Yesterday, Florida rapper Kodak Black posted an image on Instagram comparing his own lyrical content to Jay-Z’s.
On one side of the post is Jay’s picture with lyrics from his 1998 song “Money, Cash, Hoes” with the chorus of said song (which just repeats the song title over and over again).
These lyrics are then compared to Kodak’s own bars from his song “Can I” on last year’s Lil Big Pac. The lyrics read:
“Can I ball? Can I chill?
Can I stunt?
Will I live long enough to raise my son?
Made something out of nothin’
Ain’t nothin’ where I’m from
Can your boy do something productive for once?
And once a nigga make it, they gon’ wanna take it
Money don’t change ya, but it do drive ya crazy”
Kodak posted the caption “Real Shit B Goin On .. None Of Dat Hopscotch Shit” under the picture.
I’m not gonna lie, when I first heard “Can I” I was wildly impressed with Kodak’s lyrics as he talks about the allure of the streets, the price of fame, and trying to raise his son.
But while Kodak probably didn’t actually make this meme, going after Jay-Z for his lyrical content just comes off goofy as hell. Kodak is correct that the song “Money, Cash, Hoes” is not exactly the holy grail of songwriting achievement, but Jay has been out here putting on for his community for decades.
Jay-Z’s 4:44 is about as socially conscious of an album that came out this year, you can come at Jay or a lot of things, but to say he’s not “real” is just ridiculous.
It’s also weird to see Kodak targeting Jay specifically, it’s not like Hov has been Joe Buddening around hating on young rappers for “mumble rap” or whatever.
The wars between the hip-hop generations keeps on going. I pray for peace within the hip-hop community; let’s show some damn respect for the elders who paved the way and stop hating on the youngins out here shifting the culture.
Can’t we all get along?