Drake and Kendrick Lamar have produced the most culturally captivating rap feud since Jay Z versus Nas. This beef has had all the bells and whistles from chart-topping hits to open letters with an eerie looping piano as the backdrop.
Lamar has placed himself at the top of the big three, which encompasses himself, J. Cole and Drake. However, the fallout of this battle has far more fascinating implications than deciding the podium order of rap. The aftermath of this clash will be vital to the current era of hip-hop, as it will decide the importance of rap battles and define their presentation in this chapter of the genre’s history.
Drake has been dealt several losses before his battle with Kendrick Lamar – some that would be monumental for any other rapper.
Although victorious in his battle with Meek Mill, he would never be able to escape the accusations of reliance on ghostwriters levied against him by the Philadelphia emcee.
Joe Budden accused Drake of using artists on his label to bolster his own career rather than helping them advance their own.
“We want a Party album, but you keep stealing all of Party’s album to go and put it on your party album,” Budden rapped on his 2016 diss track Wake.
The surfacing of the PartyNextDoor reference tracks for several Drake songs over the years such as Legend, Company and Ratchet Happy Birthday made Budden’s jab more valid.
Pusha T on his 2018 diss track The Story of Adidon would unveil that Drake had a child with an adult entertainment actress and planned to reveal this child in a rollout for an Adidas press run.
“Adonis is your son, he deserves more than an Adidas press run // Love that baby, respect that girl // Forget she’s a pornstar, let her be your world,” Pusha rapped.
Despite having his integrity as a creative and a father called into question – and a hidden child revealed to the world – Drake saw no real change to his career. For most rappers these blows would be impaling, but to the self-proclaimed “6 God,” as they were merely chinks in his armor.
Not returning fire after such scathing diss tracks in the 90’s or 2000’s would have been debilitating for the public image of a rapper as big as Drake. In today’s hip-hop where streaming reigns supreme and the attention span of the public is far lower, battling when there is minimal gain doesn’t hold the same importance it once did. Drake himself acknowledges this on his 2016 single 4PM in Calabasas.
“I got a lot to lose ‘cause in every situation I’m the bigger artist // Always gotta play it smarter” Drake rapped.
In a genre that upon inception placed emphasis on competition, a rapper being able to maintain the image of being a lyricist while backing out of battles through sheer size of audience is unusual. Kendrick Lamar, however, is a large enough artist to clear this hurdle.
Lamar has played the numbers game with Drake and won, most notably in 2017 when DAMN had a bigger debut and recorded higher traditional album sales than More Life. This in combination with the numerous subliminal shots the two have taken at each other for over a decade built anticipation so lofty that Drake ignoring it would’ve been detrimental to his legacy.
His choice to respond to Lamar however could prove equally as detrimental. In meet the grahams, Lamar accused Drake of being an absent father to a hidden daughter along with pedophilia, sex trafficking and having sex offenders on his payroll. The dissection of Drake’s familial woes and implications of generational trauma molding him into a substance abusing narcissist didn’t help matters.
This song being dropped mere minutes after Drake’s Family Matters derailed all momentum he had, and shifted the focus from Drake’s accusations of Lamar being a domestic abuser. Lamar dropping Not Like Us furthered this by doubling down on the accusations of sex crimes with a club banger that even Lebron James would be seen dancing to.
Not Like Us debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 charts and took the internet by storm with memes and TikToks aplenty being made to the song. Lamar had effectively routed Drake on both the charts and the internet. With both of these arenas being Drake’s usual forte, he had essentially lost home court advantage.
Given the overwhelmingly negative public response to Drake’s response The Heart Part 6, he doesn’t play well on the road. The aftermath of this battle has proven that in order for a battle to do real damage to either rapper it must be contented between two of close or equal magnitudes. Lamar said nothing new – and the claim of Drake having a hidden daughter haven’t been proven true. However, Lamar being closer to Drake in fame allowed their battle.
No battle in hip-hop history has had accusations of such severity set the tone. Although Drake was forced to attempt to outrap one of the greatest rappers ever, lyricism was no longer the focus. What held the interest of the public was two biggest artists in the game having an extremely personal yet public confrontation that had been building for 11 years. If this becomes the blueprint for battles to come, scandal reveals rather than lyrical competition will be the crux of them. Whether the increase in publicity this brings to hip-hop is ultimately good or bad, only time will decide.
Micheal Jacobs III is a staff writer for The Palmetto. He thinks Jordan versus LeBron is the most overrated debate ever. His main focuses are music, basketball and combat sports. If you have a comment or tip for Micheal, feel free to contact him on social media or through email.
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