Why Are Tank and Durand Bernarr Beefing? Inside Their R&B Misunderstanding

The R&B crooners may be beefing, but the feud between Tank and Durand Bernarr sounds more like a simple misunderstanding. The tension started after Durand said Tank blocked him over a disagreement about Tevin Campbell’s classic “Can We Talk.” Yes, the drama really came down to vocal keys, runs, and R&B standards.

Tank has had public tension with other R&B artists before. He previously feuded with his former TGT groupmates Tyrese and Ginuwine. TGT, the R&B supergroup made up of Tank, Ginuwine, and Tyrese, hit public rough patches after disagreements over the group’s future and money, according to BET.

Now, he's beefing with Durand. However, the two were able to settle their differences pretty quickly.

Durand Bernarr brought up the situation during a recent appearance on The Joe Budden Podcast. While talking about Tank, Durand said, “Tank don’t like me. Tank got me blocked.” He then explained that the issue allegedly started after Tank posted that singers are not real R&B singers if they cannot sing Tevin's “Can We Talk” in the original key. Durand pushed back because he felt Tank judged singers unfairly.

He recalled saying, “My brother in Christ — you cannot even sing the song in the original key.” Still, Durand made it clear that he was not trying to attack Tank’s overall talent. His larger point was that singers should perform songs in the key that best fits their own voice.

Once the clip made the rounds online, Tank jumped into the conversation. He did not make it sound like he hated Durand. Instead, he said he did not know him well enough to dislike him.

“I don’t know you to dislike you,” Tank wrote on X. “What I do know is that you’re incredibly talented. What you don’t know is that I support and defend you, but we’ll save that for later. If I did block you it was because you were talking s**t.. At least be honest.”

Durand did not drag it out. He responded that he was down to squash the beef. “Broseph I’m down to talk and squash it cause there’s genuinely NO beef on my side,” Durand tweeted.

Tank later shared that he and Durand talked on FaceTime and moved forward with no heavy drama. “We talked for a minute! It’s never that serious and at the end of the day love always wins.. @durandbernarr keep killin! We’ll work soon,” Tank wrote.

Meanwhile, “Can We Talk” truly is a difficult song to sing. Published sheet music lists the song in D minor with a vocal range from D4 to B♭5, which means the singer has to live pretty high vocally and still keep the tone smooth. Babyface and Daryl Simmons wrote and produced “Can We Talk,” and Tevin released it in 1993 as the lead single from I’m Ready. The song became a major hit, reaching No. 1 on Billboard’s R&B chart and No. 9 on the Hot 100.