Kendrick being a bully. He's been coming for Drake for years, and unfortunately, as we all know, Drake fell into Kendrick's web, and Charlotte couldn't save him.
There is too much context about this beef for me to go into all of the history, but the back and forth between these men produced Euphoria, which features at number five in my best hip-hop diss tracks of all time. I know "They Not Like Us" is breaking streaming records, holding the number-one spot and having marching bands in South Africa saying, "Anyone wants to see a dead body". This is more evidence of how much of a G.O.A.T. Kendrick is. It was clear when I analysed all the songs in this beef and compared them to my existing list. Euphoria is 'Top 5"; it's top tier and a case study about culture, power and principles.
Before I break down Euphoria, I need to list my diss tracks of all time based on my criteria; I have four. First, there must be lyricism and world play combined; think Jay-z's "Shoot at You actors like movie directors" or 50 Cent's "Are you illiterate nigga, you can't read between the lines".