Bars and Bards

Background: The flames of hip-hop feuds are being fanned once more. Rap titans Kendrick Lamar and Drake are reigniting a years-long lyrical duel, with each artist dropping pointed tracks in recent weeks.

Their diss tracks have the internet buzzing, dissecting wordplay and picking sides. This isn't the first time these two have traded barbs, and it likely won't be the last. But why do we, the audience, find ourselves so enthralled by these public spats? Perhaps it's because celebrity beefs tap into something primal – the age-old human desire for competition. But this public sparring isn't a new phenomenon; it's a tradition as old as fame itself.

Let's take a trip back in time and compare the Kendrick-Drake drama to a literary spat of the past – the icy standoff between authors Gore Vidal and Truman Capote.

Deja Vu: A juicy feud can be as captivating as a chart-topping single. While Kendrick and Drake might seem like innovators in the art of the diss track, history shows us that public feuds played out you didn’t need to drop a beat to drop a burn.

The Vidal-Capote feud was a fascinating clash between contrasting personalities. Vidal, the intellectual provocateur, often clashed with Capote's flamboyant persona. Vidal often insinuated that Capote was intellectually inferior, while Capote mocked Vidal’s self-importance.

The feud hit a high point in 1975 when Vidal sued Capote for slander. Capote allegedly claimed that Vidal had been thrown out of the White House for drunkenly insulting Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

The lawsuit was settled out of court, but the incident cemented their animosity.

When Capote died in 1984, it seemed Vidal got the last word, reportedly calling his death a “wise career move".

Fact:

Capote and Vidal didn’t limit their beefs to one another. Both had a steady diet of disagreements with other public figures.

William F. Buckley Jr.: Perhaps one of Vidal's most famous public rivalries was with conservative commentator William F. Buckley Jr. Their debates during the 1968 Democratic National Convention are legendary for their vitriol, culminating in Buckley threatening Vidal on live television.

Norman Mailer: Vidal had a tumultuous relationship with Norman Mailer, and the two had a notable appearance on The Dick Cavett Show.

New York High Society: Capote's relationship with New York's high society is a broader example of his feuding nature. After publishing excerpts from his unfinished novel "Answered Prayers" in "Esquire" magazine, which revealed the secrets and scandals of many of his high-society friends, he was largely ostracized from the very circles that had once embraced him.

Word: Pasquinade (n.)

A lampoon or satirical attack, often posted anonymously. Pasquinades were a popular form of public criticism during the Renaissance, often targeting figures of authority or rivals in the arts.Question:

List: Vidal Zingers

• “Hell is bound to be a livelier place, as he joins forever those whom he served in life, applauding their prejudices and fanning their hatred.” - On the passing of William F. Buckley, Jr

• "The United States was founded by the brightest people in the country – and we haven't seen them since,"

• "I'm exactly as I appear," he said once. "There is no warm, lovable person inside. Beneath my cold exterior, once you break the ice, you find cold water." - Vidal on himself

• "Words fail Norman again.” - Reportedly what Vidal said after Norman Mailer punched him.

Recommended Reading: Palimpsest - Gore Vidal’s Memoir