Why are Drake and Kendrick Lamar fighting? And why is their feud great for hip hop culture?

It’s the face-off that’s ignited the rap world, and put the genre back at the top of the charts after an off year. Drake, the most commercially successful hip hop artist of his generation, has just dropped two diss tracks aimed at Kendrick Lamar, arguably the genre’s most critically revered artist (and the first rapper to win the Pulitzer Prize). The resurgence of Drake and Lamar’s long-running feud started when Lamar dropped a pointed verse on his chart-topping single Like That. Drake fired back at Lamar this weekend, with the release of Push Ups, which leaked online before its official release on Friday (April 19), and Taylor Made Freestyle. After nearly a decade-long cold war, a nuclear play-off between two of hip hop’s biggest competitors is underway. And it’s dragged in everyone from pop A-listers Taylor Swift and The Weeknd, to AI constructions of 2Pac and Snoop Dogg. But how did we get here? Why is it such a big deal? And could this be the best thing for the careers of everyone involved? Here’s all the answers to get you up to speed on a rivalry that shows no signs of shrinking in size or significance. How did this...