After a nasty heavyweight showdown between two of rap's top superstars, Kendrick Lamar and Drake, the court of public opinion seems ready to declare the Compton MC the winner. For now, Kendrick can gloat and hold his head high after delivering the knockout blow on Saturday (May 4) with “Not Like Us,” topping the streaming charts on Spotify and Apple and is already making its way into the heart of pop culture. Meanwhile, his rival Drake is left to ponder his next move after seemingly dropping the lyrical battle in what was likely his final battle song, 'The Heart Pt.' of Sunday. 6.”
While Drake can proudly tout his list of accolades, which spans his 13 No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 to his all-time record number of Hot 100 entries, there's no denying that this defeat by the cerebral killer of hip-hop is sure to get muddy. his place in the rap world. Although he battled toe-to-toe with Lamar throughout the weeks back-and-forth, you don't get points for coming in second place in hip-hop. Despite his polished Hall of Fame resume, the question remains: Can Drake regain his glory and bounce back? Or did Kendrick surrender his fate?
From a mainstream perspective, Drake's legacy will not be affected. For 15 years now, he's been breaking records by setting video game numbers. He is second only to Jay-Z as the rapper with the most Billboard 200 No. 1 albums. 1, while fourth overall (also behind Taylor Swift and The Beatles). Even after his 2023 For all dogs left fans and critics mostly underwhelmed, still atop the Billboard 200 during the set's first week with 402,000 equivalent album units moved, while also scoring two Hot 100 toppers with “Slime You Out ” and “First Person Shooter” featuring SZA. with J. Cole.
Drake's ability to weave in and out of the pop world whenever he chooses has allowed him to have a rabid fan following outside of rap. But while this beef has passed into pop culture, the reality is that the feud was strictly about hip-hop culture and no one else. People who loved Drake doing “Hotline Bling” or “One Dance” won't care too much about losing it to Kendrick as opposed to The Culture and will continue to defend him.
When Drake sparred with Pusha T in 2018, he was in the midst of the best commercial run of his career. He had released back to back smashes in “God's Plan” and “Nice for What”, eventually ending up on the Hot 100 for 19 weeks between them. But Pusha then temporarily took down Drake with “The Story of Adidon,” leaving the 6 God stunned and under pressure. Although Drake did not respond to the scathing diss track, he did move forward with his fifth studio album, Scorpio, and finally won the summer with his meme-ready, dance-challenging single, “In My Feelings,” which became his third No. 1 hit during that streak. While The Culture buried Drake after his disappointing loss, the pop world never abandoned him.
In 2018, Drake survived the onslaught of Pusha's avalanche by shifting the focus away from beef and toward what he does best: making anthems. Although hip-hop listeners have long memories, mainstream America might be a little more prone to amnesia – and after all, who doesn't love a comeback story?
Plus, now that the battle is coming to an end, by taking a well-deserved break, Drake will allow not only hip-hop but, ultimately, fans to miss out on what he's brought to the table virtually non-stop for the past 15 years. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and the genre needs to see what life is like without Drake for the next couple of years as he wonders what he wants the next phase of his career to be like. The juggling act between trying to be the ultimate pop star and hip-hop's most respected MC is a tall order that anyone, including Drake, can handle. While his first-half resume is undisputed, he never completed the rap half — there were always peers, including Kendrick, who demanded more innate respect from the streets than Drake.
As he weighs his future, Drake may have to decide what path he wants to take when he ends his story. After harsh criticism for For all dogs, entered the studio because The Culture demanded more rap songs. This gave birth to the project Scary Hours Edition, with some of his best raps to date. Although hip-hop purists applauded his efforts, not everyone applauded for him as they awaited his demise and later berated him after Kendrick's demolition derby.
Drake must also decide if the pursuit of love and admiration in hip-hop, a genre where some of the biggest stars clashed with him during the “20 V 1” showdown, is worth it. If so, he should focus his efforts on proving himself with a hard-hitting rap album, considering that's the one thing he hasn't really done since If you're reading this, it's too late. If he doesn't care about that idea, then he could fully embrace the pop star image and play radio anthems that would go on to chart and dominate. But he'll have to pick one of the two lanes, because trying to operate in both is virtually impossible for him at this point in his career. And either way, the goal for Drake should remain the same: to put out the best music of his life, the kind that immediately changes the conversation and leaves the biggest L of his career another distant memory.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/drake-kendrick-lamar-beef-loss-recover-1235676509/