Kanye West says the support for Kendrick Lamar and SZA‘s hit song, “Luther,” feels forced and that Drake‘s single, “Nokia,” is the much better song. He shared his opinion on the tracks as well as Kendrick Lamar as an artist in several posts on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday night.
“It’s love and hate for Drake but man this not real man. Luther is not dethroning Nokia. This some Taylor Swift Beyoncé sh*t,” West wrote. “Wooooooow. They really coming for Drizzy huh. I heard the devil asks God for permission before teaching sinners they lesson. Seems like the Devil is has been given free reign to go after Drake.”
From there, Kanye West roped Tyler, the Creator into the discussion. “Name one good Tyler The Creator bar. Name an actual good Kendrick line,” he wrote. He then elaborated: “Kendrick Lamar can not rap. Wayne got waaaay more life bars. I got more bars. Kendrick doesn’t have one bar where I say I wish I said that. Kendrick and Tyler the two most overrated so called artist. Please order more security.”
Despite West’s post, Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s track has remained at the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for a number of weeks. “Nokia” has only been able to peak at No. 2. “Luther” has spent a total of 21 weeks on the chart as well, compared to “Nokia’s” 9.
The popularity of “Luther” comes as Kendrick Lamar and SZA have begun co-headlining the Grand National Tour. They kicked off the run of shows at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, last weekend. All-in-all, they’ll be performing a total of 39 shows across North America and Europe before wrapping up in Stockholm, Sweden in August.
Kendrick Lamar already dissed Drake on the opening night of the tour, playing a skit poking fun at his Universal Music Group lawsuit before launching into his diss track, “Not Like Us.”
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Kendrick Lamar is continuing to wreak havoc on the top 10 spots on the Billboard Hot 100. With the latest update to the chart, he holds the No. 1 spot with his SZA collaboration, “Luther,” as well as the No. 3, No. 4, and No. 10 spots. Drake, who made the previous update with his tracks, “Nokia” and “Gimme a Hug,” has completely fallen outside of the top 10.
Kendrick Lamar dropped “Luther” on his latest studio album, GNX, back in November. In the wake of the song’s success, he and SZA are co-headlining the Grand National Tour, later this year. They already teamed up to perform the hit song at the Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show. In addition to “Luther,” the Billboard chart has Lamar’s “Not Like Us” at the third spot while “TV Off” with Lefty Gunplay comes in at fourth. Lamar squeezed in one more song with “Squabble Up” at No. 10.
Drake and Kendrick Lamar have been at odds for the last year. Their beef has been so prevalent, it was even acknowledged by Conan O’Brien with a joke at the Academy Awards on Sunday night. “We’re halfway through the show, which means it’s time for Kendrick Lamar to come out and call Drake a pedophile,” Conan said, referencing Lamar’s Super Bowl performance. He then trolled Drake for taking legal action against Universal Music Group. “Don’t worry, I’m lawyered up,” he said.
Kendrick Lamar released GNX as his sixth studio album back on November 22. In addition to SZA and Lefty Gunplay, it features appearances from Dody6, Wallie the Sensei, Siete7x, Roddy Ricch, AzChike, Hitta J3, YoungThreat, and Peysoh. On the other hand, Drake teamed up with PartyNextDoor for the collaborative album, $ome $exy $ongs 4 U, on February 14. The album saw them partner with Pim, Yebba, and Chino Pacas.
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Drake failed to steal the top spots on the Billboard Hot 100 from Kendrick Lamar with the release of his new album with PartyNextDoor, $ome $exy $ongs 4 U. While “Gimme a Hug” and “Nokia” both made it inside the top 10, they both fell below Lamar’s top tracks. The former ranked at No. 6 while the latter came in at No. 10. As for Lamar, his song with SZA, “Luther,” remains No. 1 while his diss track, “Not Like Us,” ranks at No. 2. On top of that, his GNX hits, “TV Off” and “Squabble Up,” also rank at No. 4 and No. 5 respectively.
Fans in the comments section of DJ Akademiks’ post about the results aren’t buying into Kendrick Lamar’s popularity. “I have never seen one girl post a song off of GNX on socials, on the other hand girls have not stopped posting $$$4U on their socials for videos and pictures. Y’all expect me to believe girls are listening to Kendrick? Yeah ok,” one user wrote. Other fans were still proud of Drake’s success. “And this is without the full support from label and streamers. All organic from his fans,” one user wrote. Another added: “Drake is that n***a forreal despite not getting promotion from UMG, no other rapper can do this.”
While Drake didn’t dethrone Kendrick Lamar on the Hot 100, he was able to do so on the albums chart. $ome $exy $ongs 4 U debuted atop the Billboard 200 chart after earning 246,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in its first week. While GNX dropped back in November, it returned to the charts after Lamar’s performance at the Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show.
In other news, Drake is currently performing on his Anita Max Win Tour in Australia and New Zealand. The run of concerts will be wrapping up on March 16, in Auckland.
