For the uninitiated, 26AR is a somewhat unsung architect of Brooklyn drill going back to the pandemic era, a young Crown Heights OG who came out of the concurrent/post-Pop Smoke period where we also got 22Gz, Sheff G, etc. He has been through a lot (jail, noncommittal Def Jam deals, multiple stylistic waves including those from Queens and the Bronx), and his claim to fame is he makes no bad songs. 41 is three teenagers from Brownsville who came in the game dissing dead people with a viral dance about getting stabbed (“Notti Bop”) and have since become high energy hitmakers with a huge industry push, harnessing ADHD, pathos, and above average lyricism into songs that tear up the club. 26AR came up when drill wasn’t allowed in the club, and it was much more regional. Out of fears of spreading violence, the genre was initially blackballed by venues and at one point Mayor Adams was trying to ban it. However 41 came out around the time when Ice Spice and Cash Cobain started to break through and carve a more pop space for NY drill in the club and in the national consciousness. You could say that without earlier figures like 26AR there wouldn’t be any 41 but it’s not that direct of a lineage. In fact the neighborhoods of Brooklyn can be like non-overlapping tidepools. Crown Heights and Brownsville may be adjacent but are almost like separate worlds. But I would be surprised if, and they’d never admit it of course, 41 didn’t on some level grow up on 26AR’s catalog, admiring him.

I don’t know what set this scuffle off initially (some confrontation at a clothing store?) but I have been listening to the songs as they have been released since 11 days ago, and texting friend of the blog Kim about them. Here is pretty much our raw correspondence, with some more composed thoughts mixed in.

First comes TaTa’s “Bet”

Andrew:

This came out of nowhere to me and my first thought was you don’t want to diss 26AR he has a track record of wins (sorry OMB Jaydee) and is a very dangerous MC

Then came 26AR’s “Faded” which he alleges 41 then gets taken down from YouTube

Kim:

Been thinking abt this ar track also 🤔🤔 what I like about it is it’s very considered and almost understated

Like working in an idiom like drill where “dissing” is kind of an inherent motif it’s impressive to put something out that actually thoroughly feels like a diss

Artistically impressive, hope they work it out tho 😭😭

Andrew:

Great read

When I met him IRL he had just finished dissing OMB Jaydee

Which he won, imo

And he was talking about how heavy the responsibility is when you rap about someone else and make them a target

Seems like he is taking care to make it thoughtful like you said and tone it down as far as “im gonna k*ll you” and stick to making embarrassing assertions

The tata song is more rah-rah for sure and I think 26’s response showed some maturity and skill

Not that he’s not making threats bc he is

But they’re more conceptual and less like “drop a pin let’s do this”

My fav line is “riding down Franklin Ave / tryna break a hockey stick in half” which I think means he’s formulating a plan of how not to take an L, and the plan seems to be to make this track

Kim:

I like this reading

This is a hella interesting perspective to hear, def way diff from how most drill artists talk about their “beefs” etc and demonstrates that he’s coming at this from a p diff place

I think it also stems from the eras these artists come from — 26ar isn’t that much older but is still hailing from a time when drill was like a regional underground subgenre

Where ofc dissing was a part of things but the lack of spotlight bred more artistic diversity

Whereas 41 is v much so a product of the “crash out era” post pop smoke a time I’ve actually been reflecting a lot on recently

Where it’s just like vulture labels swept in trying to find their next star fanning the flames of whatever beef they could to build relevance

Which just like homogenized the sound and themes a lot and I feel like we only really broke out of that on a larger level in the last year w ice cash etc

So in a way these tracks kind of reveal those diff paradigms they’re all approaching this from

Andrew:

That’s insightful

41 is like a boy band who popped off making fun of dead people

And I like 41!

But 26 is quite a bit more wise and has seen more of how people move, in life and in the industry

Kim:

Lol literally

Yeah I actually just revisited drip rn and it reminded me his music’s always had a lot of personality

and more of a perspective

Andrew:

He’s not faultless by any means but I am rocking with him

I got into him through the song “chills”

That track is electricity

And he got me again on “roll it” which is like perfect drill to me in that it’s not about killing people it’s about breaking hearts

And the beat is crazy

He makes a lot of tracks that I don’t revisit but no tracks that are bad

Anyway I could talk about him all day

I was legit so shook to meet him

Kim:

Hahaha that’s amazing

Im bumping roll it rn I haven’t heard it before

Its awesome

Andrew:

Ugh the best

He told the producer to sample that Maxwell song

Kim:

Wow love that

Yeah video is positivity

Just hanging out in the park getting the public involved a little

And yeah in the end I guess I hope that like 41 can develop their style more but w all these labels and stuff its unclear if that happens lol

I just think they should all emphasize the turning up aspect in their music being fly etc cuz its like

its 2024 and they can work w mcvertt

Its not like having to tour w dj snake

Lol

Andrew:

Getting fly and turning up some of humanity’s highest calling

It’s called exaltation.

41 industry involvement is also a mixed blessing

Without an OG a&r you don’t get songs like that one with the MOP sample

Then 26AR drops “Super Faded”

Kim:

This is tough

Andrew:

He’s going in

Should I somehow turn our messages about these disses into a blog post? Haven’t seen any commentary that’s actually thoughtful about this particular back and forth

Kim:

I’d be down haha I might submit supplementary text if so

Kyle Richh drops “Unfadeable / BOA”

Andrew:

Kyle Richh just responded

Ima do this yoga and then peep it

Kyle ripped it imo

Kim:

Yeoo I peeped haha

Yeah Kyle went in, I thought the second half was stronger

But I’ve always thought Kyle has the most range in 41 tbh

Andrew:

Idk if it’s a good idea for us to weigh in but it’s interesting to me on several levels

Kim:

Yeah for sure it’s artistically compelling and indicative of broader generational/economic trends but obviously you don’t wanna abstract from the reality/violence

Then 26AR drops “Fade Em Once More”

Andrew:

These volleys are too crazy. I agree with some random commenter that this is close to the best we have ever seen 26AR. I know music isn’t sports but there is a competitive aspect to rap and 26AR is a hooper and a chess player, and he plays to win. This is the Olympics of Brooklyn drill. And 26 was already heating back up after a period of minor dormancy anyway, dropping on 917 Rackz beats and other new-style beats and sounding invigorated. In this battle 41 seems to be going individually, first TaTa then KR and maybe Jenn will diss 26AR next. It’s like a kung fu scene where 26 is this slightly older fighter surrounded by young challengers and he just keeps flinging people off.

Then Dee Billz (41 member but not in the group?) drops “Fade Who?”

Kim:

The track is cool I can’t say I’ve listened to much Dee billz

I will say at this point it’s like these aren’t the sort of songs that tend to draw me into drill artists so it’s less compelling on that level

But I figure we’ll have 1-2 more tracks by EOD tmm lol