Tory Lanez unleashed the gauntlet this week with his challenge to every rapper in the game. Why it's refreshing to see rappers hate each other again.
If you said that you thought we'd open up this week with a diss track from Dream Doll that would be among the best diss tracks we heard so far this year, allow me to call you a liar right now.
We'll get to Dream Doll dropping the IG Honey's version of "Ether" later.
Tory Lanez is a confrontational person. The Toronto singer/rapper has stirred up trouble for years, whether it's from his dust up with fans, his tensions and reconciliation with the superstar from Canada that starred in Degrassi, or his penchant for telling other rappers to suck his Johnson (in a now deleted tweet, Tory Lanez invited Royce da 5'9" in his private section after Royce preferred another diss track over Tory's own). In recent weeks, Tory Lanez has been telling anyone who can hear him, that he is the best rapper alive and he will go bar for bar with anyone who feels differently. He challenged Pusha T and J. Cole, among others, to lyrical warfare. When he initially started all of this, the first rapper to take the bait was Joyner Lucas, who went toe-for-toe with Tory. I don't have a verdict for you because I ignored all those diss tracks, but general consensus is Lanez came out the victor.
Hyped from his first conquest, Tory continued to challenge more rappers and bragging on his Instagram Live. The next challenger that stepped up was Don Q, who hails from the Bronx and is part of the High Bridge label along with child hood friend and more popular crew member, A Boogie. He released "I'm Not Joyner," clearly suggesting he won't fall victim like Joyner Lucas did. While it may have been solid, the nearly five minute diss left a lot to be desired. Tory came right back with "Don Queen" and sent a crushing blow as a response. Again, solid but a lot to be desired. Certainly some noteworthy disrespectful lines such as, Tory mentioning a promise that Don Q made to a deceased friend about continuing to shine in his honor, was a lie because he would never pop. Yikes!
Just like that, we were off to the races! The game hadn't seen anything like this since Kendrick Lamar's Control verse, where names were mentioned, that such a raucous response came from the rest of the rap game. Here's a cliff note of what has happened since Tory Lanez has re-ignited these challenges.
-Don Q and Tory Lanez went track-for-track and argued on IG live (It's weird IG live is now one of our main methods of communication). These tracks culminated in Don Q's final diss track "This Is Your King"
-J.I.D. and the entire Dreamville responded on social media about Tory Lanez challenging them and J. Cole. This culminated in J.I.D. telling Tory Lanez this is bigger than rap and "all the floodgates are open" on IG Live with his shirt off (again, rappers love IG Live).
-Mysonne, took time off from being a hood activist, to drop his hat in the ring and dissed Tory Lanez with "If He Dies, He Dies"
-JR Writer (formally of Dip Set fame) came out of the blue to drop off his own diss track to Tory Lanez, called "Head Shot"
-The greatest female rapper alive, (yeah I said it) Dream Doll dropped the most scathing and best diss of all, "On Ya Head." What was the motive? Dream Doll retaliated because Tory Lanez mentioned her in his Don Q diss as someone he slept with the first night as a way to shame Don Q for trying to sleep with her and not being as successful. It wasn't in the most flattering sense. Highlights on Dream Doll's response includes, her alleging that Tory tried to "suck her feet through her socks" (ewwwwww), Tory leaving Beging residue on her legs after performing oral sex, and Tory looking to have a threesome with another man. (Tory Lanez is a wild boy smh).
What this all boils down to is the realization of several things. Rappers love the same women and chase the same women constantly (I mean seriously guys, there's more women than Dream Doll) and rappers really don't like each other. They find it difficult to give each other any sort of compliment and even when they do it's often with a hint of, "He's nice but I'm better." DJ Khaled created a false sense of unity in Hip-Hop. It's great rappers were willing to work together and create a sense of community, but it was always funny to watch men and women that clearly don't like each other trying to convince their fans that they do. The slightest overture or suggestion of dislike will have them right at each other's throats. Tory Lanez brought us to a time where rappers can voice their dislike of each other and did not have to automatically be referred to as "haters." He brought us back to a time where you can diss each other and do not have to release mixtapes with DJ Kay Slay screaming all over it (shout outs to the mixtape era from the early 2000s).
So I'd like to take the time to thank Tory Lanez for having a Napoleon complex and being a confrontational guy. It's amazing I was able to say a sentence like, "Tory Lanez got bodied by Dream Doll" in 2019. I'm forever grateful.
Comments