Roots drummer and hip-hop scholar Questlove recently took to Instagram to comment on the ongoing Kendrick Lamar-Drake diss-track beef, writing, "Nobody won the war."
While Questlove may prove to be correct in the long run, at least for now it appears that Lamar is winning this latest rap battle, with his entire catalog, led by the diss tracks, showing significant gains on streaming services, according to Billboard.
"Euphoria," Lamar's first volley in the current diss track battle, entered the Hot 100 at No. 11 this week and could advance next week, as the song has logged 27.6 million U.S. streams from May 3-6, according to Luminate.
"Not Like Us," another diss track dropped by Lamar on May 4, is poised for a possibly even higher debut, with 21.1 million streams after three days, while "Meet the Grahams" garnered 8.8 million streams in three days, according to Billboard. Another Lamar diss track, "6:16 LA" has yet to appear on streaming services.
Lamar's overall catalog, if you remove the diss tracks, is up 49% from the previous week, with 50.62 million streams, Billboard reports.
The streaming boon for Lamar is also spilling over to benefit other artists whose songs have been sampled by the rapper. "You're My Latest, My Greatest Inspiration," a 1981 track by Teddy Pendergrass experienced a 76% increase in streaming up 76,000 to 134,000 after it was sampled in "Euphoria." Al Green's 1972 song is up 283% after it was sampled on "6:16 in LA."
Meanwhile, Drake's catalog, if you remove his diss tracks "Push Ups" and "Family Matters," is actually down from the previous week, with a 4.9% drop.
Still, Drake's streaming totals are about twice as large as Lamar's, even if the Compton rapper seems to be winning the war based on the streams of their diss tracks.
