S. Samuel
Wu-Tang Clan's Raekwon has weighed-in on Kendrick Lamar's now-infamous "King of New York" proclamation on Big Sean's "Control" track and why there can be only one.
Although impressed by Lamar’s confidence, Rae said the only one who could wear the crown is the late Notorious B.I.G.
“All I’ma say is that n*ggas know he ain’t the ‘King of New York’,” Rae said in an interview. “The King of New York, to me, is in the ground and that’s B.I.G. That’s the n*gga that came from the bottom, for real, and really earned that position in the game to be called that. I think son, dude was rhyming, having fun. He was feeling his d*ck, however he was doing it. He was just expressing himself. I think you’re supposed to feel like that on wax.” (Itz Bizkit)
A few days ago, New York rap icon Nas refrained from speaking heavily when asked about Lamar’s “King of New York” claim.
“Wow,” Nas said when asked by radio personality Miss Info about Kendrick Lamar’s “King of New York” line. “My reaction is wow. I love hip-hop right now. … Certain fans like certain eras of rap, certain fans are not up on certain eras, so they don’t really remember all of them. Yeah, yeah, yeah, KRS-One, MC Shan and all the way to Busy Bee. This is what hip-hop is all about. You gotta ask him [about that line]. [Was I offended?] I’m a listener.” (Miss Info TV)
Over the weekend, Brooklyn’s Uncle Murda applauded K. Dot for speaking out but also questioned the true intentions with his “The Response” track.
“Everybody like, ‘You heard what that n*gga said?’ N*ggas getting offended/Everybody running to the studio, to try and make a diss record about Kendrick/Tell Kendrick I ain’t mad at him, this exactly what the game needed/Everybody wanna be homeboys/Rap’s competition, start competing/Calling n*ggas names out, Kendrick, I thank you/But saying you the king, n*ggas want me to spank you/I’m like, ‘Yeah, I heard what Kendrick said but lil’ homie ain’t a threat’/Maybe if Game or Snoop said it, then I’d be more upset/Jay not dead, Nas alive/You the king, come on Kendrick, how that sound? … How you gonna claim something that you not?/Oh, I get it, this n*gga wanna be 2Pac/Well I’m a West Coast Crip on a Blood block/Kicking it with Bloods talking about all the Bloods I shot/King of Oakland, why you ain’t say that?/’Cause them n*ggas that robbed 2 Chainz don’t play that/’D*mn Murda, I know you ain’t say that” (“The Response”)
Last week, New York rapper Maino said New York emcees have no one to blame but themselves for allowing K. Dot to feel confident enough to go for the NY title.
“It’s kind of good that it happened because I feel like here, we kind of did a lot of d*ck-sucking, a lot of c*ck-licking for a long time,” Maino explained. “We lost our culture, it’s no such thing as a New York sound anymore. Look at Kendrick Lamar’s perspective though. Here’s a guy from Cali, he comes here, he had the number one album in the country at one point, he comes here, he sells out Roseland Ballroom, he gets more spins on New York radio than New York artists. If I was doing it in LA, I’d be the King of LA too. So, from a competitive rap standpoint, I see where he was able to say that at.” (Street Heat TV)
Check out Raekwon’s interview:
