Fat Joe Commends The Massive Success Of The Kendrick Lamar & Drake Battle

BY Gabriel Bras Nevares 1.6K Views
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Aug 26, 2023; Harrison, New Jersey, USA; (Editors Notes: Caption Correction) Recording artist Fat Joe attends the game between the New York Red Bulls and Inter Miami CF at Red Bull Arena. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports via Imagn Images
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2024 was the year in which all of us obsessed over the Kendrick Lamar and Drake beef, whether it was for five minutes or five-plus months. It was a massive hip-hop moment, so it's only natural that the culture would speak on it at length. Fat Joe recently reflected on the battle's overall success, impact, and longevity during his latest appearance on Big Boy's Neighborhood. While he emphasized K.Dot's dubs over the 6ix God's, you can apply this to both.

"Yeah, um, if I'm being honest with you, I wasn't watching it so closely at the beginning," Fat Joe said of the Kendrick Lamar and Drake beef. "And then when 'They Not Like Us' – 'They Not Like Us' is a 'Lean Back.' It is a 'Go, shawty!' You got the deal with that record for the next 50 years. There's no way around it. He done f***ed around and made a hit. Nah, nah, nah, that's a 'You can find me In Da Club,' like, 'They not like us,' that's forever. It's crazy. It's also the energy, you know what I'm saying? You can't dismiss the energy. It was coming up to that, boom!

Fat Joe Reflects On The Kendrick Lamar & Drake Battle

"And then, this new album's incredible, too," Fat Joe continued. "This new album is incredible. And, it's just, it's too much energy. This is like... You know, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, when I was in the game, they was selling 30 million records, right? Like, s**t I didn't even understand. It felt like the stadium would break, right? I used to go with them. And then they had, like, groups like Mo Thugs, guys that we never heard, that were going, like, five platinum too because they was affiliated with Bone Thugs at the time of that energy.

"And so, that's that energy Kendrick got right now," Fat Joe concluded. "His cousin could come out and sell some s**t. [Baby Keem] was already in play, he's known. Right now, Auntie Kendrick could come out, Auntie, spits ten bars and her s**t be multi-platinum right now. It's just the energy." Even though the victor earns the spoils of war, both warring MCs deserve some credit.

About The Author
Gabriel Bras Nevares is a staff writer for HotNewHipHop. He joined HNHH while completing his B.A. in Journalism & Mass Communication at The George Washington University in the summer of 2022. Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Gabriel treasures the crossover between his native reggaetón and hip-hop news coverage, such as his review for Bad Bunny’s hometown concert in 2024. But more specifically, he digs for the deeper side of hip-hop conversations, whether that’s the “death” of the genre in 2023, the lyrical and parasocial intricacies of the Kendrick Lamar and Drake battle, or the many moving parts of the Young Thug and YSL RICO case. Beyond engaging and breaking news coverage, Gabriel makes the most out of his concert obsessions, reviewing and recapping festivals like Rolling Loud Miami and Camp Flog Gnaw. He’s also developed a strong editorial voice through album reviews, think-pieces, and interviews with some of the genre’s brightest upstarts and most enduring obscured gems like Homeboy Sandman, Bktherula, Bas, and Devin Malik.