Big Daddy Kane has weighed in on the recent feud between Kendrick Lamar and Drake, admitting he didn’t particularly “enjoy” the contest.
In an interview with The Art of Dialogue, the Juice Crew legend — who himself is no stranger to rap beef — explained why he “lost interest” in what has been deemed by many as the greatest rap battle ever.
“I was trying to keep up with the Kendrick and Drake thing but I kinda lost interest. It just wasn’t exciting to me — not because of them two, but because of the fanbase. The fanbase just made it to where, eugh, I’m good.
When asked about his issues with the rappers’ fans, Kane replied: “It’s not a competitive thing about who spit the better bars. It’s a thing about fact-checking to see if this person told the truth.
“It’s like, if the line is dope and he dissed you, it’s dope. It’s that simple […] Why are we trying to critique and decipher what was said? It’s just a dope rhyme. Enjoy the music, man, for what it is.”
He added: “It just wasn’t for me. It’s not about Kendrick or Drake; it’s the fanbase, the listeners and their comments and their views. They make it unenjoyable for me.”
Big Daddy Kane isn’t the only Hip Hop figure who feels this way. Questlove also recently criticized Kendrick and Drake’s feud for the unsubstantiated allegations lobbied back and forth, going so far as to claim that “Hip Hop is truly dead.”
In a disapproving Instagram post, The Roots drummer wrote: “Nobody won the war. This wasn’t about skill. This was a wrestling match level mudslinging and takedown by any means necessary — women & children (& actual facts) be damned.
“Same audience wanting blood will soon put up ‘rip’ posts like they weren’t part of the problem. Hip Hop truly is dead.”
Challenging both Kendrick and Drake to step their game up, morally speaking, Quest added in his caption: “Here We Are Now…Entertain us?”
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Charlamagne Tha God also took issue with some of the tactics used in the rap battle, despite crowning it the “best rap battle I’ve ever witnessed.”
“I don’t like seeing these brothers Me Too-ing each other over a rap feud,” he said on The Breakfast Club earlier this month. “To me, that’s corny. If you’re going to call somebody a pedophile, if you’re going to call someone a woman beater, you got to have some real proof.
“If you’re going to accuse my friend and my girl of having a baby, and me thinking that that child is mine — those are some heavy accusations.”
He added: “It’s not like they’re trying to hold each other accountable; they’re just throwing these types of accusations around to attempt to ruin the image of the other, and that’s whack to me. Other than that, it’s been great.”
