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The spirit of competition has always fed the beast that is Hip-Hop. Not just anyone could set up a sound system, plug into a streetlight and DJ for the block party.
The streets had to be with you (or else, you’d be risking robbery or bodily harm). Same goes for the rappers who would soon enough come to the forefront. Sure, you might have been friends with the DJ, but the crowd would expeditiouslymake it clear if that alley-oop was either adept curation or “you might want to give up the mic before you get really booed, or jumped” folly. This hierarchy, along with the human propensity for misguided dislike or “hating,” meant that “beef” has long been intrinsic to Hip-Hop’s DNA. Whether for the sake of getting your own time in the spotlight or just letting the listeners know why you’re the better option, the thin line between a friendly feud and cold-blooded animus has always been there.
At its worst, the bitter rivalries led to spilled blood, even homicide (rest in powerful peace Tupac and Biggie). But at its best, which is more common, it spurned innovation and timeless records. Beef has permeated Hip-Hop throughout its 50 years and going life, as covered in By The Numbers: How Rap Beef Affects the Culture and has moved the culture, as noted in It’s What’s For Hip-Hop: 9 Rap Beefs That Shifted Hip-Hop Culture. Also, the tour de force that is Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” makes it clear Hip-Hop will always have an appetite for well-crafted and no holds barred battle.
Back in the early 1990s, before the Internet, artist André LeRoy “A.L. Dre” Davis cooked up a artistic depiction of one of Hip-Hop most infamous if now forgotten beefs—KRS-One vs. PM Dawn. The story goes The Teacha stepped to PM Dawn’s Prince B at a now-shuttered venue in NYC called Sound Factory, and it ended badly for the “Set Adrift” rapper. There were no cell phone cameras in the building 30 or so years ago, so Dre artfully recreated what allegedly went down for The Source magazine, and the rest is history.
So we felt it would be dope to use A.L. Dre’s artwork, with his permission of course, to flip a homage to Hip-Hop for Hip-Hop Wired’s first-ever digital cover. The assignment was understood and executed to perfection.
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There is a thin line between competition and conflict and in the ever-evolving landscape of Rap and Hip-Hop, all it takes is a few words or actions to tilt the scale towards beef.
At their best, the beefs gave us quotables and songs that have become a part of our cultural catalogue from KRS-One’s iconic lines on “The Bridge is Over” or Jay-Z’s jab at Nas’ iconic song “The World is Mine” on “Takeover.” At their worst, the beefs led to violent interactions that served as warnings for the future (rest in powerful peace Tupac Shakur, Christopher Wallace and too many more).
Whether you rooted for the underdog or cheered for the villain, here is a list of nine Hip-Hop beefs that altered the way we listened to the culture’s music to this day.
9. Kool Moe Dee and LL Cool J
Considered by many as one of the first instances of rap beef, the two’s feud not only produced some of the biggest rap moments (Kool Moe Dee’s rap Grammy performance and LL’s Jack the Ripper series), but also set a precedent of using rap disses to enlarge both stars’ brand. For LL, he’d become one of rap’s earliest commercial successes, leading the line of success and respect into the 90s and beyond. His rise also foreshadowed a theme with the pioneer’s anger with younger MC’s who felt slighted by the next generation’s hubris.
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8. Lil’ Kim and Foxy Brown
Kim’s ascent into rap in 1996 alongside the Notorious B.I.G. and Junior Mafia brought a new aesthetic for female rappers as she embraced a more sexual and aggressive energy. Unfortunately, competition between her and fellow Brooklyn rapper Foxy Brown became inevitable as the two traded words over the years on various songs including Kim’s verse on Lil Cease’s 1999 song, “Play Around,” “The Notorious Kim”, and Mobb Deep’s “Quiet Storm Remix”. Foxy’s venomous verse on “Bang Bang” proved prophetic, and the violence and residual tension that followed over the years make it one of rap’s most memorable beefs.
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7. Gucci Mane and Young Jeezy
For these two southern MC’s who have since gone on to rectify their differences, their dispute over Gucci’s first commercial record, “So Icy,” ushered in a flurry of diss records back and forth that escalated to alleged violence off the records. Unfortunately, their antics and the energy behind it ushered in a new dimension of dissing enemies, encapsulated by Gucci’s gesture of smoking on the remains of an enemy, a move he’s since condemned.
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6. LL Cool J and Canibus
For Canibus, the rising phenom in rap at the time, being featured on a song with someone as accomplished as LL Cool J was an honor. His initial verse on the posse cut, “4,3,2,1,” however innocent, prompted LL’s furious response, and the records that followed only made LL’s battle rap status grow larger. Canibus’ “Second Round KO” and L’s “The Ripper Strikes Back” also introduced whether fans preferred battle records from overtly lyrical rappers or more commercially renowned artists.
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5. 2Pac and The Notorious B.I.G.
Largely remembered for the shocking claims made by 2Pac against Biggie on the song “Hit Em Up”, the primarily one-sided beef spurred a slew of responses from Biggie and others, both directly and subliminally which fueled the environment that led to their untimely deaths. The behind-the-scenes antics between Bad Boy Records and Death Row only exacerbated the tension and forced former friends to cross all types of lines that rap had yet to see before then.
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4. Jay-Z and Nas
After years of tension and perceived disrespect, Jay-Z and Nas’ early 2000s beef produced two of rap’s biggest diss records, “Takeover” and “Ether,” and simultaneously added to both stars’ classic repertoire of albums and songs. Despite the propensity for violence that existed, both men’s decisions to end their issue and work together represented a rare display of maturity, unlike anything we’d seen at that time for stars of their magnitude.
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3. Ja Rule and 50 Cent
Arguably one of the most influential rap beefs of the early 2000s, 50 Cent’s and Ja’s behind-the-scenes issues spilt onto the national stage when 50 attacked Ja multiple times on his debut album, Get Rich or Die Tryin’. 50’s unrelenting vendetta against Ja and Murder Inc. successfully made him a legend in many eyes and all but erased the stellar run of one of rap’s most influential and successful rap labels. Despite both artists moving on to different endeavours, the beef between them remains one of rap’s most noticeable land mines, going off at least once a year on social media without fail.
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2. Ice Cube and N.W.A
In the eyes of many rap fans including Cube himself, his 1991 diss response “No Vaseline” is arguably the most known and well-crafted. Before rap fans became accustomed to the idea of a 20 v 1 type battle, Cube took it upon himself to diss his former group N.W.A singlehandedly, so much so that they decided not to respond. At the top of his game both critically and commercially, his diss carried the same weight as Jay-Z and Nas with a level of sophistication and execution that has yet to be reached by a diss record since.
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1. Kendrick Lamar and Drake
Much like how Jay-Z and Nas’ beef festered over the years before exploding onto the scene, Kendrick and Drake’s feud following his verse on Big Sean’s “Control” grew, culminating in years of subliminal jabs. Kendrick’s feature on the Future and Metro Boomin’ single, “Like That” forced both sides into the competition and from there, we got more rap disses in a week than we’d ever seen from two competitors. The speed of their releases, rollout strategies and cleverness upped the ante for rap feuds that typically played out over time and showed us the lyrical brilliance of both camps regardless of who you felt was the victor.
Culturally, the response to Kendrick’s song, “Not Like Us” both online and during Kendrick’s Juneteenth concert, continues the communal call-and-response aspect of rap disses that we’ve loved since its inception. In a short amount of time Not Like Us has become a rap anthem and one of the year’s most streamed songs, much like Drake’s Back to Back became a Grammy-nominated song.
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Ma$e is currently the co-host of the It Is What It Is podcast with Cam’Ron, a long way from his time playing basketball and rising in the Hip-Hop ranks while in Harlem. On his podcast, Murder Ma$e shared details of beef he had with the late Big L, who allegedly set up the former Bad Boy Records rapper to be robbed.
On the Wednesday (June 26) episode of It Is What It Is, Ma$e, real name Mason Betha, told the tale of the beef he had with Big L. According to the Harlem World rapper, Big L reportedly stole lyrics from him and he decided to confront the Diggin In The Crates member.
Betha then says that after confronting the “Put It On” artist, he was at the famed Tunnel nightclub and said Fat Joe approached him to attempt to absolve himself of the beef. Later, Betha said that while walking in Harlem with former NBA player and current NBA coach God Shammgod, he was wearing his first Rolex watch.
He goes on to say that a person brandishing a weapon trained the gun on Shammgod and demanded Betha give up the watch. After contemplating running away, Betha said he threw the watch on the ground with him and Shammgod taking off.
The robber was reportedly located in jail and was served a little street justice inside the big house according to Ma$e.
On X, formerly Twitter, fans are reacting to the details of the story. We’ve got reactions from all sides below.
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Source: Rolling Stone / Getty / Yungeen Ace
It didn’t take long for Julio Foolio’s death to take an interesting turn.
Rapper Julio Foolio became another victim of senseless gun violence over the weekend when he was shot and killed on his 26th birthday.
Another rapper, Yungeen Ace, threw more fire onto the situation, releasing a new video for an old “diss track” named “Do It, which some believe is aimed at the dead rapper.
In the video, a hooded person can be seen being shot and being relieved of his jewelry.
Per The Vibe, on the song Ace raps:
“Seven days a week, we run this bi**h, we spinnin’/ Any day this week, I bet a ni**a come up missin’/ Ni**a better stay on point (What), he better not be out here slippin’/ Ayy, let’s call his bi**h, these bi**hes up in here/ Ayy, ni**a be tryin’ and sh*t, ni**a be dyin’ and sh*t, uh, uh/ Tell him go free that h* ‘fore Tillie go blam the bi**h, uh, uh.”
In a deleted post on X, formerly Twitter, right after word hit the internet of Julio Foolio’s death, Yungeen Ace wrote, “That boy going back the same day he came in *crying laughing emoji*.”
Yungeen Ace & Julio Foolio’s Beef Timeline
According to The Vibe, the two rappers’ issues stem from a larger beef involving Ace’s crew ATK and Foolio’s crew KTA. Things escalated when Ace appeared on SpinaBenz’s record “Who I Smoke.”
In the song, Ace mentions several of Foolio’s dead associates.
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Foolio quickly responded with “When I See You,” in the song, he featured audio from the news coverage of Ace’s brother’s death.
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Just ridiculous. Of course, the internet is still talking about this sad situation.
Hit the gallery below for those reactions.
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Julio Foolio, a Florida rapper who had issues with other artists in the state, was shot and killed outside a Florida hotel. According to chatter online, Julio Foolio reportedly shared his location, leading to the deadly ambush.
According to local outlet First Coast News, Julio Foolio, who hails from Jacksonville, Fla., was in Tampa celebrating his birthday at various locations around town. Social media chatter is suggesting Foolio, real name Charles Jones II, shared his location to a Tampa area hotel. The outlet also reports that Foolio was active on social media over the weekend and advertised a pool party in the region.
Tampa Police Department officials report that the shooting took place at a Home2 Suites hotel location early Sunday around 4:40 AM local time. Two cars parked at the hotel’s parking lot were riddled with gunfire and four people were reported injured with one deceased which was later identified to be the rapper.
Fans of Foolio and rapper Yungeen Ace are well aware that the pair are part of rival gang factions. Foolio was reportedly a member of the KTA gang while Ace is said to be a member of ATK. For years, the pair have gone back and forth with each other stemming back to the 2017 shooting death of Zion Brown, Foolio’s cousin. More details can be found in this 2021 article from First Coast News.
On X, formerly Twitter, fans and observers alike are speaking up about the shooting death of Julio Foolio while closely monitoring the socials of Yungeen Ace and others connected to that scene. We’ve got all the reactions listed below.
Julio Foolio was 26.
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No story in music this year has been more all-consuming than the ongoing beef between superstar rappers Drake and Kendrick Lamar (and a whole lot of supporting characters) — and this week, on the chart dated May 18, the Billboard Hot 100 properly reflects the drama’s cultural dominance.
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Three songs from the two feuding artists hit the chart’s top 10 this week, led by Lamar’s No. 1-debuting “Not Like Us” and also including Kendrick Lamar’s “Euphoria” (No. 3) and Drake’s “Family Matters” (No. 7) — while a fourth, Lamar’s “Meet the Grahams,” bows just outside the region at No. 12. The entrance of “Not Like Us” has been particularly explosive, as the climactic diss cut tops the chart with just five full days of consumption to its credit for the tracking week (ending May 9), still amassing over 70 million official on-demand U.S. streams for the period, according to Luminate.
What contributed to “Not Like Us” being such a runaway hit? And what does its success mean for both its performer and its subject moving forward? Billboard staffers discuss these questions and more below.
1. “Not Like Us” posts historic streaming numbers on its way to a Hot 100 No. 1 debut — already Lamar’s second this year from this extended beef alone — while already burrowing its way deep into pop culture. Is this already the biggest diss track you can remember from your lifetime?
Kyle Denis: Easily. The only two that come relatively close are Pusha T’s “The Story of Adidon” and Remy Ma’s “Shether,” but the cultural imapct and legacy of those songs far outweigh their commercial success. I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention Drake’s own “Back to Back” — I fondly remember yelling, “Is that a world tour or your girl’s tour?” all summer ‘15.
Angel Diaz: The only other diss track with this kind of impact was Nas’ “Ether.” That was such a seismic shift in the game, the song’s title became a verb that’s still used 20-something years later. Mustard’s production and the chorus will stand the test of time. Expect to hear “they not like us” a bunch during the college football and basketball seasons.
Carl Lamarre: I’m old enough to have experienced Jay-Z vs. Nas and 50 Cent vs. Ja Rule in real time — but this particular feud has the advantage over those because of the advent of social media. Watching these records fall from the sky and instantly seeing real-time reactions amplified the pressure and momentum of this battle. Fans were huddling around this social media bonfire, clamoring for more, exchanging thoughts and conspiracies in such a short time — and it all climaxed with the ecstatic response to Kendrick’s death blow. Even in past beefs Drake had with Meek and Pusha, neither opponent was as big as Kung Fu Kenny, and certainly neither had a record as big as “Not Like Us.”
Jason Lipshutz: Quantitatively, probably! Diss tracks didn’t tend to top the Hot 100 prior to 2024, a.k.a. The Year of Beef Cuts, and “Not Like Us” starts with far bigger streams than Megan Thee Stallion’s “Hiss” or Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That” (although time will tell whether “Not Like Us” can stick as long at No. 1 as Kendrick’s three-week chart-topping opening diss). In terms of its stature, however, we’ll need some time to see how “Not Like Us” endures as a standalone single, removed from the context of this Kendrick-Drake diss deluge. Maybe “Not Like Us” gets lumped into the multi-track back-and-forth historically, or maybe it will stand on its own as Lamar’s pop smash with the sharpest edges. Too early to tell for me, but signs point toward “Not Like Us” separating itself from the other recent Kendrick (and Drake) songs commercially.
Andrew Unterberger: Absolutely — that is, unless you expand beyond hip-hop and consider Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License,” one of the only songs this decade (beef or no) to approximate Lamar’s breakaway momentum here. And honestly, even then, “Not Like Us” might still have the advantage.
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2. Obviously there had already been no shortage of memorable and massively consumed back and forth musical moments from this feud, dating back to the first chart-topping blast with “Like That” a month and a half ago. What about “Not Like Us,” either in its content or its timing, do you think was the biggest factor in it hitting an even-higher commercial level than this feud had previously reached?
Kyle Denis: If you’re looking for a perfect storm, “Not Like Us” is it. The timing of the drop was perfect. Kendrick was able to capture the zeitgeist before the “let’s move on” takes started pouring in, and he was also able to quickly build on the momentum of his other culture-shifting diss tracks. You couple that with Mustard’s infectious string-laden beat, a K.Dot cadence that leans more into his West Coast bag than most of his recent output, and a bevy of quotables that double as damning disses – you’ve got a winner.
I think the key difference with “Not Like Us” is that Kendrick made an anthem that people could rally around. Obviously, the West Coast was always going to eat this song up, but by using “Not Like Us” to draw an “us vs. them” line in the sand between Drake and his fans and the rest of hip-hop culture, Kendrick forced people to pick a side and stand tall in that decision. “Not Like Us” rejects ambivalence, either you’re on Kendrick’s side and what he stands for or you’re on the side deemed “certified pedophiles.” Of course, it also helped that Drake didn’t deliver a pop-facing, anthemic hit of his own, leaving room for Kendrick to swoop in and beat him at his own game.
Angel Diaz: The content is almost secondary as to why people enjoy the song. There are those who have prayed for Drake’s downfall and there are others who doubted Kendrick’s ability to make a certified banger. The Compton rapper managed both in this instance. He tripled down on Drake’s rumored age-gap dating habits and used a culturally traditional West Coast sound to further dissect his foe’s overall character and place in rap music. No one expected Lamar to drop something as high energy as “Not Like Us” after the very dark and dramatic “Meet the Grahams” a day earlier.
Carl Lamarre: Kendrick playing chess and using Drake’s strengths against him. K. Dot’s approach in this battle was slow and methodical, like a horror film, and “Not Like Us” was the shocking climax nobody saw coming. He made a West Coast anthem with a DJ Mustard-produced beat that wasn’t only memorable because of the witty catchphrases (“69 God” and “OV-Hoe”), but it placed him out of his element. This knockout blow showcased Kendrick’s proper Gemini side and why we can’t rule out the unexpected when dealing with him.
Jason Lipshutz: “Not Like Us” was released as both a knockout punch and celebration, capping off Kendrick’s speed-bag treatment of Drake’s reputation with his most immediate pop hook in years, a ton of quotable new takedowns and a springy club track courtesy of Mustard. If “Not Like Us” was released at the beginning or in the middle of the Kendrick-Drake back-and-forth, the song’s context changes — but Lamar positioned the track as a victory lap following “Like That,” “Euphoria,” “6:16 in LA” and “Meet the Grahams,” the majority of which were more academic in their personal eviscerations. So really, it was both content and timing that helped elevate “Not Like Us,” and eclipse Lamar’s other diss tracks on the charts.
Andrew Unterberger: It’s the beat and the hook. Lamar’s verses are also largely on point, but they were on “Meet the Grahams” and “Euphoria” too; what sets “Not Like Us” apart commercially is the same thing that initially put “Like That” over the top: It’s just an absolutely killer single by any measure. You could — and by now many doubt have — hear the song blaring out of a car window or in the background at a bar or even through supermarket speakers with no prior knowledge of the feud and think the same thing everyone else did the first time they heard it: “Wow this song rules.” Personally, I was sure from the first second that the strings entered in the intro that this was gonna be the biggest and longest-lasting song from this entire cultural moment.
3. A trio of other Drake-Kendrick Lamar songs from the feud also appear in this week’s top 15: Kendrick’s “Euphoria” (No. 3) and “Meet the Grahams” (No. 12) and Drake’s “Family Matters” (No. 7). Which of the three do you think will prove the most enduring beyond their first week of release and initial excitement over the back-and-forth?
Kyle Denis: I don’t think any of the three songs end up enduring hits, but I’ll give the edge to “Euphoria,” which already has a slew of lines going viral on TikTok and boasts a more radio-ready tempo than “Meet the Grahams.” In that vein, “Grahams” is probably too incisive of a track to become a legitimate hit song, not to mention there’s no hook and it’s the slowest of the three tracks. As for “Family Matters,” it’s a really great track, but I don’t really see a world in which the loser of the beef still squeezes a hit single out of it. Then again, if anyone can do that, it’s Drake.
Angel Diaz: “Family Matters” is the easier listen. Drake is good at that. But: I gave “Meet the Grahams” the car test over the weekend and it gave me chills. I almost wish Drake broke “Family Matters” up into three different songs. I’m not sure if I’ll go back to any of them on a regular basis and while the Toronto rapper’s song is a quality track, it just doesn’t hit the same after what transpired immediately after.
Carl Lamarre: Though “Meet the Grahams” was surgical and exuded Stephen King vibes, “Family Matters” is arguably Drake’s best record in years. From the beat switches to the myriad of flows he had on display, had that song dropped after “Grahams” or didn’t experience any disruption at its release, it could have given Drake “More Life” in this heavyweight match.
Jason Lipshutz: Probably “Euphoria,” which has shown that it has legs on streaming platforms beyond the initial shock of hearing a no-holds-barred six-minute-plus Drake takedown upon its release. Think of “Euphoria” as the yin to the “Not Like Us’” yang, the more stream-of-consciousness version of Lamar’s rap theatrics compared to his radio-ready side — which has also proven to cater to a sizable audience over the past decade. I’d guess that clubs will continue to play “Not Like Us,” while wordplay obsessives will continue to pore over every word of “Euphoria,” in the coming weeks and months.
Andrew Unterberger: Can I vote for “Meet the Grams,” the viral mashup of the beat from “Meet the Grahams” with the vocal from Pusha T’s own Drake-toppling classic “The Story of Adidon”? It feels impossibly right, and I’ve already listened to it more than either of the tracks it’s formed from.
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4. While Kendrick Lamar has already scored No. 1 songs and albums and been one of the consensus greatest rappers alive for over a decade already, this still feels like a new mainstream peak for him. What kind of impact, if any, do you see this recent success having on his career over the next few years?
Kyle Denis: I think that almost totally depends on the style of music he chooses to make. He’s done the pop collabs successfully, he has scores of crossover hip-hop hits, he’s done the big-budget movie soundtrack thing flawlessly – when he wants to meet the mainstream where it’s at, he always wins. Even when he forces the mainstream to meet him where he’s at, as he did with 2022’s Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, he still pulls off Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hits, worldwide arena tours and robust streaming and pure sales numbers.
At the very least, these recent chart wins will likely line him up for a handsome streaming debut whenever he decides to drop a new LP. There’s also something to be said about this beef causing a generation of listeners who only experienced Mr. Morale in real time to go back and discover the Lamar albums they were too young to take in upon release.
Angel Diaz: Word on the street is that he’s dropping a project this year, so it all depends on if this next album delivers. Jay and Nas dropped The Blueprint and Stillmatic, respectively, during their legendary beef, and both albums are considered classics — with the former widely thought of as an all-timer. If Kendrick drops another classic, the Best Rapper Alive title won’t be leaving Compton for the foreseeable future.
Carl Lamarre: Eyes will be on both Kendrick and Drake, and for obvious reasons. For Kendrick, it’ll be interesting to see if he’ll return to his 2017 bag, where DAMN proved to be his colossal mainstream win, etching out “HUMBLE” — his last solo Hot 100 chart-topper before “Not Like Us” — and his highest opening-week numbers on the Billboard 200 with 603,000 album equivalent units. The bigger question will be: With the battle behind him, can he make records without uttering The Boy’s name and still garner as much interest and attention within his music?
Jason Lipshutz: It’s a great question, and it’s impossible to answer, considering how mercurial Kendrick has proven as a mainstream star over the course of his career. Could “Not Like Us” inspire a run of hard-edged pop singles that continues to flex his muscle on the charts and capture more of Drake’s territory? Will his next album completely eschew this beef, and follow the more insular streak of Mr. Morale? Maybe we simply don’t hear from Kendrick for multiple years after this, considering the extended break before that last album! Kendrick Lamar remains one of our most exciting superstars because of the inherent unpredictability of his artistry, so when prognosticating how this beef affects his future, the answer has to be: TBD.
Andrew Unterberger: I think his first-week ceiling should certainly be higher on his next full-length release than it would be otherwise following the commercially underwhelming (though by this point, fairly underrated) Mr. Morale. But whether he continues having smashes like this from here is entirely up to him; Kendrick has proven on numerous occasions throughout his run that he can produce crowd-pleasers when he wants, he’s just had different priorities a lot of the time. (Which, for the record, is also one of the reasons it hits so hard when he does give the people a proper banger or two.)
5. Meanwhile, Drake has taken perhaps the biggest blow of his career by finding himself the loser of the feud not just among hip-hop heads and tastemakers but among the general public — and on the charts specifically, where Drake rarely loses to anyone. What kind of lasting impact, if any, do you see this loss having on his commercial success moving forward?
Kyle Denis: I think Drake may have a bit of a commercial dip in the coming months, but that’s truly nothing a danceable summer hit or two can’t fix. The real blow for Drake here is where he stands culturally. It’s cool to dunk on Drizzy again. When the No. 1 song in the country is calling you and your affiliates pedophiles and bastardizing the name of your record label, it’s clear that your public perception has drastically shifted. How does Drake regain his cool factor without the cultural/sonic philandering he’s been criticized for throughout this beef? That’s for him to figure out and for us to evaluate when the time comes.
Angel Diaz: Fans have been turning on Drake since Views dropped in 2016. They’ve felt that he’s been in autopilot for far too long. Hopefully the turmoil he finds himself in today will motivate him to challenge himself. He did that with Honestly, Nevermind, but was criticized for not rapping enough and was goaded into releasing For All the Dogs by fans and pundits. I think he’ll be fine commercially in the long run, but this rap thing has never been just about sales. His image took a major blow culturally and that’s something I’m not sure he’ll ever be able to fix.
Carl Lamarre: Zero because soccer moms, teens, and college kids will continue to stream his music and buy his albums as long as he churns out “One Dance” and “Hotline Bling” caliber records. That fanbase was unaffected by Kendrick’s demolition derby and isn’t keen on Drake’s standing within The Culture. He’ll be OK if he can keep the mainstream American singing and dancing.
Jason Lipshutz: Very little, actually! Drake’s reputation has taken a massive hit, but if he drops a new proper single or album in the near future, I’d still expect No. 1 debuts across the board. Real hip-hop fans might look less favorably upon Drake after his skirmish, but he also maintains an enormous base of pop listeners, and remains a giant streaming presence; in spite of the narrative of Kendrick’s lyrical K.O., a slightly weakened Drake is still a superstar.
Andrew Unterberger: At the beginning, I thought there was no way this feud would have any lasting impact on Drake’s commercial fortunes — now I’m not so sure. I do think the answer here is, in many ways, still largely up to Drake and how well he responds to the outcome here. Ironically, the most valuable lesson he can take away from all this is one implied by Kendrick himself on “Euphoria”: It’s time to focus on Drake With the Melodies and not on Tough-Acting Drake. The latter’s been too compromised; the former will always be welcome.
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Questlove opined on the ongoing beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar but some fans called his statements dramatic after the war of words largely concluded. The veteran drummer from The Roots band believed that the battle between the two titans took nasty turns, thus signaling a death knell for Hip-Hop.
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, 53, took to social media to issue one of the loudest detracting statements yet to emerge against what is one of the biggest Hip-Hop beef battles in the history of the genre.
“Nobody won the war,” Questlove opened his statement with. “This wasn’t about skill. This was a wrestling match level mudslinging and takedown by any means necessary — women & children (& actual facts) be damned.”
The statement continued with “Same audience wanting blood will soon put up ‘rip’ posts like they weren’t part of the problem. Hip Hop truly is dead.”
The caption of the Instagram post with the statement read “Here We Are Now…Entertain us?,” which seems to be aimed at Drake and Kendrick Lamar.
As it stands, K-Dot doesn’t seem to want any manner of reconciliation with Drizzy and said as much on the track “euphoria” where the Compton lyricist rapped, “Whoever that’s f*ckin’ with him, f*ck you n*ggas, and f*ck the industry too” and once more on “Not Like Us” with the lines, “The industry can hate me, f*ck ’em all and they mama.”
As far as responses go, Drake’s last missive was “The Heart Part 6” and the two have left it at that. The Canadian superstar is contending with other issues after a security guard was shot outside his home in a drive-by shooting along with another incident in which a man was arrested for trying to break into the the massive mansion.
On X, formerly Twitter, the comments from Questlove garnered some sharp responses. However, we’ve got reactions from all sides below.
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From the looks of it, the dust has settled in the lyrical war between Drake and Kendrick Lamar after the general consensus is that the Compton MC emerged victorious after a furious diss track back-and-forth. But the collateral damage from one of the fiercest bar beatdowns in recent history continues to spill out. On Tuesday, […]
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Drake has responded to Kendrick Lamar as some expected with “The Heart Part 6,” adding new fuel to their explosive feud. In the track, the Canadian superstar addresses the accusations of being romantically involved with minors and more and fans on Xitter are wondering if it’s enough.
I want to speak as myself for a minute and express that I have never cared less about a rap beef. I find nothing exciting, interesting, or enthralling about two Black titans of the culture fighting and exposing each other. What is the end goal? It does nothing for the greater good. And, as Vince Stapes said, this is only aiding a particular segment of the industry and certainly not the creators. Anyway, let’s get into this newest salvo from Drake.
Titling the response “The Heart Part 6” is clearly taking a page out of Kendrick Lamar and his “The Heart” series, and directly addresses some of the heinous acts that K-Dot accused Drizzy of.
From “The Heart Part 6”:
The Pulitzer Prize winner is definitely spiralin’I got your fucking lines tapped, I swear that I’m dialed inFirst, I was a rat, so where’s the proof of the trial then?Where’s the paperwork or the cabinet it’s filed in?1090 Jake would’ve took all the walls downThe streets would’ve had me hidin’ out in a small townMy Montreal connects stand up, not fall downThe ones that you’re gettin’ your stories from, they all clownsI am a war gеneral, seasoned in prеparationMy jacket is covered in medals, honor and decorationYou waited for this moment, overcome with the desperationWe plotted for a week and then we fed you the informationA daughter that’s eleven years old, I bet he takes itWe thought about giving a fake name or a destinationBut you so thirsty, you not concerned with investigationInstead you in Advantage Studio, it’s a celebration
Considering that Kendrick Lamar seemingly has a lot of contempt for Drake, most fans are expecting a response from that side very soon. As it stands, fans of the pair of siding with their faves while detractors are taking their positions as expected. We’ve got reactions from X, formerly Twitter, from all sides below along with the track in question.
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Kendrick Lamar and Drake have engaged in an explosive back-and-forth that took a dark turn according to some observers but the onslaught is far from over. Fresh from dropping the blistering “Meet The Grahams” track, Kendrick Lamar took aim Drake and doubled down on some serious allegations with “Not Like Us.”
Produced by DJ Mustard, “Not Like Us” delivers what some are considering the first of the series of Lamar’s diss tracks to take a sonic approach that might end up getting burn outside of content creator streaming channels and the headphones of dedicated fans.
Unlike the sinister “Meet The Grahams,” “Not Like Us” is a far more upbeat affair but still maintains the intensity from the previously released diss tracks with K-Dot not taking his foot up off the gas even in the slightest.
From “Not Like Us”:
Say, Drake, I hear you like ’em youngYou better not ever go to cell block oneTo any b*tch that talk to him and they in loveJust make sure you hide your lil’ sister from himThey tell me Chubbs the only one that get your hand-me-downsAnd Party at the party, playin’ with his nose nowAnd Baka got a weird case, why is he around?Certified Lover Boy? Certified pedophilesWop, wop, wop, wop, wop, Dot, f*ck ’em upWop, wop, wop, wop, wop, I’ma do my stuffWhy you trollin’ like a b*tch? Ain’t you tired?Tryna strike a chord and it’s probably A-Minor
Honing in on the allegations that Drake has targeted younger women, K-Dot delivered the “A-Minor” in an extended sing-song fashion that was designed to cut deep. The bars above also take digs at the Canadian superstar’s head of security, Chubbs, PartyNextDoor, and Baka Not Nice, who reportedly forced a woman into prostitution and later plead guilty to assault and other charges back in 2015.
Although some fans thought Drizzy delivered a valiant effort with “Family Matters,” the pendulum is swinging in the direction of Kendrick Lamar, especially given the fact he took his time in responding to the earlier jabs but has unloaded the full clip.
On X, formerly Twitter, the debate of who is winning the battle rages on and we’ve got comments from all sides below.
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