The old rivalry between Drake and Kendrick Lamar has a long back story that goes back more than 12 years. Today, the two former friends are still battling each other for fans, making subtle references to each other in their music.
It’s safe to say that they hate each other, but this was not always the case. Let’s dive into the Drake-Lamar controversy and look at why Lamar has recently bested his archenemy, according to Spotify’s latest stats.
Spotify Speaks for Itself
Spotify allows artists of all kinds to share their music on the platform, making no distinction between those who have record deals with music agents and those who choose to remain independent. A Spotify promotion allows aspiring musicians to make a name for themselves starting from scratch, leaving the judgment of what good music is to the listeners who have the app.
And the people have indeed spoken. As per Spotify’s latest statistics, Lamar has a larger audience than Drake! The rivalry between these two very different hip-hop artists has culminated in a perceived win for Lamar, giving him a massive foothold to possibly win the Song of Summer award later this year.
Their Rivalry in a Nutshell
Lamar and Drake started out as friends back in 2011, with Drake, in a sense, taking Lamar under his wing and even featuring him in one of his tracks. But two years later, fans started to debate which of the two was better.
This resulted in a more competitive relationship between the two, which was exasperated by ‘dissing’ in interviews. It wasn’t long before comments began to be included in each of their respective lyrics, which announced a full-on rivalry between the two artists.
The Difference in Their Music
It should be noted that Drake and Kendrick Lamar have two very different styles of music creation. Drake is known for his ‘high life’ lyrics, emphasizing money, cars, and living like a rich and famous person. Kendrick Lamar (known as the artist who saved hip hop) raps about where he came from, his humble beginnings, and the brutality of life.
Hip-hop fans relate more to Lamar because his music avoids the commercialization of hip-hop and focuses more on the roots thereof. Whichever one you prefer, it isn’t surprising that Spotify shows a larger fan base for Lamar as opposed to the ever-declining audience of Drake. For some, the music of both artists is good and they are unaware of the past rivalry between these two. But for true hip-hop fans, this beef is just another in a long line of hip-hop history rivalries.
Hip Hop as a ‘Beef’ Platform
Although this rivalry between Drake and Lamar is officially said to be over, there have been some lasting effects on Drake as an artist. We only need to look at some of the past hip-hop rivalries to see that, in some cases, the rivalry itself lended to the popularity of both artists involved.
Some examples of this include:
- 50 Cent and Ja Rule
- Ice Cube and N.W.A.
- Tupac and Notorious BIG
These rivalries were excellent publicity campaigns for the artists involved, and many of them resulted in a soap opera of drama that translated to higher album sales. But for Drake, this rivalry has visibly hurt his career, because the respective music styles of these two artists are so different and evidently oppose each other.
How Has This Affected Drake’s Career?
Despite these statistics, Drake seems determined to win the Song of Summer award with one of his two latest releases. ‘Sideways’ and ‘Healing’ have recently taken the world by storm, and only time will tell if either of them will trump Lamar’s releases.
Drake has been visibly affected by this beef between himself and Kendrick Lamar and has lost many of his loyal fans. Today is the start of his decline in music sales as his older hits make way for newer ones released by Lamar.
Wrapping Up
A question worth asking ourselves is, “Does Spotify’s numbers reflect the overall opinion of hip-hop fans across the globe?” These two artists are very different despite their shared music genres.
Spotify is arguably the most popular music streaming app in the world, meaning these numbers are significant in what they translate. Fans are clearly more inclined to Lamar as the greatest hip-hop artist of our time, and it seems Drake will soon be left in the dust by his former rival.