The Root: Drake vs. Meek Mill: It’s Not Even Close

Last night, a week after he began a feud with popular rapper Drake on Twitter, lesser-known lyricist Meek Mill of Philadelphia released a much-anticipated but largely underwhelming dis track, "Wanna Know." The song title trended on Twitter for hours as hip-hop aficionados mostly clowned Mill for taking so long to produce a song so terrible.

The memes in response said it all, particularly this one:

Mill's Thursday-evening offering is in response to the two well-received songs, "Charged Up" and "Back to Back," which Drake directed at Meek earlier this week. The latter song included the memorable line "Is that a world tour or your girl's tour?"—a reference to Mill's performance as an opening act for his far-better-known (and wealthier) girlfriend, hip-pop star (and Drake's labelmate) Nicki Minaj. Rolling Stone described the song as Drake "demolishing" his in-over-his-head competitor.

If you are confused at all as to why two grown-ass men are engaged in a public war of words, I assure you that even rap fans who have been following this since the start are also perplexed. I'm warning you now, the explanation will not make sense, but allow me to explain from the beginning anyway. May we go back?

On June 29, Meek Mill released an album, Dreams Worth More Than Money, that made it to No. 1 on the Billboard charts. The album included a song that featured Drake. Yes, the same Drake that Mill attacked last night, but first on Twitter.

About a week ago, Mill went on a late-night rant accusing Drake of not writing his own lyrics. "Stop comparing Drake to me too ... " Mill began on Twitter. "He don't write his own raps! That's why he ain't tweet my album because we found out!"

He added, later, "[Drake] ain't even write that verse on my album. And if I woulda knew I woulda took it off my album ... I don't trick my fans!"

There was warranted confusion as to whether Mill was actually upset that Drake allegedly used a ghostwriter, a man named Quentin Miller, who has publicly denied being Drake's ghostwriter. "I'm proud to say that we've collaborated," Miller wrote on his Tumblr page. "But I could never take credit for anything other than the few songs we worked on together."

Or was Mill in his feelings because Drake failed to promote Mill's album to his nearly 25 million Twitter followers? If that sounds like a ridiculous assumption, it isn't. Earlier in July, Meek publicly attacked his own labelmate Wale for the same thing.

Until this point, Drake had done nothing to bother Mill. Drake has spent the better part of the summer getting sexy in the gym, growing out his beard, attending tennis matches and occasionally performing. Oh, and working on his next album, Views From the 6. By his own account, he is not a guy who looks for trouble.

"I am a nice guy," he once said in 2013 interview with Angie Martinez on Hot 97. "That's how I was raised. I'm a cordial, very nice guy. I don't like confrontation, but I'm also not 'the' guy. Especially when it comes to rap. I'm ready."

Read the full story on The Root.

5 Ways To Handle A Break Up Better Than Chris Brown

Chris Brown has made yet another mess after breaking up (again) with his on-off girlfriend Karrueche Tran. The pair recently split and Brown took to social media late Saturday night to vent his frustrations about his ex.

“We’ve got scars, some of them u gave me, some of them I’ve caused,” he wrote on his official Instagram page. “That ride or die act we have been fooling the world with obviously ain’t working. I was locked up for damn near 4 months and only got 1 visit from you while u was hosting parties and taking secret trips to Toronto, going on dates with Drake!”

“So let’s not try to save face for public opinion,” he continued. “I don’t need to play victim so people can take my side.”

Ouch. And wildly inappropriate. I guess someone told him that because he quickly deleted his comments and less than 24 hours later, issued a public apology to his ex.

“Being young and dumb is one of my strong suits,” read Brown’s Instagram caption to a pictureshowing him with his head hanging low (in shame?). “I love hard and react impulsively when I’m hurt at times. I don’t think social media is a place to air out or hash out personal problems.”

You think?

He added: “Everybody know I love that girl .... I just want baby girl to know I apologise (sic).”

Um OK.

Of course, Brown isn’t the only one venting on social media. Anyone with a social media account has a friend (or is the friend) that posts bitter rants or subliminal digs about their ex (or current) partner. According to a study, “Social Media Regret” by consumer electronics shopping site Retrevo, 32 percent of people say they’ve posted something online they regretted. (That’s it?)

In case you’re one of the people prone to venting like Brown—and 32 percent of of other Americans—here are five suggestions that will help you save face, avoid embarrassment and save you another apology:

1. To state the obvious: Stay off social media.

Unlike celebrities (or bloggers), you probably know most of your social media friends and followers personally and rantings about your personal life aren’t likely to make the blogs (unless you’re friends with me ... I’m kidding. Sort of.) Still, they don’t need to know all of your business, especially when you’re dissing your ex.

When I see people flip out on Facebook, my first thought is “Yikes.” It shows me you lack boundaries and don’t have a lot of friends or else you would have called one of them instead of getting messy with your whole social network. It also makes me wonder if we ever had a falling out, would you blast me, too?

The mature people who follow/friend you, read, maybe comment (with opinions on your situation that you may not like) and most keep scrolling. The worst of your friends take screenshots of your update (before you erase it) and send a private message to a mutual friend to gossip about you.

2. Vent to a friend (and not the instigating or gossipy one).

Rejection hurts, even for folks with great coping skills. Sometimes you just need a shoulder to cry on, someone to listen. Call that friend, the one who will tell you, “It’s gonna be OK,” even if it’s the end of the world. Even if they go tell all your business, you can deny everything if word gets out because there’s no screenshot.

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