The moment every rap fan has been waiting for has finally arrived: on Friday, Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s fight became an atmospheric explosion of songs. The day began with “Lamar”6:16 in Los Angeles“, followed by a seven-minute barrage of Drake “Family matters” which Lamar quickly chased down with a six-minute gut punch titled “Meet the Grahams” The songs showed us two of rap’s biggest stars at their fiercest, most determined to win and at their nastiest. The feud has develop into more personal than expected, and Kendrick’s execution makes it seem to be he landed the toughest blows. This night will be one of the vital unprecedented moments in rap and a fight we are going to discuss for years. However, given the devastating nature of every rapper’s allegations and lyrics, it’s probably time to finish the diss tracks — or at least get back to the type of rhyme battle it began with, if that is even possible.

We’ve been waiting for Kendrick Lamar and Drake to air their grievances for a decade, ever since Lamar called out Drake on Big Sean’s show.Control” in 2013 yr. From then on, the 2 traded subtle blows and it was only a matter of time before a full-blown battle broke out. This fight has all the time featured – think Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather, which boxing fans have been clamoring for for years – two of the most effective on this planet circling one another, while rap fans eagerly await the ultimate showdown. However, unlike a boxing match, Drake and Kendrick come together in great shape. Their jabs are as sharp as ever and their haymakers are still to be feared.

At the start of this battle, it was clear that Kendrick Lamar had a plan. Each song he dropped left a crumb for the later one and a touch that an enormous left hook was waiting. Drake’s responses, especially his poorly performed “Taylor created freestyle”, which used artificial intelligence to imitate the voices of Tupac and Snoop Dogg, seemed more spontaneous and reactive. This tension between calculation and spontaneity came to the fore on Friday, as the day began with Kendrick’s “6:16 in Los Angeles.” He posted the song on Instagram along with a blown-up photo of a pair of Maybach driving gloves and spent three minutes arguing that Drake can’t trust his friends and that he has leaks in his camp. Once again, the song was precise and sent the Internet searching for hidden meanings: Did 6:16 refer to Tupac’s birthday, Father’s Day, Euphoria’s air date, Bible verses, or any other theory hip-hop Reddit could uncover? The song made it clear that Kendrick at least had an idea of ​​what Drake was planning, all because his inner circle wasn’t so internal: “Are you finally able to play have-you-ever?” Let’s see. Have you ever thought that OVO affects me?”

“6:16 in LA” dropped a number of days after Kendrick Lamar’s “Euphoria,” setting two records in a row. This overturned Drake’s most famous victory, his 2015 “Back To Back” moment, during which he released two consecutive songs hating on Meek Mill. Lamar also continued his deep character evaluation and deconstruction of Drake. Still, he felt like he was hiding something, promising that there was something else he hadn’t said.

As the day progressed, it seemed inevitable that we might hear Drake’s response sooner moderately than later. DJ Akademiks, Brian Windhorst, and Drake’s LeBron James all alluded to something happening. And as we approached midnight, a backlash seemed inevitable.

On Friday night, Drake unveiled a seven-minute music video titled “Family Matters,” which featured everyone from Rick Ross to The Weeknd and A$AP Rocky. In a vacuum, this song would be one in every of the strongest diss records of all time, as each of those artists was seriously attacked by Drizzy (“I don’t even know you’re still rapping ’cause they just talk about how you’re fit again,” he says hilariously Rocky). But these were snacks. The song was all the time based on what he was saying to and about Kendrick Lamar.

“Family Matters” is one in every of Drake’s best rap songs of his profession. He knew he was coping with the leading lyricist of our era and he did an incredible job. “They were shaking thinking about what I’d say, but they texted you like, ‘We already won,’” he raps, barking out a command over a beat that explains why he’s greater than just the singing and dancing pop actor he tried out for introduce Kendrick Lamar him as. The song has its share of cringe-worthy moments, an important of which is the road “Always rap like you want to free the slaves” as a pejorative. It’s only a weird phrasing, especially since most of the jabs at Drake center on his relationship with Blackness. It’s also paying homage to his line “beaten and chained like black American slaves” from last yr’s “Slime You Out.”

However, this line was buried by many other notable moments within the song. Drake used “Family Matters” to make several serious accusations against Kendrick, namely that he is abusing his partner and that the daddy of his child is allegedly a longtime associate of Kendrick and business partner, Dave Free. The song had all the things a knockout punch in 2024 requires, for higher or for worse: accusations, tea, lyricism, wit and venom. The song should be the talk of the weekend.

But again, Kendrick Lamar was ready. Just minutes after “Family Matters” premiered, Lamar released his second album of the day titled “Meet the Grahams.” This time, the album cover is the identical as “6:16 In LA”, however the image is zoomed out to point out alleged prescriptions for Ozempic and other drugs disbursed under Drake’s name. The song has a memorable Alchemist beat (the producer supposedly sent it to Kendrick). without knowledge what it will be used for), by which the Compton MC addresses in near whispers all of Drake’s relations, from his son to his mother, father and the alleged 11-yr-old daughter Drake has been keeping a secret.

The song is not nice to take heed to and doesn’t feel like it was meant to be.

Listening to “Meet the Grahams” is like listening to a terrifying voice memo intended for one person to digest. Kendrick begins the song by talking to Drake’s son, Adonis, and tells the 6-yr-old, “Dear Adonis, I’m sorry that this man is your father, I mean it. You need to be a person to be a person, your dad is unresponsive.”

Kendrick makes more revelations and accusations, this time claiming that Drake and his OVO Sound label are involved in sex trafficking. He even compares Drake to Harvey Weinstein. That was it. This was all the things Kendrick had alluded to in his previous songs and it was uncomfortable to listen to. The sheer force and ferocity of “Meet the Grahams” and the timing of the film – which reinforced the assumption that Kendrick had access to people in Drake’s camp – overshadowed Drake’s release.

And it gave the impression of Kendrick Lamar would be the ultimate winner.

Friday’s adrenaline – the largest rap stars swapping records in real time – was exciting. It was one of the vital exciting nights in rap. But when this rush passes, we are going to be left with a harsh reality. The allegations made by the 2 men – domestic violence, sex trafficking and general mistreatment of ladies – are serious. Even more disturbing is when every man’s feigned concern for girls falls apart during questioning. Drake raps like he’s horrified that Kendrick allegedly hits women in the identical song, calls out Chris Brown, and years later defending Tory Lanez, who shot and killed Megan Thee Stallion. Kendrick Lamar may discuss his concern for girls, but it’s not enough when he used his latest album as a option to promote Kodak Black, who was previously accused of raping a highschool student pleading guilty to a lesser charge of first-degree assault and battery in 2021.

Neither man has any moral ground when it involves this matter. They just sound like they’re parading Black women’s trauma to be able to take one another down in a hyper-masculine rap feud. And it will only serve to maintain indignant fans digging up dirt on the ladies whose names are checked in every song, while at the identical time on the lookout for clues to discover an unnamed 11-yr-old girl who may or may not exist.

This is what rap feuds appear to be, with women serving rappers who wish to insult one another. And this is a trope as tiring as it is unnecessary; childish and harmful for no reason. Tupac did it Evans’ faith when he disgusted Biggie. Jay-Z did it Carmen Bryan when he got here to us. And Pusha T did it Sophie Brussaux when he disgusted Drake. Rappers sling mud, reveal dark secrets and deliver the proverbial death blow, and ladies are each the nuclear bomb and the side effect.

If this is the ultimate stage of this argument, then we’ve got seen enough. It’s over, but it’s time to call it anyway. Kendrick Lamar outperformed and outplayed Drake from start to complete – it’s hard to argue with that. But we have also strayed up to now from what we got here here for – battles of lyrics and wit – that there is not any point in continuing.

The heavyweight fight is behind us. We had an evening we cannot forget. If Drake and Kendrick Lamar want to return back to point out who can rap higher, let’s do it. But perhaps we have gone too far into something else, something completely personal, and we do not think the subsequent moves will be fun.