Hip-Hop’s Cold War

Ever since dissing Drake and J. Cole on Future and Metro Boomin’s ‘Like That’, Kendrick Lamar has ignited a multi-party feud between some of rap’s biggest stars

Fueled by features, Instagram stories, captions, memes, and AI vocals, the ongoing beef with Kendrick Lamar, A$AP Rocky, Future, and others is one of the more perplexing, and somewhat amusing, recent feuds we’ve seen between artists. It’s a swarm of rap’s biggest stars joining forces against… Drake.

This ever evolving conflict centers two artists: Drake and Kendrick. Both are equally established and generation-shaping rappers whose escalating beef has fans anxiously wondering what exactly Drake did to make Kendrick hate him so much. Most recently the seemingly baseless back and forth between the rappers has quickly developed from BBL allegations and short jokes to very serious claims of alleged abuse and sex crimes.

What brought us to this place was a line from J. Cole’s verse on Drake’s ‘First Person Shooter’ where J. Cole labels himself, Drake, and Kendrick “the big three [of rap]”. It’s what caused Kendrick to retaliate on Future and Metro Boomin’s ‘Like That’, where he rejects being grouped in with the two declaring, “it’s just big me.” From the start it felt almost retroactive for Kendrick to ignite beef over who is the best now when it’s clear both seasoned artists have achieved acclaim for their long-standing successful careers, respectively. More often, we see younger, less-established artists feuding. Younger artists carry themselves with more ego and pride as they adjust to newfound fame and attention, hungry to prove themselves and set themselves apart in their class. 

Drake immediately followed up on the diss by taunting and trolling Kendrick (and a growing list of opponents: Future, The Weeknd, and Ja Morant) on social media. It’s fitting for Drake because he has always been active on social media—sharing memes, referencing internet trends and poking fun at himself to his 146 Million followers.

Think back to the 2016 MTV Awards when he publicly professed his love to an unknowing Rihanna, the viral memes that arose from his dance moves in the ‘Hotline Bling,’ video, and most recently his alter ego ‘Anita Max Wynn’. Drake’s stardom is legitimized by more than just his bars but by his larger-than-life internet personality. Whether spectators are singing his praises or making him the butt of the joke, he always manages to capitalize on these viral moments.

Drake instantly leaned into humor, clowning other rappers for dissing him before they even got a chance to respond. In his diss track ‘Push Ups,’ Drake pokes fun at Kendrick’s stature and for allegedly wearing a size 7 men’s shoe; he also hilariously tells producer Metro Boomin to sit down, do his job and “make some drums…”.

Then, he leaked another titled ‘Taylor Made Freestyle,’ where he uses AI reproductions of Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg to taunt Kendrick and call him a coward through the voices of these iconic rappers. Kendrick aptly responded, and Shakur’s Estate demanded Drake remove the song from social media for its “unauthorized use of Tupac’s voice and personality,” according to reports from Billboard. 

Things were at a standstill until Kendrick released his response, “euphoria”, calling Drake a liar, culture-vulture, and a wannabe baddie like collaborator Sexyy Red, amongst other insults and claims. Soon after, Kendrick followed up with another track titled “6:16 in LA”, mimicking Drake’s timestamp series and flow. Drake immediately retaliated with, “Family Matters”, taking things further by claiming Kendrick is physically abusive toward his wife Whitney. Less than an hour later Kendrick responded with, “meet the grahams”, claiming Drake is a deadbeat father and has another secret child, that he has a drug problem, and most glaringly stating that Drake and many of the people in his camp are sex offenders that target young girls. Kendrick doubled down on his accusations of sex crimes, drug use, and pedophilia from Drake and his crew in the next release, “Not Like Us”. And finally, Drake responded to the slew of claims both on social media and his latest song, “The Heart Part 6”.

It is unfortunate to see some of the brightest, most front-facing Rap stars of this generation going back and forth like kids on a playground and co-opting issues like domestic abuse, sex trafficking, and grooming for the sake of winning “points” in a self-started, ego-driven war. It reeks of insecurity and obsession from both parties, pouring what I can imagine are countless hours over several weeks into research, writing, and production.

While I don’t expect rappers to be champions of social issues, advocates, or moral guides—dealing with an artist like Kendrick, whose entire image is built upon being a conscious rapper, it’s truly a shame to see. If they continue at this rate, both Drake and Kendrick will have an album’s worth of content dedicated to each other.