kendrick lamar drake beef

Math Hoffa Claims UMG Makes More Money By Supporting Kendrick Lamar Over Drake

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With Drake and his legal petition against Universal Music Group and Spotify over Kendrick Lamar and his “Not Like Us” diss track, fans and media figures are wondering how these label dynamics actually look like. For those unaware, both artists fall under UMG, whom Drizzy is accusing of colluding with Spotify to artificially inflate the streaming and radio numbers for the West Coast banger. As such, plenty of people gave their two cents as to why UMG allegedly supports K.Dot over the 6ix God, and Math Hoffa has a possible explanation. According to his remarks – and those of some of his My Expert Opinion podcast cohosts – they are still in two very different positions.

Specifically, Math Hoffa posited that UMG as a major label wants artists to stay under them and not go independent, which is why they found it harder to deal with Drake’s massive success since he reportedly owns his masters and continued to seek more money. In Kendrick Lamar’s case, Hoffa says that the label makes much more off of him since that ownership is a lesser percentage.

Read More: Akademiks Reacts To “Her Loss” Cover Model Suki Baby’s Love For Kendrick Lamar’s “GNX”

Math Hoffa Speaks On Kendrick Lamar & Drake’s Deals

However, you can see in the replies section of the Twitter post below that most people seem to disagree with this assessment. First of all, even with Drake reportedly owning his masters, he still probably made UMG and other major labels more money than Kendrick Lamar overall thanks to the frequency of drops and his massive reach as an artist. Secondly, Kendrick only has a licensing and distribution deal with Interscope (under UMG), so they might not have a comparable contract structure currently. With all the drama around the legal petition and what’s going on for these artists business-wise, these questions became more interesting than ever.

We’ll see what other analyses and interpretations emerge concerning this Kendrick Lamar and Drake case, one that could go pretty much anywhere. Maybe it will go all the way to court, maybe the discovery process doesn’t yield anything, and maybe both parties just settle out and call it a day. But no matter what happens, it will probably cause a big shake-up in the music industry.

Read More: Journalist Backs Up Drake’s Claim That Siri Played “Not Like Us” When Asked About “Certified Lover Boy”… Technically

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Kendrick Lamar & Drake Will Go Head To Head At The Billboard Music Awards

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Kendrick Lamar and Drake already had their big rap showdown earlier this year that still has legs, but they’ve got one more head-to-head before 2024 ends. At the Billboard Music Awards, which take place on Thursday, December 12, both artists were nominated in the Top Rap Artist and Top Rap Male Artist categories. Considering that the 6ix God also received nominations for huge categories like Top Artist, it doesn’t seem like a particularly close race, but K.Dot also has plenty of chances for uncontested wins in other categories. The BBMAs are different to other award shows as far as criteria, and Drizzy is an absolute juggernaut when it comes to wins from the outlet.

As such, maybe these Billboard Music Awards will hold some surprises, but the Kendrick Lamar and Drake battle was never about sales… Or about Grammys, for that matter. It’s a biggest hater competition. Both MCs are still making a case for themselves being the biggest hater, with the Compton lyricist dropping the fiery and confrontational album GNX and his Toronto rival pettily calling out “fairy tales” on xQc’s stream.

Read More: Wack 100 Eviscerates Drake Affiliate Top5 Amid Kendrick Lamar Feud

Kendrick Lamar & Drake Will Face Off At The BBMAs

But Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s feud also roped in a lot of other people just by pure association, which some of them found quite odd. For example, during his aforementioned livestream with xQc yesterday (Sunday, November 24), the OVO mogul called Steve Lacy “a fragile opp,” which The Internet’s guitarist found hilarious. He took to Instagram to issue out some troll responses to the call-out, joking about looking for someone to be fragile with him. Top5, a Toronto rapper, is also completely anti-West Coast right now, and it seems like a rite of passage for any affiliate of either superstar. There’s a choice: you call the other side out, or you wait for them to call you out.

Of course, the battle that began with “Like That” will always connect Kendrick Lamar to Drake, and vice versa. As such, there will be more showdowns between them to witness in the future, such as the latter’s Australian tour starting the same day as the Super Bowl. But we doubt that they will be the ones driving those conversations.

Read More: Kendrick Lamar’s “GNX” Gets Hit With Premature First Week Sales Projections

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Wack 100 Eviscerates Drake Affiliate Top5 Amid Kendrick Lamar Feud

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Top5 still has his eyes on Kendrick Lamar to defend his fellow Toronto rapper Drake, and this has caused him to face pushback from K.Dot’s corner. For example, Wack 100 and DJ Akademiks were recently on the phone during the latter’s livestream, and Wack had some pretty harsh words for Top once Ak brought his freedom from prison up. “That dude ain’t nobody, bro, he’s a b***h,” the California music multi-hyphenate told the media personality. “You know he’s a b***h, you know that dude couldn’t survive nothing.” This is the latest chapter in the street cred debates and cultural battles going on between Toronto and Los Angeles as a result of this year’s explosive rap feud.

What’s funny is that pretty much everyone still seems particularly obsessed with this beef and looking for their surefire checkmate move against the other side… Except for Kendrick Lamar and Drake themselves. Sure, they will most definitely reference it and respond to it here and there, but it seems like they both have more grand things they want people to pay attention to now.

Read More: Drake Affiliate Top5 Gets Yelled At By Russell Westbrook During Heated Raptors Game

Wack 100 Goes After Top5

It actually makes moments like this Wack 100 and Top5 situation all the more odd because the Kendrick Lamar and Drake beef was never really about Canada versus the West Coast. Maybe “Taylor Made Freestyle” turned it into that, but it’s a battle between two massive MCs that will always have a historical connection at the end of the day. Of course, that’s where things eventually landed thanks to social media and hip-hop kayfabe, but fortunately, it’s all been talk so far, and no one’s actually engaged with violence since the shooting near Drizzy’s home in Toronto. Hopefully things stay that way.

Meanwhile, a lot of folks have a lot to say about the Kendrick Lamar and Drake beef these days thanks to the former’s new album GNX and the latter’s recent comments about the wider 2024 battle during his stream with xQc. A lot of jokes ensued, some serious discussions and debacles followed, but overall, we’re glad to mostly get over the most exhaustingly confrontational fanbase war in rap… But not fully rid of it, of course.

Read More: Wack 100 Responds To Snoopy Badazz’s Claims That Drake Can Come To Compton

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Steve Lacy Gleefully Trolls Drake After Rapper Calls Him A “Fragile Opp”

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Drake’s recent appearance on xQc’s stream – during which he seemed to respond to Kendrick Lamar, his new album GNX, and much more beef-related stuff – was a pretty fun one overall. It was just two guys hanging around and talking with fans, so when things turned more combative sometimes, it was hard for some folks to take them super seriously… Including Steve Lacy. The 6ix God called the singer and guitarist a “fragile opp” while giving praise to his hit “Bad Habit.” In response, The Internet’s Lacy took to Instagram to post various responses to the diss, including one meme that read, “who tryna be my… fragile opp.”

You may be asking why in the world Drake would have a problem with Steve Lacy, but there’s a very simple answer: he’s from Compton. He attended Kendrick Lamar’s “Pop Out” concert on Juneteenth this year, appeared in the “Not Like Us” music video, and has had a good working relationship with Kendrick in the public eye since 2017 with their DAMN. collab, “PRIDE.” As for K.Dot, he also seemed to respond to Drizzy’s words on xQC’s stream, and he was also quite amused.

Read More: Drake Announces “Anita Max Wynn Australia Tour” Begins Same Day As Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Halftime Show

Steve Lacy Laughs At Drake’s Jabs

As for what Steve Lacy and Kendrick Lamar could get up to in the future, the former actually teased a collab for his upcoming album. “I’m moved by what’s weird,” Lacy told Fantastic Man about what are the types of artists that he wants to collaborate with. “It’s almost like I hear them, and I think, I need to call this person. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want a Kendrick verse. […] I don’t feel tough,” he said of being at “The Pop Out.” “We were at the run-through, and I was, like, ‘How am I here?’ But I was so honored.. I thought I would never be in the conversation. It was cool.”

We will see in due time whether or not Drake, Kendrick Lamar, or Steve Lacy will continue to address this battle or if they will move past it eventually. We hope that’s the case, because so much beef can’t be good for your health.

Read More: Steve Lacy Hilariously Recreates Ty Dolla $ign’s Infamous XXL Freestyle

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Kendrick Lamar Appears To Respond To Drake’s Controversial Appearance On xQc’s Stream

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Drake didn’t take long to speak out and make himself visible again after Kendrick Lamar released his new album GNX. It was through an appearance with superstar Kick streamer xQc last night (Sunday, November 24), and it was overall a great time from what their charity gambling stream indicated. But of course, the Toronto rapper couldn’t escape some jokes from fans thanks to various beef references during the stream, such as one comment about “fairy tales.” Apparently, Kendrick himself caught wind of this, as an alleged friend of his posted some screenshots to Instagram that seemingly show his reaction to this.

“He trippin??!” Kendrick Lamar allegedly asked his friend about Drake, following a slew of laughing emojis at how he apparently turned Drizzy into a streamer. For the record, he’s been streaming for years now every once in a while, but that’s besides the point. It seems like K.Dot just had a laugh about it, and for the most part, so did the 6ix God, so it’s odd to see them treat their battle more casually these days. What they do take seriously now are how other people address them and their musical moves, such as this new GNX album and the OVO mogul’s upcoming Australian tour that starts on the same day as the Super Bowl.

Read More: Kendrick Lamar Aiming For Biggest Hip-Hop Album Streaming Debut Of 2024 Since Drake

Kendrick Lamar Seemingly Reacts To Drake’s xQc Stream

As fans continue to debate that whole situation, Kendrick Lamar and Drake are just gearing up to continue their dominance one way or another. The latter has a collab album on the way with PARTYNEXTDOOR, and the former just walked away from one of the biggest years for any rapper with a whole lot of excellent new material to boast. It’s been an excellent year to be a rap fan, whether you tapped into this showdown or not.

Meanwhile, everyone is still enjoying the GNX hype right now, and it will be curious to see if Kendrick Lamar or Drake have anything else to say about their feud or if they will move onto other things. It seems unlikely that they will just leave this scuffle behind and never address each other again, but we couldn’t have predicted that Future and Metro Boomin seemingly backtracked their positions, so who knows?

Read More: Snoop Dogg Praises Kendrick Lamar’s “GNX” After Apologizing For Drake Support

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Compton Rapper Snoopy Badazz Disses Kendrick Lamar’s New Album “GNX” And Defends Drake

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Not every Compton rapper is looking for a Kendrick Lamar cosign, and not everyone is a fan of his latest West Coast-centric album, GNX. Snoopy Badazz is one MC from the city who’s been pretty vocally against Kendrick, leading to a lot of pushback from Los Angeles citizens who feel like Snoopy isn’t even recognized in his hometown, as you can see based on some replies to the Twitter post below. Badazz called the album “trash” and also said that Drake is in no sort of danger in L.A. All in all, it certainly caused plenty of discussion and division among fans, but that’s been a constant for the whole year, so who’s surprised?

Interestingly enough, Snoopy Badazz reportedly signed to Death Row under Snoop Dogg, who also had some interesting thoughts on GNX. “K Dot new album GNX,” he tweeted. “It was the edibles. West West King.” Tha Doggfather made reference to Kendrick Lamar’s bars for him on the new album’s intro, “wacced out murals.” “Snoop posted ‘Taylor Made’, I prayed it was the edibles / I couldn’t believe it, it was only right for me to let it go,” he rapped on the cut. “Taylor Made Freestyle” was one of Drake’s first disses against K.Dot in 2024, infamously using Snoop and 2Pac A.I. vocals.

Read More: Kendrick Lamar Chronicles Some Of His Toughest Career Decisions On “Heart Pt. 6”

Snoopy Badazz Is Not A Kendrick Lamar Fan

Other Compton or California rap peers, though, are highly supportive of Kendrick Lamar’s new album, including his longtime partner Top Dawg. “Dot is a dangerous man right now,” he shared on Instagram following GNX‘s release. “Everything I thought he would be at 16 years old is here right now. Everybody stand down. I promise you.”

Meanwhile, back to Snoopy Badazz’s defense of Drake, the 6ix God seems pretty unbothered by this whole thing. After all, he’s got a collab album with PARTYNEXTDOOR coming out pretty soon, so he’s obviously got much bigger things on his mind than whatever Kendrick Lamar is up to. But just as that ruckus can’t break the Toronto superstar’s focus, the OVO-led campaign against the Compton lyricist has barely made a dent in the armor. But of course, the fanbase war will continue.

Read More: Gary Owen Reacts To Kendrick Lamar’s “White Comedian” Lyric

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DJ Akademiks Alleges Future Was Unaware Of Kendrick Lamar’s Drake Diss On “Like That”

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There are still a lot of lingering questions about the 2024 rap beef that dominated the year: Kendrick Lamar, Drake, and absolutely everything in between. Understandably so, we might add, as there are still a lot of artists dynamics that we can’t make a solid judgement call on these days amid reconciliation rumors. For example, one question mark is Future’s involvement, as it seems like his feud with the 6ix God isn’t as deep or consequential as other conflicts. In fact, DJ Akademiks recently suggested during his livestream that Pluto didn’t even know that K.Dot was going to do what he did on “Like That,” fully kicking the battle into gear.

“Even with Drake and Future, even though they haven’t spoke… It was never that deep,” DJ Akademiks remarked on his livestream. “I heard that – allegedly. Now, I don’t know if this is true. This is one I’m like, yo, if this ain’t true… S**t, I’m skeptical of it, too. They say Future claims he ain’t know that Kendrick was going to diss Drake on motherf***ing ‘Like That.’ I don’t know if that’s true. I don’t know if that’s true, chat, I don’t know if that one’s true. But that’s what supposedly is the thought. That is the thought or that is the explanation that has kind of trickled down. Again, they still haven’t spoke. But that’s the explanation. Which, you know, maybe that goes towards eventually something happening. It feels like deescalation’s happening a little bit, right?”

Read More: Future Brings Tally To Five With Music Video For “Brazzier”

DJ Akademiks Theorizes About Kendrick Lamar, Drake & Future

https://twitter.com/itsavibe/status/1855032839273607213

Even if this Kendrick Lamar, Drake, and Future theory is true, no way that Fewtch didn’t sign off on all this before dropping it. Also, what would this even look like? Was he in the studio reacting like a content creator when he heard Kendrick spit his “Like That” verse, or did he hear about it later on? Regardless, amid conflicting reconciliation rumors, this is an interesting thought.

Maybe we’ll get a solid answer on all this one day, but don’t expect it anytime soon. For now, fans and hip-hop media personalities only have theories as to what happened with Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Future, and company.

Read More: Future And Travis Scott Drop A Heater With “South Of France (Remix)”

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Kendrick Lamar Secures Seven Nominations For 2025 Grammys After Drake Beef

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Kendrick Lamar just opened his mouth… and got seven nominations for the 2025 Grammy Awards, the ceremony for which will take place early next year. Of course, all these nods relate to the explosive battle with Drake from earlier this year, so let’s break them down. Starting with his gasoline over a dimly lit fire, the Future and Metro Boomin collab “Like That” was nominated for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song. As for the West Coast banger “Not Like Us,” this got a Best Music Video nomination, as well as nods in the following categories: Record of the Year (production), Song of the Year (songwriting), Best Rap Performance, and Best Rap Song.

Furthermore, we’re sure that a whole lot of pgLang riders and OVO Stans alike are debating all this online as we speak. Of course, it’s not much of a surprise: Drake himself predicted as such on “Family Matters,” and no one can deny the critical, commercial, and cultural impact of these diss tracks. Nevertheless, it now officially joins other Kendrick Lamar debates brought about by his greatness, such as the conversation around his upcoming Super Bowl halftime show next February.

Read More: Juvenile & Mannie Fresh Are Down To Join Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Performance

Kendrick Lamar’s 2025 Grammy Nominations

In addition, all this news comes as we’re witnessing how the Kendrick Lamar and Drake beef bled over into other areas beyond hip-hop. Now, the question is whether it will result in an on-court NBA rivalry, as Drizzy attended a Toronto Raptors game against the Sacramento Kings to mean-mug and talk smack about Kings player (and former Raptor) DeMar DeRozan. The Compton native appeared in the now Grammy-nominated music video for “Not Like Us” and popped out onstage at K.Dot’s Juneteenth concert.

With all this in mind, it will be very exciting to see if Kendrick Lamar walks away with anything at the 2025 Grammy Awards, although it would just be small additions to much more important victories. Regardless of what you think of the Drake beef, “Not Like Us” in particular transcended its hip-hop environment and the other tracks he released this year rank among the biggest rap moments of not just the year, but the decade. See the full Grammys nominations list for next year by clicking the “Via” link down below.

Read More: Ice Cube Explains How He And Kendrick Lamar Are Both “Provocative” Artists After “It’s My Ego” Lyric

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Barack Obama Has Some Hot Takes About “The Big Three”

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Barack Obama was the most recent guest on the Deep Cut podcast with barber and media personality Vic Blends, and their conversation (which you can watch in full by clicking here) eventually led to his musical interests. More specifically, they spoke on “The Big Three,” everyone’s favorite talking point in 2024 a decade after the title was most relevant. Regardless, Blends shouted out J. Cole as his GOAT as a proud fellow North Carolina native. But the former POTUS had some hot takes – or omissions, we should say. He mostly focused on Kendrick Lamar, briefly referencing the Drake battle but also suggesting that there’s still an MC on top of all of them.

“Kendrick is a friend of mine,” Barack Obama remarked regarding the “Big Three” conversation. “I’ve been knowing him for a long time. He actually performed at the White House. I was the first, I think – I am pretty confident saying that not that many presidents were familiar with hip-hop before I was president. And I do think that Kendrick has a unique status right now, not just because of this summer. But he’s not just gifted, he’s serious about the message. He digs into himself. He digs deep. You’d enjoy Kendrick because when we get together, he wants to talk about fatherhood, those are the questions he’s talking about.”

Read More: Barack Obama Raps “Lose Yourself” At Detroit Rally After Eminem Introduction

Barack Obama Speaks On “The Big Three”

https://twitter.com/nfr_podcast/status/1851992196393660562

“I just talked to J [J. Cole] last week,” Barack Obama said of the Fayetteville lyricist, saying that he’s “very high on the list.” However, that’s when he revealed the rapper that he still thinks is on top, or at least, the one who holds the crown over any of the “Big Three.” “There’s a guy named Jay-Z from closer to my generation,” Obama posited. “Look, this is a lot like the MJ [Michael Jordan] versus the LeBron conversation, right,” he compared, pointing to all of their greatness.

Of course, there are other “Big Three” metrics to consider. Travis Scott, for example, is one of the top three most streamed rappers in the world, but he doesn’t fit in the historical and stylistic barriers of the Kendrick Lamar, Drake, and J. Cole conversation. If anything, Barack Obama’s words show that it’s more of an era-defining title than your absolute top three of all time. Both, though, are high praise.

Read More: Moneybagg Yo Talks Obama Co-Sign, “Speak Now Or,” Denzel Washington & More

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Kendrick Lamar & J. Cole Went Toe-To-Toe On “Black Friday”: Who Won?

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Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole are not on the best of terms right now. Overall, this mostly has to do with Kendrick’s recent beef against Drake, and some of the fallout from “First Person Shooter.” If you remember, J. Cole and Drake referred to themselves as the Big Three in that collab. However, Kendrick was not too happy about this and unleashed an iconic verse on “Like That” that reaffirmed his position at the top of the rap game. This subsequently led to a massive beef between Kendrick and Drake that left Cole on the sidelines.

On Thursday, Cole came through with a new song called “Port Antonio” in which he showed love to Drake and Kendrick. He explained why he opted out of the beef and how it wasn’t for him to get involved. On this Throwback Thursday, the song is reminding us of what could have been between Cole and Kendrick. Back in 2015, there were rumors that these two would drop an album together. Of course, the song that drove this hype was “Black Friday.” The first half features Kendrick rapping over Cole’s “A Tale of 2 Cities” while the second half has Cole rapping over “Alright.” Both artists give their best efforts and to this day, many wonder who actually won.

Who do you believe had the best verse on “Black Friday,” Kendrick or J. Cole? Do you think these two will ever change their minds and bless us with a collaborative album? Let us know in the comments section down below. Additionally, stay tuned to HNHH for the latest news and updates from around the music world. We will continue to keep you informed on all of your favorite artists and their upcoming projects.

Read More: Drake Shows Love To J Cole After Being Referenced In New Song

Kendrick Lamar & J. Cole Had Us Wanting A Collab Album

Quotable Lyrics:

I like my raps extra prolific
Since freestyling on lunch tables and park benches
And I won’t mention my 10,000 hours in training
While juggling, gang-banging, my balancing was tremendous
And now we look at the competition as quick submission
They tappin’ out before we even get a chance to miss ‘em

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