What Is Happening Between Lil Durk And NBA YoungBoy?

​Author: Scarlett Pham

"Ahhh Ha" was released last week by Lil Durk, and it wouldn't be in dispute if NBA YoungBoy didn't feel Lil Durk was using the song to mock him. Of course YoungBoy couldn't sit still and responded with "I Hate YoungBoy."

Lil Durk and NBA YoungBoy actually worked together a few years ago, but then their relationship broke down to the point of being difficult to mend since Lil Durk's right-hand man, King Von, was shot and killed during a clash with NBA YoungBoy's partner - Quando Rondo. The sad truth is that King Von and Quando Rondo used to be friends. But then their friendship fell apart when King Von was seen with NBA YoungBoy's ex. The frustrations and pain that have built up inside them for a long time but there was no positive way to cop with made things go too far. 

We live in a society where dramas appear every day in any field, and we consider it normal. It is very dangerous when we normalize negative things. We only publicly express our condolences when the loss has occurred instead of preventing it from the beginning. The conflict between Lil Durk and NBA YoungBoy currently only shows up in our eyes as a rap beef thing. But we need to be aware that at any time it can go as far as the way King Von fell and will never get up again. 

The rappers in this music industry make a lot of money but if we pay attention we will see that many of them appear in addition to the glamor of money, diamonds, power, along with them are violence, gangs, guns, and death. Why should that be? Why does making money have to go with selling lives? Since when did advocating violence, blood, and dirty money prove to be strong and cool?

Those who take their own lives for granted are wrong, but are we right when we support them to do it?

Fans make a huge contribution to making an artist. The fact that fans of the two sides clash with each other on social media and in real life. Publicly using words to attack the deceased. Showing no respects to the loss of artists. These are things that fans shouldn't do if they really love an artist. Instead of supporting artists in a civilized way, what we see now is just the pervasive toxicity of stan culture.

Rap music was born from the street. The street are filled with injustice, violence, and danger, but that doesn't mean we have to create tension to the point of killing each other to make rap music. It destroys the inner meaning of rap and talented artists who are seriously looking to create quality work that has the power to heal the soul. 

Artists are only human. Their pain is no different from ours no matter how much money they have. Look at Kanye West (or Ye), how much pain from the loss of his mother is to him I'm sure we all can see. Lil Durk and NBA YoungBoy, many of their brothers and loved ones have passed away. The pain caused them to be scratched and disfigured. Did anyone ever care how hurt they were? Or are we just celebrating, laughing at the suffering of others for fun? We're seeing offensive jokes going around online about the war on the other side of the world. It's painful to see.

I believe the work Lil Durk and NBA YoungBoy bring us would have a different color and positive messages than this if they were brothers. 

What they are doing is alarming. As true music fans, we have to know for ourselves what we should and shouldn't do for our favorite artists.