Three music genesis. Two against one. Fans have called this media dispute the “civil war”, or have been calling themselves “Children of divorce”. These three artists attack one another amongst the same language they share, but why you may ask? There ‘s more to this story than just a feud. Lets dive into why it’s not just about the diss tracks. 

Back in 2004, Kendrick Lamar started his career of music, using the name K-Dot. If you know the music industry or have heard shared stories about it, it is challenging to gain attention or obtain that specific raise of fame that artists crave. 

Skipping forward a couple more years, Drake and J.Cole, popular artists during this time, take notice of Kendrick’s music. J.Cole and Drake decide to help Kendrick and lean him more into the spotlight, J.Cole helped produce many of Kendricks hits in his first take off album “Section 80”. Drake added Kendrick to his new album, “Take Care”,  at that time. 

Drake even had fought his own label to get kendrick to tour with them, and due to their assistance and persistence, he had gained the rightful exposure he deserved. They all remain good friends until the year 2013, when the first arise of the dispute starts to form. 

2013, fans are excited for a new album to drop by Big Sean which had a feature of Kendrick Lamar. 

Fans quickly realized that the words written by Kendrick, wasn’t just any kind of lyrics, but wordplay exposing the other artists he had worked with in the industry. Predictably for us, we know that in the midst of these names who he had called out, he had mentioned the names of J.Cole and Drake. 

His versus sent waves of shock not only to his audience but to J.Cole and Drake as well. J.Cole immediately confronts Kendrick, and they find a way to make up. Kendrick’s lines of calling out several artists was misinterpreted as hate, when it was a statement of him telling the world he is ready for competition. 

Fans must have ignored his line “What is competition? I'm tryna raise the bar high”

after hearing artists like Mac Miller, Asap Rocky, and even Big Sean being dropped so subtly yet aggressively. 

Even though Drake is a lovable artist, many people, including his own fans, could admit how petty he could be. Drake didn’t want to hear Kendrick, but instead allowed him to stand on what he had said. 

Throughout the next decade, Kendrick and Drake are throwing versus at each other continually. J.Cole eventually started to throw in a couple shots towards Kendrick as well, which benefits them all at the same time as it throws a spotlight on their lyrical talents. 

In 2023, Drake drops an album called “For All The Dogs” featuring J.Cole, Drake has an amazing flow but Cole can create the best lines that leave fans in clusters. 

So during one of Cole’s versus, he uses the Spider-man meme as an interpretation of his, Drakes, and Kendricks past relationship. “Love when they argue the hardest MC is it K-Dot? Is it Aubrey? Or me?”In this line Cole is explaining the “Big Three”, his lyrics further expose the order of being the greatest in the industry, putting himself first, Drake second, and Kendrick third. 

Cole recognizes and still admits Kendricks talents, if you were to deny what Kendrick was capable of doing and what he has done in the industry with his music, then you must be bias or unfamiliar with his music. 

The dispute continues to grow, getting to where we are today. Kendrick releases a collaborative album with Future and Metro Boomin. On the track “Like That”, Kendrick uses his guest verse to shoot direct shots towards the “For All The Dogs Album”, and if you can hear the verse then you could feel the tension. 

Recently, J.Cole drops a personal yet rhythmic album called “Might Delete Later”. Cole uses this to apologize in response to Kendrick's heated verse . ​​​​​The apology could be debated on if it is good or not, but we must give him props towards this situation. Compared to him, Drake remains silent. 

As much as fan’s want their dispute to be resolved, since many continue to feel like they should be loyal to the one they believe is the better artist, their aggression towards each other adds flavor into their songs. 

Competition is what makes them strive, they recognize that and should continue to have it. However, being in their positions, it must be tiring to argue with the same people.