Kendrick Lamar has gotten quite a bit of flack online for not sharing anything on social media about the new album from YG, which is currently suffering from disappointing sales. Of course, this is because he was one of many artists to join K.Dot at “The Pop Out” this June. Also, there are a lot of different ways to look at this argument. Kendrick’s defenders will bring up their past collaborations, the concert itself, and their long history as more than enough support, and will also bring up that he doesn’t even use social media like that for anyone or anything. But others like Adam22 think that he could do more, and don’t understand why we let him be so mysterious even if we don’t know how he could’ve supported his West Coast colleague behind the scenes.
“What did Kendrick do for everybody?” Adam22 asked about Kendrick Lamar amid Wack 100’s complaints that Adam and others are “nitpicking” and don’t really know what’s going on between each other. “Why didn’t he post YG’s album?” Adam went on. “That’s what a lot of people want to know. *laughs* I’m just saying. After the whole L.A. got behind him so hard, does he not owe, you know, a little bit of a look here and there? Maybe do a song with somebody for their project?
“I mean, it doesn’t seem like the biggest ask,” Adam22 continued. “Why does everybody just allow Kendrick to just exist in this mysterious, quiet little box away from everybody? And then it’s like he’s not expected to hop on anybody’s project, to do any normal rapper s**t? I do think it’s a decent question. It would’ve been nice if Kendrick shouted out YG’s project, right? That would’ve been him behaving like a normal person, he’s so mysterious. I bet if he was still cool with Drake, Drake would’ve posted his album. They all showed up out of the goodness of their heart. It’s just kind of weird when you’re doing stuff for somebody who doesn’t want to return the favor, right?
“If Akademiks put out a documentary, and I was all up in the documentary, promoting the documentary, helped him out with the documentary. And then six months later, I put out a documentary… Crickets. Ak doesn’t shout it out, doesn’t post about it,” Adam22 concluded. “It’s pretty easy to post about something. I did a lot for you when you were in the exact same position. And you couldn’t return the favor? That makes me feel like this is kind of a one-sided friendship. Why do we not ask of Kendrick the same things that we would expect of, like, anyone else? I’m just wondering why they didn’t get something in return. It would’ve been nice. Yeah, I just think it’s weird.”
DJ Hed might’ve played at “The Pop Out,” thus picking a firm side in the Kendrick Lamar and Drake beef, but he doesn’t only have negative things to say about the Toronto superstar. Moreover, he recently gave him some due flowers on HipHopDX‘s The Bigger Picture podcast with Elliott Wilson. As you can see in the clip below, the @djakademikstv caption for this clip is a pretty pro-Drizzy and anti-K.Dot one, which makes sense given Akademiks’ current beef with Hed. Nevertheless, the California native thinks that The Boy does deserve a lot of credit for his hip-hop contributions, despite the picture that Kendrick painted in his diss tracks.
“You know what?” DJ Hed’s remarks began on The Bigger Picture. “Thank you. Thank you, Drake, [for] what you’ve done to the ecosystem. We appreciate you. No, I’m not even throwing shade. Drake has done more for hip-hop than a lot of people give him credit for. ‘Cause he’s actively participated in the culture the whole time. There’s credit to be owed for that, you know what I’m saying? He also used his platform to benefit others outside of himself,” he concluded, with Jeremy Hecht asserting that “he has a family tree.”
This seems to be what Drake himself is trying to prove through his “100 GIGS” content drops, showing off his connection to the rap game over the past decade-plus. His combative new material hints at him wanting a “Game 2” with Kendrick Lamar, although we don’t know exactly what this “game” will look like. Will they have a sales battle for their next albums, or will it be another lyrical back-and-forth? Will they actually go at each other again or does Aubrey want to focus on winning “the long game” by staying as the top dog in the industry?
These are all big questions, and ones that DJ Hed himself doesn’t want to answer just yet. Furthermore, the whole reason why he clashed with DJ Akademiks is because he shut down Ak’s report that Kendrick Lamar will drop again soon. No matter what he or Drake choose to do next, it’s clear that this conversation is much less black-and-white than what many fans assume.
Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” continues to keep up some momentum, even if many Drake fans and some haters alike are already tired of it. Moreover, it’s now officially eligible for five-times Platinum certification, as it has now sold over 5 million units in the United States alone. This is very impressive considering that the song has only been out for almost four months, but not surprising at all when you consider the massive impact of the Drake battle. Pretty much everyone agrees that, for better or worse, it was the song of the summer. And it will probably continue to shine throughout the rest of 2024.
Furthermore, this is partly due to the fact that Drake wants to “win Game 2,” as he stated on his IG burner account. We still don’t know if this actually means a full second battle with Kendrick Lamar, as his lyrical material as of late definitely references his various beefs this year. The more likely scenario is that the 6ix God will target his other opponents and try to win “the long game” with continued commercial and critical success.
Nevertheless, we doubt that Kendrick Lamar will stay quiet for long, despite DJ Hed pushing back on new album speculation. Maybe it’s not a full-on project, but we can’t imagine that he won’t follow up this material with something big either this year or the next. Maybe that’s just wishful thinking, but considering the success of “Not Like Us,” it sounds like more of just a no-brainer business move. Yet K.Dot’s never been one to overtly succumb to commercial pressures, or to release music just for the sake of it.
As such, we have to be patient and see what he planned for his next move, as well as whether or not he will revisit Drake. Elsewhere, Kendrick Lamar also got some unrelated commercial achievements under his belt this year, such as the Diamond certification of “goosebumps” with Travis Scott. But no matter what goes down with this beef in the near future, the status of “Not Like Us” is one that fans can’t deny.
Kendrick Lamar is many things: a great rapper, a family man, an entrepreneur, and a bonafide anime villain that probably strokes his cat’s fur as his plan for world domination goes perfectly according to plan. This last interpretation is what many fans realized during his historic battle with Drake, and even his cousin Baby Keem agrees. Moreover, the pgLang affiliate retweeted a very popular Twitter meme about K.Dot: “Kendrick the type of n***a to disappear after the bus passes.” It’s funny to think about Kendrick witnessing all the memes around his Drizzy beef, but it’s even funnier to imagine Keem’s online trolling and participation.
Furthermore, this is the first “interaction” concerning Baby Keem and Kendrick Lamar that we’ve publicly witnessed since… their joint Vegas performance that went down this February, maybe? Still, that doesn’t mean that the Melodic Blue creative’s name didn’t pop up during the great rap war of 2024. For example, a Kendrick reference track for Keem’s “BULLIES” resurfaced during this period, sparking more debate around ghostwriters and protégés that Drake fans were already engaging in extensively at the time.
What’s more is that both Baby Keem and Kendrick Lamar have big plans for the future… Or at least, that’s what most of us fans want to believe. First up is the former, who’s been teasing his follow-up to his 2021 LP for a while now. It seems like we’re closer than ever to its release, but without any official teases, singles, announcements, or promotions yet, it’s hard to tell exactly when or how it will manifest. Still, The Melodic Blue was so good that it earned a significant benefit of the doubt on our behalf, albeit one whose expiration date is dangerously close. I mean, it’s been three years… Will we have to get to five before we start rioting?
As for Kendrick Lamar, he supposedly has something big planned after his Drake beef, but that’s just hearsay from his camp. He’s literally done nothing more than just drop his OVO disses, announce his Juneteenth concert, and release the “Not Like Us” music video. As such, Baby Keem is probably right in assuming that the Compton lyricist would embody that one Spider-Man 3 meme to a tee. Let’s just hope that he also has that ability in the inverse, and that he will pop out again in the near future.
As if folks didn’t get enough this year, hip-hop culture entertains a very interesting possibility these days: will Drake“win Game 2” as he proclaimed in an Instagram Story? Many folks feel like the series against Kendrick Lamar and company already ended, especially as the Compton lyricist and his camp reportedly have no interest in revisiting their victory. But OVO fans staunchly maintain that their fav will emerge victorious in the end, whether by literally changing the outcome of the battle or flaunting his success in spite of his loss. It’s unclear what possibility DJ Akademiks believes in, but as he showed during his recent livestream, he’s still ten toes down for The Boy.
“But Game 2, we will win,” DJ Akademiks expressed. “Game 2, we will win. That’s a fact. If you think Drake finna abandon and forsake all them fans, you got to realize, this for the fans right here. You think he gon’ let some p***y a** n***as have something over him, his legacy, and his fans? No! Aye, chat, f**k that. This the new thing: Drake in five. Drake in five, people, Drake in five. Remember I told you that.
“Drake. In five,” DJ Akademiks emphasized. “Drake in five. No, no, no, no, we ain’t doing six. Five. What’s understood don’t need to be explained. Y’all are going to watch it. Listen, listen, we got to see where the game starts. We got to see, bro. Just watch Game 2, bro. Just watch Game 2. We ain’t got to tell you the game plan. This ain’t Steve Kerr, n***a. F**k you think, we Gregg Popovich?” Again, what little rumblings we’ve heard on Kendrick Lamar’s end point to this being a one-sided effort.
Meanwhile, all this speculation from DJ Akademiks and others is irrelevant until we really know what “Game 2” means. Is it literally a second round of the Kendrick Lamar battle, will Drake focus on his other opponents, or does “winning Game 2” instead mean just being the biggest rapper of them all? No one really believed that he would lose that status immediately, right? Regardless, we’ll have to patiently wait until we actually have a concrete idea of this epilogue.
“I don’t want to diss you anymore,” Drake decried as his white-flag-waving moment on his final Kendrick Lamar diss, “The Heart Part 6.” Their battle was an intense and overwhelming one that fans haven’t even slightly stopped debating over. Ever since that song signaled the end of the back-and-forth, though, hip-hop culture has spent countless hours theorizing about what the Toronto superstar will do next. Thanks to some recent new activity and a potential second chapter to this saga on the way, we wanted to look back at how we got here.
Furthermore, here’s every important update you need to know about what Drake did, experienced, expressed, and allegedly took action about following the end of the Kendrick Lamar battle. Whether it’s new musical material, shady messages, unfortunate developments, rumored decisions, or accusations regarding his questionable movement, there’s a lot to get into. It seems like the 6ix God is building up towards something big in this aftermath. So let’s see if this history can help us guess as to what will come next.
The Embassy Shooting & Trespassers (May 7-9, 2024)
The Kendrick Lamar battle’s epilogue started on its worst foot to date. Unidentified suspects shot at Drake’s mansion, also known as The Embassy, in the wee hours of May 7, just two days after “The Heart Part 6” released. One of his security guards was struck in the attack and recovered in the hospital, and we never got confirmation that he was in his home when it happened. Over the next two days, authorities also apprehended two trespassers on the property in separate incidents. Despite speculation, authorities have not found any evidence that this connects to the Kendrick Lamar battle in any way at press time.
Drake Re-Lists Beverly Hills Mansion (Sometime In May 2024, Hit News Cycle On May 10)
During the aforementioned security breaches at The Embassy, news broke that Drake re-listed his Beverly Hills mansion for $88 million. News reports on this matter suggest that this occurred the week before May 10. As you’ll see below, this was not the only significant property update concerning Drizzy during this beef’s aftermath.
The Embassy’s Third Trespasser (May 11, 2024)
Drake’s security team takes down yet another alleged trespasser at his Toronto estate ,
The Embassy faced a third trespasser on its property in almost as many days. Guards tackled a man who reportedly didn’t cause too much trouble, and at press time, the specific details around this unprompted visit remain unknown. For that matter, the same goes for the other trespassing incidents that Drake suffered.
Via his Instagram Story, Drake let his fans know that he was officially done with his feud with Kendrick Lamar and company. “Good times. Summer vibes up next,” he captioned a picture of a lone samurai facing a massive army. Let’s see what else these summer vibes consisted of for Aubrey Graham in the months that followed.
For the first time since the battle ended, Drake popped out in public to celebrate his home city of Toronto finally getting a WNBA team. He attended a press conference at a downtown hotel in the 6ix, which also hosted Scottie Barnes of the Toronto Raptors and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The team will reportedly begin to play in the league in 2026.
Drake’s first post-beef musical release was on Sexyy Red’s “U My Everything” from her In Sexyy We Trust project. Most notably, it featured him rapping over the “BBL Drizzy” diss beat Metro Boomin produced to spite him. This was the first of at least a couple of instances of a narrative spin dividing fans, disagreeing over whether or not this was a compelling and flex-worthy move or a corny attempt at an Eminem 8 Mile moment, instead.
Confirmation Of $15 Million Texas Move-In (May 24, 2024)
Drake had previously announced that he finally found a house in one of his second homes in the United States: Texas. In May, we officially got confirmation that he purchased a $15 million ranch in the state. The 37-year-old even seemed to film a music video there, which may have ended up becoming the footage for his Latto collab that landed later in the summer.
Drake Pops Out At 21 Savage’s Toronto Show (May 27, 2024)
Drake’s first concert appearance after the Kendrick Lamar battle was at 21 Savage’s Toronto tour stop for his American Dream trek. There, he proclaimed that his Her Loss partner owns the 6ix, welcoming him as one of their own. Throughout this post-beef tale, 21 is definitely one of The Boy’s most firm supporters in the rap game.
One of Drake’s most divisive and clowned-upon musical releases this summer was this cut with Toronto content creator Snowd4y. As you can see by its title, it’s a cover of the Plain White T’s “Hey There Delilah” with some slang flips and intense auto-tuning. For some, it’s the silliest and most cringe-worthy thing you’ve heard this year but you can’t deny that we all needed a laugh and something more lightly cheeky. Whether that laughter is with him or at him is up to you.
Drake Becomes The First Artist To Surpass 100 Billion Spotify Streams (June 18, 2024)
Drake has surpassed 100 BILLION streams on Spotify, making him the first artist EVER to achieve this pic.twitter.com/ZjjimPJUb1
Drake continued to be one of the most dominant artists in the music industry despite Kendrick Lamar’s victory. But did anyone really expect him not to be? It was no surprise when the OVO mogul became the first artist in Spotify history to garner over 100 billion streams across all credits. Kendrick may have the streaming crown when it comes to their diss tracks, but there’s a whole catalog of hits that are miles ahead.
“HOT UPTOWN” & “Uuugly” With Camila Cabello (June 28, 2024)
After many teases and even a supposed release push-back due to the feud, Drake and Camila Cabello finally showed off their chemistry… Or half of it. “HOT UPTOWN” is a bouncy duet, but “Uuugly” is his solo interlude off of her new album C,XOXO. Fans got the “summer vibes” they were promised, and as you’ll read further down, there was even more on the way.
Drake Seems To Cosign Rick Ross Vancouver Attack (June 30, 2024)
One of the most controversial post-beef moments occurred when Rick Ross played “Not Like Us” at a Vancouver festival, prompting Drake fans to confront him about it. He dismissed them, resulting in a brawl between both entourages. Much to the dismay or approval of many hip-hop figures and other commentators, Rozay’s former collaborator liked a post on Instagram about the incident, insinuating that he was happy to see him face the consequences of playing around with his name in his country.
The day that Kendrick Lamar dropped the “Not Like Us” music video, Drake was too busy partying with a whole lot of celebrities. Many folks debated whether or not he looked defeated and aged when pictures from the bash emerged. Nevertheless, it was probably a welcome break from all the drama. Rubin would later go on to reveal some details about the event, including his decision to ban Kendrick’s aforementioned West Coast banger from playing.
We haven’t talked about them for the most part, but Drake had a lot of social media posts possibly referring to the beef in its aftermath. Among the most controversial was a picture of him wearing a shirt that read “Rap Is A Joke.” Whether this was an intentional message or just a shoutout to that brand, fans still thought that they were questionable words from a rap beef loser.
If you needed proof that Kendrick Lamar and Drake fans alike turned every little irrelevant thing into a discussion about the battle, look no further than this. When The Embassy flooded due to a torrential storm, the hate and love flowed almost as quickly as the muddy water crept through his doors and windows. We don’t really know the extent of the damage that this caused, but it was still a textbook hater moment on fans’ behalf during this battle’s aftermath.
ScHoolboy Q caused an uproar online after claiming that Drake was partially but nonetheless directly responsible for his canceled show in Toronto. For what it’s worth, Roddy Ricch spoke on not being allowed back into Canada weeks before, and SiR also had his show canceled in the city weeks after. While Q was the only one to accuse OVO directly, none of these accusations or incidents actually link back to that camp at press time. Perhaps we will never know what caused these travel issues.
One of Drake’s biggest hip-hop supporters during and after his beef is 50 Cent. They linked up to party in Toronto over the summer after Fif’s various praises of Champagne Papi’s beef performance. The G-Unit mogul even teased that they would work together on something, which led many fans to blast 50 for betraying Kendrick Lamar in their eyes, as they’re both a part of Dr. Dre’s music career family tree.
Kai Cenat Leaks Lil Yachty Collab “Supersoak” (July 23, 2024)
At Lil Yachty’s request, Kai Cenat premiered an unreleased collaboration between the Let’s Start Here artist and Drake titled “Supersoak.” Yachty would go on to explain why the team-up would probably never come out, and his brief unfollow of his “Another Late Night” partner’s IG account made many fans think that they have some beef of their own going on. Although that’s probably an unlikely and misinterpreted possibility. For those unaware, the Concrete Boy had spoken on the Kendrick Lamar beef and sparked much criticism from OVO Stans as a result. Also, as we will find out later, it seems like “Supersoak” no longer features the Atlanta creative, making this leak and the subsequent narrative quite hard to get a grasp on.
“Sideways” & “Healing” With Gordo (July 26, 2024)
Drake’s next musical release comprised of two tracks on producer Gordo’s (formerly Carnage) album DIAMANTE. They recall some of the work that they did together on 2022’s Honestly, Nevermind, engaging in some breezy house sounds and gentle vocal melodies. More summer vibes had arrived, and fans were quite appreciative of the results.
Ebro In The Morning held some very interesting claims, with its titular host and Peter Rosenberg hinting at Drake’s next move. Apparently, he has an album with Conductor Williams on the way, although the “Wick Man” artist himself never confirmed this or hinted at it. They previously collaborated on the fan-favorite “8AM In Charlotte.”
PARTYNEXTDOOR Collab Album Announcement At PND’s Toronto Show (August 2, 2024)
However, one collab album that Drake did announce was a PARTYNEXTDOOR team-up. They revealed the news at PND’s Toronto show, which means that many OVO die-hards’ dreams will come true very soon. The 6ix God suggested that it will come out when it’s colder outside, so maybe it will come out this fall, winter, or early in 2025. We will see.
Mustard Claims Drake & Gordo Tried To Sabotage His Album (August 4, 2024)
Mustard told Akademiks he believes that Drake told Gordo to drop his album the same day as his on purpose, because of the Kendrick beef
“that n*gga Drake is doing sh*t behind the scenes… f*cking with people… thats why I know what Yachty is saying is cap…”
When Mustard dropped his Faith Of A Mustard Seed album, Drake fans clowned his relatively low sales. But the West Coast producer behind “Not Like Us” thinks that the Toronto lyricist told Gordo to drop his album on the same day to negatively affect these numbers. Ironically, DIAMANTE sold less than FOAMS, so this is just speculative animosity.
Arguably Drake’s biggest move since the Kendrick Lamar battle was his massive “100 GIGS” content drop via his Instagram and a new website. This included three IG-only loosies, old footage, alternate album covers, merch designs, and a whole lot more. As far as the footage itself, a lot of it showed the songwriting and recording process behind unreleased or beloved tracks, behind-the-scenes concert footage, and casual vlog clips from The Boy’s earlier days. This lent extra context to some of his big hits, showed off his personable interactions with industry peers, highlighted his team’s roles, and captivated fans with its access into his world.
Snoh Accusations Of Revenge Porn Surface (August 9, 2024)
original post got taken down: Drake joined this stream with a streamer called “snoh” the streamer makes girls flash their private parts without them knowing they’re being recorded Drake praised her on stream and paid for her streaming equipment pic.twitter.com/ApbKQLIWDI
Around this time, though, some very concerning accusations regarding Drake surfaced. His association with (and praise and support of) Kick streamer Snoh caused many fans to raise their eyebrows since she faces accusations of coercing minors into exposing themselves and recording revenge porn. Given all the harrowing claims that became massive angles in the Kendrick Lamar battle, this is among the more concerning Aubrey updates in the feud’s aftermath.
After a lot of social media hype, Drake’s 100 GIGS cuts finally made it onto streaming: a Latto collab, a solo cut, and a Young Thug and 21 Savage team-up. They landed at 85, 63, and 28 respectively on the Billboard Hot 100, and held at least a few bars that fans thought hinted towards more leftover disses against his many rap rivals. As you’ll read very soon, this became even more apparent thanks to what came out a couple of weeks later…
Fuerza Regida Member Claims Drake Is Starting A New Record Label (Hit News Cycles Around August 12, Interview Published July 18, 2024)
Fuerza Regida says Drake has started a new label called ‘’PFL’ and has a 1 album deal with Mexican artist Chino Pacas
In mid-August, Drake fans looked back at Bootleg Kev’s interview with Jesús Ortíz Paz of Fuerza Regida and found some very interesting claims. Paz, also known as JOP, claimed that the 6ix God started a new record label called PFL in collaboration with the Mexican group’s label and Chino Pacas. Perhaps we will hear The Boy over some corridos soon.
“Buffalo Freestyle” With Benny The Butcher Drops & Disappears (August 23)
Benny the Butcher and Drake’s “Buffalo Freestyle” Has Been Removed From Streaming
In other music-related news, Benny The Butcher finally dropped his long-awaited Drake collab “Buffalo Freestyle” on his Buffalo Butch, Vol. 1 EP. However, the track disappeared from streaming services very quickly, seemingly due to a UMG copyright strike. As such, it seems like the Griselda affiliate was right in once assuming that it would never see the light of day, although we don’t know the reason why at press time.
Drake updated “100 GIGS” in even more dramatic fashion, with another new three-pack (including the aforementioned and Lil Yachty-less “Supersoak”) and loads of new content. Some of these new clips, such as Kanye West at OVO Fest 2013 and J. Cole buying Born Sinner CDs with his “First Person Shooter” partner, were already in the public discourse. Most importantly, these new tracks – including a Playboi Carti collab – contained even more obvious and pointed “sumbiminals” against the many rappers that formed part of 2024’s rap feud.
Drake Claims He Will “Win Game 2” In Beef With Kendrick Lamar & Co. (August 25)
new posts by Drake’s finsta account alluding to Round 2/Game 2
a picture of ‘A Better Tomorrow’ 1987 movie
and the iconic 2004 Pistons Rasheed Wallace interview
“yall put it on the front page, back page, middle of the page… we will win Game 2”
Most recently, Drake posted a video of Rasheed Wallace saying that his team will “win Game 2,” sending fans into a frenzy at the thought of another battle with Kendrick Lamar and company. While he deleted this IG Story soon after, the message was clear. We still don’t know exactly how specific Drake wants to go, or what “100 GIGS” could lead up to. But one thing is clear: he doesn’t just want to stick around. Champagne Papi wants to dominate the conversation and make his connections to the entire rap world very clear. To see what else comes in this boastful timeline, stick around on HNHH.
Everyone is guessing as to what Kendrick Lamar will do next. Moreover, various sources have claimed that he will drop something very soon, while others allege that these are misleading reports. Either way, it’s more likely than not that, whenever Kendrick does return with new music, he won’t really have much of a reason or desire to rehash anything about his Drake beef. The battle is over, and he can easily stick to his victory for now. What’s more is that fans believe this thanks to a recent tweet from K.Dot’s childhood friend Lil L, also known as Euro Luxxk. “Nah we leaving the Canadian alone everybody just working at this moment so just stay tune[d],” he responded to a fan on Sunday (August 25).
Furthermore, this is especially interesting because of what Drake has to say about all this. His new “100 GIGS” drops referenced his feud with a lot of rappers this year quite often, and he even posted and deleted an Instagram Story that proclaimed he will “win Game 2.” As such, there’s a chance that the 6ix God wants to take Kendrick Lamar down and boast about his success and status despite Kendrick’s attempts to obliterate him. Still, this could also just be a flex to his many haters and rap game opps, not an actual indication that he wants revenge of some sort.
Then again, we won’t really know until it happens, will we? We’re still culturally reflecting on the battle, whether it’s HBCU band tributes to “Not Like Us” or endless Twitter debates and memes that just won’t stop. As such, a lot of Kendrick Lamar and Drake fans wouldn’t want either of them to beat a dead horse.
Meanwhile, that West Coast banger keeps breaking streaming records, and Kendrick Lamar is still ever-present in many fans’ rotation. Many of his die-hards point to these facts as reasons why he probably won’t re-engage in the Drake beef, at least outright. We wouldn’t rule out a celebratory or subliminally general bar or two, and it will be hard to hear Mr. Morale’s boastful rap game lyrics without thinking of his Toronto rival. Regardless of the outcome, we can’t wait to find out.
After relentlessly dropping four songs in almost as many days, we’re now back to an age-old question: where in the world is Kendrick Lamar? He hasn’t popped out since the “Not Like Us” music video, which continues to break streaming records (Drake’s old records, to be specific) amid many more milestones, accomplishments, astonishments, and a whole lot of fan discourse. While many fervent online voices aren’t here for it, DJ Akademiks just added fuel to that speculative fire. Moreover, he recently expressed during his livestream that his sources indicated an upcoming drop from K.Dot coming very soon. His fans pray that these reports come true in 2024, lest we roll this over into the second half of the 2020s decade.
“Wait, why did I get news that Kendrick is coming?” DJ Akademiks claimed concerning Kendrick Lamar’s next musical move. “I’ve gotten some sources that tell me Kendrick – I don’t think it’s on some diss s**t. But I’ve heard that, you know, Kendrick is loading up. I don’t know if that means an album, I don’t know if he’s finally going to start giving out the handouts of features that he probably promised them n***as who were Crip-walking and Blood-walking on that stage. I don’t know if it’s just going to be a loosie. Maybe it’s that track that was at the beginning of the ‘Not Like Us’ video. But I was told… Kendrick is coming. So – and pause on that, by the way. That sounds wild.”
Furthermore, this is especially interesting news this time around thanks to the new Drake tracks that he dropped on IG over the weekend. Many lines on this new three-pack reference the various beefs he was in this year, but not a lot of them directly relate to Kendrick Lamar. As such, maybe the 6ix God wants to keep things general and subliminally shady, although the word “subliminal” has pretty much lost all meaning when all that’s missing is a super-obvious callout. Either way, DJ Akademiks’ theory that the Compton lyricist won’t rehash the battle is a common one among fans.
Meanwhile, some fans even think that Kendrick Lamar foretold Drake’s new angles on these songs, particularly a line about therapy. Of course, it could just be another classic pgLang Stan reach, or it just goes to show how effectively he broke down his opponent’s character. Nevertheless, whether you’re a Kendrick hater or not, whatever comes next will definitely cause a stir. Only time will tell whether The Boogeyman comes back out or if he will instead fuel the other side of his old-school Gemini ways.
Here we go again…Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” has broken yet another Spotify record once held by his rival Drake’s 2018 hit, “God’s Plan.” This time, it’s for the fastest rap song ever to surpass 700 million streams on the platform, and you probably already know the discourse around it. K.Dot fans are rejoicing in the victory, and OVO fans want Kendrick to thank the 6ix God for his success. Either way, both groups are arguing with each other over pointless numbers talk. Nothing will change the Compton lyricist’s victory, and it would take about 85 more tracks of this level of success to even begin to creep up on the Toronto superstar’s numbers on DSPs.
What’s more is that their post-beef movement is also further polarizing fans into making judgement calls about the Kendrick Lamar and Drake beef, confusing their preference for either artist as analysis on the isolated battle itself. The former popped out for a Juneteenth show and music video, keeping quiet throughout it all. The latter just dropped a new set of tracks which many believe he’s using to try to revive his various 2024 feuds. So folks are either labeling this as desperate or are fully content with just the existence of new music regardless of quality… Such is the state of public discourse in this year’s music culture.
Kendrick Lamar fans even pointed to him predicting some of Drake’s new angles on these IG drops, although that’s just a speculative theory up for interpretation. That’s just one example of how this beef became more about fans versus fans rather than rapper versus rapper ever since “The Heart Part 6” dropped. Another is how Drizzy’s every move has fallen victim to public scrutiny, irremovable from the context of the battle in many’s eyes. Much like Big vs. ‘Pac and Jay vs. Nas before them, we’re now at the exhausting point in which the least talked about parts of their rivalry are their actual lyrics against each other.
For hip-hop culture and music fans at large, this is a pretty disappointing level of animosity. At least many folks instead focused on both the gang unity that Kendrick Lamar promoted and on Drake’s commitment to giving fans what they love from him. But for every new record that “Not Like Us” breaks in the future – and trust us, it will – fans will once again display their blind support in full colors. Many lines from the battle have aged like fine wine, but “Hey, Drake, they’re not slow” is certainly on the opposite end of the spectrum for both extreme fanbases.
If you were hoping for a Drake and Mustard collaboration, we are sorry to break your heart. According to an interview with the Los Angeles Times (via AllHipHop), the California producer is totally ruling that possibility out. It makes sense, as he did concoct the already iconic instrumental for Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us”. Additionally, his X rant about his low album sales for Faith Of A Mustard Seed was another indicator. He claimed that Drizzy helped Gordo drop his LP (which contained Drake collabs) the same day as his.
“Drake is the Malcolm X of white people”, Mustard began. “And Akademiks make sure you post Gordo’s first week since Drake thought he did a thing with making him drop on the same day as me ”. So, yeah, he’s made his feelings pretty clear, but this feature with the outlet shows just how much hate he has inside of him for Drizzy. “I don’t think I want to make a song with that dude. He’s a strange guy”.
However, that quote is just the tip of the iceberg. When recalling the Pop Out show, he said it felt like everyone was getting rejuvenated. “I was right by the stage looking up at him as he was performing that night, and it was like everybody was getting healed”. Mustard said it had nothing to do with Drake, but all of the previous quotes we listed sort of contradict this one.
What are your thoughts on Mustard ruling out any possibility of working with Drake again? Do you think they will ultimately make up, why or why not? Is the hate for Drizzy going too far, or is it all valid? We would like to hear what you have to say, so leave your thoughts in the comments. Additionally, always keep it locked in with HNHH for all of the latest news surrounding Mustard and Drake Finally, stay with us for everything else going on in the music world.
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”, Mustard began. “And Akademiks make sure you post Gordo’s first week since Drake thought he did a thing with making him drop on the same day as me