Each week, we add new music, older tracks, which are known as “Gold adds”, and tracks that might not fit our general format, but still deserve a place in rotation because they serve our mission of showing the depth, breadth, and influence of Black musical expression - These are known as “Variety adds.”

. If you make music and want it considered for rotation, 

 If you want to give feedback directly, reach out to me at jgreen@mpr.org.

Tune in to hear our host Sanni B. live on The Message from 10 AM to 1 PM Monday through Thursday!

Keep all these tracks in one place with the 

 Spotify playlist. This playlist is updated weekly with all the new adds. When that playlist is cycled with new tracks, the tracks live forever on the 

 playlist. That playlist contains all of the music that we've added since the week of July 11, 2022 in chronological order of when it was added. All of the tracks available on Spotify, at least.

Julian Green built and manages the music library for Carbon Sound and oversees content creation.  


Julian Green

All of the tracks added to rotation on Carbon Sound the week of May 20, 2024.


Image for New on Carbon Sound Spotify playlist

Natalia Toledo

New on Carbon Sound

New Music on Carbon Sound - Week of May 20, 2024

It’s been just about two weeks since Drake released “The Heart Part 6,” the most recent in the series of diss tracks between him and Kendrick Lamar. In a feud whose rapid escalation is only matched by its prolific output, the rap world sees these two titans at something of a standstill. “The Heart Part 6” was released around 24 hours after Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” an infectiously danceable and indisputably devastating diss that’s quickly becoming the song of the summer. “Not Like Us” not only sits at the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 this week, but is producer DJ Mustard’s first #1 ever, as well as only the fourth #1 released this decade to have been written by a single person.  

That last part, Drake ghostwriting allegations aside, really emphasizes how truly one-on-one rap battles tend to be. It’s where competitive sports, art and entertainment seem to collide with devoted fans cheering on their favorites while those with a sheer love of the game sit back and appreciate the entire fandango. But rap battles aren’t solely for the coastal elites in Los Angeles and Toronto. While the beef may not be as heated here, it’s just as seasoned as Minnesota’s battle rap scene has a history of potent talent. From Eyedea becoming a national champion at the turn of the millennium to the unforgettable must-see battles at the Loring Pasta Bar, there’s no shortage of ever-evolving local battle rap action. 

One of the local leagues making the most noise is No Coast Raps, which celebrates its 15th anniversary this summer and also has sister leagues in Chicago, St Louis and New England. It also boasts a championship that’s been both defended and held by some of the top rap battle talent in the world. With talented artists catering to a fanbase and targeting an audience that absolutely lives for rap battle, we figured speaking to three of their all-time greats on what *they* would do next if they were coaching Drake or Kendrick in their current feud would make for the best perspective possible. 

Here’s how the No Coast All Stars would advise Kendrick and Drake’s next steps. 

Human (the Chicago-born Current No Coast Champion) 

 should either leave the ball where it's at and accept the L or prove he has a bombshell bigger than some Instagram interactions. 

 should drop a completely unrelated album in the near future as a show of how much cleaner he came out of the exchange. 

 is in a position where he almost has to respond. With the reports about streaming numbers (Kendrick rising fast, Drake dropping) surfacing over the last couple of days I think he will feel the pressure and respond with his best track yet. Despite doing well in the battle, there is a consensus that he lost and that is going to bother him. 

 should feel great about his position and the way the culture is viewing him at this moment. He has the most momentum he will ever have, and I believe that (instead of another diss track) this would be the time to drop new music and capitalize on the current virality of anything he does. 

, I'd tell him to take a vacation and in a few months when this has died down, release a hit new song to hopefully make everyone forget how roasted you got. 

, I'd advise him to drop an album or mixtape immediately to capitalize on the publicity. It might be the only chance he has in his career to get numbers even close to Drake's. 

{"type":"doc","content":[{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"","type":"text"}]}]}

Chaz Kangas

The Current’s Chaz Kangas checked in with three Minnesota battle rappers to see how they’d approach this historic battle.


XQZ VS Human - NoCoastRaps | #VDM10 | NoCoast Title Match #12

Micky Worthless (ENG) vs The Vesh (USA) - No Coast Raps | Snow Coast 2 (Hosted by Lush One)

Marcelo Hernandez/Getty Images; Greg Noire

Kendrick vs. Drake - WWYD? MN Battle Rappers Answer

Diane, host of The Current’s Local Show, stopped by to talk to Carbon Sound’s Host Sanni about the Minnesota Music Month Carbon Sound Showcase that she helped curate, as well as her journey through music as a listener, performer, and radio host.


The Message - Diane

Nur-D and DJ Hayes chat with Diane at The Current

TLC - No Scrubs (Official HD Video)

John Kueppers

Interview: Diane on The Message

DJ JEN-E stopped by the studio to lay down a set full of energetic techno, sure to get you moving wherever you listen. We chatted with DJ JEN-E about her style and intentions for her mix. Read a transcript of the interview below:

My name is DJ JEN-E. I'm a local DJ in Minneapolis and I spin house and techno.

I got into DJing from a friend. I’m entirely self-taught. Ever since then, I just fell in love with music and learned more about the world of electronic music. 

What are some of your favorite events to go to in the Twin Cities?

My favorite events to go to are always the ones that are underground. A lot of different types of music, different artists that come from different cities, and just a wide plethora of genres that I can learn from and absorb.

What's your favorite gig that you played recently?

Last year I got to play House Proud and that was one of my favorite gigs. The audience, the sound production... Jeff is an amazing person and he's really talented. So, I was super honored to be able to get to spin there.

What are we going to hear from you today?

I will be doing a driving techno set. Kind of dubby near the end, a little hypnotic. So, a mixture.

Editor’s note: DJ JEN-E will also be playing at Communion’s opening party on Sunday, June 2 at Pourhouse in Minneapolis.)

Stay tuned for new mixes on Carbon Sound every other Wednesday. If you’re a DJ and want to be considered for the series, email a mix of yours to jgreen@mpr.org.

Energetic techno from Minneapolis’ DJ JEN-E.


Minneapolis' DJ JEN-E laid down a set of energetic techno for Carbon Sound

DJ JEN-E (5/15/24)

In late April, Senator Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) began his testimony before a Senate subcommittee hearing by doing something unusual for a stuffy institution like Congress: He played a new song from the rapper Drake.

But it wasn't Drake's rap verse that Tillis felt was important for Congress to hear. Rather it was a verse in the song featuring the voice of the legendary — and long dead — rapper Tupac Shakur. 

In a kind of uniquely modern sorcery, the song uses artificial intelligence to resurrect Tupac from the dead and manufacture a completely new — and synthetic — verse delivered in the late rapper's voice. The song, titled "Taylor Made Freestyle," is one in a barrage of brutal diss tracks exchanged between Drake and Kendrick Lamar in 

. Kendrick is from California, where Tupac is like a god among rap fans, so weaponizing the West Coast rap legend's voice in the feud had some strategic value for Drake, who is from Toronto.

Drake, apparently, thought it'd be okay to use Tupac's synthetic voice in his song without asking permission from the late rapper's estate. But, soon after the song's release, Tupac's estate 

 demanding that Drake take the song down, which he did. However — given the murky legal landscape regulating AI creations — it's unclear whether Tupac's estate actually has the law on their side. 

And so the beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar has become not only one of the most brilliant — and most vicious — battles in the history of rap. It's also become a historic flashpoint for the issues posed by what you might call AI necromancy — resurrecting traits of the dead using AI technology. 

We've entered a new world where anyone can conjure the voice or visual likeness of a dead celebrity — or really anyone, dead or alive — with a few clicks using AI software. And this has opened up a bunch of new legal questions about the rights of people and their heirs to control digital replicas of themselves. 

"So we've got work to do and legislation addressing the misuse of digital replicas will have a multi-billion dollar implication," said Senator Tillis after playing the new Drake song featuring AI Tupac in Congress. "We've got to get it under control." 

For Tupac, this is just the latest chapter in one of the most productive careers that any artist has had after death. Even before the explosion of artificial intelligence, there was enormous commercial and artistic demand for reviving the late rapper. And there were questions over whether his legacy was being tarnished by his estate cashing in on that demand. 

Tupac, who is widely recognized as one of the greatest and most charismatic rappers of all time, was murdered back in 1996, in a drive-by shooting on the streets of Las Vegas. Given the incredible mark he left on the world, it's hard to believe he was only 25 years old when he passed.

Tupac, who was known to go into the studio and churn out songs like a conveyor belt, left behind a massive supply of unreleased songs. And, under the direction of Tupac's estate, music labels released seven posthumous studio albums of these songs — more than the number of albums Tupac released while he was alive. That doesn't even include the slew of greatest hits albums, live albums, and compilation albums released after he died.

By the early 2000s, the constant deluge of new Tupac songs began to strike many people as strange. Was he still alive? Maybe! In 2006, Dave Chapelle released 

 that poked fun at this idea. He and a group of clubgoers can be seen dancing to a new Tupac song, which has reference after reference to events that happened well after he died. The crowd is mesmerized — and perplexed — by the song's eerily contemporary lyrics. The sketch was called "Tupac is still alive." 

While some of the Tupac songs released after he died were actually quite good, most were ones that the artist himself would have probably not released. In this humble Tupac fan's opinion, repeated themes and phrases in these songs became clichés. His flows were often very similar and got a little boring. By 2006, when Tupac's heirs released his final studio album, it felt like they were scraping the bottom of the barrel for a quick buck. 

Last year, the estate controversially partnered with the company Nixon to launch an entire line of watches inspired by the late rapper. "Through photos, writings, and, of course, his music, we visually designed Tupac's story through the medium of watches," said a Nixon spokesperson in a press release. 

, many of Tupac's fans were not pleased with this partnership.

At the heart of the battle over regulating AI-generated digital replicas of dead people is whether their estates should have powers to authorize usage. The idea is that such power will safeguard the artist's legacy and financially benefit their families. But Tupac's story reveals that this is by no means a foolproof solution. 

Tupac's sister, Sekyiwa Shakur, has alleged her brother's estate has been improperly managed by its executor, Tom Whalley. Whalley was appointed to that job by Afeni Shakur, Tupac's mother, in her will. She died in 2016. Tupac's sister, in 

 of embezzling money and requested an official audit of the estate. Whalley vigorously denies any wrongdoing. The lawsuit is still pending. 

While Tupac's story, likeness, and mortal music catalog would clearly continue to be a valuable commodity, by the 2010s, it started to feel like the finality of death had finally caught up with Tupac and stopped the flow of new musical performances. There's only so much someone can do when they've been dead for decades, right? 

Then, however, came 2012. That's when Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, performing live at Coachella, famously resurrected Tupac with a "hologram" for a performance. To a roaring crowd, Tupac, artificially generated using CGI and projected onto the stage, rose up from out of the ground like a ghost. Ghost Tupac began by performing his bone-chilling posthumously released song, "Hail Mary." The crowd loved every second of it.

Funny enough, even Drake's archenemy Kendrick Lamar reanimated Tupac for his own artistic purposes. The last track on Kendrick's 2015 album "To Pimp A Butterfly" is a song titled "Mortal Man." The song ends with Kendrick interviewing Tupac. Kendrick 

 from a rarely heard Q&A that Tupac did back in 1994 with a Swedish radio show. But, unlike Drake, Kendrick got 

Is It Legal To Use AI Tupac In Your Song?

With the explosion of AI, Tupac — or at least a fake, digitally rendered version of him — is seeing another resurgence. It's not just Drake. YouTube is now filled with songs featuring AI Tupac. Some of these songs already have 

The question is whether any of this is even legal when the creators lack authorization from Tupac's estate. To get an answer to this, we spoke to Mark Bartholomew, a law professor at The University at Buffalo School of Law. He has a forthcoming law review article titled "

," which dives deep into the legal issues posed by AI necromancy. 

Currently, there are few or no federal laws that explicitly prohibit people from using AI to generate and distribute replicas of you without your consent. Instead, Bartholomew says, there's a confusing patchwork of laws that vary state by state. Some states protect your visual likeness, but not your voice. Others protect you when you're living but not when you're dead. Tennessee, the epicenter of country music, recently became 

 protecting musicians from unauthorized AI replicas, safeguarding an artist's likeness and voice, both when they're living and dead. 

How do we know which state's laws govern? Bartholomew points to a famous case involving the unauthorized use of Marilyn Monroe's persona. The late actress's estate 

 that Monroe, at the time of her death, was domiciled in California, which hands generous rights to artists to control commercial use of their personas, including after they're dead. Because of her California ties, Monroe's estate argued, they had rights to authorize — and profit from — the use of her image. However, using evidence 

 and past arguments by Monroe's own estate, the court ruled that Monroe's main home was actually in New York, where these rights were not granted posthumously (

. (For more on the economic and legal issues posed by commercial use of dead celebrities, listen to this 2015 

Even though he was born in New York, Tupac famously declared California as his home during the latter years of his life. After all, one of his biggest hits is "California Love." And so Bartholomew says it's pretty clear that Drake violated the law when he published a song featuring synthetic Tupac. "Because the rights holders [Tupac's estate] are in California and California has a pretty vigorous right to your identity in various forms that extends years after death," Bartholomew says. "If we were talking about a celebrity who is from a different state, we'd have a different analysis."

Bartholomew suggests that Tupac's estate may also have a case under federal copyright law if Drake and his team fed copyrighted Tupac material into AI software to generate his synthetic voice. However, he says, the facts of the case are uncertain and the law is still murky in this area. 

Which brings us back to that U.S. Senate hearing in late April, where Senator Tillis played that Drake song featuring AI Tupac. Tillis, 

together with Senators Coons, Blackburn, and Klobuchar

, is a co-sponsor of draft legislation known as "The No Fakes Act."

 a federal "digital replication right" to Americans, giving us the power to authorize the use of our image, voice, or visual likeness in a digital replica. It would hold those — like, say, a rapper named Drake — liable if they use a digital replica of someone without authorization.

This digital replication right is currently modeled after existing copyright law, so it includes "fair use" exceptions for free speech and grants this digital replication right not only to a living individual, 

 "the executors, heirs, assigns, or devisees of the applicable individual for a period of 70 years after the death of the individual."

At the hearing, there was a lot of debate over this 70-year postmortem provision. A representative of the Motion Picture Industry, Ben Sheffner, argued that it made sense to grant a digital replication right to living performers because an AI fake of them "impacts their ability to earn a living." However, he said, after a performer dies, "that job preservation justification goes away." The movie industry obviously has an interest in being able to use AI or CGI versions of dead actors freely. In fact, this was 

 that actors had when they went on strike last year. Many performers fear they will lose jobs if studios can freely reanimate and use dead actors, or generate new synthetic actors, on the cheap.

Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, a representative of the SAG-AFTRA union, which represents actors (and, full disclosure, reporters at NPR like me), expressed shock at the idea that a performer's designated heirs would not get control over their digital replicas after they died. "This is about a person's legacy," Crabtree-Ireland said. "This is about a person's right to give this to their family and let their family take advantage of the economic benefits they worked their whole life to achieve." Crabtree-Ireland argued there "shouldn't be a 70-year limitation at all. This right should be perpetual."

We asked Bartholomew, the expert on law and technology, for his perspective on the 70-year postmortem provision. He thinks we need to strike a balance between the interests of artists and their families to control and profit from their legacies on the one hand, and, on the other hand, the interests of creators and the general public to have free expression, including the freedom to use AI and reanimate celebrities for that expression in commercial works.

"We really don't want people exercising dead hand control over what people can do with their likenesses or their voices 70 years after they die," Bartholomew argues. As is the case with lengthy copyrights, he argues. handing what essentially amounts to a monopoly over a dead artist or celebrity's digital doppelgänger for such a long period of time is not in the public interest. He stresses that oftentimes the estates of dead celebrities aren't even held by their families. The rights are often sold off to big companies, which have a greater interest in making money than safeguarding the legacy and reputations of the dead artist or giving up-and-coming creators the chance to make new art using the artist's voice or likeness.

Bartholomew argues a more sensible regulation would strike some sort of middle ground, and give the heirs of dead artists around 20 years to control their digital replicas. That rule, by the way, would have granted Drake the freedom to use AI Tupac in his song without the need for authorization (Tupac has been dead for almost 30 years). The existing draft legislation would not.

While it's unclear where all this heading, it is clear that, thanks to AI, we've entered a strange new world where age-old concepts like "rest in peace" are being upended.

Did you enjoy this newsletter segment? Well, it looks even better in your inbox! You can

Greg Rosalsky

AI can conjure the voice or likeness of a dead celebrity with just a few clicks. This opens a host of legal questions about the rights of the deceased and their heirs to control their digital replicas


Steve Eichner/Getty Images

Raymond Boyd/Getty Images

Prince Williams/Getty Images

Christopher Polk/Getty Images

Bettmann/Getty Images

It was a classic rap beef. Then Drake revived Tupac with AI and Congress got involved

s clock. Nicki Minaj's Barbie pendant. Slick Rick's crown and eyepatch. These are famous symbols of hip-hop. But perhaps the most iconic piece of them all is Ghostface Killah's eagle cuff.

The gold bracelet weighs 5 pounds and features an eagle, wings outstretched, landing on the cuff. And it's on view right now at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. 

"I was a really big fan of Wu-Tang," said Kevin "Coach K" Lee, guest curator for the show "

Ice Cold: An Exhibition of Hip-Hop Jewelry

" and co-founder and chief operating officer of Quality Control Records. "So I remember when [Ghostface] got that piece and showed it  —  and to see that in person today? It just blew me away."

But the early hip-hop artists didn't start out with giant gold eagles, diamond-encrusted nameplates or Rolexes.

Instead, said music journalist and exhibition guest curator 

, they shopped at small community jewelry stores, usually owned by immigrants. "There weren't many diamonds, just, you know, a gold cap for your tooth, a simple nameplate, just to show success." 

From there, it went to Run-DMC's thick gold ropes, pendants like the NAS QB pendant, representing the Queensbridge houses, and the diamond-studded Roc-A-Fella medallion for the record label co-founded by Jay-Z; and eventually onto playful items like A$AP Rocky's jewel-encrusted Lego figure, with fully operational arms and legs.

"Hip-hop jewelry grew up along with the music and the culture," Tobak said. 

As hip-hop became more mainstream and the artists became wealthier, the jewelry became more expensive and elaborate.  

With so many spectacularly shiny objects, it might be easy to miss a more humble one nestled in a case: a rectangular ring with the letter "R" in the center.

It's a Juice Crew ring, loaned by Roxanne Shanté, a radio host and a pioneer of battle rap — her breakout song "Roxanne's Revenge" was recorded when she was 14 and living in Queensbridge.

"Back in the day, a person who had juice had respect and had control over their neighborhood and situations," Shanté said. "So if you saw someone with the Juice Crew ring, then you knew that was a person that you can trust. You knew that was a person you could go to with your problems. So you had to earn it. The Juice ring could never be bought. It had to be given to you."

She said people earned that ring by doing things like helping send a kid to camp or mediating a dispute.

To her, it's a symbol that hip-hop is a family.

Other pieces in the show have African iconography, like a leather pendant worn by a member of De La Soul. Curator Tobak said the exhibition purposefully connects these pieces to other anthropology sections in the museum because the story of hip-hop and jewelry is intrinsically connected to the African diaspora.


"What we choose to put on our body is such a human thing that hip-hop has just taken to the nth degree. And I think that is the bigger, like powerful story here," she said.


Jennifer Vanasco

The extravagant jewelry worn by hip-hop artists has meaning beyond the shiny surfaces.


Listen to the Story

A man wearing bespoke jewelry and a tracksuit sings onstage

Rich Fury/Getty Images

Atsuko Tanaka/American Museum of Natural History

Janette Beckman /Courtesy of Fahey/Klein Gallery

Alvaro Keding/© AMNH

Ghostface talks about his 4LB Eagle Bracelet. #shorts

The history of hip-hop, told through bling

All of the tracks added to rotation on Carbon Sound the week of May 6, 2024.


New Music on Carbon Sound - Week of May 6, 2024

Every 1st of the month, we’re creating an all-encompassing roundup of tracks, projects, and music videos that were released by Minnesota artists from that previous month. 

If we missed something Minnesota made that dropped in April, DM us on 

Keep all these tracks in one place with “Carbon Sound’s 1st of the Month” Spotify playlist. Expect an updated 1st of the Month Playlist on……every 1st of the Month.  Mark your calendars accordingly.

Minneapolis artist Marz Love has been consistently releasing music since 2023, including an EP called “Mind on Marz”. Marz was also featured in “CITY TKOVR VOL 9: Birds of Prey - A Female Music Showcase” last year at 7th Street Entry. Her latest single “Prescription (Self Care)” is a sultry R&B track, and a good reminder to let go of unhealthy relationships. - Natalia Toledo

Mujah Messiah, Dub Sonata, Tragedy Khadafi - 

You may know him for playing in bands like room3, iLLism, Brainw0rm, and more, but get ready to know RATWHYLAH for being center stage in front of the mic as well. The Prolific Twin Cities drummer has dropped his first single with a debut album in the works. In a recent 

, RAWTWHYLAH says he’s like a kid in a candy store while playing drums, and if you’ve ever seen him play live, you know 

what he’s talking about. That same passion and emotion he plays with live shows itself on the ear-catching high energy groove that is “Fourtwentyayem” — a perfect embodiment of RAWTWHYLAH fusing his vast array of musical inspirations to create something entirely his own. - John Kueppers

GARBAGE CO., Bon4Fide, meda, killbeverly, Suite - 

Metasota is always consistent, we know exactly what we are gonna get from him and it’s fire everytime. Real hip hop through and through, this freestyle was such a treat. - Maria Gonzalez-Grimes

Characteristically clever & just in time for the summer, Essjay just dropped another instant classic with ease. - Cat Grimm

Deja Miquel | GALILEO | UNDER THE MIC SESSIONS

SaySumm "How You Come" Shot By Bucksproductions

Tailor Briann - Really Want It (Official Video)

EssJay TheAfrocentricRatchet | Bugz Bunny | UNDER THE MIC SESSIONS

Muja & Dub Sonata - Redbone Blues ft. Slug (of Atmosphere)

SHAKE DOWN - TRIPPING ( OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO )

Araeja- Lovin Me "Sexual Healing" (Official Music Video)

Kelese - “On The Way” | Live Performance (FTA)

Treyson Green | NIZZY | UNDER THE MIC SESSIONS

Author

Maria Gonzalez-Grimes

Cat Grimm

Highlighting Minnesota made tracks, projects, and music videos released over the month of April, 2024.


Graphic for Carbon Sound's 1st of the Month Playlist

SONGS TO LIVE BY

ME 2

Back then-Big Ty

Broderick Williams - TNT

Gency Lynch - Spirit (Official Video)

Qmoe - 600 Seconds (Official Music Video)

Minnesota Music Releases to check out from April 2024

DJ Etta made a special stop by the studio after her set for Unbothered at Red Sea in Minneapolis. Hypnotic and inventive deep house grooves characterize her mix, guiding you into the experience. Hailing from Detroit, DJ Etta is part of the Blueprint collective that hosts events throughout the Midwest. DJ Etta will also be performing at this year's Movement Festival.

DJ Etta made a special stop by the studio after her set for Unbothered at Red Sea in Minneapolis. Hailing from Detroit, DJ Etta is part of the Blueprint collective that hosts events throughout the Midwest. DJ Etta will also be performing at this year's Movement Festival.

DJ Etta (5/1/24)

 just reminded us there's no substitute for real emotion in rap beef.

This morning, the LA rapper released his response in the ongoing feud between himself and 

, by dropping a six-minute diatribe aimed at Drizzy as a rap artist and, more importantly, as an assassination of his character on a human level. 

" not only references Drake's involvement with the MAX hit drama of the same name but also expresses the level of elation Lamar likely feels in finally getting these things off his chest. Lamar's song is the latest plot point in the timeline of hostility between the two rap titans considered to be part of hip-hop millennial Mount Rushmore. This is a timeline that 

 and was recently reignited in the beginning of 2024 with a storm of messy diss tracks — both authentic and artificial. 

On the first verse, Lamar uses a calm, cool yet sinister delivery: "Know you a master manipulator, and habitual liar, too / But don't tell no lie 'bout me, and I won't tell truths 'bout you." 

But pretty quickly, his rhymes erupt into tunnel-visioned, blood-boiling disgust on the deepest level. Lamar accuses Drake of being an inadequate father to his son, mocks his Toronto slang, jeers at his rumored plastic surgery, alludes to him being a snitch, calls back to past beefs Drake has remained mum about and even comes for Drake's whole identity, questioning his Blackness. These lyrical shots, while definitely disrespectful, really are not anything too explosive. In fact, these are accusations rap fans have heard before about Drizzy via disses by 

. But at 3:10, K.Dot breaks his usual poetic form to list out every detail about the streaming-era star he just simply cannot stand: 

Deployed in rapid succession, this caliber of a callout is so visceral and real that it's exactly what's been missing in this rap beef. To rap fandoms and music critics alike, so much of this high-profile hip-hop clash has just felt off

Synthetic, gummy, uninspired. In the age of artificial 

, even the war of words between Kendrick Lamar, 

 and Drake (plus a few others along the way) has been marked by its detachment from the whole artistic premise of a rap beef — to show off your skills, up the ante and embarrass your opp into submission.

It's been a month (March 26) since Lamar threw the first stone in the long-brewing beef with his sub on the 

": "Motherf*** the big three, n****, it's just big me." 

" on April 5 in response to "Like That," Cole rescinded his diss and announced publicly that he was bowing out of the beef completely while onstage at his label's annual Dreamville Fest because, point blank, Cole's heart wasn't in it.

On April 19, Drake finally unleashed his official response to Lamar with "

," coming at Lamar's past pop-leaning features, his "pip-squeak" stature, mocking TDE's tour sales and even name-checking "Like That" producer Metro Boomin in the process. But the way "Push Ups" was rolled out created a new frontier of Internet Age confusion among rap fans. When it first dropped, some assumed the low quality, online leak was an AI-generated facade and not Drake himself. The legitimacy of "Push Ups" was confirmed by live streamer DJ Akademiks and eventually hit DSPs, but this disorientation created an added layer of Internet chatter, one Drake could capitalize on.  Proving he was taking cues from social media timelines, Drake doubled down on his response to Lamar with another track, "Taylor Made Freestyle" just a few days later. Only this time, he started off the song with AI-generated verses from the late 

The attempt to irk Lamar with manipulated voices of two West Coast legends was a uniquely 2024-type of move, but ultimately, it undercut any potency of the song. The Shakur estate issued a cease and desist to the Toronto rapper for "

unauthorized use of Tupac's voice and personality

" and the track was promptly taken down from social media. 


Firing back with a track that's as savage and emotional as "Euphoria" on a random Tuesday morning via YouTube is considered an old-school energy in today's era of infinite distribution avenues and a conversation-driving chess move that leads back to one source. This record drips with levels of seething, petty hatred for Drake that's clearly been on K.Dot's heart for years. At its core, "Euphoria" is fueled with begrudged, tired, emotional baggage from K.Dot that's only gotten heavier with time and can't be mimicked or manufactured. It's free of gimmicks, media personalities, gatekeeping or ChatGPT. This beef is over or it's just getting started. For real this time.


Sidney Madden

In their ongoing feud, Lamar skips AI for real emotion. "Euphoria" is so visceral and real that it's exactly what's been missing in this rap beef. 


Stories

New Music on Carbon Sound - Week of May 20, 2024

Kendrick vs. Drake - WWYD? MN Battle Rappers Answer

Interview: Diane on The Message

Get the Carbon Sound app

DJ JEN-E (5/15/24)

It was a classic rap beef. Then Drake revived Tupac with AI and Congress got involved

The history of hip-hop, told through bling

New Music on Carbon Sound - Week of May 6, 2024

Connect with Carbon Sound

Minnesota Music Releases to check out from April 2024

DJ Etta (5/1/24)

Kendrick Lamar is Drake's biggest hater — and proud of it

See more stories →