Lupe Fiasco came through with the receipts.
The Chicago-raised rapper caused a bit of a stir this week after he weighed in on the Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar beef. He described the latter as a talented performer but said when it comes to rapping, isn't quite on Drizzy’s level.
“Drake got bars, which you know,” Lupe, 42, said during a chat with Aye Verb. “You know I ain’t cappin’ when I say that. So I would give it to Drake. I think Kendrick’s a better technically skilled performer, but I don’t think he’s a better rapper.”
The comments, of course, were met with backlash, with many accusing Lupe of being a “jealous” K.Dot “hater.” The Drill Music in Zion artist dismissed the allegations and insisted he has “love” for Kendrick, but wasn’t impressed by his lyricism, saying "he just doesn’t flex his pen enough for me" on X.
Lupe underscored his position by sharing an old video of him celebrating Kendrick at the beginning of his career. The clip, which was shared on Wednesday, was from a 2012 Chicago concert where Lupe invited the Compton rapper to join him onstage.
Fiasco told the crowd he was doing “something called the ‘Lupe Fiasco Outstanding Fan Awards,’” which included an award for the “Next Big Thing.”
“Now, I can give this award to anybody that I want, you know what I’m saying?” he said. “So I went down through, I sat down, and I was like, ‘I want you to think hard. Think real hard Lupe, about who you want to give this Next Big Award to.’ And I said, ‘Out of the many, there’s only one guy that I am a fan of that I think deserves this award. So the Next Big Thing award goes to my big homie Kendrick Lamar.”
Kendrick then went in for a pound hug and accepted the honor.
“Thank you,” he told Lupe as the crowd cheered.
“This the future right here, y’all,” Lupe responded.
The Chi-Town rapper used the moment to prove he isn’t a “hater” this week, as so many people have claimed
“I been hating on KDot since 2012…day one hater,” he sarcastically wrote. “Big Hate…couldn’t wait till he came to Chicago so I could hate on him to his fucking face!”
In a follow-up he added, "I love KDot always have & always will… But fuck a very particular section of his fan base hope you bitches stay broke and unhappy…"
He then quote-tweeted a user who wrote, "some of my fav artists really out here begging for a co-sign from Drizzy when their entire music career & success stems from conscious Hip-Hop Simply because of bitterness, u have mfs taking a Pop Star's side. U must've sided w/ Hov over Nas as well @LupeFiasco DAMN."
Lupe's reply? Simply a photo of him onstage with Drake in 2009.
Chicagoan and Fake Shore Drive creator Andrew Barber offered some context, saying, "This pic is from Drake’s 1st Chicago show in 09. House of Blues w/ Sly Polaroid. Drake didn’t arrive til 2a so the crowd was unruly & a fight broke out during 'Best I Ever Had' & someone launched a barstool at the stage. Lupe held Drake down. Someone got shot in the ass out front."
The posts come shortly after Lupe was included in a Complex's Trace William Cowen piece "A History of Rappers Apologizing to Kendrick Lamar." One of the sections focused on Lupe's 2018 criticism of K.Dot's lyricism. “I’ll put it to you like this. K. Dot is not a top tier lyricist to me and my standards when it comes to punchlines and bars,” Lupe wrote in a since-deleted tweet back then. “His overall lyrics are good, his stories phenomenal, but punchline entendre lyrically I don’t see it.”
Several months later, Lupe expressed regrets over his comments, writing: "Maybe I should have just left it alone. Even though my impetus was the ‘Control’ verse. I mean you put yourself out there like that. So you opened yourself up to critique…I apologize for even engaging and talking about n***as' careers. I’ll never do that shit again.”
However, Lupe insisted this month that he never apologized to Kendrick, saying he was merely "sorry about the entire shindig because it was such a waste of time and energy in something that actually had nothing to do with me."
