Despite speculation claiming Drake and Common had harsh words toward one another at last weekend’s Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles, new reports claim the two hip-hop stars actually squashed recent tensions.
According to new reports, the rappers came face-to-face last Sunday (February 12).
Hip-Hop Wired has learned that Common and Drake actually squashed their beef at the Grammys, clearing up previous reports that the two rappers almost got into a violent altercation. Apparently, both Drake and Common’s entourages happened to be in the same area at the end of the Grammy red carpet, near where artists were being distributed their VIP credentials to enter the Staples Center, according to a source in the latter’s camp. Common felt it was awkward for two men that had exchanged words in song to be in the same vicinity without saying anything to each other. With the two eyeballing each other intensely, Common asked Drake, “What’s up?” Drake responded with a “What’s up?” of his own, and Common tried to approach him with the intent of speaking to the Toronto rapper one on one. (Hip Hop Wired)
Despite some initial confusion, they came together and squashed their problems.
However, Drake’s security and other members of his entourage defensively intervened in his progress. Allegedly Drake said, “Yo, I grew up listening to this dude, what’s the problem?,” while his security was telling Common, “We respect you, this isn’t necessary.” But Common wanted to talk to Drake “man to man,” angered that two rivals would cross paths and just not speak. One of the members of Drake’s crew turned out to be his father, Dennis Graham, who told Common the two artists “need to cut this out, y’all are better than this.” According to the source, the elder Graham’s intervention made Com change his approach, with cooler heads prevailing and the two rappers eventually going off to the side and speaking to each other alone. Holding true to the words he said in an interview moments before, Common and Drake exchanged pounds, and told everyone in their respective camps the beef had been squashed. (Hip Hop Wired)
This week, reports emerged suggesting some blows were thrown during the face-off.
Drake and Common’s beef made its way to the Grammy Awards, according to several reports. According to MediaTakeOut’s “reliable insider,” the feuding rappers got into a brief “fist fight” backstage after exchanging words. After, “plainclothes police” reportedly walked Common back to his seat. Publicist Robert Santini of PKM*BNC tweeted about the alleged event on Sunday night, writing, “@drake and @common had an altercation backstage & @liltunechi” — the handle of Lil Wayne, Drake’s label mate — “had to intervene. This is getting out of hand.” Hours earlier, Questlove tweeted an ambiguous remark on the two’s initial real-world meeting on Sunday. “Uh. Drizzy & Com are seeing each other for first time. No comment,” he wrote. (Billboard)
The same day, Common officially announced their beef was a wrap.
“It was all in the honor of hip-hop, it’s kind of over now. It’s over. So, you know, it was all in the honor of hip-hop,” Common told hip-hop personality Toure. “He said some things to me, so I had to say some things back. I wouldn’t say [he] started it, but I knew I heard something said that I felt like it was directed toward me so, you know, I addressed it. That’s all. But thank God we were able to move forward from it and all is good. We’re all emcees and no matter what your age, when you step in the ring — when you see basketball players playing, they don’t be like, ‘Well, this guy’s [small],’ and basically if you’re playing against me or you’re challenging me at some point, I’m an emcee, I like doing that, I like emceeing. I love it. That’s what I go for.” (FUSE)
