(4 May 2024)
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Archive: New York – 30 May 2018
1. STILL PHOTO: In this May 30, 2018 file photo, Kendrick Lamar walks onto the stage to accept the Pulitzer Prize for music for his album "DAMN," during the 2018 Pulitzer Prize awards luncheon at Columbia University in New York. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)
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Los Angeles – 01 MAY 2024
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Todd Boyd, author/professor:
"One of the things I talk about in my book that I mentioned was Kendrick (Lamar) winning a Pulitzer Prize. You know, so there are some people who look at his lyrics at that high a literary level, which, you know, kind of even goes beyond traditional hip-hop. J. Cole has always been someone who maybe didn’t achieve the superstardom of the other two, but had immense respect in the culture for his abilities. And of the three, I would say Drake is the superstar, right? You know, Drake’s the guy who can sing and rap. He’s had these really successful albums. His prominence in the culture is larger than life. But at the same time, you know, he’s not just a pop star. He’s not just a popular rapper. Like, you know, he got to that place because he’s got bars, he’s got lyrics, he’s got lines."
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Archive: Los Angeles – 4 June 2019
3. STILL PHOTO: Drake, an executive producer of the HBO drama series "Euphoria," poses at the premiere of the series at the ArcLight Hollywood, Tuesday, June 4, 2019, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
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Location Unknown – 2 May 2024
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Open Mike Eagle, recording artist/writer:
"I think we’re just in an era of a lot of information. We’re in an era of where a lot of the diss tracks are like, ‘I know a bunch of stuff about you. Don’t make me say all the stuff I know about you. Don’t you make me do it.’ And it’s like this weird, weird game of chicken where, it’s like, who’s going to cross the line first? Like, if you think back to Pusha T and Drake, you know, basically, people regard Pusha T as having won because he had secret information and he made a song about the secret information, and that seemed to end things for some reason or another. So, I guess, you know, in, in this era, that’s the new benchmark for winning. So, where you got Drake and Kendrick deadlocked, I guess, no one’s going to definitively end it until they say some secret thing they know about the other person."
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Archive: Worthy Farm, Somerset, England – 26 June 2022
5. STILL PHOTO: Kendrick Lamar performs at the Glastonbury Festival in Worthy Farm, Somerset, England, Sunday, June 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Scott Garfitt)
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Los Angeles – 01 MAY 2024
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Cole Cuchna, Dissect podcast host
"You know, Kendrick’s music, I think no one would argue that—I mean, everyone universally agrees that Kendrick’s music has more depth than Drake. They serve different audiences. There’s some cross, of course, but, you know, for the majority, they’re serving different audiences. So that’s what’s interesting about this battle where I feel like—DJ Dahi actually made a great point, one of Kendrick’s producers – saying like, this is goona end up, going to be like the Trump election where Hillary supporters think they won and Trump supporters think they won. And there’s this, there’s just going to be an argument about—it doesn’t seem like there’s going to be a clear knockout, just given how rabid the fan bases are."
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Archive: Pretoria, South Africa – 9 December 2023
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Archive: New York – 18 September 2022
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