S. Samuel
Philadelphia rapper Cassidy has stepped up to address catching headlines after releasing a response freestyle to Big Sean and Kendrick Lamar's "Control" track.
Instead of being offended by K. Dot’s rhymes, Cass said he could only applaud the West Coast rapper for speaking out with hard-hitting bars.
“I knew the game was turning around anyways,” he said. “You see a lot of these artists that…see people get it confused. They might hear a certain artists on the radio or see a video and they might think they winning but when you look at record sales, the artist that’s not really being lyrical, they not winning, like, right at this present moment. And the artists that are trying to be more lyrical and come up with original ideas and go in their own lane, they selling more. And they winning more. So I seen that the climate was changing and that people was ready to hear lyrics and bars. But with Kendrick doing what he did, he gave them a bridge to walk over to feel comfortable with saying that they ready to hear bars, and Hip Hop is back, and they ready to take it back to people being more competitive ’cause that’s how the game started.” (HHDX)
He also noted how Lamar reminded rap heads hip-hop is about competition.
“So, I’m happy that he did that, you know, opened up the door for not just me or him, but a bunch of other rappers in the world to just start focusing again. Start focusing with coming up with crazy bars and being competitive and everybody not being so buddy-buddy, like everybody in one relationship and everybody all kissing and hugging. Nah! In this rap game, even if you are friends with someone you still supposed to be competitive. Like, Kendrick said, you are supposed to get on track with somebody and try to shine over them, try to have a better verse. You are always supposed to try to always do your thing, no matter what. That’s what I feel is lacking in the game right now. So, that’s the reason why I had to jump on the track and do what I did to let people know that I’m in the same lane.” (HHDX)
Cass shows off his own arsenal of bars with his new “Control” freestyle.
“You would think Big, Big Pun and Big L ghostwrite for me and I can box, you do not want to pick a fight with me,” Cass raps. “I’m not in the best shape that I would like to be/But I exercise everytime I lift my pipe to pee/I know you would like to see me battle whoever, that’s like getting Mayweather to go fight for free/That’s not happening, I would rather stop rapping/I flipped crack, now I spit crack, I ain’t stop trapping/I’d rather get my money upfront rather than the backend, I spit crazy, I’m Slim Shady with black skin/I got the battle and belt, the hardest battle I ever been in is when I battled myself — I got hyped when I heard that Kendrick Lamar rap/I’m in the booth with construction boots and a hard hat” (“Control” Freestyle)
Chicago’s Lupe Fiasco took a slightly different approach and shot some bars at Lamar’s head with a response track.
“Took two sips of the Holy Grail then I backed up and I turned around and I bent over & pittoo’d sh*t/I love Jay, that’s my n*gga. I feel sicker than a cruise ship/I ain’t competition? I dont’ move sh*t? The only opposition’s this new sh*t/These new n*ggas rapping like they two/They acting like they you, man … Now we all heard what he said, but what he said means we dead and that sh*t is insane/He’s so crazy, look at the little baby/N*gga you ain’t Nas, n*gga you ain’t Jay Z/You will respect me, you will reject me/But I’ve done so much, no matter how far you go, you will reflect me” (“SLR 2”)
Check out Cassidy’s “Control” freestyle:
