Barack Obama Predicted Who'd Win the Rap Battle Between Kendrick Lamar and Drake 8 Years Ago

Former President Barack Obama was 100% correct when he picked Kendrick Lamar over Drake in a potential rap battle back in 2016. Amid the ongoing lyrical feud between the rappers, a video clip has resurfaced on social media from his interview with Adande Thorne, a YouTuber known as Swoozie where he praised Drake as an entertainer but preferred Lamar's poetic prowess. 

The ex-president sat with Thorne to answer a few quick questions when the YouTube personality asked, "If Drake and Kendrick Lamar got in a rap battle, who do you think would win?" Obama chose Lamar and explained, "I'm just saying, I think Drake is an outstanding entertainer but Kendrick, his lyrics, his last album was outstanding. Best album I think of last year," as per The Independent.

The longstanding feud between the hip-hop artists escalated after they released consecutive diss tracks. Although the two have always been at odds, the buried beef turned intense in March 2024 after Lamar released Like That from Future, Metro Boomin. This kicked off an incendiary which has since been going back and forth. 

On March 22, Lamar reignited the "Drake versus Lamar" notion and in the lyrics, he dismissed being part of the "Big Three" with Drake and J. Cole. He sang It's just big me, claiming his "oneness" in the industry, and also compared himself and Drake to Prince and Michael Jackson, respectively, rapping, that Prince outlived Mike Jack.

Drake hit back at Lamar on April 13 by responding to Lamar with the release of Push Ups, featuring lyrics, You ain't in no Big Three, SZA got you wiped down, Travis got you wiped down, Savage got you wiped down. After waiting for several weeks, the 36-year-old came out with Euphoria, a diss track with the title of an HBO series produced by Drake, per Vulture. 

The Pulitzer Prize rapper left no stone unturned in expressing pure hatred for his contemporary in Euphoria with verses that attacked Drake's parenting: I got a son to raise, but I can see you know nothin' 'bout that, discussed his rumored plastic surgery: Didn't tell 'em where you get your abs from, and challenged his rapping skills: You not a rap artist, you a scam artist with the hopes of bеing accepted.

The lyrical battle continued with the following tracks- 6:16 in LA by Lamar released on May 3, Family Matters by Drake on the same day, dragging each other's families and relationships into the ugly feud. May 4 featured another song by Lamar, Meet the Grahams, alleging Drake has fathered a "secret daughter." Within 24 hours, he released another diss track Not Like Us, making even more serious accusations like calling Drake a "Certified Lover Boy and a pedophile." 

The Heart Part 6 was released on May 5 by the Canadian rapper and was part of the "The Heart" series whereby he claimed that the "secret daughter" narrative has been orchestrated by his own team in a sort of false-flag operation, rapping, You gotta learn to fact check things and be less impatient.

Has the rap battle between Drake and Lamar gone too far?