There are quite a lot of contenders out there for greatest beef of all-time. Jay-Z vs. Nas. Tupac vs. Biggie. Drake vs. Meek Mill. You also have to add Taylor Swift vs. Katy Perry in there. The two biggest pop singers in the world have been adversaries for years now, taking shots at one another, both in the press, and on record. One person who was totally oblivious to the beef, at least early on, was Kendrick Lamar, who unknowingly added fuel to the fire when he hopped on a remix of Swift’s diss track aimed at Perry “Bad Blood.”
In a recent cover story feature with Rolling Stone, Lamar was asked about his role in the feud, and whether he was aware of it at the time. “No, I wasn’t aware of that, bro. That’s a great question,” he declared. “No! On the record, no. Which makes it even more funny now, for sure. That’s far beyond my concern. I have to stay away from that, for sure. That’s some real beef.”
Elsewhere in the piece, Kendrick was asked about his own, well, not beef, more like cold war adversary Drake and what his favorite song by the 6 God was. “I got a lot of favorite Drake songs,” he said. “Can’t name one off the back..He has plenty.”
He also expanded on what he’s learned from working with different artists through the years like Beyonce, for whom he guested on the song “Freedom” off Lemonade. “She’s a perfectionist. Think about the BET performance. She was very particular – the lighting, the camera blocking, the transition from the music to the dancing.”
He also touched on Future’s ability to create music seemingly out of thin air. “He’s his own genius,” Lamar said. “I’ve watched him in the studio. The way he comes up with the melodies is [snaps fingers] like that, you know. You have to speak a certain type of language and also have a great study in music – the same way I have – for what he’s done. I’m sure he’s grown up off a ton of R&B. Watching him come up with the melodies, that’s a whole other ballgame, to understand them sonics.”
You can read the entire interview at Rolling Stone.
