The way Kendrick Lamar, and Drake changed the way rap beefs were fought forever

Rapid-fire releases and the speed of modern life raise the diss war to levels unmatched in hip-hop’s time.

They’ve been blasting by car stereos on street corners in New York City, played by DJs in nightclubs throughout the US and transposed in Chinese through TikTok and inspired by merengue tunes for Spanish-speaking people.

A string of snarky tracks by the two most prominent hip-hop stars, Drake as well as Kendrick Lamar, have created the most well-known hip-hop beef of our time that has drawn global attention and an abundance of online debate and dissection.

The two men’s standing in the world of rap transcends that of a typical musician: Drake owns a record label and has worked in collaboration with Toronto Raptors and Nike, as well as Lamar is the only rapper in history to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his level of talent and also produced an award-winning track to accompany his role in the Marvel Black Panther film. Black Panther.

The fact that these two superstars be involved in such a public and acrimonious fight has captivated not just hip-hop enthusiasts but people from all over the world especially because Drake as well as Lamar are teasing each other with lyrical rage in such a quick and rapid rate.

The two rap rivals have released nine tracks of their own that target one another within less than four weeks. But there are many other collaborations and songs by other artists that go all the way back Drake as well as North Carolina rapper J. Cole’s collaboration on the track First Person Shooter in October 2023.

J. Cole declared during First Person Shooter that he, Drake and Lamar were the “big three” of hip dance. Lamar will reject this notion by saying “it’s just big me” on the producer Metro Boomin and rapper Future’s collaboration on the track Like That.

In the beginning of hip-hop, you could listen to diss tracks on a copy cassette, or via an established radio station or attending a concert at a nightclub. Lamar and Drake’s racy battle for rap fame proved that things have changed for the better.

“I think when you look at this battle, it is going to surpass every other battle because of how it was able to crossover to pop culture so quickly,” said Carl Lamarre, Billboard’s deputy director of R&B and Hip-Hop.

In the past, the public may have had to wait months for a feud to take place. Jay-Z released his diss track, Takeover, in September 2001, to mock the fellow New Yorker, Nas. It took him three months to respond to Ether.

At a time, the release of diss tracks was a form of competitiveness within the hip-hop scene. It was a method of claiming the throne of hip-hop, usually by rappers trying to expand their reach on a local scale and to compete for a new performance or record deal.

Audiences, too will have to perform some work when a rap feud progressed beyond a night out at the venue, Bill Stephney, a former director of Def Jam Records, recalled.

While he was a performer during his time in New York City in the 1980s, Stephney stated that fans would record disc tracks on tape people who wanted to listen were fortunate to find a copy that could be played. The tracks were typically duplicated hundreds of times one cassette to the next and each time the quality of the audio until the track could barely be heard.

Mr. Stephney claimed he put in a lot of effort to acquire a sought-after audio cassette from Roxanne Shante, one of the female rappers who was instrumental in the popularisation of the diss track when she was just 14 year old New York. She was the leader of a number of famous rap rivalries and feuds known as the Roxanne Wars during the 1980s.

The instantaneity with the ability of artists to share their music directly via social media sites and even before they are released on streaming platforms that digitally, which means the rappers are able to speak directly with each other as well as their followers. Fans can then react and react in real-time and the song can quickly be noticed by the popular media

“Fast forward 40 years [from the Roxanne Wars], and now Kendrick and Drake can create something and rather than having it be dubbed 200 times for New York-area fans to check it out, they can just simply upload it within seconds,” Mr. Stephney explained.

“That 100,000 people could consume so fast is an incredibly significant technological shift. It’s difficult to even comprehend it.”

Two men’s diss songs have resulted in numerous Reddit groups, YouTube explainers and media thought-pieces. The songs that resulted from their feuds have dominated to the top of the streaming charts over the last few weeks.

Lamar’s latest release, Not Like Us, is among the top streamed songs in the world currently, clocking at the top of Apple Music in 40 countries in the last week. it’s anticipated to debut at the top spot in the Billboard charts within the next few days.

Not Like Us has also been broadcast by US broadcasting in the NBA playoff game. It’s been heard playing through the speakers in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ stadium and tennis legend Naomi Osaka said she listened to it prior to entering the court during the Italian Open.

Lamar’s second track of diss Euphoria was utilized by the Biden campaign of President Joe Biden in a clip that tries to criticize Republican presidential candidate the former president Donald Trump.

“At one time, it was really those people who were really part of the subculture who would know about [rap beefs], and they followed it fervently – but it wasn’t accessible,” said Pete Nice, the co-curator of the Hip Hop Museum in the Bronx and the founder of the hip-hop group 3rd Bass.

“You needed to purchase a vinyl or cassette or be listening to the radio in order to know. Today, children have everything in their palms.”

Although the songs are certainly loved by fans and have enthralled them however, they have also exposed the negative aspects of a beef, which has been broadcast to a large audience. The allegations of domestic violence paedophilia, secret children and domestic violence have been aired on the tracks with no evidence, and both of the men debunking the allegations against them.

West Coast rap icon Ice Cube Ice Cube, who was famously in the middle of numerous fights between rappers in the 1990s, stated in an interview with Etalk CTV that both sides have a lot of loss due to the amount of publicity these tracks have been given. The rapper also said there have been times when, there were times when these conflicts have escalated into violence.

“They’re volatile”, he declared of rap fights. “You always have to be careful that a beef doesn’t turn into a murder. Back in the day, you do a diss record, but it would stay… in the hip-hop community. Now, it’s all over the world, all walks of life know what’s going on and, you know, some people can’t really take that kind of humiliation.”

Mr. Stephney remembered that Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls battles over rap that led to the deaths of both men around the middle of 1990s. He also mentioned that the security guard was shot in front of Drake’s house that has also been the host to two police-related incidents after the shooting.

Although these disturbances haven’t been linked by the authorities to Drake’s fight with Lamar The former record producer has said he was concerned that the feud between the two rappers could result in actual violence.

“It made absolutely no sense when it happened 28 years ago,” Mr. Stephney described Tupac’s as well as Biggie’s murders. “I just hope those were lessons learned by these two guys and they see the terrible excuses for violence that occurred at that time.”

The tensions have cooled down over the past few days, however the public must watch to see what effect the conflict could impact the celebrities and their reputations.

However, that doesn’t mean those who follow the rapper aren’t keeping their eyes open for a new diss track’s release However. The track that was released Drake’s THE HEARTH Part 6 – dropped just a few days back on May 5. And it’s clear that fans would like to hear more.

“This is the type of rivalry people love. It’s Nadal Federer, Lakers-Celtics and Yankees-Red Sox” Mr. Lamarre stated. “These represent two distinct athletes with impressive accolades who have two distinct backgrounds.”

“And it just forms a community as people sit around the internet bonfire and wait for that next diss track to be released.”