North Philly rapper beef with Drake makes him ‘unwelcome in Toronto’

Philadelphia rapper Meek Mill has grabbed millions of headlines after taking to Twitter to whip up controversy about Canadian rapper Drake.

Mill accused Drake of not writing his own verses.

It’s an understatement to say that Meek Mill and Drake have different sounds.

So journalist Andre Grant of HipHopDX says the feud represents a battle of opposite schools of thought.

“A lot of the reason why it’s getting such a huge push from hip-hop media is that this is kind of a different sides of the tracks scenario,” Grant said. “Their lyrical content is different, their delivery is different, it’s almost a 180, dichotomous view of these two artists. One is very feminine, the other is very masculine,” he said. “Hip-hop is very interested in the juxtaposition of these two people.”

Drake is a former Nickelodeon star from Canada; Meek Mill is from decidedly rougher beginnings in North Philly.

Grants says unlike other genres, where co-writers are celebrated, sole authorship is a huge part of hip-hop. You can lose a lot of credibility for not writing your own first-person narrative.

“In hip hop, and I think in black music in general, there’s this really tightly-held mythology of the lone genius kind of creating this despite all the odds,” he said.

After a Toronto City Councillor heard of Mill’s comments, he wrote: “You’re no longer welcome in Toronto, Meek Mill.”

Mill has since somewhat apologized for “going crazy” on Twitter, but he’s not backing down from his attacks on Drake.

Agents representing Drake and Mill were contacted for this story. Neither returned requests for comment.