Kendrick Lamar is still going strong on his European tour, and during one of his latest stops, he linked up with none other than Yasiin Bey.
On Wednesday (July 30), a photo of the two hip-hop heavyweights surfaced from Barcelona. Kendrick can be seen beaming, rocking his signature X chain and a pgLang baseball cap, while Yasiin — dressed in blue and green — appears to be mid-conversation.
The picture seems to have been snapped backstage at Kendrick’s Grand National tour stop at Estadi Olímpic in Barcelona, Spain, which went down Wednesday night.
While it’s not clear why Kendrick Lamar and Yasiin Bey were hanging out, one thing is certain: both have had a few pointed remarks for Drake in the past.
Following Kendrick’s 2024 lyrical takedown of the Canadian rapper, Yasiin Bey also weighed in with his own candid opinion, calling Drake a “pop” artist.
On a January 2024 episode of The Cutting Room Floor, the artist formerly known as Mos Def said: “Drake is pop to me. In the sense, like, if I was in Target in Houston and I heard a Drake song… It feels like a lot of his music is compatible with shopping.”
He continued, “Or, you know, shopping with an edge in certain instances.”
Later that month, Bey clarified his comments during a 25-minute Instagram Live, emphasizing that he has no personal issue with Drake. “First of all, I don’t hate anyone,” he said. “My opinion is mine. It’s legal in all states, as far as I’m aware. It was not an opportunity to try to slander him, or to clown on him. I have reached out to him, I have no responses yet. I’m not keen to talk about people or to them through a screen, I prefer to talk to people directly.”
“But I will say this. The young man is very talented, he’s been able to be very successful with that talent, and I have no issue with his success or anything that he’s been able to achieve as a result of his talent,” Bey added.
He went on to clarify that he holds no animosity toward the 6 God, despite the headlines his comments sparked in mid-January, and he rejected the “mean-spirited” and “mocking” critiques Drake has often faced.
“I do feel that some of the criticism that he’s received in the past has been mean-spirited or unfair. So I don’t want to participate in that,” Bey explained. “I’ve never had no issue with you personally, I don’t know you well enough to have any sort of issue with you in that regard. Nonetheless, it’s not sacrilegious to have a critique or opinion of a public figure, particularly one of that magnitude in current, modern culture.”
