On the stinking feud at the top of hip-hop: Kendrick vs Drake

by Alain Brunet

The recent release of GNX, a surprise album by the gifted Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, comes amidst the brouhaha of the nauseating feud between Kendrick Lamar and Drake that began a year ago. In October 2023, Drake’s song First Person Shooter involved rapper J Cole, with the latter asserting his membership of a “Big Three” that included Kendrick and Drake, the latter’s host. And then… there followed a spiral of diss tracks, designed to denigrate the speaker and dissuade the public from his relevance.

The latter rejected the proclaimed trinity and expressed his disagreement with Like That. And then J Cole, offended by this rejection, hit back with 7 Minutes Drill, criticizing Kendrick’s To Pimp A Butterfly, a jewel in Kendrick’s crown. Drake, who certainly doesn’t think he’s an orange, added another layer, claiming in Push Ups that many hip hop/soul artists are superior to Kendrick. Kendrick followed up with Euphoria, then Drake with Taylor Made Freestyle, indirectly linking Kendrick to the rise of Taylor Swift in order to denigrate his rival. In Drake’s Taylor Made Freestyle, it gets even worse: an AI reproduction of the late Tupac Shakur attacks Kendrick… while the latter hits back with 6:16 in LA and 8 AM in Charlotte.

The verbal pugilism escalated with Drake’s Family Matters , suggesting that Kendrick’s children were conceived by his best friend. Furious, Kendrick released Meet the Grahams , in which he implied that Drake was into underage girls and that he felt sorry for his son Adonis to have such a father. In Not Like Us, Kendrik described Drake and his pals as a brotherhood of pedophiles, plain and simple. And guess what, Drake went on to suggest that Kendrick’s married life was fraught with domestic violence and that he could no longer see his children.

Legal proceedings were initiated, and the confrontation continues to this day… While the knives fly lower and lower, Drake plans to be in Australia when Kendrick triumphs at the Super Bowl LIX intermission.Legal proceedings were initiated, and the confrontation continues to this day… Just a few days ago, we read in media that the Canadian rapper was accusing Universal Music Group (UMG) of charging Spotify discounted streaming rights on condition that the Kendrick’s single Not Like Us was recommended to its subscribers, as well as installing bots to falsely increase the number of listens.

While the knives fly lower and lower, Drake plans to be performing in Australia when Kendrick triumphs at the Super Bowl LIX intermission.

One more step and the guns come out?

If we go back to the source of the problem, let’s say that the qualities of Drake, J Cole and Kendrick are different, but I’m of the opinion that Kendrick Lamar Duckworth remains the mastermind of hip-hop, while Drake can’t wish for anything better than the championship of the generic extreme-center, while J Cole must be considered an undisputed master of flow but relatively conformist in form and content. It’s obvious to me that Kendrick’s substance is richer, more innovative, more refined, in text as in music and beatmaking. I’m still surprised by his mass success, an exception that proves the rule for an artistic proposal of this scope.

That said, I’m sorry to see his thick torso bulge, or even his emotional immaturity, to lend himself to such a childish game, to blow his lungs out in such a balloon of testosterone. Such a brilliant boy couldn’t avoid this alpha-male bullshit. Shame on him and his now lifelong enemies.

Latest 360 Content

Luan Larobina – Casa

Luan Larobina – Casa

Ensemble Caprice | A Beautiful Evening of Passion

Ensemble Caprice | A Beautiful Evening of Passion

Arianne Moffatt, Airs de Jeux, Idea to Play, Desire to Play, Need to Play…

Arianne Moffatt, Airs de Jeux, Idea to Play, Desire to Play, Need to Play…

Arion Orchestre Baroque and The World of Thomas Dunford… From The 16th to The 20th Century!

Arion Orchestre Baroque and The World of Thomas Dunford… From The 16th to The 20th Century!

Nouvel Ensemble Moderne | New Songs for a New Era

Nouvel Ensemble Moderne | New Songs for a New Era

Bach’s St. John Passion : A Sacred Opera to Conclude Ensemble Caprice’s Season

Bach’s St. John Passion : A Sacred Opera to Conclude Ensemble Caprice’s Season

Another Hit for Shreez! Third Studio Album

Another Hit for Shreez! Third Studio Album

Centre PHI / Habitat sonore | A Totally Sublime Afternoon with Moe Clark and Pursuit Grooves

Centre PHI / Habitat sonore | A Totally Sublime Afternoon with Moe Clark and Pursuit Grooves

Marie Nadeau-Tremblay | When Baroque Becomes Obsession

Marie Nadeau-Tremblay | When Baroque Becomes Obsession

Steve Reich’s quartets at Bourgie Hall : a perfectly oiled minimalist mechanism

Steve Reich’s quartets at Bourgie Hall : a perfectly oiled minimalist mechanism

Population II – Maintenant Jamais

Population II – Maintenant Jamais

Molécule/Orchestre national de Lille; Alexandre Bloch, dir. – Symphonie no 1 ‘’quantique’’

Molécule/Orchestre national de Lille; Alexandre Bloch, dir. – Symphonie no 1 ‘’quantique’’

BBC Symphony Orchestra/Timothy Redmont, dir. – Beyond

BBC Symphony Orchestra/Timothy Redmont, dir. – Beyond

Jaeden Izik-Dzurco, Beyond Impeccable

Jaeden Izik-Dzurco, Beyond Impeccable

Kizaba: Between Ancestrality and Afro-Futurism

Kizaba: Between Ancestrality and Afro-Futurism

Caroline Savoie Succumbs to Her Guilty Pleasures

Caroline Savoie Succumbs to Her Guilty Pleasures

Louise Forestier – Vieille corneille

Louise Forestier – Vieille corneille

Sight + Sound | Fili Gibbons

Sight + Sound | Fili Gibbons

Sight + Sound | A Rain Ritual in Anticipation

Sight + Sound | A Rain Ritual in Anticipation

Opera McGill | Imeneo of Handel through the lens of Patrick Hansen

Opera McGill | Imeneo of Handel through the lens of Patrick Hansen

Mivos Quartet: three times Reich at Bourgie

Mivos Quartet: three times Reich at Bourgie

Caroline Savoie – Rom-Com 

Caroline Savoie – Rom-Com 

Éléonore Lagacé and Brûlez-moi vive: pop on fire

Éléonore Lagacé and Brûlez-moi vive: pop on fire

Subscribe to our newsletter