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After Kendrick dropped “Euphoria,” it was clear that this was going to be different from other rap beefs. Well, except for one: When Pusha T and Drake got into their beef, Pusha worked to methodically break down exactly why he believes Drake is not who he portrays himself to be. In an interview with L.A.’s Big Boy, Pusha said his disses against Drake were “speaking about the character of a man.”

Kendrick picked up with Pusha left off, putting everything on the table, including Drake’s predictability, his relationship with J. Prince, the women he chases, his mixed race and his character. Kendrick’s message to Drake was basically: stay on the pop side of things and leave this rap s–t alone, because you’re no longer welcome. The line “Keep makin’ me dance, wavin’ my hand, and it won’t be no threat” drives that point home.

This motif was used in every song Kenny dropped on Drake’s head. In “6:16 in LA,” Kendrick plays mind games, as he not only uses a timestamp and location for the song’s title like Drake does whenever he feels like being introspective, but he plants seeds about a mole inside his rival’s camp. There’s the song’s artwork, featuring a black leather Maybach glove, and then there are lines like, “Have you ever thought that OVO is workin’ for me?” as he warns Drake about his entourage. Lamar also alludes to the Canadian rapper offering money for intel on Kendrick, something Pusha T accused Drake of doing during their spat.  

And we haven’t even gotten to “Meet the Grahams,” which includes artwork that is at the center of a very weird controversy as we speak, catapulting this beef into a rabbit hole of dark web conspiracies and connections to the NYC ballroom scene. This song itself manages to be even more sinister, as Kendrick speaks to each member of Drake’s immediate family (including an alleged hidden 11-year-old daughter) over haunting Alchemist production. Yet despite all that, what will be best remembered about “Meet the Grahams” was how Lamar used the track to spoil Drake’s “Family Matters” release, by tweeting out the YouTube link about a half hour after Drake posted his song and video.  

The lore behind this record will be told to generations, and it will be remembered as one of the craziest, most evil diss records in rap history. Kendrick managed to create “Ether 2.0″: Rappers must now be worried about getting Meet-the-Grahamed out here. This was Omar walking down the block with the shottie hidden in the trench coat. This was the boogeyman in the flesh.  

05/10/2024

The YSL rapper connects with Normani, Roddy Ricch and more.

05/10/2024

The war between Drake and Kendrick Lamar is in full swing after both men gave fans one of the most historic days in hip-hop on Friday (May 3). The “Poetic Justice” collaborators delivered vicious diss tracks aimed at each other in what can be considered the second round of their heavyweight bout. In round one, […]

They say styles make fights. What we’re seeing here are two rappers standing on top of the game at different sides of the spectrum. There’s Drake, the hitmaking machine who’s never backed down from a challenge. Then there’s Kendrick, the more complicated lyricist who’s managed to collect plaques without chasing commercial appeal, but someone who […]

Vallenato, a folkloric genre with roots in the department of Cesar, northern Colombia, has seen many artists take its essence beyond their homeland. Taking as a basis its typical instruments, such as the accordion, the snare drum, and the guacharaca — and adding modern musical arrangements that have given it a contemporary sound — artists […]

Dua Lipa is looking for love. Not some sort of toxic fling or fleeting romance — she wants real, old-school love. “We all got too many options/ Remember when we used to do anything for love?” she asks on “Anything for Love,” her mid-tempo breakdown track that appears toward the end of Radical Optimism, Lipa’s […]

17 days after Drake’s “Push Ups” diss track leaked, Kendrick Lamar rose from the ashes to unleash “Euphoria.” “Euphoria” — also the title, of course, of the hit HBO show where Drake serves as an executive producer — hit K. Dot’s YouTube channel early Tuesday (April 30) to send the rap world into a frenzy. […]

Future has evolved into one of rap’s dignitaries in the 2010s as he’s put up seven straight No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200. Pluto broke out with a syrupy assist on YC’s “Racks” and earned an early Hot 100 hit in October 2012 with “Turn On the Lights.” DJ Khaled has repeatedly recruited Future […]

04/25/2024

The buried gems worth unearthing from our favorite albums of 20 years ago.

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Katie Atkinson, Eric Renner Brown, Kyle Denis, Thom Duffy, Jason Lipshutz, Rebecca Milzoff, Isabela Raygoza, Dan Rys, Michael Saponara, Damien Scott, Andrew Unterberger, Christine Werthman

04/25/2024

04/23/2024

Our favorite songs from a year that redefined rock, rap, pop and R&B for the 2000s.

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Katie Atkinson, Katie Bain, Eric Renner Brown, Anna Chan, Hannah Dailey, Stephen Daw, Kyle Denis, Angel Diaz, James Dinh, Chris Eggertsen, Thom Duffy, Griselda Flores, Rylee Johnston, Jason Lipshutz, Joe Lynch, Heran Mamo, Rebecca Milzoff, Taylor Mims, Gail Mitchell, Melinda Newman, Isabela Raygoza, Jessica Roiz, Dan Rys, Michael Saponara, Damien Scott, Andrew Unterberger, Christine Werthman

04/23/2024