The 72 Hours That Redefined “Beef”

Will history remember Kendrick Lamar vs. Drake as the most significant battle rap has ever witnessed?

This article is a continuation of “The Rap Civil War of 2024.” Check it out, or don’t — it’s up to you.

So, it’s been about six weeks since Future, Metro Boomin, and Kendrick Lamar dropped Like That, sparking what might just be the mother of all rap feuds. And it’s been a solid month since we put out our review of Drake’s comeback track, Push Ups. Man, a whole lot has gone down since then. We were hesitant to even start writing this analysis because, let’s face it, by the time we finished, Kendrick and Drake might have dropped a half-dozen new diss tracks, and we’d be back to square one. Honestly, it’s been draining. But now that the dust has settled and the ink has dried, we’re ready to lay out our final thoughts on this whole saga. Stick with us; it’s going to be a long one.

Just four days after our review of Push Ups, Drake fired back with his second diss track targeting Kendrick, dubbing it Taylor Made Freestyle. The performance was cringeworthy, as Drake attempted to channel Kendrick’s West Coast elders, Tupac and Snoop Dogg, through AI voice filters. What’s more, its timing was poorly judged, especially since the industry’s biggest stars, including Drake’s close…