Kanye West Kicks Off Controversy Over Drake, Kendrick Lamar Comparison

Kanye West Kicks Off Controversy Over Drake, Kendrick Lamar Comparison

American rapper Kanye West has stated that Drake is vastly superior to Kendrick Lamar in terms of relevance and impact on hip-hop culture.

In a recent interview with DJ Akademiks, West asserted that despite Lamar’s apparent victory in the hip-hop beef between the two in the U.S., Drake’s influence on the global music scene is unparalleled.

He drew comparisons between Drake’s cultural significance and that of Future and Young Thug.

According to West: “One thing is, Drake is a million times better than Kendrick [Lamar] and a million times more important [to the hip-hop world]. What Future and [Young] Thug have done is what Drake culturally is. That sh*t was insane, bro. It’s universal”.

The Canadian rapper Drake and the American rapper Kendrick Lamar have been involved in a rap feud since 2013, when Drake responded to Lamar’s verse on the Big Sean song “Control”.

It escalated in 2024 with Lamar’s lyrics in the song “Like That”.

The two began on favorable terms in 2011 but on August 14, 2013, Lamar dissed Drake, among many rappers, on “Control”, but claimed his verse was “friendly competition”.

Over the next decade, the two denied speculation that they had dissed each other on various songs.

In 2023, on rapper J. Cole and Drake’s song “First Person Shooter”, Cole claimed that he, Drake, and Lamar were the “big three” of modern hip-hop; on “Like That” in March 2024, Lamar rejected the notion of a big three, saying the top spot in hip hop was “just big me”.

On May 4, on “Not Like Us”, Lamar accused Drake of pedophilia. On May 5, Drake released “The Heart Part 6”, which denied Lamar’s accusations and claimed Drake’s team fed Lamar false information about a second child. In January 2025, Drake filed a petition against and then sued Universal Music Group (UMG), his and Lamar’s record label in the Southern District Court of New York, for releasing “Not Like Us”, alleging that the song was defamatory and that it was promoted by UMG with illegal tactics.

In 2025, Drake reflected on the feud on “Fighting Irish Freestyle”; and Lamar won five Grammy Awards for “Not Like Us”, performing it and “Euphoria” at Super Bowl LIX.