It’s pretty safe to say that Kendrick Lamar has established himself as one of the most
notable rappers of this generation.
His rise as an artist has been ripe with thought-provoking tracks and powerful live performances, both
of which have uncanny ways of gripping public’s attention.
One of the most interesting instances of him falling into the spotlight and stirring up
controversy happened in August of 2013 when Big Sean released “Control,” a track where,
over the course of ten seconds, Kendrick calls out eleven other rappers, two of which appear
The reaction to this was massive, garnering responses from some of the rappers mentioned
and far more from ones who weren’t.
Of course, the majority of the noise surrounding this verse came from fans and critics—mostly
giving it high praises and in a lot of cases, deeming it as one of the most important verses
of the decade.
A lot of prominent voices shared the sentiment that Kendrick had just changed the course
of modern hip hop.
Obviously Kendrick is not the first person to ever namedrop, and he also is far from
being the first person to make this claim:
In fact, that line itself is a reference to a Kurupt lyric from a collaboration they did
together called “Get Bizy”:
“And when I said it, nobody said shit, but then when Kendrick said it, everyone wanted
to go against the boy.”
The potency of “Control” had very little to do with what was said or even how it was
said, but rather that Kendrick was the one to say it.
There’s this mythos that has developed around him, painting him as a sort of heroic link
between modern and old-school hip hop.
The story that Kendrick has been sold on is compelling: this kid from Compton, who kept
getting pushed around by his city, used music as a way out, and with some support and mentoring
from west coast legends like Snoop Dogg, The Game, and Dr. Dre, he pulled together his
experiences and expressed them with a fresh, yet familiar feeling record.
And although that simplified account of his early career certainly contains exaggerations
and inaccuracies, it is the narrative that people latched onto, and it has given him credibility.
Once Good Kid M.A.A.D City dropped, a lot of people saw Kendrick as
the future of hip-hop.
So when he seemingly criticized the state of it, they listened.
The verse isn’t as much of an insult as it is a challenge.
Although a lot of headlines spun it as a diss track, Kendrick’s statements of wanting
to raise the bar and be better than the rest weren’t meant to put anyone down, but rather
to question their motives.
There are so many concessions that artists are pushed into making by labels, and a lot
of times it comes at the cost of the music’s integrity, but Kendrick has proven that hits
can still have substance, so him saying this sort of thing comes from a place of knowledge.
This entire verse is about Kendrick not only leaving a mark on hip hop, but leaving a mark
that is uniquely his, and not one compromised by needing to appeal to the mass market.
It's a message to his fellow artists to do the same.
The names he mentioned are names of people that he expects a lot out of.
In fact, most people theorized that the bigger diss was to not be one of the people mentioned,
which explains why a lot of those artists responded.
Like, B.o.B who shot back with a track called “How 2 Rap,” which, among other things,
mocked Kendrick’s flow in songs like “Swimming Pools”:
Also Lupe Fiasco, who made fun of Kendrick claiming to juggle both of the coasts:
The significance of “Control” comes from the reaction people had to it.
It created a discussion about hip hop, and, even if it was just for a few weeks, proved
that rap could still be competitive.
Looking at it now, a few years out, it’s clear that the verse had a much bigger impact
on fans of hip hop than it did on hip hop itself.
A lot of the artists who Kendrick mentioned have released some of their best work since
the song dropped, but to say that was all Kendrick’s doing would be more than a stretch.
However, it certainly did put them under a microscope, which gave them exposure and raised
expectations.
To the public, it was important what these artists put out next.
And of course, the artist under the most scrutiny after the song dropped was Kendrick himself,
so it was paramount for him to create something that lived up to his claims.
To Pimp A Butterfly, while not the album people expected, did this.
It received respect from listeners regardless of if they were fans of hip hop or not, further
elevating him as this icon who talks about real issues through mainstream music in a
way that doesn’t feel preachy.
It seems pretty clear that Kendrick wants to make a difference for people the way the
artists he listened to.
made a difference for him.
And beyond all of the name dropping and joking threats, that is what “Control” is about:
building a legacy.
“It’s not about actually being the king of whatever coast, it’s about leaving a
mark as big as Biggie, as big as Pac...for the most part
it’s about how great I want to be at the end of the day
y'know and nobody's going to stop me."