Kendrick Lamar and Drake Have Beef, and Millions Are Watching

For weeks, rappers Lamar and Drake have subbed each other in songs. It’s about illegitimate children, domestic violence—or is it just about who’s the greatest?

What’s it all about?

It’s about two of the most important rappers of our time and the question of which of them is better. On one side: Kendrick Lamar from the Californian gangsta rap city of Compton, status: the Pulitzer Prize winner and feuilleton darling among rappers. His song “Alright” became the anthem of the Black Lives Matter movement. No solo music of his has been released since May 2022—until now.

On the other side: Drake. Status: Even if you think you’ve never heard of Drake, you’ve listened to Drake. At the latest, since his 2013 hit “Started from the Bottom,” the Canadian has been a superstar. Hits like “One Dance,” “Hotline Bling,” “God’s Plan,” “Nice for What,” and “Rich Flex” followed. Thanks in part to Drake, R&B and rap have come closer together again because he’s not afraid to sing - and dance. Many rap fans, therefore, consider Drake uncool, too soft, and, if we’re being honest, also too successful.

For weeks, Drake and Kendrick Lamar have been insulting each other in songs that sometimes reach over 50 million streams in a very short time. In brief: They have beef, and millions are watching.

What’s Beef?

In rap, beef refers to a personal dispute that is often not only carried out in the form of a musical exchange of blows. It’s often about the question of who is real, i.e., authentic.

While in battle rap, the rules are clear—there are a certain number of rounds in which the opponents insult each other, after which there are ratings and winners—beef is not clearly limited. Which dirty tricks are still okay and which aren’t is ultimately judged by the audience, which is also limitless in the digital age. The most classic dirty trick of all: Two rappers stage a beef for attention. According to the motto: There’s no such thing as bad publicity.

What has happened so far?

In 2011, Drake, who was already well-known at the time, took the still relatively unknown Kendrick Lamar on his album, Take Care, and subsequently on tour. Nice, you might think. It probably was, although Lamar today claims that the atmosphere was already tense at that time. However, they continued to work together after that.

However, the more successful Drake became in the mainstream, and the more political Kendrick Lamar’s music became, the less the two could do with each other. Their collaborative songs are over, in any case. A track from 2013 seems prophetic today. Back then, Kendrick Lamar rapped on “Control” and said that he was ready to take on everyone. And he named names. Among them is Drake. Basically, it’s not a big provocation; megalomania belongs to rap-like misogyny. Since then, a certain resentment has simmered between the two, which was expressed repeatedly in individual song lines or sideswipes in interviews—but for years, there was no indication of an escalation.

Why now?

In March of this year, Kendrick Lamar was heard on the song “Like That” by producer Metro Boomin and rapper Future. It was a joy for Lamar’s fans, who had been waiting for new music for a long time, but not for Drake. The album by Metro Boomin and Future, We Don’t Trust You, is full of digs at him. Kendrick Lamar also directly attacks Drake. And not just him, but also J. Cole—actually a friend of Lamar’s and one of his generation’s best rappers. For once, everyone agrees: Cole is something like the lowest common denominator among rap fans.

Last fall, Cole had referred to Lamar, Drake, and himself as the “big three,” essentially offering to share the rap throne. The Pulitzer Prize winner Lamar then explained “Like That” how ridiculous he finds an ally because: “Motherfuck the big three, nigga, it’s just big me.”

And then?

At the beginning of April, J. Cole responds to Lamar’s affront with “7 Minute Drill.” A song that hardly deserves the label of a diss track, though. Because even while insulting, Cole praises Lamar for his rap artistry and calls his debut album a classic. Shortly after, he even withdraws the song, apologizes profusely, and leaves the beef stage.

Drake, on the other hand, really got going. His first diss track, “Push Ups,” was accompanied by a Spotify advertising campaign (“Hip-hop is a competitive sport. Drake is on the way.”) In a second, “Taylor Made Freestyle,” Drake gives himself legendary status with the help of AI-generated voices and has rap icons Snoop Dogg and Tupac challenge Lamar. Even though the insults (Lamar is small and only has shoe size 7!) are mostly harmless, The provocation is big, and Lamar actually has to respond.

He does. He releases two tracks within a few days (“Euphoria” and “6:16 In LA”). His statement: Stop spreading lies about me, or I’ll reveal the truth about you (“But don’t tell no lie ‘bout me, and I won’t tell truths ‘bout you”).

The exchange of blows picks up speed. That same night, Drake responds with “Family Matters,” in which he accuses Lamar, among other things, of beating his wife.

Lamar responds immediately with “Meet the Grahams.” And follows up hours late with “Not Like Us.” His accusations in all songs: Drake isn’t hip-hop enough because his music is poppy and successful. And while he appropriates black culture, he doesn’t live it himself. Also, Drake has an illegitimate daughter, an inappropriate interest in underage girls, and no qualms about hiring sex offenders. The accused, in turn, published “The Heart Part 6” last Sunday, in which he claims to have tricked Lamar with false information. Oof.

What’s true about the accusations?

What’s true: Indeed, Kendrick Lamar is only 5’5” tall and wears size 7 shoes. Everything else is not so easy to prove.

At the center of attention is the accusation, raised by Lamar in “Meet the Grahams,” that Drake has an eleven-year-old daughter he’s hiding and not caring for. The matter is particularly explosive because in 2018, New York rapper Pusha T publicly revealed in “The Story of Adidon” that Drake has a son. Drake initially denied this but then acknowledged his six-year-old son Adonis.

In his latest diss track (as of today), Drake has denied having a daughter. Moreover, he claims to have spread the rumor himself through a supposed spy of Lamar’s in Drake’s camp. They’re fighting with all means.

Perhaps even with violence. As reported by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation CBC, Drake’s estate is now at the center of a police investigation: A man was allegedly seriously injured in a shooting. A suspect allegedly fled by car. It’s still unclear whether the incident is related to the beef.

What does this tell us now?

Even though it’s often claimed that only women are interested in gossip, beefs like this are proof that all people, especially men, like to learn more about the skeletons in other people’s closets. And rap, like reality TV, offers the perfect mix of staging and authenticity. Clothes, accessories, cars, and above all, one’s own relationships, origin, and future - everything in rap is subject to a detail-loving staging. However, this always claims authenticity—after all, it’s about being as real as possible - and must therefore be measured against it. The drama that rappers like Drake and Lamar stage in beefs is, therefore, incomparably more real than, for example, a series plot. No wonder millions listen to the tracks and analyse them to the smallest detail. For example, it’s assumed that Kendrick Lamar’s line directed at Drake’s son Adonis, “Never let a man piss on your leg,” refers to another rapper claiming years ago to have peed on Drake. Only Taylor Swift fans are otherwise so obsessed with searching for hidden clues.

Who’s winning?

Kendrick Lamar. At least, that’s how the internet sees it. The consensus is that his lyrics are more multi-layered and witty. The fact is that his accusations are definitely more brutal. Nevertheless, unlike in many battle raps, the audience doesn’t decide by acclamation in beef. Or at least not definitively: Nothing is decided as long as both rappers keep throwing tracks at each other.

One could, therefore, also say: So far, no one is winning. Because whoever has to throw so much wood into the fire to make it burn hasn’t found the right tinder yet. There are songs in rap history that were so brilliant that they ended a beef because everyone felt afterwards: This can’t be topped.

If no all-decisive song follows, the beef could simply fizzle slowly. Public interest doesn’t last forever—even with two heavyweights like Lamar and Drake. Or it could expand into a kind of mass brawl. In recent weeks, more and more rappers have been getting involved, not least Future and Kanye West, both on Kendrick Lamar’s side. At least Uma Thurman has offered Drake her legendary yellow Kill Bill costume.

Taylor Swift could also intervene decisively—how could it be otherwise these days? Drake has already tried with all his might to drag her into the beef by accusing Kendrick Lamar on “Taylor Made Freestyle” of not wanting to react directly to his insults in order not to compete with the release of Taylor Swift’s new album.

Drake himself has admitted to postponing his album release for exactly this reason. He’s a long-time friend of Swift. But it is unclear whether she stands on his side or prefers to stay out of it. After all, Kendrick Lamar was her feature partner on “Bad Blood.” And there’s already enough bad blood going around.