The Culture

Drake vs. Kendrick: Dissecting the Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar Hip-Hop Feud

• Jeff and Anthony • Episode 154

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Ever wondered what fuels the fire in the rap world's most explosive feuds? Mikey-She joins the show once again to dissect the lyrical sparring between Drake and Kendrick Lamar. Prepare to navigate the twists and turns of hip-hop rivalries, as we lay bare the intricate beats of their ongoing battle. It's a no-holds-barred analysis that promises to reveal the strategic plays behind the verses and how they've shaped the artists' careers and the industry itself. From the authenticity of their claims to the broader cultural ripples, we're leaving no stone unturned.

Buckle up for a deep dive into the heart of hip-hop culture, where the tension between commercial success and genuine artistry is ever-present. As we scrutinize Drake and Kendrick's tactics, we'll touch upon sensitive subjects like the portrayal of relationships with younger women in the industry, domestic violence, stirring the pot with fervent debates and personal insights. The episode is peppered with our take on the underlying motivations of these high-profile clashes, examining whether it's all for the glory of the charts or the legacy of the genre. It's not all heavy though; expect a blend of laughter as we explore the zany world of fan jokes about virtual backdrops and the lighter sides of our lives outside the studio.

Is this the greatest rap battle of all time? Does it rival that of Nas and Jay-Z or even B.I.G and Pac? And when does it go too far?  Where does J-Cole fit in all of this? Join us for this episode that's as much about the beats as it is about the banter and brace yourself for a journey through the triumphs and turbulence of music's most dynamic genre. #Drake #Kendrick #DrakevsKendrick

Referenced Link:
Drake Vs. Kendrick Lamar 2024 Diss Track Timeline (bbgi.com)

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Jeff:

yo, yo yo, we are back. Thank you for tuning in to another episode of the culture podcast. I am jeff. I'm joined here by my main man, pots and pan, anthony austin jr, if he decides to show his face. And of course, we have our special guest, resident guest and culture crew member, mikey.

Mikey:

She was good hi, hi guys, it's been a while.

Jeff:

Good to be back. It's been a minute. It's been a minute.

Mikey:

It's been 20.

Jeff:

20 minutes.

Mikey:

I don't know. It's been many minutes. I feel like I haven't been on with you guys and there's so many things that have happened and so much music that comes out. I mean, just so the listeners know, we have kind of like an ongoing text thread where we're always kind of sending each other new stuff or chitting on something that came out. So we're always talking but you don't get to hear it. Until today. We're coming to your ears.

Jeff:

Yeah, I mean, even me and Ed haven't really recorded as much lately. A lot has been going on and a lot has happened since we last recorded, so we're going to get into it. I mean, we're going to dissect and discuss everything Drake versus Kendrick, who won, who lost and who came out looking like a bitch in all of this. There he is with his Tasmanian devil hat. Ooh, love a Taz. I got my little blue screen behind me. It looks like Mikey Shee's in some type of sauna trying to lose weight.

Mikey:

I'm in a sauna. Yeah, the weight loss is not going too good Sauna's full.

Jeff:

Yeah, the weight loss is not going too good. It's on us full of beer, right, quick, speaking of a green screen, last video we did me and Ant was like a reaction video right, where we made fun of like shit that Biden and Trump be saying.

Mikey:

Yeah.

Jeff:

And so it's up on YouTube. Y'all can check that out on the Culture page. But somebody left a comment on the video. And somebody said because Ant had like green screen image of like a house behind him. And somebody commented Anthony is so rich he has to green screen a middle class person's home. I thought that was funny. I'll be in the trenches.

Anthony:

That was just a big belief. That's the future. That ain't now. I wish it was. It ain't now, though, All right.

Jeff:

So, man, let's get right into this shit. Man, kendrick Lamar versus Drizzy Drake Aubrey.

Anthony:

What the fuck is his last?

Jeff:

name Meet the Grams Graham, graham, aubrey, graham.

Anthony:

It's in the title Meet the Grams.

Jeff:

Yeah, correct, all right. So this I want to say that this beef has been going on for many years, right, they've been throwing jabs at each other back and forth for a long time. I want to say it goes back to that Big Sean song Control, right, when Kendrick came on and he just dissed everybody, including Drake, yeah. But more recently it got reignited when Drake and J Cole did a song together, and J Cole has has a line which is not even a diss, but you know, he's basically saying like who's the best? Is it k dot, is it aubrey or me? We're the big three. Like we started a league, right, yeah, and drake drake might have thrown some jabs at kendrick in that song, but then kendrick comes back and he makes a song and he's like, fuck, a big three is just a big me, right.

Mikey:

And then everything goes to hell it feels so reminiscent of the cannabis. Ll cool j that, like the you know. He says let me borrow the mic from your arm whatever he wasn't even saying he has a diss.

Mikey:

It's like he's just saying there's like you know, I don't know, it's like the, it's like sporting good, sportsmanship or whatever, and then it's just like, well, and then all of their did all the stuff in the past, like before that I feel like just about. It was literally just about like like who was the best lyricist or like what. It was just like little. You know like I'm going to rhyme on this better than you. It wasn't. I didn't feel like it was intense. I feel like it was that like it reminded me of one.

Jeff:

It's also like when ice cube heard um common say something yeah, say something yeah, and he, you know, he thought it was a jab at him when it really wasn't. He was like I thought I heard something yeah. So then in the past two weeks has been just all hell has broken loose. Kendrick has released like what like four diss songs. I think that's right, I think I counted four Super quick and then Drake has released what like two or three.

Mikey:

I thought it was equal, I thought it was four and four, something like that.

Jeff:

I think it's four and three. I could be wrong. Rick Ross threw his hat in the wall. Even Kanye tried to dabble. Even Kanye made a song where he tried to side with Kendrick. He went at Cole and Drake. He has to stay relevant somehow.

Anthony:

White boy, you wearing a dark little drone, white boy, I love that line. White boy, you wearing Dr Little Drone, white boy, I love that line.

Jeff:

So I'm going to let y'all tell me what y'all think so far, man, and what's going on, man.

Anthony:

Drake is over. All right, let's even through all this. Drake's career is not over. It's just like Kendrick said Make the songs that make people happy, make them dance, make them sing, and you'll be fine. What he's exactly going to do is not going to change nothing, man, it's just.

Anthony:

It's kind of brought to light and I won't even say exposed. It just made it very clear. Like, all right, let's just disregard the whole Canadian thing. The guy's an actor. The guy goes to Atlanta for clout, like he jumps on every wave, every phrase, he changes his dialect, he changes his dialect, he changes his tone, he changes his clothes, his swag. It's everything just depending on the particular things. And, like I said, he is of the culture but he is not fully part of it because of the shit like that that he does. Like you're stealing from this, you're borrowing from these artists, you're putting them on tracks and it's beneficial for both parties, but it's not helping them. What's Youngboy? I remember Drake jumped on something with some kid named, I think, blockboy or something like that, went to do the stupid little dance where they hop around on one leg or some shit, and he's in the video doing it with him.

Anthony:

But after that you ain't never heard nothing from him. He'd come on there, he'd jump on it. He got what he got from him. He moved forward. He does siphon the shit away and call it a day. Kendrick just brought that to light. It doesn't make Drake terrible because both of them are throwing around a lot of allegations, but the truth of the matter is Drake tried to get into the ring. He just made actually a lot of mistakes. When I think about it, the biggest one that he made is that every record that kindred released when I mean I like that he talked about him in cold shore, but euphoria 616 and um, uh, not like us and meet the grams he's not talking about as long as though that not like us is dope.

Anthony:

No one else else except for Drake. Drake talking about Rocky, he talking about Ross, he talking about everybody. Like this is your target, focus on your target. That's why the records from Kendrick is better, because all these shits is aimed at you and only you. Even like I really like Family Matters, but the whole thing, like the first two sections, is about everybody else except for kendrick, except for the last part, right, he just wasn't focused and that's why he lost this that reminds me of takeover.

Anthony:

Yeah, for sure naming everybody but not focused on the main thing exactly look, speaking of not like us.

Jeff:

You know it broke the all-time record for biggest single day streams of a hip-hop song in us spotify history and it passed drake who had the record?

Mikey:

previously. It's and what's interesting also about like Drake's responses a lot of the time was that he like got defensive on a lot of things, like I am a good dad, I'm not a child molester, and like when it should just be, I think like a good you know a good diss track or a good beef song is like it's just focused on the other person. It's just you can retaliate a little bit about what like address what people said about you, but just like go after the other person only and it's the other thing I think it was so amazing was to watch out how quickly it escalated. It was like you dress like shit, you're kind of a shitty rapper. And then it was like well, you're a deadbeat dad and a pedophile.

Jeff:

Let's get into some of the allegations, shall we?

Mikey:

Drake said that kendrick lamar is physically abusive to his wife, and is that something that's ever been out like? I had never heard that's been rumored?

Jeff:

that's been rumored just like. Just like drake's, you know, pedophilia has been rumored. I don't even want to say that word because it's a strong word, but his interest in teenage girls, right, right, right and it's you know.

Mikey:

Yeah, sorry, no, no, no.

Jeff:

I was going to say Drake claims that Kendrick's children with fiancée Whitney Ford are not his, but are former Top Dog Entertainment president's, dave Freeze, and he also said that Kendrick is using Feud to promote an upcoming album. Where's this album?

Mikey:

This is the album. He could just make an album off all the districts. And the other thing that, like, both of them have kind of leveled something along the lines of, like they're using the feud to, like you know, boost their their um, you know, street cred or their like visibility or whatever, and it's like, of course they are. What the fuck? Like? What is any this? Of course they're getting some of their most downloaded songs out of this. I mean, look at any beef. All of it is based on record sales and clout and trying to just boost your sales. So it's interesting for me that either of them would say, oh, you're doing this just to promote your next record or you're doing this for whatever. Well, of course you are. I mean, it's not. If you weren't, then you would just be attacked like settling this, you know, in private or whatever, and then kendrick's allegations.

Jeff:

He's saying that, uh, you know drake is a father to an 11 year old daughter that he has not claimed we've heard this before about him having children. Uh, he claims that drake and his team are pedophiles and he also called drake a master manipulator and a habitual liar. Not to mention that they keep saying and rick roth probably brought it up first that you know all the plastic surgery that drake is getting his nose job, a bbl, his abs surgeries and all of this other shit.

Mikey:

Bbl, drake, what well before we? One of the things that I was interested in that, because we've kind of touched on both of them in like past episodes that we've been on before. But, like, what do each of you think of them in general? Like, where do they land for you, like, are they people? Do you listen to all their music? Do you like them? Do you think that they're really good rappers, like it's, you know? I mean, I think drake especially is someone who, like I think a lot of my like real hip-hop heads like won't really include him in the canon of like he's a rapper, like he's a hip hop artist. It's more like, well, you know he's a dude, that can you know he's you know he's, his music's good, it's like it's.

Mikey:

it is what it is, but it's not like. I don't look to him for like being a spitter.

Jeff:

No, I don't. I like Kendrick, I like Cole. I don't like Cole, I don't like Drake. Yeah, I don't put Drake in that discussion of the big three of right now, right you?

Anthony:

know what I mean.

Jeff:

I mean obviously they are the big three because of the record sales and the popularity and mainstream success and whatever. But I don't put Drake in the caliber of those two other guys.

Mikey:

I mean I put Cole above both of them for sure, Lyrically, yes, and Kendrick like, well, and I made a joke to you guys over our text thread where I was saying like they're just battling to see who's like the biggest pussy in art school or something like that Like they both just like feel like kids that went to art high schools and I don't know dude, they just they don't, they don't, they don't hit and they're not neither of them in my top, I don't know 20 or 50, even for rappers, it's just not. I don't know Kendrick's Speaking of.

Jeff:

Cole? What's Speaking of Cole? What's being lost in all of this is that Cole actually dropped a diss track to Kendrick and then deleted it and then went on and apologized, live on stage, apologized and basically redacted and took himself out of this whole feud. I thought that was the biggest bitch move in hip-hop history. Why did he do that? Because he probably saw what was coming. He didn't want to be in the position that Drake is right now. He was like I can see what's coming, song after song after song, allegations after allegations. This guy's about to murder me, so let me just step away now before this kamikaze, fucking atomic bomb hits me. But I still thought it was a soft move, because this could have been an opportunity to be the best battle of all time and it could have been a triple threat, a three-way battle.

Mikey:

But I mean, for the first time ever, you didn't mention something like that Drake's career is not going to be over, or whatever. I mean not only do I not think that Drake's career is not going to be over, or whatever, I mean, I don't not only do I not think that Drake's career is not going to be over, I think he's going to be. I think it's going to boost his career. I mean his career is like at epic, like he's at like selling Taylor Swift numbers now, like in his concerts and stuff, like I don't know man, I don't think that the people that like Drake like Drake because I don't think that he's like the hardest dude out there. I don't think anybody thinks that he's the best rapper, I mean. And then all the allegations about Drake like I don't know, they're all there. I mean he's. Have you guys seen the video of him when the guy, the person in the crowd, throws the Jordan 3 at him and he fakes like he's pulling a gun?

Jeff:

No, but I've seen the one where he brings up a 15 or 16 year old up on stage. You've seen that shit Well.

Mikey:

I mean, if you look at the way that those guys there's a lot of young, young women around. I mean musicians in general. My wife and I were just talking about how Anthony Kiedis from Red Hot Chili Peppers he's now dating his like fifth 23-year-old in a row. He's 60. And like his 20-whatever-year-old woman that he's dating looks 16. She's like a young, young, looking early 20s and it's just, I mean that's. We were just in la last week and it's like, yeah, dude, I mean that's like it's such a thing. It's such a thing.

Jeff:

But I think drake has stepped over the line on it a lot I think this does more to cement kendrick's legacy as one of the top artists or rappers of this era, more than it does hurt drake's, you know, standing in with his fans because his core fans are always going to be his core fans. Yeah, I think he's not going to lose any fans. I think Kendrick had more to lose on this, right, potentially, but he he cemented his legacy. He proved that he's the better lyricist, the better rapper, et cetera, et cetera. He also just made better songs. Right, you know, once this blows over, drake will go back to making songs for his core audience, which is predominantly women and possibly Canadians and whatever.

Mikey:

I don't know what Canadians listen to I think that's true, that's interesting.

Jeff:

Yeah, I don't know.

Mikey:

I don't know what boys are.

Jeff:

And the casuals will be like whatever. But I like when Kendrick was telling him to not say the N-word you can't say the N-word. I like when Kendrick was telling him to like not say the N word. Like you can't say the N word and the whole thing is you're white or you're white, you're a white boy, which is a whole other topic that we can discuss in a whole other episode or another podcast about colorism and who can say the N word? And if you're white and you're half black, right, but that's like the main thing that people say to him oh, you're Canadian, you're not of the culture, you're not black, you're not allowed to say this or that. So I think that's an old diss.

Mikey:

What do you think about that? To me it's like that's not. I mean, the Canadian part is more the thing that it's easy to kind of diss someone who's from Canada because it's kind of like, I don't know, they're just kind of weenies.

Jeff:

And even like Cardinal Fishout people that I really like.

Mikey:

I'm like, but they are Canadian At the end of the day. I wouldn't trust them. Cannabis is Canadian right, isn't Cannabis Canadian?

Jeff:

No, is he I don't know man. I think he is.

Anthony:

Y'all just be having this idea like rappers are the hardest people in the history of the world Right?

Mikey:

no, yeah, they're not.

Anthony:

They're really not. 99% of them just have a persona. Sure, Most of them was never really street dudes like that, something else like that, and the ones that were, you know like 50, he was a street dude. He got shot Like he made it a part of his story.

Mikey:

Or gazelle the guys or something.

Anthony:

Right, hell, yeah, especially them. So it's not the Canadian part Like we really don't care Right it's the everything that Right. Aubrey Graham. I heard this from somebody and again I'm not going to take credit, but it's one of the best lines I heard about the whole thing. They said that Aubrey Graham is a great actor. The best role he ever played was Drake and I said you got it.

Mikey:

Yeah, that's good.

Anthony:

Grassy, you're playing a hip-hop artist who wears these chains and does these things and so on and so forth. Yeah, like I told you, I like the Family Matters song and the video is interesting because I'm like what you're doing right now is actually pretty cool. But when I pulled back the layers and thought about it, you're you're proving the culture of ultra shit. You started off Right Like you. You spit in the gene in a chain. You got all the Pharrell's necklaces.

Jeff:

You got Tupac's ring. Why are you collecting these artifacts of hip-hop? And then he used Tupac and AI like an AI versus Tupac right. And he used Snoop Dogg AI, which I don't think helps his cause, because he can't beat the allegations of plagiarism and ghostwriting and all of this shit.

Anthony:

That's corny. Don't do that, and that's the whole thing. When people say you're corny, you just prove their point for them. Because you do things like that, like why do you have all of Pharrell's chains? Why do you have the Genie chain?

Jeff:

I know the.

Anthony:

Genie chain probably came from game, but it's whatever it's like. I don't want a museum of history of hip-hop in my house. I want to make it. I want y'all to have my stuff. I'm that good. And, like I said, with him and OVO and everything else like that, all Kendrick was trying to say people were like, well, kendrick didn't say anything, he didn't have to say anything new, there is nothing new.

Anthony:

We're trying to explain to you. He's not like us. He's not that guy I'm not saying the whole Canadian part His style, his flow.

Jeff:

He's not like us. He's not like us.

Anthony:

It's from somebody else. Your swag is from somebody else, your look.

Jeff:

By the way, cannabis is Jamaican American. I want to clear that up. I insinuated he was Canadian. It's probably because Eminem called him a Canada piss.

Mikey:

That's probably what I was thinking. I don't know Jamaica, you know Canada of the Caribbean, yeah, so it's not the white boy thing.

Anthony:

The white boy thing is just funny but you're kind of calling that because I'm like well, what I mean? What on? Not like us Kendrick calling B-Rat, I'm like I see it Pretty funny, I see it. I mean it's the fact that it comes to you.

Mikey:

In fact you guys I have I have an unpopular opinion that I feel like Tupac falls into the same category for me as Drake on a lot of levels, like I think it was all a front, I think a lot of it was an act. I think he, I mean dude, he was like he grew up in mill Valley. He was like, you know, he cherry picks the things from his childhood that he wants to, you know, like, expand on. And then, you know just, he tried to be so thugged out and I always just felt like it felt so forced and I don't know. So that Tupac has never been one of my people, but it's like when I see Drake, I oftentimes kind of like it's a huge.

Mikey:

I know it's not, it's a wild comparison it's a huge.

Jeff:

I know it's not that's wild bro.

Mikey:

It's a hot take that I don't know if I can fully get behind, but I just I've always kind of felt like it might get backlash for that.

Anthony:

That's fine, I like it, I like I had the opinion man. Yeah, that's why I say hit him up. It's not the greatest diss track of all east right, they were from Jersey.

Mikey:

Yeah, but they were garbage though, and it's just it. But I mean, I guess to him he was like I got people from your own area, you know dissing you Anyway.

Jeff:

But when does it get too far right? Because if it's on wax, jay and Nas, you know that's fine. But now we're talking about pedophilia allegations and Drake's people are getting shot up. One of his security guards got shot and is in critical condition. You know, people are getting shot outside his mansions, His stores are getting vandalized and shit like this Do you think, okay, the shooting, is that something from Kendrick?

Mikey:

I mean, it's maybe from someone that loves Kendrick or whatever, but do you think that Kendrick wanted that to happen? I doubt it.

Jeff:

Probably not. I'm not saying it's a direct result, but again, it could be a direct result.

Anthony:

That's right. People are crazy. We know fans are crazy, it's so stupid?

Jeff:

You know affiliations. You don't know what type of affiliations are going on, compton you know what I'm saying.

Anthony:

See that shit and blame it on Kendrick. When Kendrick was talking about Drake, Drake was talking about a lot of people. It could be anybody.

Jeff:

Well, that's true, that's true. Yeah, that's a fact.

Anthony:

Like you shit on Metro every song. You shit on Ross, you shit on a lot of people in them records. Don't blame Kendrick. Like don't say it's just me. You got a lot of other suspects out here and that might it really might sound that might be some Canadian beef. There might be some shit going on. It's a poutine.

Mikey:

I wonder what Canadian beef looks like?

Anthony:

It's a poutine restaurant that Drake gave one star and they're like whatever y'all got going on Toronto, keep that shit up there, dog For sure. Keep that shit up North.

Mikey:

It does feel like the, but I don't know. It's like I think back at a lot of the best diss songs and it's like I think about LL versus. I mean, dude, think about Ice Cube. They said some pretty wild shit, so it's not like the allegations, especially that Kendrick is throwing, are like. I mean, maybe they're unfounded but they are going around.

Jeff:

But a lot of those beefs that you mentioned from back in the day started off of a misinterpretation.

Mikey:

Oh, for sure.

Jeff:

You know what I'm saying? Something stupid. I think you said something. I heard you say something A misunderstanding the majority of the time, for sure. I don't know what this is. I don't even know how to categorize this Drake versus Kendrick shit, because it's been going on for years and now it's just finally escalated to another level.

Anthony:

It didn't have to Kend. It didn't have to Kendrick gave him out.

Anthony:

In the end he said if you want to go further, it's something you don't want to do. We could have just stopped that right there. I'm giving you this out. We can take it further. That's something you don't want to do. He wasn't kidding. Once you stepped over the line, I gave you a fair warning. Here you go, boom. Now you get everything thrown back and forth and that's the worst part. And here's okay, when you're thinking about beefs in online scene in the sense of hip-hop, they're all lies, it's all innuendo. I don't think Jay left a condom in the baby seat, right? I don't think that Tupac had sex with Faith. I don't think that. You know that's questionable.

Jeff:

Faith been around all the time she would have said something that man been dead If something would have happened she ain't got no books to sell.

Anthony:

She would have said that would have happened.

Jeff:

Now, mc Search did say that Nas was getting paid every time Jay sampled him, so that's the only thing that we know for sure to be true.

Anthony:

Right, but that's not one of them.

Jeff:

headline allegations Like I slept with your wife jay said I know who I paid dog search like publishing, you ain't get a coin dog. Yeah, I did right but.

Anthony:

But that's just speaking facts. Most time they're all lying like I don't think jerry heller actually has sex with easy e right right right, I mean, but like common, you know, like saying that diddy was ruining hip-hop.

Mikey:

I mean like you know, some of those like I always thought that some of the things that common leveled at, especially at Diddy, were like I was. I was always amazed those didn't go further. That does not that like Diddy would have like had a comeback track or something, but I was always amazed that like common never got his ass kicked or something.

Jeff:

Backpacker from fucking Chicago. But all right, this is the question. So is this? Where do you put this battle among the greats? Is this the new Jay versus Nas? Better? Is this the new Big versus Pac?

Mikey:

Wait better. Better than Jay versus.

Jeff:

Nas.

Anthony:

Yeah.

Jeff:

If you say that, then this is the best battle of all time, then to you yeah, easy. I mean, it's probably in my top three. I don't know if I'm ready to put it above. It's above it.

Anthony:

I know your love for Nas, not letting you put above it, but it's above it.

Mikey:

Right, I mean I loved the LL Cannabis one, but the status and the stature of Drake and Kendrick are so big Right, they're both so big, big. It's like this is titans going at each other. It's, it is. I mean, it's jay-z naz and I, I don't know. I feel like the fact that it was such rapid succession and they were firing out songs, like you know, in under a day, that's that's. I don't know.

Jeff:

It was exciting what did they put out? That's another thing, too, that the guys that jay and naz didn't have right. They didn't have social media, they didn't have the digital digital platforms Drake released. What was the song that Drake released? Was it Euphoria or whatever the fuck? What was it called?

Anthony:

Family Matters.

Jeff:

Was it.

Anthony:

Tupac or the other one.

Jeff:

The one that Kendrick responded to like 45 minutes later Family Matters right. You couldn't do that back in the day, right? We had to wait for weeks, sometimes even months, for a response. You know what I mean. You had sometimes even months for a response. You know I mean. You had to like, you had to buy studio time, you had to get in the booth, you had to do all of this shit.

Anthony:

Now you go on your phone record some boom, it's out, it's all over the internet, it's all over the world. Right, but with jen nye's, the only release three songs.

Jeff:

That was it right, just just just yeah, but nobody was releasing anything in 40 minutes but, but it's still three but, and the whole thing is like.

Anthony:

The first one is that I don't know how much you can say that is a distant knowledge, because it's, it's literally, it's just like that verse for which one?

Jeff:

we're talking about the takeover. Yeah, because it's just like he yeah, he, yeah. But he did my deep and then he did nas. He had different verses for everybody.

Anthony:

He came with that then like okay, there's your opening salvo. He shoots back with ether, he then comes back with super, then it's over no, no, no.

Anthony:

Naz had the freestyle, the j to the homo shit, whatever it was yeah, and then, like I said, it's the whole gay shit they always throwing around like nothing special. You have, probably, of the three rappers in this era, two of the three best it would. It would have been number one if it was cole and kendrick. It would have been number one if it was Cole and Kendrick. It would have been number one if it was Cole and Drake, because you have the guys at the top of the tier Now. Jay was at the pinnacle of rap at the time. Nas was a touch below.

Anthony:

We're not talking about lyrical ability. This adds in a sense of popularity amongst the senses of people, the touch below. Yeah, both of these dudes standing on the top of two mountains shooting across at each other, like well, one of us is going to have to die, one of us is going to have to fall off this mountain. That's what puts you number one. You put out seven songs in less than three weeks and you're still waiting for one more because Kendrick doesn't seem like someone who's going to let him have the last word. So we're still pitching. So it'd be eight songs in that period of time.

Jeff:

I feel like Kendrick has a bunch more already recorded.

Mikey:

He's just Well, he has like stuff, you know. I mean he's Like he brought Jack Antonoff in for 616. And so then it like brings all the Swifties into the battle.

Mikey:

But, it's like Kendrick just felt like he's locked and loaded, like I feel like he has beats ready that he can fire out. The other thing that we're like was a lot of the old beefs is that you had to wait to issue a single. But you had to it like maybe you could issue a single or a cd single or whatever, but like it's not like. And then you know in the like uh, downloads time or whatever, you could put something out quickly. But I mean, like I remember when like it was the ll cool j and and uh cannabis thing, it was like you were waiting to download, like to illegally stream something when they put it out, but it was hard to find. Now it's just like it's instant. It can go on TikTok and go on whatever and it's just instantly in the zeitgeist. So you can like put something out, record it into your phone, fucking fire it out in 20 minutes or whatever, and it's just like the system is ready for it. Now I don't know, I mean it's, I want.

Anthony:

Go ahead, brother Go ahead.

Jeff:

I just wanted to circle back to fucking J Cole, because it still bothers me that he backed out of this shit. Why? Because I thought this shit would have just made it. The dynamic would have been different. A triple threat match, bro, it would have been a fucking.

Mikey:

I mean he doesn't necessarily like diss anybody, but he talks shit about things. He's like he's edgy, I don't know. I thought that he was going to get into it. I thought might he might even go even harder than the other two, but so I'm just I don't know what the back. I would love to know the backstory of that, like why he didn't want to get involved, because it's like it seems to me like I think he ain't want to smoke, yeah, but. But I mean he could get some clout out of it.

Anthony:

Y'all overthinking this shit. Man J Cole likes Kendrick, Kendrick hates Drake.

Jeff:

I mean J Cole is the reason Kendrick got signed to fucking Aftermath or whatever.

Anthony:

I hate the way that you talk.

Jeff:

He doesn't like him as a person, because what he's doing to the cult.

Anthony:

He doesn't like him as a person because what he's doing to the cult he doesn't like him at all. He respects him as an artist, doesn't like him as a person. So you're going to get vitriol if he had, if he had, kendrick and cole, you're gonna get some albums, but you're not gonna get that level of violence. You're not gonna get that level of anger between them because they actually like each other. They're not. They're kind of cut from the same cloth. They just seem different. But they both got fucked up braids. They both were just like saying some black power shit.

Jeff:

That's what they do. It's fine, there's zero argument there, but Kendrick, but Kendrick. Telling Drake that he doesn't like the way he dressed to me is the most ironic shit of his entire battle, bro, considering the way he dressed.

Anthony:

Yeah, but he stole that shit from DMX because DMX was on the radio. He was like what do you think about Drake? I hate the way he walks, the way he talks, the way he looks, the way he dresses. I hate everything about him, yeah of course, but I mean Kendrick.

Mikey:

well, I don't know, I don't hate the way that Kendrick dresses as much as I feel like Drake Because Drake I mean stupid fucking shoes all the time and he's like he's. I don't know I hate his style. I used to like it. Actually, kendrick at least like how he feels, like he's not flashy, he doesn't wear a lot of jewelry, he's kind of got like a street style. He's got an la style. I don't know.

Anthony:

I like the way that kendrick's didn't dress is great dress is like a builder rapper, is it do rag? And sweatsuits, and in gold chains like oh, it's like. All right, your style is hip-hop, but it's like, again, it's a problem, it feels borrowed, like I know I've seen this before yeah like, so he's like what ai would draw up.

Mikey:

If you told him to draw up, he looks like a rapper on the front of the like limp biscuit album from the 90s is where it's like a dude with his with his hat like big old JNCO jeans or whatever, and he's like yeah, I'm a rapper, I'm like cool, Drake.

Jeff:

I used to like that album, by the way.

Mikey:

I mean that Method man song was good. Actually there's a couple we don't need to talk about.

Jeff:

Limp Bizkit on this episode.

Mikey:

But I went back into Limp Bizkit and I was kind of like, oh, maybe it's not that bad, but they have an exhibit. I think he has exhibit on there too. There was a um. There was like a a tick tock video or someone. There was a person that that he like talks to artists and and tells it has them go through their whole outfit and tell them like where he got, where they got stuff, how much this stuff is worth or whatever.

Mikey:

This is right after Drake had the, the chain made, that's like $24 million or whatever. Um, and he had, like I think his jeans were like $300,000. It was some wild number, right. So his whole outfit was like $40 million. Whatever it was. It was some stupid amount of money. And he looked like he had just gone into like a motorcycle shop and then like a 90s throwback jean store and then throwing the shit on. He looked like such a dumbass and he was like I have $40 million and I was just waiting for the end of the video I million. And I was just waiting for the end of the video. I wanted someone to come up and just jack him at the end and take his necklace and take his pants.

Jeff:

But I remember before we go because I know it has to have something to do.

Anthony:

If you need it, I got a minute. The reason why we got to kind of cut this short is because I have to do something with my goddaughter, because her graduation is coming up and her prom is coming up and her prom is coming up and that's it. But she hasn't got here yet because she didn't text me. So if you want to run a little more, we got time, that's great.

Jeff:

Ultimately, the ultimate question I wanted to ask is who's winning and or who won? For me, it's obviously Kendrick. Maybe I'm biased, I don't know. I think Kendrick got it in the bag.

Mikey:

I don't know, I think Kendrick got it in a bag. I think Kendrick won the battle.

Jeff:

I think Drake is going to win career-wise. And here comes Ant to play devil's advocate.

Anthony:

No, I agree, he's actually right, because Kendrick apparently seems to be one of those artists who wants to take time with his art. You don't see a lot of Kendrick features on much of anything, so that's why the whole like that thing. The song would have been good, but if he wasn't on it, you don't have this problem because he rarely comes outside. So once he came outside with this, oh, he got something to say. He'll release an album, take a couple years off, do another. Drake is going to constantly be in your ear. He's going to be on this feature, that feature, his album. He's a guy who really does think he's Michael Jackson. He wants that level of fame. He wants that so to be that you have to stay in the public conscious all the time. That's exactly what he's doing.

Mikey:

Well, and Drake's like Shaq man that dude will endorse anything. He. Drake's like Shaq man that dude will endorse anything. He's like I'll take anything. And remember how Mos Def or Yassin Bey talking about Drake like Drake is target music. Like Drake is capital. He's like Drake's music makes me want to buy something. And it's like, yeah, dude, that's like by design. Of course it's not a criticism, that's what it's made for.

Anthony:

They sell a lot.

Jeff:

Fuck yeah, dude, made for it. They sell a lot to me. Fuck yeah, dude to me. The only people that are gonna say that drake won are people that are in their 20s, who don't really care. You know the mumble generation who don't care about lyrics and shit like that, and obviously women. Right, if this means I don't, you know, this doesn't mean anything, but I did a poll on twitter or x and you know. I basically just said who won. You know kendrick and drake, or was it a tie? So 74% of the people had Kendrick, the other 26% had Drake winning. That feels like about right.

Mikey:

I don't know Right.

Anthony:

You want to know the problem that is.

Jeff:

What.

Anthony:

That 76% are guys like us that don't go to shows and buy tickets and shit like that. That 26% are the ones that go to his concerts, his shows, buy his clothes, or they could just be females and young motherfuckers.

Mikey:

But see, I don't that's funny Cause I don't see, I don't see that, as the crowd that's that's listening to Drake, I don't know, I don't, I don't look like. I mean, dude, drake is like he's old, like a lot of like young zoomers. I don't think that they're like looking at drake like he's the hot shit that I want to listen to right now. I think they look at him as like he's the like, you know, initial kind of version of what spawned a lot of the mumble rappers and shit that they like. So they might, they might look at him as like, oh, he's like whatever.

Mikey:

I think, dude, there's a fair amount of like young people that I think I think drake is kind of creepy, like that he's. They know he's performative, they know he's weird with women, they, you know he's, he's like. I mean, dude, I just like look up the video on Tik TOK or Instagram where the person throws the Jordan three at him and then he, he goes like this and he acts like he's like fake pulling a gun and it's so dorky, it's such a dad move or whatever. You're like, oh man, you look so hardcore.

Mikey:

He's also wearing a fucking Missy Elliott. You know how. He wears that fucking bulletproof vest looking thing, that Nike strap-on vest, in a lot of his concerts. So he's wearing that and then he's got just this big balloon outfit and he looks like he's pulling a gun. I just think people don't think he's authentic and I think that means a lot, especially for young kids. I think they're like nah, he's just kind of like he's not authentic and I'm not behind him. I think people know that, kendrick is more authentic, even even mumble rap kids.

Mikey:

Yeah, you're probably right about that and they're both the same age. They're both 37 is that right yeah? Yeah I see, I don't know they're both literally the same age.

Anthony:

Like kendrick might seem older just because of the music he puts out, but they're the same age.

Mikey:

Yeah, kendrick seems older also because he just feels more what's the word intellectual or something like that More mature.

Jeff:

I don't know, or something I don't know More in depth.

Mikey:

He's deeper when you look at a picture of Kendrick. It's like that dude feels. He feels like he's like a been through some shit and like beef, like he's got a busy brain like drake kind of. Looks like he's like man. I wonder when I'm gonna drink my next pina colada, like he just doesn't seem like he's got a lot going on in there.

Jeff:

You know what I found interesting too. Like nobody from drake's camp has come out and said anything right. Like no, not wayne, not Nicki Minaj, not anybody from the camp has said a word.

Anthony:

Hold on, hold on, hold on. That's. This is not a Young Money problem. This is over your issue. That's your label.

Jeff:

You deal with that shit, but that's what I'm saying. They're like yeah, you know, we're cleaning our hands. The only thing I've seen online is, like you know and they might be old clips of, supposedly you know Wayne's admitting that Drake fucked his girl or his ex-girl or whatever it was right, while he was in jail, or some shit.

Anthony:

It's always the one.

Mikey:

He was comforting her, yeah, and like all those people in that world haven't all fucked each other Like, come on, get over it, wayne, you don't even remember.

Anthony:

They rotate the same women all the time.

Mikey:

Right.

Anthony:

So don't get mad by it. Yeah, it's, it's, it's. The thing is that, more than anything else it brought uh, despite this violence that's happened recently, it's really shined an overdue and appreciated life of hip-hop because, like when you're hearing about it, like on the news and like a stage, stations and metrics and sections of life that people don't think will pick up on it, that they're talking about it. That's the best thing and that's why I said we were talking about that whole number. One thing A lot of people didn't know Jay. A lot of people didn't know Nas. A lot of people know Drake and a lot of people know Nas within and especially outside of the culture, when it's people that you won't think would be asking and like, have you heard about? It was a woman at my job. I had zero idea that she was interested in hip-hop. You heard about this beef. You heard about the records. I'm like right, you, yeah, I listened to you, like you.

Mikey:

Okay, tell me, I have a friend who's wow, I have a friend who's whose grandfather has been texting her grandfather's like 80 and he's like whoa what he's like man, this, this drake and kendrick feud, is really heated up how the fuck, does that dude know about it?

Mikey:

it's awesome, this shit is reviving the culture. Yeah, I mean. It's also like I think there's a lot of. I mean. The thing for me is like you asked when? When does it go too far? And it's like you know, I can't remember who's who's, whoever said keep it on wax, but like the like.

Mikey:

The thing for me is like when violence starts happening, like the fucking Drake security guard, that dude doesn't give a shit about this fight. Like he's just got a job. That like he's looking after Drake's weird $100 million Canadian bank looking house. And it's like don't shoot that guy. Like fuck, come on, that's when it's gone too far. Like you can't't. You know if they want to beat the shit out of each other, great, but like don't, don't, let it, just just keep it on record. And like I don't know, you guys can talk shit about each other, but I, what I always want to have someone do in these situations, is like the one person comes and talks shit about them. The other person is just like I don't even care. It's like you guys are so rich and so famous. It's like why do you even give a fuck about any of this? Like you're acting. You know it's like it shows your insecurity when you get so heated about it yeah, I mean.

Jeff:

The moral of the story is keep it on wax. Ultimately, we win nobody wins, but us right, this is entertainment for us. You know what I mean. They're gonna still be rich. They're gonna still have a successful career. Keep the shit on.

Mikey:

Wax, no violence they're both probably they're probably best friends with each other. Just like counting cash on an island right now, kissing a little bit, oops.

Jeff:

And they'll squash it and then they'll have a song together, and then that'll be the highest streamed song of all time.

Mikey:

You know what I mean. Yeah, yeah, there's also just a lot of bullshit out there and I think there's a lot of people there are too many people that have too many ears and eyes on them that are saying things that aren't true about everybody. That's famous and it's like I think everybody just needs to calm down. Like there's a lot of like Diddy We'll talk about that on a different show but I mean there's a lot of these accusations that have been made that I'm like that's not a true story, whatever.

Jeff:

I don't know what you're trying to do to get your, your likes and your views up, but that's you know stand down right Because people are crazy out here.

Mikey:

No way.

Jeff:

But yo, I'm out of here, man. So just you know. Holler at the website thecultureone. Check out our YouTube at the Culture 2020. Mikey Shee, what you got going on.

Mikey:

Yeah, so I host a podcast with my wife called Mikey and Rin Eat In. Join us for a lot of swear words and food and fun stuff.

Jeff:

What else do I have going on? I don't know. Just look me up. I saw you online doing some stand-up. You doing stand-up now? Yeah, I was doing some storytelling.

Mikey:

Yeah, I tell you can go on YouTube and look it up. It's, yeah, I don't know. Well, anyways, go to my yeah, go to at Mikey and Rin and it's linked to it in there. But yeah, I've been doing some storytelling and my whole story is just about jacking off so if you like funny stories about masturbation, then jump on in yo.

Anthony:

If this shit goes skyrocketing like man. I heard her in a coach like jerking off, like bro, it's not that kind of show when you bring me on my life, sorry yeah, like it's like I'll talk about some something I did not, something I do now like you. Like no, motherfucker, it's not the point. When I was, when I was 12, yeah, I did this.

Anthony:

I'm a grown man married yeah, I ain't got to do that, no more unless it's well, let's want to try something different, but in reality we don't need to discuss that well, I don't know, still I'll check it out, yeah you should check it out all right man, the culture yo peace.

People on this episode

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Jeff DeLaRosa

Host
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Anthony Austin

Co-host