Jay-Z addresses Drake and Kendrick Lamar beef

25 March 2026, 12:34

Jay-Z sat down in a tell-all interview with GQ, talking all things Beyoncé and hip-hop ahead of his upcoming concerts at the Yankees Stadium. But more interestingly, he finally spoke on the iconic Drake and Kendrick Lamar beef, with the part he played in the Super Bowl halftime show. Here are all the details.

Jay-Z has finally commented on the legendary Drake and Kendrick Lamar beef in a sit-down interview with GQ, ahead of his takeover of Yankee Stadium with three concerts.

The iconic rapper is known to be a man of few words; much like his wife Beyoncé, he often doesn’t do press.

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This interview was different, though, gracing the cover of the magazine, the ‘Empire State Of Mind’ artist often doesn’t share his opinions on things, being in the industry long enough to be above it all.

However, the beef between Drake and Kendrick that took over the entirety of 2024 was ended with the iconic performance of ‘Not Like Us’ at the Super Bowl halftime show.

Jay-Z actually has a huge role in the selection of the halftime performer, his record company Roc Nation being on the board for the show, meaning the rapper chose to spotlight the L.A. rapper on the world stage.

While fans have been curious about his choice, he has now presented a rather polarising stance, claiming that he thinks it is time for hip-hop to move on from the age-old tradition of ‘beefing’, naming social media as one reason why.

He said: “In this day and age, there’s so much negative stuff that comes with it that you almost wish it didn’t happen. Now, people that like Kendrick hate Drake, no matter what he makes. It’s like an attack on his character. I don’t know if I love that. I don’t know if it’s helpful to our growth where the fallout lands, especially on social media.”

He added: “You had the battle and it was fun and then you moved on. Right now, I don’t know if it could stand it with the technology that we have. I hate that I have this point of view on it. I do.”

The controversial stance has some fans siding with him, agreeing that maybe the genre has moved on, whilst others are calling him a hypocrite.

In selecting Kendrick for the Super Bowl, he completely dismissed his potential impact.Jay-Z said: ‘I chose the guy that was having a monster year, it wasn't in some sort of alliance to a battle... Like what? I’m f****ing Jay-Z.”

One fan commented: “What the hell is everyone soft now?”

Another said: “You platforms the hate on the biggest stage, cashed your cheque off of it, now you’re backtracking? 😭🤦🏽‍♂️”

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