Over the course of almost ten years, Kid Cudi and Lupe Fiasco have kept up one of the oddest and seemingly pettiest hip-hop beefs in recent memory. Its origins center around a near-encounter at a BAPE store over fifteen years ago and a debacle over Fiasco allegedly exploiting his fans for quick money through expensive per-request verses. However, they admire and praise each other’s work and companionship through Lupe’s early support of Cudi and his personal struggles. This long-running tale of rivalry is that of avoidance, principle, and the importance of a one-on-one conversation. First, let’s start in 2008, back when Mr. Rager was just Scott Mescudi, a BAPE store employee.
One day, the Chicago lyricist arrived, and Kid Cudi went downstairs to avoid him until he left, which he said was because he didn’t want any famous rappers seeing him at his job because, he felt that when he would eventually get famous, they might bring up this past against him in future beef. What’s ironic is that Lupe Fiasco ended up feuding with him anyway for unrelated reasons. Regardless, the Cleveland native thanked Lupe for his support in a 2010 Complex cover story. “There’s one artist in this game who has always had my back and had nothing but love to show, and that’s Lupe Fiasco,” Cudder remarked. “Every time I see that man, it’s nothing but love. I saw him a little after it, and he was like, ‘I’m worried about you, man, just checking in.’ He’s somebody who I know really genuinely gives a f**k.”
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How Did This Beef Start?
Their beef really began in August 2014, when Kid Cudi questioned Lupe Fiasco’s financial decision to charge fans $500 for a personalized verse. The DRILL MUSIC IN ZION legend felt blindsided by his colleague and friend and clapped back by referencing Cudi’s own expensive fashion collaborations. In January 2015, they battled again over Azealia Banks’ comments that Lupe and other artists (including Kendrick Lamar) seemed to blame the Black community for the death of Mike Brown.
Since then, Lupe Fiasco proceeded to repeatedly call Kid Cudi out for switching up on him and refusing to make amends or confront him about the situation. During a November 2015 show, Lupe threatened to fight Cudi and said he wouldn’t hold a grudge against him in the same performance and even provided a bizarre Santa metaphor to explain why the Kid was a “b***h.” He mocked the Man On The Moon artist for threatening Drake from rehab in 2016, expressing that he “needs his a** beat,” and later, dissed him in 2018 while apologizing to Barack Obama and Kendrick for his criticism. Even though their attacks died down for a bit, Lupe reignited things in 2021 by dissing him about his feature on the Drake album Certified Lover Boy. At this point, it became clear that this was mostly one-sided since Cudi refused to engage.
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Where Are Kid Cudi & Lupe Fiasco At Now?
Still, all this beef emerged while these artists continued to praise each other back-handedly on occasion. For example, Lupe Fiasco said that Kid Cudi was “a GOAT, but a b***h” in 2022. In addition, he wished for Will Smith and Chris Rock to make up after the Oscars slap while standing on his distaste for the 39-year-old. Lupe quadrupled down at the end of 2022 by responding with “F**k him for life” to a fan asking if they’d ever reconcile, but history took a turn this year with Cudi’s recent interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music. Here, he recalled the 2008 BAPE story with the 41-year-old, which prompted him to respond on Twitter with more attacks. While the “GHOST!” creative offered an apology via social media, the “MS. MURAL” lyricist wasn’t having it and said that he needed to talk to him if this was to resolve.
Now, at the end of all this, Kid Cudi let fans know via Twitter that he spoke with Lupe Fiasco and that they hashed everything out, and his former opponent’s co-sign of this and promotion of his new album INSANO means that they finally squashed their decade-long beef… for now. Afterward, Lupe trolled a fan by suggesting that part of their deal was that he would beat one Cudi fan up (which you can read below). As such, maybe this tale isn’t over, but we’re happy that these two amazing artists are finally at peace. A collaboration would be one of 2024’s most heartening hip-hop moments, so let’s see what the future holds in store.
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