Kendrick Lamar will kill your favorite rapper for money

I think it's simple: younger fans have never been privy to a hip-hop beef. It's fun. Like any artist Kendrick's using his anger as a vessel to write furious rhymes over good beats; by the third track even Drake himself starts to disappear.

i mean what i know about drake is that someone asked obama what he thinks of kendrick and obama said "i prefer drake".

not super important here, but isn't true. afaict he actually said the opposite?

It’s hard for me to believe that Kendrick has some secret info about Drake’s alleged victims. It seems he’s playing off the same internet rumors that rise up whenever Drake does something weird, like texting Billie Eilish or whatever,

I think it’s super funny that they are doing NPR segments on this

people sticking to "BUT BATTLES ARE PART OF HOPHOP!!" sound a lot like the damagingly staunch "I BELIEVE IN THE CONSTITUTION THE WAY IT WAS WRITTEN!!" crowd.

lol does it?

lol yes totally the same thing austin

also yes Rob is right for the record, Obama took Kendrick

"If Drake and Kendrick Lamar got in a rap battle who do you think would win?"

Obama (2016): "I gotta go with Kendrick." pic.twitter.com/5AgUjbiarp

— Complex Music (@ComplexMusic) May 4, 2024

"BUT BATTLES ARE PART OF HOPHOP!!"

https://i.imgur.com/V3IR6wk.jpg

It's kind of ingrained into the art form (like braggadocio), diss tracks are just a more serious version of battle rapping which existed from the very beginning. The difference being this isn't playful, it has *stakes*, man.

Also keep in mind, although whispers about Cosby existed for decades, the one incident that actually got the ball rolling and lead to people speaking out was Hannibal Burress's viral comedy special where he mainstreamed these whispers.

Some of these things about Drake have been whispered but aren't known widely by more casual listeners

I think other genres should do this more often. In high school, my brother was in a ska band and they disliked this guy, we'll call him Mark Dan

They wrote a song called "MARK DAN, SHUT YOUR YAP FLAP"

didn't Taylor Swift just release an entire diss album?

“Dear John” came close to calling John Mayer a pedo

this is good beef has stakes, but doesn’t seem likely to result in violence. i mean i guess i wouldn’t put anything past anyone

Phoebe Bridgers' breakout hit was a Ryan Adams diss track

xpost Drake might pay someone to tp Kendrick's house

https://s2.dmcdn.net/v/T2F9x1Xi9yAK4EDGo/x360

Found a photo of the exact moment drake decided to start a beef w/kendrick

here u go #bbldrizzybeatgiveaway pic.twitter.com/7kpUDFY0DN

— romeo (@luvkurby) May 5, 2024

Lmao omar

#bbldrizzybeatgiveaway
uh.. take that drake? you scallywag! pic.twitter.com/cRZRopT0QD

— juju (@ynvurse) May 5, 2024

i am basically a kendrick fan and i don't think all artists need to be political heroes, but in this very particular specific moment – a multi-part drake beef? actually feels like a psyop

— dj intercity disco (@chalravens) May 4, 2024

Can't wait for the eventual pivot when Drake drops the introspective "It's Hard Being a Bad Person"

damn Not Like Us is crazy, I keep catching things like the John Stockton reference, which calls out the Instagram I posted upthread where Drake is posing with his neighbor, Stockton's teammate Karl Malone who got a 13 year old pregnant

Layers upon layers

The one I keep coming back to is, "trying to strike a chord and it's probably A-minor"

many xposts:ofc it's not the same exact thing, i used the word "like" intentionally. i should think all you super knowledgeable hiphop heads would be able to understand some light simile.

lil kim used the "a minor" line back in the 90s.

kendrick wins this one, but doesn't come out looking very dignified.

psyop otm

As the Founding Father KRS-One said, “I finally figured it out, Magic mouth is used for suckin'
Roxanne Shante is only good for steady fuckin'”

and then he did records with puffy. so yeah. thx for proving my point.

i'm more concerned for everyone involved than i am entertained.

psyop, c'mon

Beefs often span multiple songs released in short succession by both parties, but people only remember the songs in the series that were the best.

Hence why nobody talks about "Supa Ugly".

Kendrick is pushing the envelope of how much diss content he's released but psyop, lol...come on

Austin your objections are noted for the record

I would rather have this than all the instagram shade that comprises hip hop beef in the 20s

Eminem went at Everlast twice in song form and it actually resulted in a brawl between both camps.

At least nobody is likely to get beat up here

Maybe I should make “psyop” part of my handle on here in solidarity

So many psyops they call me Dr. Gangnam Stlye

The term "psy op" needs to sit on the bench for a while

Can we get these guys back in the mix to break it all down for us? Jay-Z / Nas hip-hop throw down? & other throw-downs? Pt. 2: The Saga Continues.

i guess it’s for the best that they won’t confront each other at the Source Awards or whatever

Imagining young Drake at the Source Awards: “All I got to say is the Great White North got something to say.”

it's a lot of things but drake is the one who signed the artists4ceasefire letter https://t.co/43VBmgQQ3q

— Craig Bro Dude (@CraigSJ) May 5, 2024

please keep psyopping me with this avalanche of incredible rap music, idgaf if the rappers are behaving with bad manners or hurting each others feelings, i'm frankly willing to run that risk

mostly otm

I think other genres should do this more often. In high school, my brother was in a ska band and they disliked this guy, we'll call him Mark Dan

They wrote a song called "MARK DAN, SHUT YOUR YAP FLAP"

― RICH BRIAN (Neanderthal)

lynyrd skynrd's entire career one long diss against their high school gym teacher

What is hiphop if it doesn’t have violence?
Chill for a minute, Doug E. Fresh said silence

Drake should probably avoid performing in California for a year or two though. That Oakland line was spicy.

"this is hard to listen to, in an affecting way. it's an amazing piece of art."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWd8JgghGQM

stick around for the whole thing. as a fellow OLD HEAD™, his final thoughts are pretty close to mine.

shit idk maybe obama did express a preference for kendrick, when someone knows as little about this stuff as i do it's not unlikely that the few things i do "know" turn out to be wrong lol

anyway, i've filled my thinkpiece quota - i'm with other posters here in noting that this is, quite possibly, the greatest rap beef of all time.

kendrick's last album was a thoughtful, nuanced meditation on cycles of trauma and conflict within marginalized communities, or at least i think it was, because i listened to it once and said "huh, that's very thought-provoking", and never listened to it again. kendrick's tracks in this beef are fucking fire takedowns of a guy who, let's be honest, was not just asking for it with "family matters", but has apparently been fucking asking for someone to go this hard at him his entire career. that "family matters" is itself such a weak diss track only makes kendrick's utterly devastating response all the more enjoyable - like, a good diss sounds even better when put up against a weak diss track.