The hip-hop world can be a bitter, conflicting place. It has been shown in the past through infamous feuds, like ones between The Notorious B.I.G and Tupac, or Jay-Z and Nas. Though once more frequent, feuds are now a relatively absent part of rap culture. That is, until recently when Common and Drake took each other on.

Through a series of songs and statements, long-time respected rapper Common, and relative new rapper, Drake, are butting heads in an unnecessary feud that is demeaning the hip-hop world and setting a bad example for young fans everywhere. It began when Common went after rappers who sing in a November 2011 track release, “Sweet,” and Drake took personal offense.

“Singing all around me man, la la la/You ain’t mutha—-ing Frank Sinatra” Common says in “Sweet.”

According to a December 2011 Common interview on “Sway in the Morning,” a satellite radio talk show, the song was a claim to Common’s greatness, but Drake took this line as a jab at him and shot back with fighting words during a concert in Jauary 2012 where he proclaimed, “I might sing, but I ain’t no b***h. If Common got something to say, say it to my face.”

Fast-forward to now and rap fans are split. A lot of the younger generation is “Team Drizzy” while old-school rap fans may be leaning towards Common. Their big question is: Who is right and who is wrong?

Common claims in the interview he did not directly attack Drake. It was a biographical song, not a fighting song. Common thinks Drake is talented in his own way and the song was just a claim to his own fame.

So one could blame this whole thing on Drake being overly sensitive. He listened to the rumors that the song was a shot at him and he shot back. Drake has been presented to the public as a humble person. A lot of young people admire and enjoy Drake. A fighting, bitter attitude is not something that he should be conveying to his young fans.

Then again, Common is not without fault. In 1995, gangsta rapper Ice Cube came after Common for being soft. Ice Cube claimed that Common sounded too much like an R&B artist and was not a real rapper. Common proved him wrong with his diss song, “The B**** in Yoo,” paving the way for rappers like Drake by making the R&B sound appropriate in hip-hop. Therefore, the fact that Common should insult this new style of rap is hypocritical.

Other influential performers are taking Drake’s side. Friend and collaborator The Weeknd openly defended Drake on Twitter, insulting Common’s comebacks.

Other rappers, like Kanye West, have taken Common’s side, yet this is ironic because rapper 50 Cent attacked West in 2007 for being “soft.” West also did an entire autotuned album, 808’s & Heartbreak, making way for musicians like Drake.

One may also wonder if the reason Common aims at Drake and his style is because Drake is more successful with it than he ever was. He tried a similar style, but that is not what Common is famous for. Rapping and singing together is what Drake is famous for, even though Common laid the framework for Drake’s success.

The truth is, a level of immaturity is being conveyed to the public and this hip-hop feud is becoming a horrible influence on young fans everywhere. There was a time where hip-hop was associated entirely with “gangstas” and “thugs,” so the aggressiveness and fighting to be the best was not only accepted, it was expected.

In the modern hip-hop world, things have toned down; a big part of the music business is now collaboration. Artists, such as West and Jay-Z, are making whole albums together and there is no longer a place for feuds and pettiness. In today’s hip-hop community, the situation appears to be some grown men fighting like children because it seems there is not room for the two of them.