With Drake releasing his latest Kendrick Lamar diss, "The Heart Part 6," on Sunday, it feels like we've reached a period of calm in the back-and-forth between two of rap's biggest stars. Some have gone as far as to speculate that the feud has now drawn to a close, though that remains to be seen.
Before we go any further, take a moment to pause and reflect on what the past few days have given rap fans. Regardless of how you feel about either artist, there’s simply no denying how thrilling (and genuinely surprising) all of this has been.
Interestingly, there is no real argument against Drake’s long-held status as the biggest male artist on the planet. In fact, he’s soon set to blow past 100 billion streams on Spotify, becoming the first artist to ever do so. A big part of what makes what we’ve witnessed in recent weeks so exciting is that both Drake and Kendrick, respectively, are truly fucking great at what they do. They are vastly different artists using vastly different tools to paint their sonic portraits, but both have moments of indisputable greatness in their respective catalogs.
But a battle was fought and the people want to know, who won?
Well, it sure looks like the 6 God lost this historic beef. Feel free to make up your own mind. But there are lot of signs that the world at large has definitely sided with one rapper over the other, and that rapper is the guy from Compton. Don't believe it? Here are 15 signs Drake lost...
1. Drake’s "The Heart Part 6" has more dislikes than likes on YouTube
As of this writing, "The Heart Part 6" has just under 640,000 likes and over 938,000 dislikes on YouTube. Considering that even the biggest Drake hater would have to admit he dominates when it comes to the streaming numbers, it's a tough look to have this many fans actually click the dislike button.
Meanwhile, Kendrick’s "Not Like Us" is currently sitting at 1.6 million likes and just over 14,000 dislikes.
2. Kendrick may land four songs in Top 10 next week
On May 7, Kendrick had four songs, including "Like That," in the top 10 on the U.S. Spotify chart. By extension, Kendrick could very well pull off a similar feat with the next Billboard charts update. "Euphoria," notably, has already debuted at No. 11, and "Like That" (the song that started this whole fiasco) has already hit No. 1 this year. If he lands four diss songs in the Top 10? That's a chart accolade even Drake has never achieved.
3. A high school teacher said her students quickly turned from Drake fans to Kendrick fans
Yes, this is just one person's story, but it's telling. According to TikTok user @stillateacher, "Kendrick is winning this thing." At least, that's what it looks like among kids at her high school.
"I, up until today, taught at a very Drake-centric high school," Ms. C told her followers on Monday, adding her students would often request to play Drake's "Rich Baby Daddy." But more recently, the tide has turned. "Oh my god, this is a Kendrick school now," she said.
She claimed she polled her students and in every class they sided with Kendrick, minus one kid or two defending Drake (and those kids got screamed at by their classmates). She added that many of her students, even ones who hate reading, are closely dissecting the lyrics of the Kendrick and Drake disses. Sounds like these kids want to work at Complex.
4. The RDC crew has clowned Drake
We already told you, but here we are saying it again: the RDC crew's recent string of beef-focused sketches has produced some genuinely funny material, including the above clip imagining how Drake and company may have felt amid the chaos this weekend. Yeah it's just jokes, but as Eminem once said, a lot of truth is said in jest.
5. Kendrick's "Not Like Us" is going off in the clubs
You've no doubt seen the clips. If you haven't, check the example above. "Not Like Us," especially, seems to be going off particularly well, resulting in crowds shouting out some choice lines directed at Drake. Turning a diss song into a club anthem (a la "Back To Back") was once seen as Drake's superpower but clearly Kendrick hit him with the reverse UNO card.
6. Macklemore feels comfy mentioning Drake's name
Macklemore's protest track "Hind's Hall" is about what's going on in Palestine, and he simply questions why the Drake and Kendrick beef is getting more attention than a global issue. But, only one artist gets a specific mention: Drake. We're guessing Macklemore didn't want to have name-drop Kendrick cause he'd likely have to apologize to him again.
7. College professors are sharing deep-dives declaring Kendrick the winner
Even people who might otherwise not pay much attention to a back-and-forth between two rappers are getting in the mix and taking an extremely in-depth approach when digging into the lyrics. This man may be a newcomer to hip-hop analysis, but he's arriving at similar conclusions as many fans.
8. TNT's music supervisor seems to be rooting for Kendrick
Kendrick has been getting some serious NBA-related airtime amid the feud, including with a "euphoria" being used as the intro of a recent halftime report on TNT. But that's not all. TNT has also given "Not Like Us" some prominent airtime.
Baseball heads are getting their share too, with the same song recently getting play at a Dodgers game.
9. GoFundMe trolls are launching fake fundraisers for Drake
A rep for GoFundMe told TMZ this week that the company was "monitoring" the site for fake fundraisers jokingly launched in connection with Drake and Kendrick. Drake, for the most part, is the butt of this particular joke, an example of which can be seen above.
10. Even wrestlers are taking pages from Kendrick's playbook
CM Punk paraphrased a few choice lines from Kendrick’s "euphoria" when calling out Drew McIntyre for leaving the building during Monday Night Raw. When your (DMX-referencing) lyrics become shorthand for unrelated acts of dissery, that surely means something.
11. Cornily enough, the Biden administration is using Kendrick's "euphoria" as part of its re-election strategy
The less said about this one, the better. If you want my thoughts on it, here you go. At any rate, Drake is still more or less the punchline here, as the White House's cornball stunt sees them subbing Trump in for the 6 God.
12. Oscar Mayer is piling on too
While Oscar Mayer’s BBL Glizzy pun is technically spurred by Drake and Metro’s side beef, it’s all interconnected. The brand isn’t the only one piling on, as brands again can’t resist doing that (annoying) thing that brands too often do, i.e. co-opt a cultural moment and swiftly suck the life out of it.
13. Drake's fellow Canadian Seth Rogen says he lost
Speaking at the Netflix Is a Joke festival, Seth Rogen gave the audience a quick summary of the beef before sneaking in his own assessment.
"You don’t hear defensive rapping that often," Rogen said. "Rapping’s usually pretty aggressive. You don’t hear rap that’s like, 'I am a good father. I should not be a registered sex offender.' I would say as soon as you are asserting in a rap song that you should not be a registered sex offender, you’ve lost the rap battle. That’s not a good sign."
14. Even tech moguls like Jack Dorsey are clearly team Kendrick
Jack Dorsey, or, simply, @jack on The Site Formerly Known as Twitter, has been making sly commentary throughout the beef. The Twitter co-founder and ex-CEO has frequently retweeted Drake mockery in recent days, as well as paraphrased a key line from Kendrick's 2022 Mr. Morale joint "Rich Spirit."
15. Other non-music stars are too
This week, the pro tennis world saw Naomi Osaka being asked about Drake and Kendrick's feud. While Osaka made sure to point out that she considers herself both "a pacifist" and "a neutral party," she then gave the upper hand to Kendrick.
"However, Kendrick dropped some heat that last song," she said. "That last song is amazing and I played it walking onto the court. So, currently, I think Kendrick’s doing a good job."
Osaka also said she thinks Kendrick should drop another diss, as the 6 God's "The Heart Part 6" still remains the most recent release in their back-and-forth.
Bonus: Metro Boomin's "BBL Drizzy" is everywhere
The instrumental boasts the distinction of being Dr. Miami's "new favorite song," as evidenced by TikTok-shared footage of it playing "on a loop" at the plastic surgeon's office. Meanwhile, Metro's Drake-mocking track, which is the subject of a fan contest that will net the winner both $10,000 and a free beat, is being remixed far and wide.
