The conflict has been brewing for years, it has exploded in recent days. Rap giants Drake and Kendrick Lamar have traded insults and accusations in new songs, sending shock waves through the United States music world and beyond.
These “clashes” between heavyweights are part of hip-hop culture. And it’s already well known in the industry and among their fans: Drake, the rapper who earned the most revenue in the world last year, and Kendrick Lamar, a big name in rap crowned with a prestigious Pulitzer Prize, hardly appreciate each other.
But while their previous wars of words revolved around their rivalry – who of the two is the bigger star? — this time the two artists went much further in the lyrics of songs released in recent days.
“Hey Drake, I hear you like them young,” says Kendrick Lamar in “Not Like Us,” in which he raps about “certified pedophiles,” referring to the Canadian rapper.
“Colonizer”
Born in Los Angeles, the star rapper from the West Coast also accuses his Canadian and mixed-race rival of being a “colonizer” of black American culture.
And in another song released this weekend, “Meet the Grahams,” he claims that Drake — real name Aubrey Graham — has a hidden daughter.
For his part, Drake launched the song “Family Matters”, in which he suggests that infidelities and even abuse have tainted the relationship between Kendrick Lamar and his fiancée.
In “The Heart Part 6,” released Sunday, Drake, popular even beyond rap fans, defends himself and denies any inappropriate relationship with minors: “I would never look twice at a teenage girl.”
The attacks, sharper than usual, this time reached a wider audience.
The feud was the subject of a sketch on the cult comedy show Saturday Night Livewhile detailed chronologies of the dispute were published in major US media outlets.
Drake, 37, and Lamar, 36, rose to fame in the late 2000s and early 2010s.
At first, they made guest appearances on each other’s albums and even toured together. But over the years and disagreements, their paths separated.
” Inevitable “
That their competition turned into a battle was “inevitable,” according to Andre Gee of Rolling Stone magazine.
“People who don’t understand their argument haven’t spent the last 15-20 years wanting to be considered the best rapper of all time,” he wrote.
Rap has been marked for decades by “clashes” between its biggest names, like the one between the legends Tupac Shakur and The Notorious BIG in the 1990s, at the height of the rivalry between coastal hip-hop. west and that of the east coast.
This dispute ended in violence and tragedy, against a backdrop of gang warfare and murder.
For the moment, the quarrel between Drake and Kendrick Lamar is mainly whetting the appetite of certain rap fans for “diss tracks”, these pieces dedicated to attacking or humiliating rivals.
On the night of Monday to Tuesday, a security guard stationed in front of Drake’s home in Toronto was seriously injured by gunfire, but Canadian police judged that it was “too early” to make a link with the current conflict .