1:37:31 my daughter is nonverbal and autistic, she said OV HO! And i lost my mind! 😂

Kendrick gave us an effective Scientific Paper with the following: Introduction (Euphoria), Specific Aims (Euphoria and 6:16), Analysis (Meet the Grahams), Conclusions (Not Like Us).

It’s insane how underrated 616 in LA is. You gotta go back and listen to it after hearing everything else in the beef

To me, Euphoria is the best, replayable diss track. Meet the Grahams is the most memorable character assassination.

Drake literally said in a song just last year "Whip and Chain you like American slaves" and people wonder why he's called a Culture Vulture.

Not only does Kendrick "Free the slaves" in Not Like Us....at the end he tells them "Hey...hey, hey, RUNNNN!" 😂😂😂 Love everything about it!

6:16 had so much foreshadowing, it was so layered and deep I think it went over so many ppls heads. I loved it 😭

Meet the Grahams is a disturbing horror movie in the form of a rap.

“Meet The Grahams” says “I hate you because you’re a bad person for the following reasons… AND you hate you because you’re a bad person for all the same reasons.” What’s a more vicious diss than that?

I honestly don't know how people didn't expect this from Kendrick. If Drake is H&M, Kendrick is your favorite haute couture designer's favorite designer. The level of craft is unmatched. It might take more time to create, but it's a piece that will stay with you forever.

For me the best line of the whole thing was "Some shit just just cringe worthy it ain't even gotta be deep I guess". It perfectly sums up Drake as a person to me. It was the only thing he needed to say 😂

People are sleeping on 6:16 because it is so subliminal especially the first part. It is poetry he is self reflecting on what he is about to do praying about it asking is it worth it. He knows Meet the Grahams is coming and the weight of accusations and the potential of it backfiring. But who is he not to go to war. And he can live with the loss and learn from it. It’s beautiful. The second part is the set up for Meet the Grahams. The cover art the time stamp has some many layers. In 20 years there will be college courses about this track.

6:16 was the faint before the Mike Tyson “not like us” upper cut. The culture is in safe hands with Kendrick.

Europhia was Kendrick coming outside. 6:16 was a warning, MTG was the final blow and TNLU was the celebration

Drake is a renter who just got evicted. Kendrick owns his house free and clear.

Not like Us is great because we were terrified of what else Kendrick had to say after Meet the Grahams. I almost reluctantly pressed play on Not Like Us and then 4 bars in I knew it was straight up joy. I don't think it hits the same with out the build up. This is also Kendricks formula for all his singles out of context they're solid but in the album it gives each song so much more meaning and replay-ability.

This was the best conversation I’ve seen yet regarding this topic.

"The Mannerisms of Raphael. I can heal and give you art." is a perfect bar. So much meaning in so little space. It's phenomenal.

Euphoria is my favorite too. Kendrick is masterful storyteller and he demonstrates it in every aspect of his songs. That’s why the voice changes work so well. It’s not just riding the beat and changing flows, it’s about telling a story without words, just the control of his voice, like an opera singer. Drake’s poetry has no depth. It’s fun play on words, but good writing is more than the aesthetic choice of words. Where’s the meaning? Even in his stories, there’s complaining and witty, petty one-liners, but where’s the growth? What did you learn about yourself? You could include that layer with the great rapper voice and catchy swagger and it wouldn’t take away any of the modern stuff. This is about ability vs. intention, mediocrity vs. artistry. And that’s not to say that Drake couldn’t do better artistically, the thing is that he’s not doing it. It’s the “you don’t apply yourself and are just coasting through” issue for Kendrick. Shoot, I’d be more understanding if he’s just not that talented. But for him to be talented and still feed us this crap? I’d be even more mad.

A little truth matters not all truth. It’s a roast. If the guy has on old dirty sneakers. You point out the truth to the crowd “he has dirty sneakers” then you embellish to roast. You call him homeless and the crowd laughs. The crowd knows he isn’t homeless. But visualizing his dirty sneakers and hearing the joke about being homeless the crowd still laughs and you’re winning the roast.

Ain’t no big 3 it’s just big me sums up this battle from start to finish

This show should interview Kendrick

Middle age wyt woman here, can confirm our presence. 😂 My hubs said we want all the tea! Growing up we listened to everything. Good music is good music. Also, at least for me, I’m a songwriter and Kendrick’s pen is unmatched. “I think you hate women” is 1. Girls are not women. 2. Plastic surgery is not real. 3. Lots of men want women for s3x but don’t like women or respect them as people. Edited to add: blaming the victim for SA is never the right thing. It comes off as an @b$user making excuses. This is why we choose the bear. 🐻

In 6:16 he says “I raise my hands to a fallen sky. I fantasize, me jumping planets immortalized. I correspond”. To me that’s him saying that things that were once out of reach are within his grasp now, and he can see his immortality because of this situation. He can see himself becoming a mythological hero of sorts. As a result of this he decides to write back/diss (correspond with) Drake.

Kendrick is a child prodigy too, he's been with TDE since he was a teen. He's also wildly creative, there was just no way Drake was gonna be able to handle Kendrick, Drake can't keep up. "I'm woopin feet," line of the year.

Joel Hale= comedian/host; Haley Joel Osment= AI/6th sense and Joel Osteen = Preacher. It's NOT A MISTAKE.

Dear Adonis… That is the best rap diss in hiphop history.

The line that encapsulates the beef to me is "F a rap battle. This a life-long battle with Your Self!" Kendrick's critique was a biopsychosocial read of Aubrey's greatest performance, Drake.

I heard a French professor state that Hip Hop is the most successful & influential music genre in human history. I agree. No other genre has lasted as long with as far a reach. Everyone all over the world has their version of it. Kendrick should get extra props for kicking the vulture out, putting other vultures & criminals on notice and putting it back into the artists hands. This is just the beginning. Drake was the first one.

"F@ck the rap battle this is a lifelong battle with yourself." Is the line that defined this battle for me. Kendrick has been painting Drake as someone who has lost his way. Someone who let success get to his head and is no longer an authentic leader of people. All the other charges stem from that.

The deadbeat Dad trope in the disses was very important. I watched so many reactors, most of whom are Black men (and as it turned out fathers). Those bars hit them like they hit Toure and their comments (similar to Toure's) kept coming up in subsequent videos beyond the Kendrick track they were reacting to -- so it prompted thoughts about fatherhood, parenting, etc. Also, "you don't know about that" is speaking about why Drake is the way he is -- going deep on it. So, not just talking about Drake as a father but about how Drake's father wasn't present to guide him which fits with the blame he gives Dennis. I noticed that Kendrick doesn't blame single mom Sandra (he just informs her). Then there is just the angle that some people's take on Drake and Adonis is that Drake has made Adonis a prop in his public life and that he actually spends so much time in Turks and Caicos, at strip clubs, partying and gambling and with various women that he just cannot actually be doing the day to day parenting.

A host on the J.B podcast made a joke about feeling sorry for Drake because they felt like he was stuck in his lifestyle. He's 37 and unfortunately can't really move into the next phase of life and is perpetually stuck having to make music and relate and live as a man in his early 20s because his brand is dependent on that. I know they were joking but it's eerily true and sad.

3:34 "They Not Like Us" is a way of distancing from those involved in sexually predatory tactics, culture vultures, deadbeat dads, etc. I do not think Kendrick intended a separation of humans based on "those IN the culture" vs. those "not IN the culture" with that line. The intent is to distance ourselves from sexual predators, especially child predators, deadbeat dads, culture vultures, etc: They Not Like Us is a direct attack and a way of influencing the minds of current and future generations.

This was an outstanding conversation. Outstanding! #ThankU

Euphoria was a warning, if Drake didn't mention family, Meet The Grahams might have never been released and we would have had Not Like Us. Also, 6:16 is about him seeking redemption for participating in this battle madness on a spiritual journey

Folks are sleeping on 6:16 in LA

I mean, we all know who won. Kendrick enacted a Canadian massacre on that person.

Kendrick also won against a team of writers with style, tone, entondras, substance...

im an artsy fartsy type and pretentious lol but 6:16 is my personal favorite of all the diss tracks. the concept of having to come clean to god before you know you will commit absolutely heinous attrocities in the name of justice -- wow. only Kendrick can make a record like that. and i do believe that Kendrick has a A and B roster of records depending on what Drake's next action was. i think everyone expected Drake to do exactly what he did, but if he somehow pulled a record out of him that did not speak on Kendrick's family, there was a path this beef could have taken that was not as dark as it became. with Family Matters, Drake took the bar low, with Meet the Grahams, Kendrick took it all the way to hell. but in 6:16, that path was not set yet. there was a possibility for something else. and Kendrick moving at the "circadian rythmn of a shooting star" is to me such a potent image of the exact kind of artist that Kendrick is that made him the only possible artist to dismantle Drake the way he did -- Kendrick moves in ways that no one else is that he is almost a cosmic being. he might drop albums years apart (the way shooting starts or meteors fly by the Earth), but when he does it changes the landscape, the way comets in olden days can portent a new age of peace or an era of doom, right? i just want 6:16 on streaming plleeeeaaase

This conversation is so good. I've had it playing in the background for a couple days. Meet The Grahams was a don't ever mess with K-Dot. 6:16 LA was slept on, Euphoria was everything, dropping at 8:24 (RIP Kobe) and the closing They Not Like Us is the summer banger.

I don't think it's (particularly) that Kendrick's issue with Drake is personal or jealous - it's that Drake's dominance is literally insulting to him, and everyone jumping in agrees.

meet the grahams made us look at drake different, like oh...youre actually a terrible human. forced intervention as a diss track is mind blowing

Meet the Grahams is like Kim. It hits your spirit viscerally. There will not be a time that i won't remember how those songs made me feel.

Each theme, each bar, each revelation, each chord and sound progression is a moment curated within this 4 vol diss record. No detail is spared. When to drop. How to drop. Details down to the delivery of every syllable, all masterfully executed to complement the multiple angles against his opponent and simultaneously highlighting his own skill, range and relatability while doing it. THAT is why Kendrick beat Aubrey.

6:16 is one of the best tracks yall missed on that take

This convo was amazing to hear! Thanks for letting us in!!🔥🔥🔥

"White women are identifying with Drake" is a wild and factual take😂😂😂😂😂

I think you all misunderstood the purpose of 6:16 in LA. It was about causing discord within the OVO crew. "Are you ready to play have you ever? Have you ever thought that OVO is working for me?" He wanted to make Drake paranoid and push him into dropping his nuke. Kendrick baited him hard on this, and trolled him even further using an Al Green sample. Not just any sample...but the "Let's stay together" (corrected thanks to another comment, this is incorrect, scroll down in the discussion for the correct one) track. He's mocking OVO because for all of us listening you're missing the point if you think this track was for our entertainment. This was for Drake and OVO. Imagine them listening and looking back and forth at each other pissed off wondering who's going against the crew while an Al Green sample plays in the background, lmfao... Thats diabolical, and apparently went over everyone's head.

“The audience not dumb”

Kenny knew drake strong point is a diss club banger so he knew to beat him to the punch with not like us

Once you get over the shock of meet the grahams it definitely has replay value. I listen to it in the car and at the gym

It’s crazy that mtg is already being considered best diss track o.a.t , and i am not mad at all, that shit is ingenious.

Regarding the “Joel Os(teen)” line Kendrick appears intentionally show confusion on who he’s battling, AI or ghostwriters. Haley Joel Osment was the child actor in AI and The Sixth Sense so that part is apparent. The Joel Osteen part is referencing the megachurch pastor who has been accused of using AI to write parts of his books on Christian spirituality that is related the holy trinity (which includes the holy spirit aka a ghost).

6:16 was beautiful. To me this was the prayer before battle. He consecrated himself for the fight. It’s still my fave.

This was an amazing conversation! Well done and more power to Toure and all his guests.

Nah, 6:16 was very necessary. I loved it.

15:37 he heavily implies they broke up in mr morale. Thats why so many of the drake disses against ken didn’t land

“Sweet Chin Music and I won’t pass the AUX” he literally kept kicking him in the face

The FUBU line is the most direct shot of not understanding the cultural significance

I agree about Meet the Grahams being the real standout in terms of disses.

Excellent conversation! Subscribed

Don't let them shame you, James! Euphoria is the BEST! I listen to it everyday. Kendrick was giving so much mercy but still at Drake's neck lol

This was an excellent panel. Thank you.

props to the guy without glasses. fn genius

Man i totally enjoyed this conversation thank you guys

Kendrick is mean and vicious, 😂. I love it.

6:16 IS THE MOST SLEPT ON RECORD & PERSONAL FAVORITE THAT WILL AGE LIKE WINE OVERTIME. ALSO 6:16 IS WHERE WE WERE INTRODUCED TO THE OVO MOLE(S) AND IS STILL TO THIS VERY MINUTE AS I TYPE A HOT TOPIC IN THE INDUSTRY. ESPECIALLY THE MARK HOTEL🤧🙄🕵️‍♂️🤫👃👀💎

They missed the bit about “you don’t know nothing bout that” was about Drake’s father not being there to teach him what it means to be a man.

31:15 they don’t even get that Kendrick was explaining the feeling of euphoria before battle in the beginning of 6:16. He wasn’t just rapping. He was enjoying the moment and paying homage to his song cartoons and cereal when he said “every warrior will experience euphoria”

6:16 was the most important record to me because it explains "why" he is battling drake . He's more speaking on the internal struggle of having to go to war and how that conflicts with his relationship with God!

I loved 6:16🔥🔥🔥 it hits my chest every time I listen to it. It’s my favorite 🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾 Also “You Ain’t Gotta Lie” kinda echoing this beef

Dj Mustard sampled “ I Believe to My Soul" by Monk Higgins on “Not Like us.”

It's the deep bass sound in the background of Not Like Us. It's not a constant sound but it's emphasized on certain parts.

Its simple for me. Kendrick is just more believable

I disagree with Toure saying Drake can't make a "not like us" Kendrick says it in Euphoria this is who you are, Drake makes songs for the culture to dance to "Toosie slide, hotline bling, God's plan" those songs are playing at the cookouts. Kendrick says those songs are genuinely you. Whe Drake makes songs like" Started from the bottom, 0 to 100" Drake is imitating the culture it's a satire. "Don't like us" is Kendrick mocking Drake, it's more obvious at the end when he's calling out dance steps. Kendrick is giving him a taste of his own medicine.

wonderful discussion, thank you! ♡

" The Drizzlers " 😅😂😂😂

Excellent analysis and experts. Thank you, Toure.

“You don’t know nothing about that” to me was Kendrick invoking Adonis’ way of speaking or rhyming (sorta…listen to Adonis’ I Don’t Like That song whatever it’s called). But mostly it’s Kendrick saying Drake is too busy minding superficial shit (oh wow Dave Free follows Kendricks wife) instead of minding Adonis’ most formative years. The way people react to Meet the Grahams became my favorite thing to watch on the internet because everyone had the same wtf reactions. Maybe an audience watching The Exorcist in the 70s had the same experience. It’s remarkable that a song can have people experiencing that.

Euphoria tickles my brain with the multiverse quadruple entendres and Not Like Us is the amazing

Excellent and thorough analysis of this all! What an epic event we've witnessed. I believe the dust still isn't settled... Look forward to seeing what comes of this all. This is much bigger than a rap battle and yall hit the points wonderfully

😍 Loved this conversation/breakdown

I love 6:16. It’s introspective and poetic. It’s really beautiful and seems like something that could be studied in literature classes. I think more people appreciate it now after he performed it with AbSoul at the pop out.

I've had Meet the Grahams in my head the last three times I've jogged. It's a brilliant track to keep a steady pace to.

6:16 wasn't for us, it was for Drake, as a final offer not to get into talking about families. He actually tried really hard to use a different path on his flow chart of tracks. That said, I love the beat, the flow, and the cryptic warnings and hidden meanings that still haven't fully revealed themselves.

Gentlemen, fantastic show, great chemistry. Please, all of you do another show together! xo

19:39 FACTS FOR ME JAMES FRANCIS!! Euphoria is being slept on for sure.

Been waiting for this one!

We'll done Toure and the rest of the gents!

This was great...just finding it. Now can you come back since the concert & video and see what opinions have changed, broadened, are the same, etc.

Brilliant discussion gentlemen.Thank you.

Words matter. Language matters. Original thought matters. tThe TRUTH matters. Thank you,Mr Kendrick Lamar

I appreciate the complexity. It makes me hear something different every time I listen to a song! Which makes me want to play it over and over.

This is great discussion!

The thing that bothered me that no one is talking about is when he said that Kendrick is with a mixed queen to raise his self esteem. Why would he say that unless he like some others believe that light skinned people are superior. Just like he find something wrong with slaves being free. He is definitely not like us

Meet The Graham’s is the number 1 hardest diss track of all time. No cap.

Love this conversation....

was about Not like us is basically Kendrick saying if he really wanted to he could be drake with all the hits and the number one songs, 6:16 in la was the conscious rap, MTGs is the grimy rap like wu- tang sounds, and euphoria was him saying how he was going to destroy him in every genre of rap because he kdot is hip hop and drake imitates it.

6:16 is soooooo underrated. That's the joint

36:25 I disagree with that, because even back in the '90s, there were rappers who were calling their daddies out for being deadbeats, The most scathing of which was Papa's Song by Tupac. That man was cursing his daddy out for not being in his life!