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Skepta was not a fan of Kendrick Lamar and Drake‘s battle royale, as he feels it hurt Hip-Hop as a whole.
Sitting down with Ebro Darden for Apple Music in an interview published on November 7, the UK rapper explained why this beef was different than beefs in the past.
“When I was clashing, we never had nothing to lose,” he said. “You can call me anything in the world – I’m not gonna lose a Nike deal. I’m not gonna not be able to put food [on my table]. That’ll probably get me even more money because we’ll go to the show and do the clash on the stage and more people are paying. It’s helping us. [What they’re doing] is hurting what we’ve built. It’s hurting what we’ve all built this whole time.”
He continued: “If you two don’t like each other, just link up and just talk or just don’t speak to each other. But all the stuff you’re saying to each other, for the rest of everyone else who’s waiting in line for the doors that you’ve kicked open, these doors are shutting on us right now, bro. We’re looking crazy out here. That’s why I didn’t like that. It was good until it sounded crazy.”
You can view the full interview below.
Meanwhile, former President Barack Obama feels a bit differently than Skepta about the beef.
As part of his campaigning for presidential hopeful Kamala Harris, Obama, a noted Hip Hop fan, appeared on celebrity barber VicBlends’ DeepCut podcast to talk about the highly-publicized feud between Kendrick Lamar, Drake and J. Cole that erupted earlier this year.
When asked if Kendrick has cemented his spot at the top of the rap game following his successful beef with Drake (and brief clash with Cole), Obama said: “Kendrick is a friend of mine. I’ve known him for a long time. He actually performed at the White House. I’m pretty confident in saying not many presidents were familiar with Hip Hop.
“I do think that Kendrick has a unique status right now, not just because of this summer. He’s not just gifted; he’s serious about the message he tries to… he digs deep into himself.”
The former president also revealed what he and Kendrick talk about: “When we get together, he wants to talk about fatherhood. Those are the questions he’s talking about. He’s got a couple of young kids and he’s taking that very seriously.”
Obama then went on to praise Cole, who controversially bowed out of the battle after dissing Kendrick on “7 Minute Drill.”
“I just talked to J. Cole last week. J is very high on the list,” he said. “Now, I will say there’s a guy named JAY-Z who’s closer to my generation. This is a lot like the MJ versus LeBron conversation […] I’ve had [J. Cole] at the White House, he’s outstanding.”
