Maiya The Don added a dose of humor and honesty to the continued U.K. vs. U.S. rap debate this week, weighing in with a tweet that caught fireplace throughout hip-hop Twitter.

On Monday (July 7), the Brooklyn rapper addressed Skepta’s current declare that U.Okay. artists are edging out their American counterparts. This assertion sparked sturdy reactions on each side of the Atlantic.

“Skepta so fine I’m willing to ignore the fact that he’s delusional enough to believe any U.K. rapper is better than our best rappers in the U.S.,” she wrote, including appeal to her critique.

The tweet instantly resonated, with followers chiming in to echo her sentiment or take it even additional.

“He ain’t even better than our worst rappers,” one consumer replied. But as an alternative of doubling down, Maiya got here to Skepta’s protection, calling him “talented” however nonetheless gently pushing again on his assertion. “Come on, man, not to be talking like this,” she mentioned.

Skepta, recognized for pushing boundaries in grime and U.Okay. rap since his early days with Boy Better Know, lately referred to as out A$AP Rocky for a transatlantic lyrical “clash.” The Harlem rapper has but to reply, however Joyner Lucas, one other American emcee, did. In a fiery message posted Sunday (July 6), Skepta dismissed Lucas as inconsequential.

“I didn’t do all the work I did just for Joyner Lucas to be saying my name anyhow,” he mentioned, warning he’d let “one of the young Gs” deal with him with ease.

Maiya The Don, nevertheless, urged followers to method the controversy with nuance. She later tweeted that your complete U.S. vs. U.Okay. dialog was “so f**king stupid,” arguing that the obsession with regional dominance ignores broader shifts in rap itself. She famous the shortage of conventional lyricism in mainstream American rap at this time, utilizing Central Cee for example of a U.Okay. artist she believes outraps a lot of his American friends.

“They’re not better by default,” she clarified. “They’re copying us, literally. Trends and sonics take longer to travel—that’s why they’re 10 years behind. That’s why they rap like it’s 2009—‘cause it literally is.”

While the dialog began with a playful thirst tweet, Maiya’s commentary displays a bigger fact about rap’s world evolution. U.Okay. artists might borrow from U.S. kinds, however some have carved out distinct sounds which can be pushing the style ahead in new instructions.

Whether or not a lyrical conflict ever materializes, the dialogue it sparked proves the tradition nonetheless cares deeply about bars, borders, and the artists who blur them.