The rap battle between Kendrick Lamar and Drake is officially over. At least that’s what Top Dawg Entertainment CEO Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith says. K-Dot was once signed to the label. Everyone was waiting to see if Kenny would fire back at Drizzy after the Toronto MC unleashed “The Heart Part 6″ last weekend, but looks like that’s where this feud ends. Drake has even seemed to acknowledge the fight is finished with an Instagram Story post in the early morning of May 12. “Good times. Summer vibes up next,” he wrote, along with a painting of one warrior battling thousands of other fighters. While there may not be shots ringing off at the moment, the numbers in this lyrical warfare continue to stack up. There are many different ways the totals are accumulating for both Kendrick and Drake’s solo diss tracks. The two rappers have earned important milestones and achievements as a result.
The length of time these verbal assaults have spanned is 40, 50 or 52 days depending on how fans look at the way it all ended. Kendrick’s verse on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That” on March 22 kicked off the official start of this rivalry. So, if Drake’s “The Heart Part 6″ on May 5 signifies the end of the clash, it’s been a total of 40 days that the lyrical conflict has raged on since there was no response from K-Dot after that. On the other hand, Top Dawg declared the battle was finished on May 10, which would result in 50 days of war. Does TDE still serve as the mouthpiece for Kendrick if he’s no longer signed to the label? That’s for the hip-hop community to decide. Drake’s IG post on May 12 means it would be 52 days.
The numbers earned from the disses racked up on the charts and by streaming metrics. Drizzy’s “Push Ups” was the first solo diss in this bout to make it on to the Billboard Hot 100 chart based on time of release. The OVO leader earned a No. 17 position for the track, which has been on the chart for two weeks. After Kenny let loose “Not Like Us” on The Boy, the overwhelmingly positive reception to the song sent it soaring in streams and even broke some records. The track smashed two Spotify records set by Drake. The exact calculations, which can be seen below, may be surprising to fans depending on which side they sit on: Team Kendrick or Team Drake.
Is this beef really well done? The next song either of these great lyricists unleash will be the true marker to see if there’s direct fire, subliminal warfare or the white flag is waved. Until then, here’s a look at the milestones and achievements based on the numbers for Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s diss tracks.
