Joe Biden

It's kind of his thing that he's willing to get down and dirty and fight with people who are not necessarily on his level. Hmm. Kendrick, on the other hand, is a bit more old school.

It's kind of his thing that he's willing to get down and dirty and fight with people who are not necessarily on his level. Hmm. Kendrick, on the other hand, is a bit more old school.

Kendrick is a very, very introspective, poetic, genre agnostic writer. I mean, he won the Pulitzer Prize for music in 2018, which no pop musician had ever done before.

Kendrick is a very, very introspective, poetic, genre agnostic writer. I mean, he won the Pulitzer Prize for music in 2018, which no pop musician had ever done before.

Yeah, and he's been on this journey for years where he's really looking deep within his soul and his generational and family trauma, what it means to be a Black man in America. And he's in this lineage of... great artists and storytellers from Nina Simone and Marvin Gaye to a rapper like Nas, who was really holding it down in the late 90s for the writers of hip-hop, not the glossy hitmakers.

Yeah, and he's been on this journey for years where he's really looking deep within his soul and his generational and family trauma, what it means to be a Black man in America. And he's in this lineage of... great artists and storytellers from Nina Simone and Marvin Gaye to a rapper like Nas, who was really holding it down in the late 90s for the writers of hip-hop, not the glossy hitmakers.

But unlike Drake, Kendrick's not really one to get into these beefs. It's not his thing.

But unlike Drake, Kendrick's not really one to get into these beefs. It's not his thing.

So what's really interesting is they started out as collaborators and maybe even friends. These guys come up together. Drake gives Kendrick his first hit.

So what's really interesting is they started out as collaborators and maybe even friends. These guys come up together. Drake gives Kendrick his first hit.

And Drake takes Kendrick on tour, letting him open for him. And there seems to be a bond here as two guys who are trying to remake rap music in their own image. But as they get more and more popular and sort of end up at the same level, this symbiotic relationship, this collaborative friendship starts to become much more of a competition.

And Drake takes Kendrick on tour, letting him open for him. And there seems to be a bond here as two guys who are trying to remake rap music in their own image. But as they get more and more popular and sort of end up at the same level, this symbiotic relationship, this collaborative friendship starts to become much more of a competition.

They start mentioning each other, sometimes by name, but often more subtly in raps. And you get the sense that Drake thinks Kendrick is self-serious and pretentious, and Kendrick maybe thinks Drake is a phony. And fans are always itching for it to really explode into public view. And they're like, is this happening? Are they really going to fight?

They start mentioning each other, sometimes by name, but often more subtly in raps. And you get the sense that Drake thinks Kendrick is self-serious and pretentious, and Kendrick maybe thinks Drake is a phony. And fans are always itching for it to really explode into public view. And they're like, is this happening? Are they really going to fight?

Are they going to war, these two defining artists of this generation? But for a long time, it was really much more of a Cold War. And that went on for many, many years until last spring when it all explodes and gets super vicious super fast.

Are they going to war, these two defining artists of this generation? But for a long time, it was really much more of a Cold War. And that went on for many, many years until last spring when it all explodes and gets super vicious super fast.

So it started last spring with a series of songs. Kendrick comes out of nowhere with this really aggressive guest verse on a song by Future where he says... Drake is a way worse rapper than I am, and we shouldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence.

So it started last spring with a series of songs. Kendrick comes out of nowhere with this really aggressive guest verse on a song by Future where he says... Drake is a way worse rapper than I am, and we shouldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence.

Basically daring Kendrick to come at him directly and have this big fight that's been bubbling up for so many years. Drake's track is about how Kendrick is really short, has a bad record deal.

Basically daring Kendrick to come at him directly and have this big fight that's been bubbling up for so many years. Drake's track is about how Kendrick is really short, has a bad record deal.