Hip-hop has been extremely chaotic recently, mainly due to a new track made by producer Metro Boomin. For his new album in collaboration with Future, We Don’t Trust You, Kendrick Lamar features on the song “Like That”. Usually, a feature from Lamar would just be remembered for its good performance, but this verse lit a fire in the Hip-hop community.
Near the end of the verse, Kendrick exclaims, “…the big three… it’s just big me”. This, along with the rest of the verse, was a clear shot at rap superstars Drake and J. Cole. J. Cole, in his song with Drake titled “First Person Shooter”, referenced how many fans argue about who was the greatest out of the three rappers, and referred to themselves as the big three. In an unexpected turn, Lamar wants nothing to do with this group and continues to say that he is the greatest rapper to ever live. The song topped the charts for several weeks and still stays in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100.
A mere week later, J. Cole dropped a surprise album, titled Might Delete Later. On the final song, “7 Minute Drill”, J. Cole raps, “Your first…was classic, your last…was tragic, Your second… put…to sleep, but they gassed it, Your third…was massive and that was your prime, I was trailin’ right behind and I just now hit mine.” These lines are referencing Lamar’s albums, but oddly show respect for Lamar’s work as well. The second verse goes on with Cole saying that he doesn’t want to fight Lamar and he just wants there to be peace between the two. On the following Sunday after the album’s release at a Dreamville concert, Cole apologized for his words on the album.
Two unlikely people also added themselves to the beef, Ye West and Rick Ross. A few days after the diss was originally made, West was interviewed and revealed that Future wanted a remix of “Like That” and that it had already been made. He played it for the interviewer, and it also took shots at both Drake and J. Cole on West’s verse. Rick Ross also wrote the track “Champagne Moments”, which was specifically about Drake. Ross attacked Drake over many random things, including a supposed rhinoplasty that cannot be confirmed, but what it did do was add fuel to an already burning fire.
Finally, on April 19th, Drake released his own diss track that targeted almost everyone who had previously attacked him. Most of the track’s lines revolve around the originator of the controversy, Kendrick Lamar, where Drake talks about how Lamar is outclassed by everyone in his league. The lyrics also include offhand remarks about Lamar and how Metro Boomin should stick to playing drums.
Overall, this whole rap beef is insanely confusing, but also does not show any signs of slowing down. Who will take shots at Drake next?
