You might have read about P. Diddy slugging Drake over a new track by producer Boi-1da? Boi-ida (Boy Wonder to you) offered the track to Diddy and Drake and Diddy sat on it too long, Drake got sick of waiting and released “0 To 100/The Catch Up” while Diddy was still messing around. Drake got a coupla Grammy nominations for his troubles and Diddy wasn’t amused by Drake’s scoop.
Diddy and Drake crossed paths at Fontainebleau Hotel’s Liv club and in the parking lot, Diddy punched him, damaging Drake’s shoulder, and left him with a cool as fuck “Take care of your business”. And as long as guns aren’t being drawn a non-story right, rap star? Dog bites man?
Right, except the importance of sick beats has never been so transparently important. Ever since Dr. Luke spelled it out in New York back in 2010 as to how songs were built via layers and emails it was obvious the beats were the starting place and DJs were accordingly producers and accordingly stars. That two of the biggest stars in hip hop would fight over a track puts a spotlight on how much songwriting has changed. There is the famous story of David Mann writing “In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning” one day, running into Nelson Riddle the next who was going into to work with Sinatra, going upstairs, playing him the song, and Riddle buying it on the spot and recording it that afternoon.
That’s what is happening with beats. They are sold the way songs were sold, they are the building bricks, the skeleton if you will, the same way playing a song on the piano used to be the piano. So when Drake and Diddy battle over a beat it is like battling over a melody. Worth trading punches for.
