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Look, as an artist, especially a rapper, I love the competitive edge that exists in hip hop.  Beef has been the source of some of the greatest hip hop songs of all time: “Hit Em Up”, “No Vaseline”, “Ether”, “Piggy Bank”, just to name a few. It’s entertaining and adds a sort of edge that forces listeners to read deeper into the music than sometimes intended. Which, is kiiiind of a good thing because it’s making average listeners tune in a little deeper to the levels of lyricism and structure that exists in rap music. But I digress, I feel Kendrick took those jabs to separate himself from the ‘tripod’ that Drake and J Cole are embracing.  Though they may indeed be the ‘BIG 3′ of active living legends in modern hip hop, that competitive edge has officially kicked in for the enigmatic Kendrick Lamar.  I don’t see this as a diss, but more as a direct,’Im am THE rap God’ type of situation. The only thing I hate is that he initiated it, which gives Drake and J Cole time to strategize a freggin’ Kahmehameha. But Kung Fu Kenny and TDE with Metro Boomin is a left-field collab we didn’t know we needed. And I hate to be a plebian, but I feel lyrically Kendrick will dominate both Cole and Drake. They are masters of wordplay, punchlines, flows but in a smooth punchy way.  Kendrick is relentless lyrically-the delivery, vocal flucuations, manipulation of the english language..likes that can only be toppled by the GOAT WeezyF Baby.  But thats a discussion for another day

Nobody can top Kendrick lyrically. I’d love to see him battle it out with Wayne.

Kendrick rips it here. I think he’s got a lot of integrity, if he’s initiating a beef he’s definitely feeling confident about it.

Future’s verse at the beginning is pretty rough.. he sounds way too high..

 

I was never a fan of Drake. Would probably be a good move for him to ignore it. ‘Like That’ absolutely slaps.

J Cole’s response dropped today. Haven’t listened yet but wanted to share.

and….. J. Cole apologized 😭

“Kendrick Lamar is the Boogieman”

Drake responds … goes hard tbh … Kendrick, your move

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gZ_dJEDJbI

Stay tuned for my overall thoughts on this whole ‘rap beef” situation. It truly is deeper than rap.

But a few things:

1. Yes, Kendrick went crazy. He’s a different beast: pen game, vocal fluctuations, and a history of not being f**ed with.
2. J. Cole was FORCED to respond and his apology and the public response to it, says alot about how we treat the art
3. Competition is cool, but public opinion being the catalyst for two of the greatest in our area to diss each other before they collab is just crazy
4. leaving Drake out of this lol no disrespect but im tired of drake beefs

 

Agreed. The diss came out of nowhere, collab would’ve been great.

Here’s the piece that @indigxld did on the history of the rap beef, from the 1980s all the way to the latest media controversy. It’s a really great read that touches upon all this.. which has continued to unfold even further since we started this discussion.

Rap Beef: The Big Picture
https://extrachill.com/2024/04/rap-beef-the-big-picture-cole-vs-kendrick-vs-drake

And then… another diss from Drake that features AI Snoop Dogg and Tupac verses…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhEiduBxX4c

And… Kanye West got involved

Even Rick Ross…

This is getting pretty wild. I’m sure someone with more knowledge about the subject can drop an assessment, im just gathering the data…

Kendrick dropping another diss, being much more direct and even name dropping sort of seals the deal. No gossip bars. Just his honest opinion, which is much more damaging because he’s saying what we are thinking. IMO Drake has been a bit of a culture vulture and has shapeshifted from ‘pretty boy’ to ‘certified gangsta’. For Kendrick to have his actual CERTIFIED background and affiliations, it means alot for him to pull that card-amongst the several others he dropped throughout the diss track. It takes a certain level of UMPH to name drop and speak on things highly specific to a single person. He exposed the things that we see and ignore because he is ‘Drake’.

HOWEVER, it sucks that this whole ‘legendary (imaginary) beefs’ thing is spreading into country music, afrobeats, etc.  Even Kim K and Taylor swift are beefing. Though I love that Kendrick is proving that its ACTUALLY ‘just big Me’- I hate the domino effect coming with it.

In Summary, Kendrick 21-0

Kendrick Lamar – “Euphoria”

I just had the chance to listen to this. Man, Kendrick Lamar is incredibly talented, and sounds super genuine in this. He sounds like a real ass motherfucker with principles. The attitude is like “bro, fuck off, you aren’t on my level, leave me alone, and here is why.” Then he proceeds to not just say it, but display it.

I hear you about the beef being disappointing. But it’s still pretty fascinating to watch and hear this go down.

And yeah, I mean Drake has always been a “pop-rapper.” The music is catchy and “good” but it also doesn’t have too much lasting value, the songs get old as soon as he has a new hit. It’s just not unique or groundbreaking to me anymore. I was really into Thank Me Later back in high school, I think I found out about him from Lil Wayne in the first place. But I still listen to Lil Wayne. Drake lost me years ago.

Kendrick is a true artist and one of the best that has ever done it.

@indigxld all I can say is holy shit … this goes beyond “rap beef” honestly. This is next level change the world type shit, Kendrick using his platform to speak about things that he’s seen. Comparing Drake to Weinstein and all that… and mentioning Katt Williams seems to suggest that Kendrick has seen the same shit…

We’ve all heard the conspiracy theories …