In recent months, the hip hop community has been rocked by a rap beef between two of its most high-profile members. Drake and Kendrick Lamar were engaged in a war of words (or more accurately, lyrics), leading to more than a few viral moments and some excellent new tracks. The dust seems to have mostly settled, for now, though plenty of people are seemingly still talking about it across social media. Some notable music stars have weighed in on the matter since it began, with one of the latest to do so being Snoop Dogg. And leave it to the fan-favorite artist to drop a refreshing take on the whole ordeal.
What Did Snoop Dogg Say About The Viral Beef?
Surely, it can’t be denied that Snoop Dogg – whose real name is Calvin Broadus Jr. – has been around the block since he got started in the industry back in the early ‘90s. He even found himself embroiled in a major beef as well back in the day. The now-52-year-old music icon has definitely mellowed with age, so it’s probably not too shocking that he offered a tempered response on the latest feud to hit the industry. When discussing the back-and-forth between the two Grammy winners, Snoop expressed nothing but love for the both of them:
Well, the only thing I want to say about that whole scenario is that I want to give both of them a shout-out for raising the bar as far as lyrics, as far as song-making and writing because the writing has been upped since the confrontation or whatever you call it, whatever they went through. Those are my nephews. I'm not in the middle of it. I support both of them and that's personal business, not my business.
The rapper, who claimed to be giving up smoking weed last year, sounds like a proud uncle, based on the comments he shared with ET. If anything, he can appreciate the artistry that was at play while the dueling artists dropped their various diss tracks. With that, the “Gin and Juice” rapper also offered another piece of praise for the pair of performers:
As far as what they did for the industry and the rap game, they made you rap again. You can't mumble your way and gimmick your way to a song no more, buddy. So, thank y'all.
I really appreciate that Snoop Dogg refrained from adding fuel to the fire and instead opted to give the artists their props, and he makes a good point. Mumble rap has become very common, and one could argue that it’s not too often that you hear intricate lyrics in mainstream hip hop songs. So one could definitely say that the “Over” and “All the Stars” rappers did raise the bar, in a sense, during what became a contentious feud.
What Happened Amid The Feud Between Drake And Kendrick Lamar?
Having collaborated years ago, Kendrick Lamar and Drake (whose real name is Aubrey Graham) began beefing in earnest back in March, after Lamar dropped a guest verse on Future’s “Like That.” His lyrics were allegedly a response to J. Cole and Drake’s hit track, “First Person Shooter,” on which they proposed that the two of them – along with Lamar – were the “Big Three” of hip hop. The Canadian star eventually fired back with two additional diss tracks, “Push Ups” and “Taylor Made Freestyle.” And, in time, Lamar responded with a pair of songs of his own – “Euphoria” and “6:16 in LA.”
In time, the tracks became even more personal, referencing allegations against both of the stars, as evident in the songs “Meet the Grahams” and “Family Matters.” What was arguably the biggest track to come out of this back-and-forth is Kendrick Lamar’s “They Not Like Us,” which featured a slew of slights at the Degrassi alum’s expense. The actor/rapper eventually followed up that song with “The Heart Part 6” but, by that point, the Internet had arguably declared Lamar the winner of the beef.
This argument has had some serious ripple effects as well. GoFundMe campaigns for Drake were established, which asked for cash to cover burial expenses and more following his supposed defeat. Even actor Tom Hanks was curious about what was going down and asked his son, Chet, to explain it to him. (The results were hilarious, by the way.) All of that aside though, I’m just grateful that a rap veteran like Snoop Dogg now has an even keeled take on such a messy sequence of events.
You’ll be able to catch Snoop Dogg covering the Olympics this summer for NBC, so be sure to check out his work amid the 2024 TV schedule or stream the commentary using a Peacock subscription.
