Anatomy of a rap feud: The real winner of the Kendrick and Drake beef

1 week ago 5

For millions of hip-hop fans astir the world, the past play was an incredibly stressful time.

A simmering feud betwixt the 2 biggest rappers of the past decade, Kendrick Lamar and Drake, went atomic erstwhile some artists dropped intensely idiosyncratic diss tracks that included accusations of grooming, illegitimate children and unit against women, astatine a benignant of frequence designed to interruption the internet.

Drake and Kendrick Lamar person sunk to caller depths of vicious insult.

It felt similar a caller section successful the infamous past of rap beef was being written, released, dissected, and debated successful existent time. The sheer measurement of euphony being released, the presumption and calibre of those progressive and the eye-popping accusations helped nudge the feud into the mainstream portion besides raising questions astir the authenticity of these kinds of battles successful a modern euphony landscape.

How did we get here?

The feud went ballistic astatine the weekend, but there’s a spot of past to the Kendrick-Drake tension. The brace appeared unneurotic connected respective tracks successful the aboriginal 2010s earlier the narration cooled successful 2013. Kendrick’s verse connected a Big Sean way Control called retired his contention astatine the time, including Drake. He past poked amusive astatine the rapper during an onstage show astatine the BET Hip Hop Awards that year: “Nothing’s been the aforesaid since they dropped Control and tucked a delicate rapper backmost successful his pyjama clothes.”

Simpler times. Long earlier their feud Kendrick and Drake would diagnostic connected each others’ records.

But it wasn’t until March of this twelvemonth that the spark was decently lit. Responding to a verse from J.Cole connected Drake’s way First Person Shooter, Kendrick jumped connected Future and Metro Boomin’s Like That and took issues with the proposition that he, Cole and Drake were the 3 biggest names successful rap: “Motherf--k the large three, n---a, it’s conscionable large me.”

From that lyric, a comparatively uncontroversial assertion to beryllium the top rapper of the existent era, a feud was calved that would enactment the full hip-hop satellite connected notice. Cole replied archetypal with a way called 7 Minute Drill before realising helium was successful implicit his head, apologising to Kendrick and deleting the song. Drake retaliated with 2 tracks released successful April – Push Up and Taylor Made Freestyle – the second calling Kendrick retired connected his dilatory effect time: “I conjecture you request different week to fig retired however to improve. What the f--k is taking truthful long? We waitin’ connected you.”

In a lawsuit of beryllium cautious what you privation for, Kendrick replied with 2 tracks—Euphoria and 6:16 successful LA— implicit 4 days betwixt April 30 and May 3. At this stage, astir of the disses each rapper was aiming astatine the different revolved astir their music, their labels and their personas. But things rapidly took a darker turn.

The aforesaid day 6:16 was released, Drake dropped Family Matters, a seven-and-a-half-minute effect that claimed Kendrick was physically abusive to his wife. Twenty minutes aft the merchandise of Family Matters, Kendrick returned service with Meet The Grahams, an arsenic idiosyncratic diss that alleged Drake has a concealed daughter, that helium preys connected underage girls and is moving a sex-trafficking ringing successful his mansion.

On May 4, Kendrick fired disconnected different track, Not Like Us, doubling down connected his accusations that Drake has a past with underage women. Drake re-entered the chat 2 days aboriginal with The Heart Part 6, wherever helium claims to person baited his rival with mendacious accusation astir his girl (“We plotted for a week, and past we fed you the information”) earlier spending 5 minutes defending himself against the accusations helium grooms underage women.

Is this beef overcooked?

Beefs person agelong been portion of the rap game, flaring up each fewer years, often betwixt the 2 astir ascendant artists of the era. The 1990s gave america Tupac vs The Notorious B.I.G., portion the aboriginal 2000s were defined by the conflict betwixt Jay-Z and Nas.

Biggie Smalls (left) and Tupac Shakur (right) had a rap beef that consumed hip-hop successful the 1990s.

Generally considered the 2 biggest beefs of each time, some covered akin ground. There were exaggerated claims of being connected top, homophobic slurs slung backmost and forth, and grandiose threats of unit occasionally rooted successful world (shout retired Who Shot Ya?).

On his 2004 track, Supa Ugly, Jay-Z claimed to person had an alleged three-year-long matter with Nas’ girlfriend, Carmen Bryan. The response? Jay-Z’s mother, Gloria Carter, called into section vigor presumption Hot 97, saying helium should apologise to Nas and his family, which is precisely what helium did.

While undeniably crossing assorted lines, those feuds didn’t rather scope the depths of vicious animosity that Drake and Kendrick person sunk to. Over the people of a fewer days, we person heard the worst benignant of accusations, packaged up and spat retired for amusement – with assorted guiltless parties becoming collateral damage. With each caller track, the barroom for what is passable arsenic a punchline seems to get lower, adjacent arsenic the watercourse number climbs higher.

While it mightiness beryllium a agelong to accidental determination was ever immoderate honour successful rap beef, this feud is opening to consciousness similar a reflection of the astir cynical parts of the modern euphony landscape.

Take the 2 biggest names successful hip-hop, flood the marketplace with a strategical contented rollout that sucks up each the oxygen, propulsion successful capable Easter eggs to reason astir and past ticker the net illness successful connected itself.

One large victor and plentifulness of losers

So overmuch of the speech astir the Kendrick-Drake beef focuses connected who is “winning”, and the statement seems to beryllium that, connected paper, Kendrick, is successful the lead.

But amid each the speech astir which lyrics deed hardest, it’s worthy remembering that some Kendrick and Drake beryllium to the aforesaid label: Universal Music Group.

Kendrick is signed to Interscope, but helium inked a planetary organisation woody with Universal successful 2020. Drake releases nether Republic Records, an imprint of Universal Music Group. Both artists are undoubtedly acceptable to nett handsomely from the hundreds of millions of streams this beef has drawn truthful far, but galore of those dollars volition besides travel into Universal Music’s coffers.

Weighing into the statement implicit the weekend, chap rapper Vince Staples name-checked Taylor Swift arsenic 1 large creator who is utilizing her clout for good, portion Drake and Kendrick yet squabble implicit divided profits.

“Taylor Swift is warring for radical to beryllium capable to person streaming money, [Drake and Kendrick] is connected the net arguing with each different astir immoderate rap s--t,” said Staples.

Rather than get hung up connected the winners, though, this feud volition beryllium remembered for who mislaid out, the collateral harm who ne'er asked to beryllium a portion of rap’s latest civilian war. Kendrick’s wife, Drake’s (maybe real, perchance false) daughter, ex-girlfriends, existent girlfriends, and extended family.

Writing successful The Ringer, Charles Holmes said that “as with astir hip-hop beefs, we’ve ended up wherever we were ever destined to — men utilizing women, wives, babe mothers, parents, and children successful progressively gross and depraved ways to fulfill their rabid egos”.

At 37 and 36 respectively, Drake and Kendrick are grown men with endless resources who person turned a sometimes funny, sometimes sharp, often brutal rap beef into a crippled of schoolyard taunts that nary longer seems to service a greater purpose. There is 1 large victor and a clump of losers, but the 2 protagonists don’t slot into either category.

In The Heart Part 6, Drake raps that “this is astir to get truthful depressing”, but it’s wide to anyone paying attraction that we’re already there.

Find much of the author’s enactment here. Email him astatine thomas.mitchell@smh.com.au oregon travel him connected Instagram astatine @thomasalexandermitchell and connected Twitter @_thmitchell.

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