Maiya The Don added a dose of humor and honesty to the ongoing U.K. vs. U.S. rap debate this week, weighing in with a tweet that caught fire across hip-hop Twitter.
On Monday (July 7), the Brooklyn rapper addressed Skepta’s recent claim that U.K. artists are edging out their American counterparts. This statement sparked strong reactions on both sides 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, adding charm to her critique.
The tweet immediately resonated, with fans chiming in to echo her sentiment or take it even further.
“He ain’t even better than our worst rappers,” one user replied. But instead of doubling down, Maiya came to Skepta’s defense, calling him “talented” but still gently pushing back on his assertion. “Come on, man, not to be talking like this,” she said.
Skepta, known for pushing boundaries in grime and U.K. rap since his early days with Boy Better Know, recently called out A$AP Rocky for a transatlantic lyrical “clash.” The Harlem rapper has yet to respond, but Joyner Lucas, another 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 said, warning he’d let “one of the young Gs” handle him with ease.
Maiya The Don, however, urged fans to approach the debate with nuance. She later tweeted that the entire U.S. vs. U.K. conversation was “so f**king stupid,” arguing that the obsession with regional dominance ignores broader shifts in rap itself. She noted the lack of traditional lyricism in mainstream American rap today, using Central Cee as an example of a U.K. artist she believes outraps many of his American peers.
“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 conversation started with a playful thirst tweet, Maiya’s commentary reflects a larger truth about rap’s global evolution. U.K. artists may borrow from U.S. styles, but some have carved out distinct sounds that are pushing the genre forward in new directions.
Whether or not a lyrical clash ever materializes, the dialogue it sparked proves the culture still cares deeply about bars, borders, and the artists who blur them.
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