Questlove Criticizes Kendrick Lamar-Drake Feud: ‘Hip-Hop Is Dead’

While the heavyweight bout between Kendrick Lamar and Drake has created a pop culture spectacle in recent weeks, Questlove isn’t thrilled with the chaotic feud and its “mud-slinging” antics.

The Roots drummer mocked the war between Drake and K. Dot in a fiery Instagram post on Tuesday night (May 8), calling out fans for their emotional reactions to the haymakers exchanged on the scathing dissident tracks , caused excitement.

“Nobody won the war. This wasn’t about skill. “This was a wrestling-level match that was all about mudslinging and taking down by any means necessary – women and children (and facts) be damned,” he wrote before declaring hip-hop dead. “The same audience that wants blood will soon be posting ‘rip’ posts like it’s not part of the problem. Hip hop really is dead.”

Questlove’s post pointed out that both Drake and Kendrick brought family and children into the mix in very personal ways to attack each other. K. Dot accused Drizzy of hiding an 11-year-old daughter on “Meet the Grahams,” while The 6 God claimed on “Family Matters” that Lamar’s manager Dave Free is the father of one of the Compton rapper’s children.

“Here we are now… Entertain us,” Questlove captioned the post, quoting Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”

Quest disabled his Instagram comments, but that didn’t stop his hot take from sparking reactions on X when a user reminded Quest that he played drums for Jay-Z Not connected live album in 2001 that included “Takeover,” Hov’s dissident track against Nas. “Wasn’t Questlove the drummer on ‘Unplugged’ live where Hov played ‘Takeover’?” the user wrote. “A battle in which women and children were also mentioned? Shut up man.”

Including Kendrick’s explosive support on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That” in March, Lamar and Drake shared a total of 10 diss tracks. The latest installment arrives on Sunday (May 5) with the defensive “The Heart Part 6,” in which Drake shuts down repeated pedophilia accusations made by K. Dot.

Read Questlove’s full post below: