Diss Post is About Answers

Over the last few weeks, there has been an explosive beef between hip-hop stalwarts Drake and Kendrick Lamar. What started out as a standard tit-for-tat has devolved into a volleying of nuclear bombs, accusations of predatory behavior, domestic violence, and absentee parenting flying with abandon. If you want a summary of a situation that is starting to require way too much time to follow, I recommend these pieces from Stereogum and Pitchfork. Nevertheless, this back-and-forth got me thinking about how hip-hop diss tracks are really part of a larger, less defamatory tradition.As a reminder, this is the podcast version of the newsletter Can’t Get Much Higher. Click here to read the newsletter. It contains charts, graphs, and pictures that will color your listening. Click here to listen on Apple or Spotify. For a playlist of every new song that I’ve recommended, click here. For a playlist of every old song that I’ve recommended, click here. If you want to here songs and their answer songs, check out this playlist that I made on Spotify. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.cantgetmuchhigher.com/subscribe