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Kendrick Lamar vs. Lupe Fiasco

Who would win in a rap beef?

By Rap DisciplePublished 6 years ago 3 min read
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Lupe Fiasco (left); Kendrick Lamar (right)

Lupe Fiasco isn’t having it with Kendrick Lamar's, “All the Stars” cover art. The track features SZA and will be included in the upcoming Black Panther soundtrack.

With a barrage of tweets, Lupe accused Kendrick of copying the cover art to his upcoming album, Drogas Waves. He accused Kendrick of stealing from his blueprint, and claims Kendrick Lamar isn’t a “top tier lyricist,” coming from a lyricist of Lupe’s caliber, these are heavy words.

TDE's president, Dave Free, was quick to respond the next day with his own tweet: "Go ‘kick’ and ‘push’ yourself into a tree with these wild accusations," he wrote. Ouch.

Have a look at the album covers. Does Lupe have a point, or is he just hating? Has Kendrick occasionally bit from Lupe's hand?

This incident isn’t the first time Lupe has criticized Kendrick, though. He once accused Hot 97's Rosenberg of “hugging Kendrick’s nuts.” He has cited MF Doom and Logic as better lyricists than Kendrick, as well.

“No matter how far you go you’ll always reflect me” were bars from “SLR 2”- Lupe’s response to Kendrick’s “Control” verse. Years later, it seems Lupe hasn’t shifted from this stance.

Say what you want about Lupe’s career and discography; there’s still no denying that he’s a lyrical titan. But, of course, Kendrick is no pushover; and his career has nowhere to go but up.

As this timeline gets longer, will we eventually see a Kendrick response?

Do we need an ultra-lyrical rap beef in 2018 between these two heavy weights? Maybe the better question is who would win this beef?

For all of his accolades and consistently great albums, Kendrick is a champion of the people. I would expect him to address Lupe directly. A whole song would be giving his opponent too much attention, but a few slick jabs would be enough to light fire emojis across social media.

Even though Lupe fans will always have his back (myself included), Lupe’s art goes unappreciated because he won’t “dumb it down”—a criticism that numerous have thrown at his feet. Public perception might not be in his favor in a beef with Kendrick.

But the public’s input wouldn’t matter to Lupe or Kendrick. This beef would be unconcerned with popularity and memes. It would be bar-for-bar—Kendrick’s pen against Lupe’s.

It would be a beef that “real rap heads” would champion as a “real rap beef.” Meanwhile, the rest of Hip-Hop would be dizzy from all the bars or occupied with Lil Pump, or completely disinterested altogether.

As a huge fan of both rappers, I wouldn’t be able to ignore the diss tracks that come out of this. On paper, Lupe is a better lyricist than Kendrick. I’m still finding new meanings to Lupe’s past efforts. However, Kendrick has consistently delivered A-List bars over great production. Kendrick hasn’t had to compromise his creative integrity because of label issues or because of Hip-Hop’s changing landscape.

In this regard, Kendrick is a better artist. He evokes reactions and inspires millions. But whether or not he’s a better lyricist than Lupe is up for debate. He has delivered phenomenal music more consistently than Lupe, but if we’re arguing who has a better skill set, Lupe has a vault of tricks.

Not to mention two, possibly three, classic albums of his own under his belt.

For those of you who don’t know, do your homework on Food and Liquor, The Cool, and Tetsuo and Youth.

So who would win if things escalated? Kendrick or Lupe? Are "lyrical rap beefs" relevant in 2018? Is Lupe just a bitter hater? Or has Kendrick been taking notes on the Fiasco blueprint for far too long?

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