Drake vs Kendrick

Kendrick winning the word battle. No doubt. Drake winning the beat battle. That’s what he’s great at. Now, let’s go into a deep dive.

Kendrick has been known for multiple meanings behind his bars. My mind can’t comprehend how his lyrics work. I truly envy his talent.

Drake on the other hand, has shallow lyrics. And I mean shallow. Kendrick was right when he said Drake ‘pacify em’, because Drake makes sure his lyrics are understood. To me I prefer that, but there’s something about reading the real meaning behind the words that makes me feel awe.

They say Drake has the replay value, I’m thinking its the other way around. Because to fully understand Kendrick’s lyrics, you have to replay it dozens of times to fully understand it. Now that to me is real replay value.

But I’m not discrediting Drake’s talent. He made some classics; Kendrick was wrong saying Drake doesn’t have any. But to Kendrick’s defense, the classics I like from Drake (and mind you, I’m a 29-year-old man stuck in the mid-2010’s) are from Views and earlier. The newer songs Drake released doesn’t appeal to me. They’re pop more than rap. The lyrics are shallow. The beat is mainstream. Everything about Drake is pop. Kendrick was right again when he said Drake acts tough and he hates it.

I do think Drake has that persona. He wants to be the best rapper alive. But he has to stick to his roots. Lil Wayne said it best, “keep it Canadian”.

There’s already a lot of East and West Coast legends. Why not stick to your roots and be the greatest in that category? Drake wants hip hop world domination that he forgets why he started. He forgets to pay homage to the people that paved way for their culture to rise.

Or is he?

Maybe Drake, with his sneak disses, reinvigorated the rap game. Kendrick took too long to release Mr. Morale, but now he’s releasing in literal minutes after Drake. Maybe this beef is a good thing, if it stays as words.

We all now what happened to Pac and Biggie. I wasnt born yet, but that beef is cemented in the hip hop hall of infamy. What was supposed to be word war turned into a gang war.

Man, I hope this beef doesnt turn into that.

Now, let’s talk Meet the Grahams.

Sinister beat. Sinister allegations. Sinister motive. He wasnt even talking to Drake. He was talking to his family.

Yes, I agree that MTG wasnt a direct response to Family Matters. It was prerecorded that’s why Kendrick wasn’t able to address all the jabs Drake threw in FM. But Kendrick obviously saw the angles Drake would take like he was Dr. Strange and released the proper track to outshine Drake’s release.

Not a genius move, but a clever one. Release a track to outshine the other.

I’m a Kendrick fan. So naturally I wouldn’t see the good in Drake’s verses. So I’ll try my best not to be bias.

Again, Drake is a shallow lyricist. I dont like his words and the lack of thinking it takes to decode his message. I do believe he has ghost writers. However, however. I cant deny that he is an icon.

He made me laugh with his insults to Kendrick. He entertained me. To me, with his arsenal of people, he is a dangerous man. With all his money, he can get any intel he could get. Thats scary. But, he lacks the talent and skills to maximize his resources.

Say its a battle between Eminem and Kendrick and Em had the resources Drake has. How deadly can Em be?

Drake doesnt have that. He doesnt strike me as someone who could kill someone with words the same way Em does.

I actually hate that he posts memes as a form of defense mechanism because for the 2nd time in his career, the skeletons in his closet are being revealed. He’s not ready yet.

Conclusion: Kendrick currently up against Drake by a safe margin.

Buds

Might be our last photo for a very very long time.

Friends since college, family for life.

I try to be disapppointed that some couldn’t come, nor try to make at least an excuse, but I just can’t. I know they are living their best lives right now, and that’s all I want for them. We might never be complete again, but that’s okay. As long as they’re okay.

For Keeps

Just a few more days until I leave again. Crazy how fast things change. Maybe the next time I come back, another cousin is in another city, or another country. Maybe two of them, or three. We might never be complete again, but they are always in my heart. I’m living a great life.

Everywhere by Fleetwood Mac

As I’m writing the prequel to my first ever published novel, I listen to some tunes on low volume. It helps me write and discover music that I’ve forgotten, and new music I haven’t heard before.

Tonight was one of those nights where I found another gem that I might listen to on repeat for months. Fleetwood Mac’s Everywhere.

You ever listen to a song and it just seem like everything feels like a wonderful dream. Everywhere is now one of those songs for me.

Everywhere – Fleetwood Mac

How to buy my eBook from Amazon US

eBooks can be purchased through Amazon and can be read from the Kindle App. It does take a little workaround to be able to purchase from Amazon as it strictly follows the address you listed.

To be able to purchase an eBook, make sure to change your address to a US address.

To do this, simply go to Content Library on your Account & Lists tab

Then, go to Preferences, and change Country/Region settings.

Here, you can type in the US address:

Make sure to fill up Address line 1: (I typed in “New York”)
City: (I also typed in “New York”)
State/Province/Region: (again, I typed in “New York”)
Zip: (I put “10001”)
and the Phone Number: (just put in your local number without the country code)

After completing these steps, you should be able to check out an eBook of your choosing (hopefully mine)

Williamsburg by Jd Delos Santos

Williamsburg – a novel by John Danielle Delos Santos

There it is, my first official novel. I’ve been writing since I was in high school, most of them left unfinished. I always loved writing, it helps my creative mind to put itself to work. With this one, my hands just couldn’t stop. I’m proud of it, and I really don’t care if no one reads it, or if thousands do. I just wanted to share this to the world.

Click the image to go to Amazon.com store page

summed up my sentiments

random guy on an insta post comment section

About to go back to a place miles away from home again. The thing that makes me sad isn’t the place, nor the people: its the feeling my soul feels when I’m at home. The care from my mom, the joy I feel whenever I see my sibs and my dad, the nostalgia of familiar places, the hot summer breeze that makes me sweat more than the usual, the stories of reminiscing with my cousins, the convenience of wanting to see old friends. I will miss it. I’ve only been here for 27 days now, but home already made me want to stay. But I can’t. I practically can’t.

I will see you soon, Olongapo.

time pass, places stay the same

It didn’t make sense taking this photo before because we were literally there every Saturday. But we did, and I have always loved seeing this. Brings out the child in me.
Now, its lonely. No one making fun of it for how narrow it is. It wasn’t even funny, we just made fun of something completely normal. It wasn’t even meant to be taken as a route towards the house’s backyard.
Not complete. Its missing Mark, Japs and myself. There are some old high school friends as well. I’m represented by my 2 brothers, which brings me great amount of joy even if I’m away.

One of my favorite photos. 3rd one is years after, and only days after Robert’s death. Its painful to see that time isn’t slowing down. Its difficult to accept that the past can never be relived as it was. I had, and still have, great friends, and I’m glad I had them in that stage of my life. It was simple, but I wouldn’t want to have it any other way.

I also very happy seeing my little brother and cousin with my close friends. I really tried to include them with my friends because like them, they are my brothers, separated only by blood.

Robert’s passing still makes me feel things I hate feeling. I’m sad that I wasn’t there to catch up with my friends. Depressed about thinking that we can never hang out the way we used to back when we had all the time in the world. And even if I never took that opportunity for granted, in fact, I made the most of it, I still feel like I never have done it enough.

Cherish every moment. And always think that it might be the last time you will be seeing someone, so tell them how much they mean to you. Never take things for granted. Never take people for granted. Always be nice. Always be forgiving. You never know what life has in store, and its really scary.

Robert

Its been a year. A lot has happened, especially the last few days. A very good friend of mine, Robert, just passed away. I’m one of the first few people to know about it and that tells me a lot about my relationship with him.

I made an episode on my podcast about it, hopefully to ease the grief I’m feeling. It helped. But I still find myself as sad as it first sinked into me that he was truly gone.

I made the mistake of revisiting some of our old photos and videos we made just for fun. God, I miss that man so much. I keep regretting not telling him I love him. If I knew this would happen, I would go out of my own way to visit him when I had the time when I went home, even if it means risking my health due to the pandemic. But I didnt. I stayed home, not because I didnt want to see him, but because he decided he didnt want to. And I understand that completely. It was the middle of the pandemic when vaccines were still just being developed. He probably wanted what’s best for his family. It was the best thing to do back then. I just regret not being selfish enough to insists on seeing him. He was just a few blocks away from my home. Literally just a few blocks.

5 stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. I’m in the middle.

I feel awful. I slept all day. I dont have the energy to go to work tomorrow. I’m sad. I miss him already.

But I know what I’m doing now is good, which is catharsis, because I’m just feeling it all now, hopefully get tired of the negative feeling, allowing me to move on from it. Its probably the hardest stage.

I love you, Bert. I really hope you felt that. I might have taken some things for granted, but I always valued you as a friend who made sure you were always there for us, the Mokongs. I appreciate everything you did, from allowing us into your home, to going the lengths just to make us happy and feel that we are your brothers. You were the best friend I could ever wish for, and I’m mad that it takes your passing to make me realize that.

I’ll come see your family, bro. Its the best way to still be with you physically.

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