Rap’s professor emeritus Rakim responded to Kendrick Lamar name-dropping him on his “Chains & Whips” guest verse from the Clipse‘s new album Let God Sort Em Out.
In the verse, Lamar suggested he might consider splitting his riches with the rapper thanks to his influence over the modern rap scene. “The things I’ve seen under my eyelids/ Kaleidoscope dreams, murder, and sirens,” Lamar rapped. “Let’s be clear, hip-hop died again/ Half of my profits may go to Rakim.”
Rakim took to his Instagram over the weekend to post a video of Lamar driving his Porsche with his verse playing and expressed his appreciation for the acknowledgement. “I salute you king,” he wrote. “Thanks for the illest shout I heard in a long time, and keep up the incredible work my brother, you ain’t no joke!!!! Peace and blessings to you and yours.”
This isn’t the first time the rap legend saluted Kendrick. During an interview with Billboard last year, he was asked about Lamar’s battle with Drake and showed love to both of them for stepping into the ring and keeping it hip-hop. “You know, a lot of people in that position won’t accept no challenge, because they got too much to lose,” he said. “So, it was dope that these brothers put the mainstream success down and said, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’”
Rakim continued, adding that the battle helped define the difference between “real hip-hop” and more modern, popular versions of the artform. “Younger artists now know that there’s a difference. A lot of them didn’t even understand that,” he said. “They just listened to the majority, not knowing that a lot of people don’t categorize what they were hearing as real hip-hop. The battle was very needed for the genre. I tip my hat to them brothers. Let’s just hope that it stays to the music.”
In related Drake and Kendrick news, the former just finished headlining London’s Wireless festival for three days, while the latter is in the midst of the European leg of his Grand National Tour with SZA.