Does the beef between Kendrick Lamar, Drake and J. Cole mean anything for rap in 2024?

Kendrick Lamar recently used his uncredited verse on Metro Boomin and Future’s “Like That” to take shots at Drake and J. Cole, sparking the rap world’s latest high-profile beef. Like so many rappers before him, Kendrick proclaims himself the greatest MC of all –– not one of the “big three,” but just “big me,” as he says on the song. So, why does this matter? Does it even matter? Murray Forman, a professor of communication studies at Northeastern University and pioneer in the study of hip-hop, says the beef itself is pretty inconsequential –– all three artists are incredibly successful and stand to gain very little –– but beefs like these tend to say a lot about the state of the culture. In 2024, rap beefs are less about the artists than their fans, says Murray Forman a professor of communication studies at Northeastern University. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University “These guys are among the top or the best in that moment, and how we come to understand that moment historically is somehow encapsulated, or at least part of it is encapsulated, in the character of these beefs or these conflicts,” Forman says. “The only way we understand what’s going...