Is the Beef Between Drake and Kendrick Lamar the End of an Era?

Hip-hop as a community is exhausted, and we all deserve a long rest from diss tracks for a while.

Unless you were on a different planet, the entire music world was tuned into the beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar. Black people. White people. Comedians. Actors. And so-called cultural commentators. It was discussed by anyone with fingers to click and share their opinion online.

The weekend madness began Friday night, as Drake dropped his response to Lamar in a 7-minute track titled, “Family Matters.”

In a shocking turn of events, K-Dot stepped on the release less than an hour later with the song, “Meet the Grahams.”

Saturday evening, in a shocking turn of events, Lamar went back-to-back (again), and dropped the song, “Not Like Us,” which instantly became a viral anthem for any and everyone that hates the Toronto rapper.

But Sunday night, The Boy responded again with the song, “​​The Heart Part 6” in an attempt to refute the many claims Kendrick made against Drake.

This series of events created the most entertaining and greatest rap battle in the history of hip-hop. This one will go down in history.

Which makes me think, will we ever see something like this again?

The end of an era

Hip-hop fans wanted to see Drake and Kendrick Lamar diss each other on wax not only because they are the two biggest artists in the genre, but also because they represent two different factions of hip-hop.

One is a pop star who is set on staying on top of every trend and dropping so much music that he won’t even allow fans to forget that he exists.

The other is more of a “purist” who believes that less is more and does not care if he is not dropping music every year. He’s willing to lose the daily interest of fans in an attempt to put out the best possible work when he comes out with a full-length project.

In many ways, they are this generation’s Jay-Z and Nas. One was the huge pop star who won when it came to numbers and accomplishments. The other was on top when it came to pure ability as an MC and lyricist. Even when it came to their rap beef, many claim that even though “Ether” may have been the better technical diss track, “Takeover” was a better song.

But instead of arguing about who is winning the battle between Kendrick Lamar and Drake, we can’t help but think that we’re witnessing the end of an era in hip-hop, just based on the generation of artists that are behind these two.

One could argue that Travis Scott, Megan Thee Stallion, Lil Uzi Vert, Playboi Carti, 21 Savage, and Doja Cat are next in line. But do any of these artists really have the skill, popularity, critical acclaim (with albums), and fanbase that would have people interested in a rap battle with another artist like the one we are witnessing now?

Are fans going to argue about who would win a battle between Lil Uzi and Playboi Carti or Doja Cat and Megan Thee Stallion? Would they care enough? It’s difficult to comprehend.

That is not to say that the next generation of artists won’t enjoy a huge amount of success and popularity. But they haven’t quite reached the level where their skills and accomplishments cannot be questioned by anyone, no matter which artists you like more.

This simply means that we have to cherish and appreciate the messy, gossipy, and huge show these two artists put on for the last month and a half, (going back to the release of “Like That”), because we may never see it again for a long time.