Kendrick Lamar once again stunned everyone this year with another out-of-the-blue track. “The Day The Party Died” saw the Compton marksman take aim at a lot of people across the hip-hop industry, particularly Drake and DJ Akademiks. It was essentially a commentary on the current state of the genre and that he’s wanting to change it for the better. Presumably, one of those steps was exposing artists like Drizzy for not making substantial music. However, he was wrestling with how to exactly go about this as he says in his third verse. “Sometimes I wonder what Lecrae would do / F*** these n****s up or show ’em just what prayer do? / I want to be empathetic, my heart like Dee-1“.
It’s safe to say he chose the former, but Lecrae and Dee-1 were both appreciative of the shout out, nonetheless. Recently, the former responded to the name drop with “Die For The Party”. His track similarly touches on those themes about the landscape of rap. Now, as of yesterday, the Louisiana native, Dee-1, has done the same with “Call It Like It Is”. While K. Dot and Lecrae’s shots were more subtle, Dee takes a more up front approach. Joe Budden catches one to the dome in clever fashion, and he also addresses the noise around him supporting Lamar over Lil Wayne for the Super Bowl by shouting out the fellow NOLA icon. “And we gon’ be alright, that’s what Kendrick Lamar said / And in the words of Lil Wayne, the sky is the limit, yeah“. Like the others, Dee brings a lot of passion and it’s worth a listen.
I don’t care if they sold millions, are you hearin’ their message? Poisonin’ our whole community, everybody hypnotized Why you think nobody respect black people? No big surprise (Call it like it is) and I love New Orleans, my city But I love God way more, I don’t care if none of y’all with me We celebrate bein’ stupid and everybody so gangster
Hip-hop has been in a frenzy this week ever since Jay-Z and Roc Nation announced Kendrick Lamar as the Super Bowl Halftime show headliner in New Orleans next year – a slot that many suspected would’ve been handed to Lil Wayne. Weezy, an unequivocal legend, has been the flagbearer for NOLA for the entirety of his career. However, he hasn’t had the same motion as Kendrick Lamar in the past few months in terms of mainstream attention. On the heels of defeating Drake in their back-and-forth, Dot confirmed that he would be headlining the Super Bowl in an announcement video that seemingly stepped on the idea of a second round, something that Drake has hinted at since early August, at least. However, even though the Pop Out was deemed a victory lap, Kendrick’s mission statement appears to be much larger than simply toppling one of the most commercially successful artists of all time.
On Wednesday night, Kendrick Lamar surprised the masses by releasing his new untitled single on Instagram, tentatively titled “Watch The Party Die.” It’s a 180 from “Not Like Us,” the upbeat West Coast anthem carried throughout the summer. This one is much more somber in tone with its drumless soul sample and deadpan delivery, where Kendrick addresses the culture, similar to other installments in the “The Heart” series. He seemingly steps on Drake’s grave one last time, shuts down the media and influencers whose bias is reflected in their reporting and agenda, and expresses not just disdain but a vitriolic hatred towards the hip-hop industry as a whole. In some senses, he’s envisioning what hip-hop and humanity look like after a destroy-and-rebuild process. Clearly, there are others in hip-hop who he acknowledges as those who could similarly help lead this movement, specifically LeCrae and Dee-1.
Released on September 11 when the VMAs began, Kendrick Lamar’s latest single marked his first song since dropping “Not Like Us” earlier this year. The record finds Kendrick reflecting on the feud (“This shit done got too wicked to apologize/ It’s different, get him whacked and disqualified” and “Just walked that man down, that’ll do everyone a solid.”) He also reflects on the state of the media, targeting unnamed individuals that people believe to be Akademiks, Gillie Da Kid, Cam’ron and Gillie (“Influencers talked down ’cause I’m not with the basic shit/ But they don’t hate me, they hate the man that I represent/ The type of man that never dickride ’cause I want a favor” and “I think it’s time to watch the party die/ Street niggas and the corporate guys, the rappers that report the lies/ I need they families mortified.”)
The song tackles the music industry at large, retreading and expanding on concepts mentioned in songs like “Euphoria” and “Not Like Us” (“It’s time to get these devils out the way, heavy metals on my sword… Say hello to your future fate, the culture bred with carnivores” and “They wonder why I’m not enthused to drop/ The more visible you get, the more your spiritual is tried”). Considering that “Euphoria” marked the first release post-TDE from Kendrick Lamar where he explicitly states, “F*ck the industry,” “Watch The Party Die” is less of a nail-in-the-coffin of his feud with Drake and more of a new beginning to this new chapter in his career, one that appears rooted in his frustrations with the exploitation and commodification of the culture.
“I Wonder What Lecrae Would Do?“
The song’s third verse contains two shout-outs to Lecrae, a Christian rapper who often doesn’t get his flowers due to the content of his music. “I wonder what LeCrae would do? F*ck these n***as up or show ‘em just what prayer do?” Kendrick asks at the top of the verse, repeating the first part towards the end of the verse. This particular shout-out isn’t a coincidence in this chapter of Kendrick’s career, especially considering the lyrical themes on Dot’s new single.
In a 2023 interview, Lecrae revealed that his relationship with Kendrick dates back to The Kendrick Lamar EP. On the project, the rapper has a song titled “The Faith,” where he opens up about his issues with his belief in God. Kendrick Lamar was hardly a name back then, but when Lecrae heard the song, he reached out.
“I had more Twitter followers than him at the time, so I DM’d him, and I was like, ‘Bro, I heard this song. What are you wrestling with?’ I said, ‘Cause maybe I can send you some stuff,’” LeCrae recounted on the YTH Nation Podcast. Kendrick explained that he had several questions about his faith. “And we started going back and forth, and we just developed a relationship. From there, it just became a dope relationship where I never wanted to abuse it or be like ‘Yeah, let’s do music together’ but it was more like, let’s be friends.’”
Even more interesting about this podcast segment is that Lecrae said he turned down a feature from Kendrick before. “He actually asked to do music with me first and I was like, ‘Nah, let’s chill because I don’t want you to ever feel like I’m only in this for what you have going on,’” he said.
A more minor component to consider in Kendrick’s shout-out is how Lecrae framed the Compton native’s place in the culture compared to Drake. In an interview clip from Mr. Jay Hill Network that has circulated recently, Lecrae explained, “Ghostwriters aside, [Drake]’s a great rapper…but Drake is a fan of the culture. Kendrick is a product of the culture. It’s a difference.”
“I Wanna Be Empathetic, My Heart Like Dee-1”
Similar to Lecrae, Dee-1’s Christian values have often been at the fore of his artistic output. The New Orleans-based rapper, interestingly enough, gained fame with the release of his single, “Jay, 50, and Weezy,” a song calling out three of the biggest rappers of the time for the messages they put out in his music. Ultimately, the song led to a deal with RCA Inspiration.
While the Super Bowl announcement has turned into a nonsensical Kendrick vs. Lil Wayne debate, it’s important to note that Dee-1’s had his issues with Cash Money and Weezy in the past. A project he was supposed to be put out titled Separated At Birth was heavily inspired by Lil Wayne and Cash Money but the NOLA-based label blocked it from dropping, as explained on Sway’s Universe.
His issues with the music industry made headlines earlier this year after criticizing rappers like Rick Ross, Meek Mill, and Jim Jones for the content in their music. Urging each of them to “do better,” he took particular issue with the content in Meek and Ross’s Too Good To Be True project. Dee-1 suggested that it was hypocritical of Meek to rap about murder and violence while simultaneously being a the face of prison reform. “But this man glorifying getting people killed as of a week ago!’ Like, what are you doing, bro? Lil’ Snoop really got killed, that broke your heart. You wear him around your neck,” he said. “Why are you glorifying the same thing? The rap game, the hip-hop industry is great at cooking up some delicious poison. I don’t call you out because I got a problem with you, man.”
Ultimately, it turned into a back-and-forth between himself and the aforementioned artists including vague alleged threats from the Dipset member. Still, Dee-1 made it clear that he never had any personal issues with any of the parties he called out. That became especially clear when he refused to make light of Rick Ross’s altercation in Canada and praised Meek for his unfiltered take on the reality of the streets when he wrote, “Being gangsta will get you hurt put in jail or killed… Being smart will get you out of poverty and your family and friends living better.”
The brief shout-out captured hip-hop fans attention, especially as an anticipation for a new wave of Christian rap makes a path for itself. Both LeCrae and Dee-1 kept their responses brief at first. The former wrote, “Love you Dot….Always here,” along with a prayer hand emoji. Dee-1 offered a more extensive response over the past few days since the song was released.
“i appreciate the shoutout brother. @kendricklamar More than you’ll ever know. A shift is happening. The time is now!” Dee-1 wrote on Twitter after the song was released. However, he went on to address some of the backlash he faced over siding with Kendrick over Wayne in the Super Bowl debacle, particularly because he’s a New Orleans native. But in an interview with TMZ, Dee-1 recalled a conversation he was having at the time the song dropped. “I’m not afraid to go against the whole culture. I love New Orleans, but I love God more than I love New Orleans. What I stand on has nothing to do with loyalty to my city, loyalty to the hip-hop industry. All this stuff is fickle, and it comes underneath my loyalty to my creator.”
i appreciate the shoutout brother. @kendricklamar More than you’ll ever know.
If you’ve followed Kendrick’s career, these flashes of his spirituality have been scattered across his discography. good kid, m.A.A.d city opens up with his childhood friends reciting a prayer and repenting for their sins, and comes first circle by the end of “Sing About Me/Dying Of Thirst” when a woman (voiced by Maya Angelou, per BET) helps lead “Sinner’s Prayer.” The religious allusions and imagery continued throughout projects like To Pimp A Butterfly, DAMN., and Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers. However, Kendrick appears to be more outward with his faith and using it as a guide to spark change. So when Kendrick rapped, “I wanna be empathetic, my like Dee-1 but I will–,” it demonstrates the Pulitzer Prize winner’s quandary: gear up for another aggression or use spirituality and faith to rise above the conflict for a bigger purpose.
This debate between Kendrick Lamar and Lil Wayne for who deserved Super Bowl honors is starting to get a little too serious. We say that because New Orleans, Louisiana native Dee-1 is getting a lot of hate for his support of the former. As you are all aware by now, the city has been extremely upset with their hometown hero not receiving the honors. Obviously, no one likes seeing Weezy upset as he was in his first public address since the announcement. But some people are taking their anger too far to where they want to ban and warn residents of NOLA like Dee-1 to never come back home.
That’s just some of the backlash the Christian rapper has been receiving, according to HipHopDX. Dee-1 shared a compilation accompanied by a voice-over detailing what he’s been dealing with since showing K-Dot love. “This is why you should never love your city more than you love God. So, Kendrick Lamar shouted me out in his new song and honestly, it’s been life-changing already in the past 24 hours. That’s the elevation. At the same time comes the condemnation”, he begins.
“So now they got people – because they mad at my opinion at who should perform at the Super Bowl – so now they making diss tracks about me. They got people saying I’m canceled from the city. They got people saying I better not come back to the city. People I’m cool with making videos mad at what I’m standing on, when it’s the same thing I been standing on since y’all met me”. However, even though Dee-1 is being bombarded, he’s not going to let that change him. “Thankfully, I’m just gon’ keep being me, keep serving God. That’s what got me here. And Imma just be thankful for every part that comes along with this journey, no matter what it entails”.
What are your thoughts on Dee-1 getting all of this backlash for supporting Kendrick Lamar during the Super Bowl debate? Who was more valid, Dee-1 or the city of New Orleans? Do you think people are blowing this out of proportion overall? We would like to hear what you have to say, so leave your thoughts in the comments. Additionally, always keep it locked in with HNHH for all of the latest news surrounding Dee-1, Kendrick Lamar, and the Super Bowl. Finally, stay with us for everything else going on in the music world.
Fresh off his insightful appearance on The Breakfast Club and the impactful Lines Drawn project with Billboard, NOLA native Dee-1 is back with another thought-provoking release. This time, he collaborates with soul singer/songwriter Raheem DeVaughn on the compelling track “Purify My Eyes.”
Produced by Anonymous, the timely song carries Dee-1’s signature counter-culture messaging, urging listeners to cleanse their minds of corruption and cynicism. Instead, “Purify My Eyes” encourages embracing life-affirming content to reprogram thought patterns for the better.
“This is easily one the most important songs I have ever done because it provides Hip-Hop with a solution-based perspective meant to combat some of the problems we face as a culture,” Says Dee-1. “It’s honest, raw, and transparent. I’ve been friends with Raheem Devaughn for a long time, so to finally collaborate on a song feels great. When I played the record for him, he fell in love with it and instantly added his parts; which took the song to another level.”
With Dee-1’s knack for delivering meaningful messages through music and DeVaughn’s soulful vocals, this collaboration promises to resonate deeply with audiences. “Purify My Eyes” reminds us of the power of positive influences in shaping our perceptions and inspiring personal growth.
Emmy-nominated educator turned entertainer Dee-1 is addressing critics and fans by releasing the official music video for his single “Lines Drawn.” Produced by Danny Beats, the track gained attention following Dee-1’s viral interview on Sway In The Morning, where he delved into industry hypocrisy.
Filmed by Jalen Hill, a student enrolled in Dee-1’s The Intersection of Hip Hop and Social Change course at Tufts University, the video responds to unfavorable headlines circulating online. “Lines Drawn” is the first release from Dee-1’s upcoming LP, From The Hood To Harvard, following his previously dropped album UNO. The track offers a timely and thought-provoking perspective as Dee-1 navigates through the complexities of the music industry’s contradictions.
“I did this song as a response to the industry being so shaken by me drawing a line in the sand and saying that we need some accountability for the messages we’re glorifying inside Hip-Hop. This is part one, there’s more on the way. A shift is happening from a genre and cultural perspective,” says Dee-1.
More than you’ll ever know. A shift is happening. The time is now!” Dee-1 wrote on Twitter after the song was released. However, he went on to address 
