After J. Cole entered after which publicly stepped away from the continued “Battle of the Large 3” final weekend, all eyes have turned to Drake for his response to Kendrick Lamar’s pot-stirring “Like That” verse from March. With Drake rumored to lastly be weighing in with a brand new tune on Friday — the identical launch day as We Nonetheless Don’t Belief You, sequel to the album that initially unleashed “Like That” on the world — the meat between the 2 rap legends appears to be coming to a head. Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop author Michael Saponara and deputy ed. director Damien Scott current the instances for every rapper to be thought of the struggle’s favourite.
Why Drake Will Win
“So long as there’s competitors, there’ll by no means be peace. Everybody desires to be the one,” reads a Kurupt quote that was plastered backstage to gasoline Drake at each cease of his It’s All A Blur – Large because the What? Tour with J. Cole.
It’s clear solely one of many co-headlining rappers on the trek took that proverb to coronary heart. With J. Cole bowing out of the bout, Drake and Kendrick Lamar look like headed for a blockbuster warfare that’s been over a decade within the making.
Whereas most have been afraid of entering into the ring with hip-hop’s boogeyman hailing from Compton, Drake is the best way extra battle-tested rapper – part of the rap repertoire that provides him the higher hand to defeat Ok. Dot in the principle occasion.
The 6 God has sparred with a spread of adversaries through the years. Whether or not he was scorching Frequent on “Keep Schemin,” knocking out Diddy with “4PM in Calabasas” or most notably placing Meek Mill within the floor for good on “Again to Again,” Drake has confirmed to be a formidable opponent amid his huge industrial success and pop crossover capabilities.
“Man, we wrote the guide on calculated pondering,” Drake reminded listeners whereas taking a Meek Mill victory lap on Extra Life’s “Lose You” in 2018.
For individuals who have doubts and should have forgotten, press play on “Again to Again” once more. The hit document was ubiquitous in nightclubs for the summer season of 2015 and reached No. 21 on the Sizzling 100, whereas additionally serving as a definitive knockout punch and crushing blow to Meek Mill’s legacy that also sizzles to today. Drake is the uncommon breed of a rapper who can craft a scathing diss observe that damages one other artist’s profession trajectory and doubles as a tune of the summer season contender.
There’s little question Kendrick and Drake are going to trade potent lyrical haymakers, however on the subject of bringing the industrial attraction to a solo diss document – benefit: Drake. The OVO camp needs to be working additional time trying to dig up filth on the elusive Ok. Dot, and if the feud will get messy and spills onto social media, that’s a playground Drake will fare effectively in too, since Drizzy’s as petty as they arrive.
Drake will at all times be a brilliant calculated artist so it is going to be fascinating to see if he focuses on strictly flaming Kendrick or raises the stakes by bringing his “Like That” hosts Future and Metro Boomin into the road of fireplace. That strategic resolution would separate him from the pack, whereas redesigning the rap meals chain and have collaborators within the trade pressured to decide on allegiances with a line within the sand dividing hip-hop’s elite.
Drake is rumored to be dropping on Friday (April 12) which is identical day Future and Metro Boomin’s We Nonetheless Don’t Belief You is slated to reach. He teased being in the studio with a Vybez Kartel t-shirt earlier this week. The daring transfer would put him in direct competitors with the Atlanta duo, the place he may put a halt to their momentum and even high them on the charts.
With Kendrick primarily aiming at Drake on “Like That” to revive their long-simmering feud, which dates again to Lamar’s atomic “Management” verse, the stage is about for the OVO honcho to erase the stench that also lingers from the 2018 Pusha T feud which gave him the one loss on his in any other case unblemished résumé. Drake backed down from that beef, following Pusha’s “Story of Adidon” exposing his baby Adonis, on the recommendation of Rap-A-Lot co-founder and consigliere J. Prince – who claimed his response would have “harm households.”
Drake holding his personal in a Kendrick battle would go a protracted strategy to making up for that legacy-tarnishing second. And reining supreme over Ok. Dot, with Drake holding up the figurative championship belt within the battle of the “Large Three,” would give even the largest OVO haters no selection however to bend the knee to the 6 God. — MICHAEL SAPONARA
Why Kendrick Lamar Will Win
Let’s get this concession out of the best way: The one true battle-tested rapper on this whole ordeal is Drake. He’s the one one who has gone previous sneak dissing and slick one-off verses, and made songs with the intention of inflicting career-ending injury. The spotlight is, in fact, 2015’s “Again to Again,” the tune that sincerely made everybody relitigate a once-ascendent Meek Mill’s place in rap’s pantheon.
That mentioned: Kendrick’s received this.
Sure, the well-worn joke is that Kenny seems just like the Boogie Man and drops a verse that sends the sport right into a tizzy solely to vanish once more till he’s able to drop his subsequent mission. That’s not unfaithful. However, to wit: What different rapper not named Shawn Carter may drop a verse each few years that makes each rap fan cease what they’re doing and listen? And, sure, superb — Kendrick has but to actually dig in for a full-on battle, although, if we’re being truthful that’s extra to do along with his opponents than him. Regardless, if there’s any rapper working as we speak who ought to get the good thing about the doubt on this regard it’s Kendrick Lamar Duckworth. Right here’s why.
To borrow a quote from the late astronomer Carl Sagan, the “absence of proof will not be the proof of absence.” Put one other means, simply because we’ve but to see Kendrick take a rapper’s head off for a full tune doesn’t imply Compton’s favourite son is incapable of doing so. If something, the warning shot he despatched to Cole and Drake proves that he’s been prepared and keen to dismember a rapper.
Whereas “f–okay the Large 3, n—a, it’s simply huge me” is the bar from Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That” that caught everybody’s consideration, there are a bunch extra on that verse that permit it’s recognized Kendrick is ready to get it going. Bars like, “I’ll crash out, like ‘F–okay rap,’ diss Melle Mel if I needed to,” or, my private favourite, “I hope them sentiments symbolic, my temperament’s bipolar, I select violence.” Take your decide. Whichever door you select finally ends up on the similar place: Kendrick is prepared.
The final time we noticed Kendrick this animated in tune going at a rapper was again on 2017’s “The Coronary heart Half 4,” when it’s believed he despatched a bunch of photographs at Large Sean who he was reportedly beefing with since 2013’s “Management” fiasco. (And, sure, all of the photographs being subliminals is a knock on Kendrick.)
“My followers can’t look forward to me to son ya punk-ass/ And crush ya entire lil’ s–t/ I’ll Large Pun ya punk-ass, you a scared lil’ b—h/ Tiptoein’ round my identify, n—a, you lame/ And after I get at you, homie/ Don’t you simply inform me you was simply playin’.”
The second half of the tune was so scathing that Large Sean reportedly referred to as TDE’s Prime Dawg and requested him if Kendrick was speaking about him. That result in Prime placing Sean and Kendrick collectively for a non-public dialog that resulted in Sean saying, “the respect is mutual.”
That wasn’t an apology, however the two by no means even received into a correct battle, with Large Sean saying they peaced issues up after Nipsey Hussle was murdered in 2019. That was all in all probability for the most effective — as a result of in 2023, an alternate model of Kendrick’s tune “ELEMENT.” from DAMN. leaked, and it featured the next strains directed squarely on the Detroit rapper.
“Large Sean maintain sneak dissin,’ I let it slide/ I feel his false confidence received him impressed/ I can’t make them respect you, child, it’s not my job/ You lastly well-known for who you date, not the way you rhyme (boy).” He saved going, “Cute-ass raps, get your puberty up/ Then make you a basic album earlier than you come at us/ Drake and Meek Mill beef would possibly received you gassed up/ However I’m an entire ‘nother beast, I actually f—okay you up.”
Sean, when requested, mentioned the tune was “ain’t no diss” and saved it shifting. The observe additionally talked about Jay Electronica and French Montana, each of whom opted to simply let it slide.
That’s simply what occurs when Kendrick goes at rappers: They get quiet or begin making excuses or simply utterly decide out altogether. There’s a purpose for that — most, if not all, rappers know that Kendrick is, as he says on the Future and Metro observe, “actually like that.” He’s been capable of disrupt the sport a number of instances with verses geared toward quite a few targets, think about what occurs when he focuses his pen on one opponent. It’s foolish to consider the outcomes can be much less devastating.
However that’s all offense: Let’s discuss protection. We already noticed Cole take goal at Kendrick’s catalog and normal lack of productiveness. What’s going to Drake deal with? Aside from “I helped you break into the sport” — which he’s not improper about — what else can Drake actually say about Kendrick? He’s a critically acclaimed, award-winning rapper who has been adored by hip-hop tradition for effectively over a decade. After being completely discountenanced by Pusha T with “The Story of Adion,” Drake absolutely discovered a lesson or two: one seemingly being that to actually land a giant blow in 2024, it’s essential to spring a shock on unsuspecting followers and rappers. Joe Budden says Drake has a nuke. Maybe he’s discovered one thing we don’t know. However even then, it relies upon the validity and high quality of the filth. As we noticed on his final album, Mr. Morale & the Large Steppers, Kendrick’s been fairly forthcoming along with his failings.
We’re a good distance from, “You underestimated vastly, probably the most No. 1s ever, how lengthy did it actually take me?” Kendrick doesn’t underestimate Drake. And the discuss of chart success is seemingly null and void after his pre-emptive “Prince outlived Mike Jack” bar.
However, we’ll see. The joy is within the suspense. As Kenny mentioned, “Let’s get it, bro.” — DAMIEN SCOTT