Royce Da 5’9″ has experienced enough rap beef throughout his career, and such battle scars never quite fade. Years removed from his last proper lyrical duel — a few pointed shots at Yelawolf circa The Allegory were too one-sided to count — Royce nearly found himself pulled back into an unexpected fray with Lupe Fiasco of all people.
After the pair of former podcast hosts found themselves at odds over lyrical superiority (an admitted oversimplification of the catalyst behind their recent exchange of tracks), Lupe goaded Royce into battle by hitting him with some freestyle bars on IG Live. Provoked by Lu’s brazen volley, Royce hit the studio to showcase his elite technical prowess on “Silence Of The Lambda,” hitting Lupe with a few jabs while pulling the majority of his punches.
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
The same could not be said of Lupe’s rebuttal, however. “Steve Jobs,” recorded shortly after “Lambda” landed, found Lupe getting surprisingly personal, unleashing a thrashing that may very well have caught Nickel unawares. Given the upped ante, many were eager to see Royce unleash a retaliatory combo, matching Lupe’s energy and taking things back to his “Malcolm X” days. Alas, Royce has since taken to Twitter to quell the bloodlust, confirming that he will not be issuing a second round — at least, not yet.
“I won’t attack Lu personally,” he confirms. “I’m a real one with control of my emotions though desperate times call for desperate measures. You gotta talk reckless when you know you can’t check all them boxes. Tried to tell him, I’m different.”
While many respected his decision to sit back and be the bigger person, others felt that Royce was missing an opportunity to assert dominance over an equally formidable opponent. To be fair, it’s entirely possible that some of Lu’s bars struck a nerve, and Nickle simply didn’t want to return to such a headspace. The rift has already led to the end of their podcast, as confirmed by Lupe shortly after the release of “Steve Jobs,” so it’s clear that both parties have been affected by the recent exchange.
Still, it’s impossible to deny that Royce is a competitor, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him retract on his statement if goaded further. For now, however, it would appear that this duel has come to an end. Brief though it may have been, it certainly left us no shortage of bars to unpack — be sure to check out all of the best lyrics from both “Lambda” and “Steve Jobs” right here.