Common Explains Reason He's Beefing With Drake (Blog)

Common and Drake have been firing shots at one another over the past few weeks, and many people have assumed it's over Drizzy hanging out with his ex-girlfriend Serena Williams, but Com says that's not it.

"Well, the song 'Sweet,' for me, was a song where I was really talking about Hip Hop. A lot of the softer side of Hip Hop is just being the example of what people think Hip Hop is. To me, you can express yourself in many different ways, but I was just missing that hardcore Hip Hop, that raw Hip Hop sound, and I was just talking about it."

"I was saying, man, the song 'Sweet' was cats out there doing sweet music. Dude must have took offense to it, so he came out and said some things, and once he said something on record, I said something on record."

Common said that he didn't intend to specifically diss Drake, but once he responded in concert, that was it.

"That was the first thing that he responded and said something. I was like, well, I wasn't trying to address you specifically, but if you feel like you are that person and if you're addressing this to me, then I have to address you back," he continued. "But my whole mentality was that I'm doing this for Hip Hop music. I'm not trying to bring somebody down. At the end of the day, I just expressed what I felt about Hip Hop. And I'ma keep it on that level, just as an emcee. That's how I battle. I don't try to battle any other way than emceeing."

Common insists that Serena has nothing to do with the beef.

"We know that things can get like that, but that's not what we want for the culture, for ourselves as men. I think we learned enough from those days to be like, OK, if you're going to challenge me as an artist, an emcee, I'ma let you know who I am.

You just gotta know what you in it for. I got in this because it's Hip Hop. I was speaking up on the song 'Sweet' about, over and over we're hearing a lot of singing. I listen to R&B, I listen to good R&B and soul music, so I'm not opposed to singing. I'ma be frank about that. But I just spoke up for the art of Hip Hop and what I feel about it, and I want everybody to know that Hip Hop is a diverse culture and it does have that boom bap to it too. Once he said something back, that's when I said, aight, I guess you want to get in a battle with me. And if that's what you want, then I'll battle."

Do you believe Serena Williams has nothing to do with the beef?