Interesting that ALL of these battle rappers think Drake won
Skip to main content
Click to expand the Mega Menu
Vibe
Click to Expand Search Input
HOME
FEATURES
LISTS
+ EXCLUSIVE
Professional Battle Rappers Use Expertise To Determine Winner In Drake Vs. Kendrick Lamar Feud
See how battle rappers Dizaster, John John Da Don, Jaz The Rapper, and more have scored the epic showdown that is Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar.
BY JESSICA BENNETT
Plus Icon
MAY 6, 2024 11:57AM
Share this article on Facebook
Share this article on Twitter
Share this article on Flipboard
Share this article on Pinit
+ additional share options added
Drake, Kendrick Lamar.
Prince Williams/Wireimage, Christopher Polk/Billboard via Getty Images.
Drake and Kendrick Lamar‘s current feud has been the talk of Hip-Hop over the last week, as K. Dot responded to Drizzy’s “Push-Ups” and “Taylor Made Freestyle” with “Euphoria” Tuesday (April 30), followed by “6:16 In LA” Friday (May 3) morning. With both parties refusing to back down, Drake followed up with the scathing “Family Matters” Friday night, only to be spun on by Kendrick within less than an hour, as he immediately responded with “Meet The Grahams,” with both songs progressing the feud from a “friendly fade” to something that goes deeper than rap.
ADVERTISEMENT
Accusations flew regarding everything from Kendrick allegedly being abusive to his partner, Whitney, to Drake and others in his OVO crew being labeled pedophiles. Kendrick then doubled-down with a diss record disguised as a West Coast club banger, the Mustard produced “Not Like Us.” Finally, Drake responded the following day with “The Heart Part 6,” where he claims to have fed Kendrick false info through a “mole” in his operation, and denied ever having been intimate with anyone underage.
With so many Hip-Hop figures and talking heads spewing their take on the back-and-forth, VIBE reached out to the MCs who are war tested on a regular basis: professional battle rappers. Because who better to dissect the two wordsmiths’ bars, personals, and over all effect than those who’ve been forced to take out an opponent, face-to-face?
ADVERTISEMENT
See how Dizaster, John John Da Don, Jaz The Rapper, and more have scored the epic showdown that is Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar below.
Dizaster
Photo : Amanda Edwards/WireImage
“They both weak as hell, and they sound like gossiping school girls.”
This was battle rap veteran Dizaster’s first reaction to K. Dot and Drizzy going back-and-forth on wax, sounding off on the excessive amount of personals used that may or (most likely) may not be true. When asked to remove “gossip” from the equation, Diz notes that, according to their song credits, Drake had help penning his diss records while Kendrick was the sole writer of his venomous replies.
I remind him that battle rap crews often spar and help their members punch-up bars, which may include giving a crew member a line, stanza, or more.
“In battle rap, crews do help each other, and that’s why battle rap is a watered-down, fake place now,” he replied. “The battle rap scene isn’t what it used to be. Basically, just anybody can enter it now, they all got ghostwriters. 90% of the women in battle rap don’t write their own sh*t, there’s only like a handful of them that are really killing it. It’s become watered down, like the industry.”
“Of course it lessens impact, because it’s not you anymore,” he went on when asked about bars not being penned by the rappers themselves. “I mean, all of mainstream artists are cowards. They literally hide behind teams of people helping them. I don’t know how any of this is real battling anymore, we come from this era of “No Vaseline” and “Hit ‘Em Up” and I don’t know, this stuff is just not that entertaining. I mean, it’s cool, it’s better than not having it.
HOLLYWOOD, CA – NOVEMBER 10: Rapper Dizaster arrives at the AFI FEST 2017 Filmmakers’ Photo Call at the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres on November 10, 2017 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Amanda Edwards/WireImage)
While this may imply that he’s leaning toward K. Dot, Diz makes it clear that neither MC really knows what it feels like to go to war, mentioning that both soaked up game from battle rappers before blowing up.
“Nobody can say we’re hating or nothing like that, because Kendrick Lamar, K. Dot, used to be at our events and he wouldn’t dare rap at any of the stuff before he blew up. We were killing the whole city, and he would just be in the background trying to soak up game, and the same with Drake. We made him into a battle rapper. He’s just a fan, that’s how we met him.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 30: Drake and Troy Smack Mitchell attend “Til Death Do Us Part” on October 30, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Johnny Nunez/WireImage)
“At the end of the day, these guys are trying to emulate what we do, and none of them can stand face-to-face with each other and actually do it,” Diz asserts. “The whole point of this is self-expression and the real root of Hip-Hop is you being you, and being able to do it without a third party. Even having a beat maker, a producer, engineer, all that sh*t, it’s not a battle anymore. It’s one big f**king Broadway show.
“I’ll judge them when they’re facing each other and there’s no third parties, you have to speak from your soul, and there’s no instruments, and there’s no recording, and there’s no mics. Besides that, this sh*t’s a joke.”
Now, ALL OF THAT BEING SAID, the wordsmith hit us up early Monday (May 6) with an updated take after listening to “Not Like Us”, telling VIBE, “Kendrick kinda got him. He’s a bit more complex and he wrote it alone.”
After hearing “The Heart Part 6,” however, he added, “Drake really f**ked him up with this one. This is the most battle-like track. Yeah, Drake clearly won. I guess I spoke too early, but when you look at the back-and-forth as a whole, they were going light on purpose. Drake just had an extra ace up his sleeve and waited.
“Makes sense why they were so light on the first records, but this is a bullet to the head. Hurts me to say being from Cali.”
John John Da Don
Photo : Gutta City/Bullpen Battle League YouTube
Note: JJDD’s response was given hours before the release of Drake‘s “The Heart Part 6.”
“I like Drake songs more, but now it’s a battle of quantity, meaning whoever puts out more records or has the last word wins. Kendrick made it that way with dropping right after “Family Matters” then following up with another one! If Drake doesn’t drop another one, I’m gonna have to give it to K. Dot.”
Shooney Da Rapper
Photo : URLTV YouTube
“Battle Rap is cut throat… you have to draw blood first. Currently have Drake winning with the slight edge over Kendrick. I think the beef on wax is good for Hip-Hop, spark the competition back up.”
Charron
Photo : RBE YouTube
“As a battle rapper I think Drake cleared Kendrick BAD.
Drake basically was walking up to the fight and knocking people out on the way there. He cooked Rick Ross, The Weeknd, Rocky, e.t.c. Drake had the best haymakers and punchlines. Lines like “is that self-defense because she’s bigger than you” would shake the building in person. If this was on a stage, it would have got spooky for Kendrick.
Drake rebutted everything Kendrick said, as well. People don’t want to give Drake his props, but he’s the most battle tested industry artist on the planet. He clearly watches battle rap. Kendrick held his own and is the best story teller of our generation. But the story he was telling on ‘Meet The Grahams’ wasn’t true. He can’t win with a fake angle if this is a battle. ‘Family Matters’ will go down as the best diss track of all time, if we factor in haymakers, personals, melody’s and bars. Drake 3-0.”
Charron had this to add following the release of “Not Like Us”: “I personally feel like Drake has put out the better quality songs, but Kendrick is applying pressure and putting out more content.”
Following Drake dropping “The Heart Part 6,” Charron had this to add: “Defensive track. Drake rebutted everything. Kendrick has to prove Drake actually has a daughter and that he didn’t get finessed for fake info or it’s a wrap.”
Jaz The Rapper
Photo : Johnny Nunez/WireImage)
Brooklyn’s own Jaz The Rapper listened to all the disses in one binge-session on Instagram Live Saturday (before the release of “Not Like Us” and “The Heart Part 6”), ultimately giving Kendrick the victory after hearing “Meet The Grahams.”
“Imma be honest. Kendrick 2-1,” she stated. “They both have quotables, they both are wildin’, they’re saying names, Drake is saying so many names. I thoroughly enjoyed the creativity from the “Family Matters” video. I personally liked the A.I., I think Drake was having fun.”
“To me, Drake is having fun, and Kendrick is on his ass,” she assessed. “Now, Kendrick is strategic as hell, so he might have other things, but Kendrick is on that boy ass, I don’t know where this beef started and I don’t know where it’s gong to end, but this is good!
“I don’t think Kendrick smoked Drake, but he do got ’em by the braids a lil bit.”
She also mentioned that K. Dot calling Drake, “a f**kin’ deadbeat that should never say ‘more life’ is “something I would say in a battle.”
www.theringer.com
allhiphop.com
www.tmz.com
we remember, "What They Do" was not tea and biscuit friendly discussions.
I guess he doesn't want too see any more rappers die, like Pac and Biggie.