Popular media has a lot to say about the Drake—Kendrick Lamar feud, but according to one undergrad, philosophy will help you understand it best.
Rap first came to be in South Bronx, New York, when DJs and emcees began speaking over music using rhymes and rhythm. Today, Kendrick Lamar and Drake have become some of the biggest names in the rap industry, both for their music and their feud. Their dispute started in 2013 and has led to a string of songs riddled with insults targeted at each other. At the Philosophy Club’s meeting on March 19, 2025, undergrad Porter Kindall (Philosophy ’25) turned to French philosopher Michel Foucault’s essay titled “What Is an Author?” to better understand the two rappers’ feud. In doing so, he attempted to answer an important question from Kendrick Lamar’s perspective: What is a rapper?
The Philosophy of Rap
According to Kindall, understanding the Drake—Kendrick Lamar feud requires you first learn about Foucault’s interpretation of the “author function.” This philosophical concept claims that an author’s name and life experience factor into how audiences understand their work. In the context of the feud, Kindall argued that the life experiences a rapper has strongly influences the authority they have as a musician. He noted that in many of Lamar’s songs, “Kendrick’s talking about real life experience that he’s had, things that allow him to inhabit the author function, things that allow him to be a rapper.”
Storytelling through Rap
Lamar inhabits the author function in the lyrics of “Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst,” a song that tells the story of Keisha, Lamar’s friend’s sister who was killed by police officers. In this account, Lamar tells the story in first person to show a personal understanding of the experiences described in each verse. Kindall believed this practice points to Lamar’s overarching opinion that “a rapper ought to have been able to participate in conversations [about African American life].”
In contrast to Lamar’s rough upbringing in Compton, California, Drake “comes from the suburbs, from a White neighborhood, and [hasn’t] lived the kind of life that Kendrick thinks a rapper ought to have lived,” Kindall explained. To Lamar, rappers must experience the race and class hardship often discussed in their music in order to rap about it. With his middle-class upbringing, Drake never struggled through poverty, gang violence, and homelessness, so Lamar argues that Drake doesn’t have the authority to be a rapper. Kindall maintained that this belief fueled the now world-renowned feud between the rappers.
Regardless of your stance on the Drake—Kendrick Lamar feud, Kindall’s ability to understand modern-day debacles using Foucault’s work shows the uses of philosophy in everyday life. Whether it’s used to provide insights into the purpose of life or to break down the latest celebrity feud, philosophy has a place in every person’s life. Kindall encouraged the audience to consider his findings next time they listen to rap music, saying, “It’s important to consider potential for philosophical implications.”
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