As Drake and Kendrick Lamar's drawn-out slugfest comes to a close (we hope), Vince Staples has spoken out about the negative effects the beef has had on Black music.
Staples was speaking at an event in his hometown of Long Beach, CA, when a spectator asked him who he thought was winning the feud. After initially declining to answer, he eventually explained in depth why Drake and Kendrick's respective vendettas have been hurting, not helping, Black musicians.
He started by filling in the audience on Universal Music's (the label he is signed to) dominance in the industry and claiming that its ongoing crusade to bring smaller labels like Def Jam and Roc-A-Fella Records under its umbrella has disproportionately affected BIPOC label executives and musicians in the hip-hop and R&B genres.
"We're getting priced out of our contracts, we're getting priced out of our imprints, there are no labels, basically, that are incentivized to sign Black music," he said. "While Taylor Swift is fighting for people to be able to have streaming money, n—s is on the internet arguing with each other about some rap shit."
He continued, saying: "Personally, I think we're better than that. I think we deserve better than that, because we've been saying for decades that we want people to respect Black music and Black art and Black people, and I think for that to happen we've got to respect ourselves."
Although several industry bystanders have weighed in on the increasingly ugly rap battle over the past few weeks, Staples certainly has the credentials to say his piece, having logged one of the best hip-hop albums in recent memory with Ramona Park Broke My Heart back in 2022.
Now all that's left is for the newly minted TV star to parody the beef on a potential Season 2 of his semi-biographical Netflix series The Vince Staples Show.
Check out a full video of Staples's Q&A below. His two cents on Drake and Kendrick's feud begin at the 44:15 mark.
