Battle culture played an integral role in the formation of hip-hop music, so it's no wonder artists have once again turned to some good-old-fashioned competition. Perhaps inspired by recent beat battles like Timbaland vs Swizz Beatz or Hit-Boy vs Boi-1da, Tory Lanez sent out a friendly challenge to French Montana during yesterday's record-breaking installment of the impromptu Instagram Live series Quarantine Radio.
Rather than staging a rap battle, the pair opted for a "hit battle," which is to say an extended flexing session set to classic bangers. Though both parties fought valiantly, Tory ultimately conceded and declared French to be the winner. Unfortunately, "Unforgettable" proved to be the proverbial atom bomb, with Timbaland announcing it's arrival with a decisive: "thanks for coming out, it's over."
While many were ultimately pleased the duel transpired, Akademiks wasn't entirely moved by the match-up. By his own criteria, Tory was completely outclassed from the get-go, implying the Canadian rapper wasn't even in the same league as the Jungle Rules hitmaker. "French Montana is WASHING Tory Lanez on IG Live in their 'Hit for hit' battle," wrote Ak. "Its not even close. Tory shot all his shots in the first 5 rounds when he played Litty Again and Controlla hella early to save rounds."
"It should have been French montana vs DJ Khaled," he continues. "Tory a great artist.. but his songs aint had remotely the impact as some of them anthems by French.... Khaled would do work tho against French.. actually against anybody." Despite Ak's praise of Tory's artistry, Lanez came through with a response of his own, claiming that Akademiks ultimately missed the point. "The point was to show the world we both had records," he maintained, citing a worldwide trending statistic as proof of a job well done. "Mission accomplished."