Rivalry appears throughout literature and life, from the Capulets and Montagues of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, to the baseball feud between the Yankees and the Red Sox. One particularly interesting topic to address is musical feuds: which can virtually define culture throughout the decades. Unlike any other, the music industry is full of talent, tenacity, and endless conflict, keeping spectators entertained and intrigued.
Singers Kendrick Lamar Duckworth and Aubrey Drake Graham have had a recent and very public personality clash. The exact timeline regarding the beginning of the conflict is unknown, yet according to Billboard Magazine, it most likely started in 2012 and then it only escalated (billboard.com).
In a song titled “Control,” where he was featured by Rapper Big Sean, Lamar declared that he was “better” than Drake. In it, he sings, “I got love for you all, but I’m tryna m*rder you / Trying to make sure your core fans never heard of you.” While Lamar never directly called out Drake and meant for the verse to be a friendly form of competition, according to the News Center newspaper, the “One Dance” singer took offense and responded. In 2013, in a Billboard cover story, Drake said he was “not m*rdering [him] at all in any platform” (billboard.com).
After this initial confrontation, the situation between the two artists was not too heated. According to Esquire Magazine, it wasn’t until the two began to include shady lyrics in their tracks that the feud skyrocketed. As they released songs back to back, Lamar and Drake went from occasionally including dissing verses to their singles to accusing one another of serious matters such as domestic abuse and being a sexual predator (esquire.com).
The almost 13-year-old ongoing feud exploded in the media recently, as Drake dropped his 2024 single “Family Matters”, accusing Lamar of domestic violence, saying, “You’re a liar, Kendrick / Don’t play me like I’m a b****, I’m not your girlfriend.” Lamar responded with the viral, Grammy winning hit “Not Like Us” by referencing Drake having predatory behavior, after he reportedly kissed a minor at one of his concerts, according to the Guardian (theguardian.com). He raps, “Why you trollin’ like a b****? Ain’t you tired? / Tryna strike a chord and it’s probably A minor.” The two remain rivals to this day.
Christina Aguilera and Marshall Bruce Mathers III, popularly known by his stage name “Eminem,” have gone through one of the most publicly reported feud’s in the field. In an early 2000s MTV special, according to the Pink Villa website, the featured “What A Girl Wants” singer explicitly criticized Eminem’s personal life regarding his romantic relationship with his high school sweetheart Kim Scott Mathers. As she expressed her opinion on Mathers’ song lyrics, Aguilera theorized that his violent music verses corresponded to his association with Scott and, consequently, made serious accusations of the rapper being an assaulter (pinkvilla.com). The quarrel became so intense that it became widely known, and the pair did their best to avoid interacting, except in unavoidable circumstances such as award ceremonies, like the 2002 VMAs, in which Aguilera was a host, presenting her award to “The Real Slim Shady” rapper. The tension was so clear that it made both the other artists and the audience uncomfortable.
One of the most recent conflicts that took place underneath the spotlight occurred between two rising stars: Olivia Rodrigo and Sabrina Carpenter. The two sensations were found interlaced among the dangerous strings of a love triangle involving singer Joshua Bassett. As tracks from musical albums have revealed -– Rodrigo’s “SOUR” (released in May 2021) and Carpenter’s “Emails I Can’t Send” (released in July 2022) — the three celebrities were facing the consequences of love sparking in the workplace.
Rodrigo, alongside her co-star Bassett, started the 2019 High School Musical remake in a TV show format. After being romantically involved, the pair maintained a discrete relationship while filming. However, according to iHeart, when her debut song, “drivers license”, was released in 2021, it is speculated that Rodrigo revealed the painful breakup between her and Bassett (iheart.com). Yet, it wasn’t until the release of the complete album that the public was able to decode the quick moving on Bassett experienced. When Rodrigo’s album reached higher in the charts, she received praise while the couple received backlash online. Now, in 2025, the tension has settled down, as the three singers have moved on and focused on pursuing new things. Rodrigo and Carpenter continue to be major players in the world of pop music, and Basset has like mindedly shifted his focus from acting to pursuing his musical dreams (j-14.com).
Surely, history could be unraveled through rivalries. While celebrities go through many phases of their lives publicly, their experiences are surely learning experiences for themselves and those who are watching.