Can the label of the rap battle teach us something about freedom of expression?

Last week, Drake spoke with LeBron James and Maverick Carter on a sports talk show at HBO. The shop, confessed that he had felt "The Story of Adidon", a song played by Pusha T about the Canadian rapper, who crossed an invisible line that separates acceptable insults from the rap battle from those made of bad taste. "Rap purists and confrontation lovers love to say there are no rules to this shit," Drake recalls. "There are f-king rules to this shit."

Pusha T had revealed that Drake was the father of a child: eligible. "They had to add the bad father thing to make it more attractive, which is good." Pusha then ridiculed Drake's long-time producer, Noah "40" Shebib, who suffers from multiple sclerosis. "When are you talking defenseless people who are sick in the hospital, "says Drake," there is a price to pay for this. "

Pusha T operated within the confines of hip-hop decorum when he accused Drake of using ghosts, when he discovered incriminating pictures of Drake in black (and even when he was using these photographs as a cover), and even when he revealed it to the whole world. that Drake was hiding an infant, the kind of revelation that irrevocably changes the way the world sees the subject of a dissident. But one way or another to mistreat an badociate because of his serious illness is distinct from all that other denigration. There are insults and claws of destruct of character that deserve to give the attacker respect for the object of his derision, it is badumed. Then there are things you should not say unequivocally. "Shit is done," as Drake says. "The event is over."

Is there a rap-battle tag? Are there, in fact, rules to this shit?

It's a matter of chance if Drake's remarks should be presented as the new musical Corsica is expected in theaters and in VOD. It turns out that the film addresses exactly this issue: it is about a white graduate student from an American university who discovers a unique talent for rap battles, and especially for offensive battles, pejorative and otherwise "problematic". His meteoric rise to the underground hip-hop world is based on his desire to say all that is cruel and mean – often racist and badist – about which other rappers crack. And Corsica explore how a rap battle should allow him to say it. Is it permissible to rap anything? Or is there a line beyond which you become irrecoverable?

The conclusion Corsica reached is a qualified yes to both questions. According to him, it is the nature of the rap battle to encourage not only irregularities, but also to require them from all participants. The essential point is that of overbidding: you must go further than your competitor to win. Follow this up to its logical extreme and you reach all kinds of inappropriate or inappropriate comments – often earlier than you think. Refrain from hitting a sensitive area – firing a punch because you are scared of what you might hit – amounts to conceding defeat because someone will end up wearing the fatal blow. The most daring fighter is the favorite to win. That said, daring has a price, and Corsica suggests that it can be high. Maybe your humanity. Maybe decency, integrity, camaraderie. Go all the way could win the victory. It could also make you a very revered fool.

In the case of "The Story of Adidon", I know that I creaked when I heard those bars on Shebib. This is a nasty affair, MS, and it does not matter if Pusha has published the headline on the eve of National MS Day – probably a coincidence, but a mediocre one. Nevertheless, the instinctive reaction provoked by the line, the feeling that an aggression has done too much harm, must be a sign of its effectiveness, even if this effect is a poison.

As auditors, it is hard to deny that this extreme and ruthless malice is precisely what we want. It's a bit like watching a hockey game. Yes, we know that fights and bad checks are technically unsportsmanlike, but our instinct dictates our emotional response to onscreen action – and when the gloves go away, even if for a moment we are delighted. It can be a good thing to wince.

Of course, the insulted unpardonable individual will always be a bad judge of whether the insult actually crosses a boundary – for it is he who is humiliated, and when he binds his wounds and feeds his injured pride, the stubble beard will still appear to violate acceptable limits. On the other hand, Pusha T will be the rapper who leaked Drake's hidden paternity and ridiculed a sick man who did nothing to invite disdain.

So, in a sense, Drake is right: there are protocols and conventions to follow in a rap battle, if you want to get out of the fray without being damaged by the mess she caused. The truth is that Pusha T can tell what he wants on a diss track. But the truth is also that some of the things said by Pusha T have a price: namely, to be this guy for the rest of his career.