Drake and Kendrick Lamar captivated so many people with their battle that even the Oscars had to jump in and get some cultural brownie points. The ceremony's host this year, Conan O'Brien, joked about Kendrick calling the OVO mogul a pedophile at the event's halfway mark, also adding in a jab at the 6ix God's UMG lawsuit. While many folks found this funny, even some staunch K.Dot defenders and Aubrey Graham critics weren't as impressed. Elliott Wilson recently offered his simple but reasonable takedown of the joke on The Bigger Picture Podcast with DJ Hed and Jeremy Hecht on HipHopDX.
"Comedian gives you the license, right?" Elliott Wilson said of Conan O'Brien's Kendrick Lamar and Drake joke. "It didn't make me laugh. [...] N***a didn't write a funny joke. It wasn't funny. That's my point. [...] He thinks that's gon' be the killer line. That s**t was not funny, man. [...] You have to actually laugh." Wilson also compared this situation to Andrew Schulz's jokes about Kendrick and about Diddy and Meek Mill. He thinks the difference between defense and backlash is how funny the joke actually is.
Conan O'Brien's Kendrick Lamar & Drake Joke
"That s**t was corny," Elliott Wilson continued. "It looked like outsiders of the culture trying to attach themselves to culture. I think it's offensive to Drake and Kendrick. It's not cool, it's wack. Not saying Conan isn't a brilliant, smart comedian. I think he did a great job overall as the host, but that joke wasn't cool. That joke was a**." Then, Jeremy Hecht called people out for being hypocrites about this situation, specifically in the cases of Andrew Schulz and Conan O'Brien.
Meanwhile, other commentators like those on The Joe Budden Podcast actually thought the Kendrick Lamar and Drake joke was hilarious. However, they understand people's reactions on both sides, especially from Drizzy's perspective and as people who thought the open-ended joke was smart. Regardless of what you think of the jab, Elliott Wilson is at least definitely right in one aspect. All that matters is whether or not it's funny to you. Whether you measure that with a cheeky smile or a boisterous laugh is up to you.
