Drake and Kendrick Lamar: Hip-Hop’s Rulers and Secret Rivals of the Past Decade
Over the past decade, Drake and Kendrick Lamar have dominated the hip-hop game, creating profound marks in the music industry. However, the relationship between these two stars was not completely smooth as they maintained a silent struggle for many years.
Two Opposing Styles
Drake and Kendrick Lamar represent two polar opposites in hip-hop. Drake, without hesitation, says that chasing the charts and breaking records is a big source of motivation for him. In contrast, Kendrick Lamar composes music mainly for himself, considering all other achievements as mere bonuses.
The Beginning of Conflict
Their secret war began when Drake was offended by Kendrick’s verse on his 2013 track “Control,” where Kendrick called out 11 of his colleagues, including Drake, and rapped, “I love you all But I’m trying to kill you.” Although Kendrick took it as a compliment, Drake was not pleased, seeing it as a disapproval.
In an interview with Billboard in 2013, Drake shared: “To me, it feels like an ambitious thought. All of that only. I know full well that Kendrick would not kill me at all, under any platform.”
Verbal Clashes
That year, Drake fired back in his track ‘The Language’ with the line, “I don’t know why they lied, But you f*cking ain’t inspiring,” a direct reference to Kendrick. In response, at the BET Awards, Kendrick attacked Drake and referenced his album “Nothing Was the Same”.
Drake later admitted that he was drawn into a verbal argument with Kendrick on “Shit (Remix)”. In an interview with Vibe, he said: “I never said he [Kendrick] was a bad guy [or] I didn’t like him. I think he’s a genius, but I stand my ground as I should.”
Peak Conflict
In 2014, Kendrick called Drake “the kid with the motorbike” on ‘The Language’, before declaring, “The end of our friendship, baby, I’d rather die alone.” Drake fires back on ‘6PM in New York’, leading to Kendrick questioning the reality of hip-hop when rappers are using ghostwriters on ‘King Kunta’.
In ‘100’, Drake criticizes conscious rap as a genre and compares the reaction of audiences in clubs to his reception. By this point, Kendrick was tired of ‘subliminal hate’ and addressed it in ‘Darkside/Gone’.
Competition Ends
Their confrontation allegedly culminated in a verbal argument that was recorded on camera. However, both of their managers “destroyed” the tape, according to ESPN’s Marcellus Wiley.
Although the two have avoided public insults in recent years, Kanye West confirmed in November that the relationship between Drake and Kendrick Lamar is still burning, not cooling off.
