Hello! I’m new here and this probably won’t get much traction but if one thing this rap beef has taught me is how to win an argument and influence people to receive and even transmit your arguments to the general public.
For background, Kendrick Lamar had a beef with a certain Candian named Drake. They had been trading barbs back and forth for quite a long time and it finally boiled over into an acrimonious brew of foul words. Many in hip-hop believed the battle was over when Drake put out his diss song. Kendrick didn't respond and many in the hip-hop press called him dead in the water (sounds familiar).
But Kendrick, an obvious battle tactician, uses his brain to outsmart and out-hustle Drake to win the war and I think offers a lot of advice and hope to Democrats for victory.
1. He never defended himself
An old saying goes if you defend yourself in an argument you are losing. Right now, Joe Biden has to defend himself against critics in his party and others outside of it. Kendrick also felt this pressure from hip-hop heads. They wondered why he was taking so long to respond. But Kendrick didn't say a word. He didn't defend himself against accusations of wife-beating or that his child wasn't his own. Because he realized something winning strategists figured out a long time ago. That defense makes you look guilty. When you start arguing back you are engaging in the attacks against you and leading to their legitimacy in the eyes of the world. Most people who are not involved don’t listen to rebuttals of innocence. They only listen to the negative. This is why Biden’s debate performance has been having such an effect because people in his party are amplifying it when time suggests they could have dismissed it and done what Kendrick did to Drake. Drake loses the moment he becomes defensive in his raps about the charges against him. That was the moment he lost in the eyes of hip-hop fans but also the eyes of the general public. The accusations he leveled against Kendrick barely scratched Kendrick and are mostly not even memorable.
2. Attack with no mercy and turn any criticism of you back to your opponent
One thing I think Republicans do well at is how they do not let anything get in the way of a good attack. Their candidate is a convicted felon but that does not stop them from turning every attack against him into an attack against Joe Biden. This is something Kendrick did in his battle against Drake. Every time Drake came back with a diss, Kendrick ignored what he said and continued with his points about Drake. He would ambush Drake with another record right after Drake released his and then double down with another attack before Drake could even get his bearings. Drake couldn’t even respond because Kendrick gave him no room to do so. He sucked up all the attention.
3. Make your attacks catchy and memorable so they stick
Kendrick dissed Drake but was so good at making the disses catchy and memorable that most people got the disses stuck in their heads. Not just musically but also in his phrasing and presentation. He made dissing Drake fun! So much so that other people wanted to join in and pile on. From gospel videos to ballparks, to schools, and even senior citizens' homes. He made it so interesting that it was hard for people not to do it. We as Democrats need to make sure the joke is on Donald and that it is funny as hell. That’s how you frustrate men like him. He wants to be taken seriously. He wants people to be afraid. He is a real threat, I will not downplay that. But the most one of the most effective ways to depower despots. Make them the objects of humor. That’s is how Superman defeated the KKK and dropped enrollment because when they listened to the radio they heard radio Superman make fun of their ways, manners, and beliefs. Kill Trump (not literally) with humor and a party while also making the dangers clear. Kendrick does this in spades with his disses and it is very effective.
To sum up my first diary, I will say it is important to not attack each other. One of the biggest mistakes made in 1920s Germany was the splintering of the left. They were so busy fighting each other than fighting the threat. We have to come together and target Donald like Kendrick masterfully pulled about Drake with those three rules.
Happy 4th everyone!