Jay-Z is questioning the role of rap battles in modern hip-hop as he weighs in on the ongoing feud between Drake and Kendrick Lamar.
In an interview with GQ, the rap icon and business mogul addressed the high-profile clash publicly for the first time, framing the moment as a potential setback for the culture’s global growth.
“Man, this is taking us a couple steps back,” Hov said of his reaction to the scathing war of words between the two hitmakers. He also questioned whether battling amongst rap artists is reflective of hip-hop’s progression.
“We’ve just grown so much that — I guess I’m going to say it — I don’t know if battling needs to be part of the culture anymore.”
However, following those initial thoughts, Hov admitted that his stance on rap battles can be viewed as hypocritical given his own history of rhyme wars, particularly his clash with Nas during the early aughts.
The 56-year-old also addressed speculation that he and Roc Nation played a role in fueling divisions by selecting Kendrick Lamar to headline the Apple Music Super Bowl 2025 halftime show.
He dismissed suggestions that the decision reflected a long-standing bias or rivalry against Drake, whom he’s collaborated with on multiple occasions.
“I chose the guy that was having a monster year,” Hov told the outlet while defending his selection of Lamar as headliner. “I think it was the right choice.”
Going further, he scoffed at the thought that he’s in cahoots with others in an attempt to sabotage and humiliate Drake, pointing to his own reputation and status while insisting such insecurity is beneath him. “What do I care about them two guys battling,” the Brooklyn native added.
“What’s that got to do with me? Have at it. They drag everybody in it, like everyone’s part of this conspiracy to undermine Drake, I guess. But, it’s like, what the fuck? I’m fucking Jay-Z! [Laughs.] All due respect to him. I’m fucking Hov. Respectfully. It doesn’t make any sense.”Despite distancing himself from the conflict, Jay-Z expressed concern about the broader impact of the feud, particularly the backlash directed at Drake following the release of Kendrick Lamar’s diss track “Not Like Us.”
“Now, people that like Kendrick hate Drake, no matter what he makes. It’s like an attack on his character. I don’t know if I love that. I don’t know if it’s helpful to our growth where the fallout lands, especially on social media.”
Jay-Z’s sit-down with GQ comes as he prepares for a slate of live performances in celebration of the 30th anniversary of his debut album, Reasonable Doubt, and the 25th anniversary of The Blueprint. He is currently set to headline the Roots Picnic in May, and will perform two concerts at Yankee Stadium in July.
This story was originally published on VIBE.
Drake attends a game between the Houston Rockets and the Cleveland Cavaliers
Earl Sweatshirt Is Right: ‘Don’t Worry’ Is a Great Drake Song
Even the staunchest Drake hater can probably name at least one song that does it for them. For better or worse, Aubrey Graham has spent nearly two decades giving voice to the millennial subconscious more skillfully than any mainstream musician not named Taylor Swift, soundtracking the fears, insecurities, and romantic delusions of a generation raised on reality-TV melodrama and the first wave of social media’s main-character ethos. It should come as no surprise, then, that Earl Sweatshirt, underground rap’s poet laureate, has singled out the deep Iceman cut “Don’t Worry,” singing the song karaoke-style to close out his recent live sets. The track is the purest distillation of Drake’s appeal since the Take Care era, and a quiet reminder of why it’s hard to imagine him going away any time soon.
In the clips, which first started circulating around late May, during Earl’s Home on the Range Tour with MIKE on the heels of their Surf Gang-produced project Pompeii // Utility, it’s the song’s final turn that has Earl & Co. the most hyped up. “I just wanna see that boy beg on the pavement,” Drake coos, the type of revenge fantasy he’s built a career out of conjuring. Drake goes on. “I just wanna see that boy struggle with the phone bill,” he sings, getting specific. “The light bill/That’s how I feel.”
It’s PhD-level pettiness with a weirdly relatable spin. One must know the more treacherous depths of being broke to pinpoint the humiliation of struggling with the phone bill, and here Drake is wishing such luck onto anyone “trippin’ with the gang.” Whereas his entire catalog is fueled by this kind of anonymous sense of betrayal, it hits harder here. You can feel the sting of 2024’s rap beef in the glee with which Drake sings his imagined get-back, landing on an infectious melody all while basically giving a speech you’d expect from the Joker. “I might just get that boy hit for entertainment,” he sings.
This is classic Drake, turning the darker inner thoughts most people would be ashamed to admit into something almost beautiful. He is, in a way, rap’s Lena Dunham, finding art on the other side of cringe.
More recently, clips of Earl singing the song at the end of different tour stops — an ongoing bit at this point — went viral thanks to the never-ending stan wars between Kendrick and Drake fans. Some, unable to deny Earl’s bona fides as a rapper, assumed the whole thing must be an act of trolling, while others saw it as proof that Drake “won” the beef. The third option, of course, is that it’s a really good song, the type Drake is especially skilled at making.
At the height of the beef, like any millennial amidst a friend-group falling-out, Drake appeared to be rewatching The Sopranos, posting pictures from the show to his Instagram Stories. (Iceman’s hit single “Janice STFU” samples Tony Soprano uttering the infamous phrase to his sister, Janice.) “Don’t Worry” has the Machiavellian feeling of a classic mobster flick, a resolve for vengeance at any cost. A desire to see your enemies suffer. Across an entire album, it’s a mood that can feel heavy, but you’ve got to admit, when it hits, it hits. And that’s why Drake remains a fixture within not just hip-hop, but pop culture at large. He reconstructs embarrassingly human impulses as irresistible melodies. “Don’t Worry” might very well become the sleeper hit from Iceman, as clips from Earl’s concerts have already started to boost the song’s presence across feeds.
As he often does, Earl Sweatshirt simply speaks the truth.