Clockwise from top left: Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Steven Yeun, Ali Wong, and two generic Al battle rappers
With Beyonce’s recent foray into country music and Taylor Swift dominating Super Bowl coverage, it seemed like hip-hop had somewhat faded from the cultural conversation for the moment. However, late this spring, two rap titans grabbed the spotlight with a fierce exchange of diss tracks. Between March 22 and May 5, Kendrick Lamar and Aubrey “Drake” Graham released a series of records aimed at each other, turning a simmering rivalry into an inferno of antagonism. These tracks created a significant buzz in the hip-hop community and caught the attention of mainstream news outlets.
And for good reason. Beefing—maintaining enmity against another person—has a long history in hip-hop culture. (If you’ve ever wondered when hip-hop music and culture became a part of the cultural establishment, it might’ve been right around when The Wall Street Journal started covering it.)
Rap Beefs and Battles
Hip-hop beefs were often settled in rap battles, highlighted in feature films like Kid ’n Play’s House Party (1990) and Eminem’s 8 Mile (2002). During the 2010s, YouTube became a primary source for youth-oriented programming, featuring “Epic Rap Battles of History,” where comedic actors dressed up as famous figures, engaged in verbal jousting. (My favorite was Einstein vs. Stephen Hawking.)
Rap battles are often entertaining and usually good-natured, as they initially took place in person. The goal was to win the crowd over without provoking physical violence. The best competitors knew how to verbally roast their opponents without crossing the line.
However, as music and pop culture merged with social media, the dynamic changed. Feuds became more personal as diss tracks were created in studios and posted online. Thus, when Drake and Kendrick Lamar started their feud, it wasn’t just boasting. Drake mocked Kendrick’s height and accused him of abusing his fiancée. Kendrick teased Drake about being light-skinned and Canadian, while also accusing him of preying on teenage girls and hiding a secret daughter.
These intense conflicts between two men who once collaborated with each other show that beefs often start small and evolve over time.
Escalating Beefs
One of Netflix’s breakout hits of 2023, the Golden-Globe-winning dramedy Beef, exemplifies this phenomenon. Starring Steven Yeun (Nope, Tuca & Bertie, Space Jam: A New Legacy) and Ali Wong (Birds of Prey, Always Be My Maybe), Beef depicts a chance encounter between two strangers that escalates into a literal life-or-death struggle. As Yeun’s character, Danny, and Wong’s character, Amy, engage in a simmering feud of one-upmanship, their words become pranks, and their pranks become crimes. As their high jinks escalate, members of their family and community become involved, raising the stakes for everyone. What results is a hilarious, dramatic, and occasionally poignant reflection on the perils of modern society.
It’s instructive to consider the racial identity of both main characters in the story. As descendants of immigrants—people who survive by fitting in and not making waves—neither Danny nor Amy feels like they have permission to externalize their angst. Amy externalizes her anxiety through performance, and Danny buries it under feelings of inadequacy. Their conflict stems from misplaced anger, a result of unresolved issues with loved ones leaking into interactions with strangers.
Beef shows us that it’s not just platinum-selling rappers, social media influencers, or wealthy celebrities who get into long-running, bitter feuds. The drama is compelling in part because the characters are so relatable. They’re regular people, caught in unhealthy modes of living and communicating. We might not respond exactly like they do, but many of us get trapped in similar cycles of dysfunction.
Real Versus Fake
Dramas like Beef stand out in part because so many beefs in popular culture are shallow and performative. Often, the hostile public exchanges between celebrities, musicians, or even political pundits are not rooted in actual enmity. Such public feuds tend to benefit both participants because they create intrigue, engagement, and speculation—the currencies of publicity. Like pro wrestlers before a match, they create drama to attract an audience. Like plant-based meats, the beefs are fake.
However, many beefs are a combination—performative but rooted in significant conflict. The Netflix show Beef is fake in that it’s obviously a work of fiction, but its plotting and character development are drawn from realistic conflicts between real people. The Kendrick vs. Drake beef is performative because each person is literally performing rap music, and their public feud considerably boosted each rapper’s streaming numbers. However, it was also quite personal. Kendrick cannot stand Drake because he feels Drake’s popularity results from clout-chasing that dilutes the origin of hip-hop culture, which is rooted in the Black American experience. Drake accuses Kendrick of performative and inauthentic gatekeeping and says Kendrick is jealous of his superior streaming numbers and social media reach (he might be right). Kendrick says Drake is jealous because Kendrick has more respect from his industry peers than Drake (and he’s right).
Sadly, both men have elements of truth to offer one another; however, each man’s pride and the digital crowd egging them on prevent them from truly listening to each another. In so doing, they miss out on the best aspect of a good beef: the way it can catalyze meaningful change.
Navigating Biblical Beefs
The Bible has much to say about navigating conflict. “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (Romans 12:18, NIV). “Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels” (2 Timothy 2:23, NIV). “Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam; so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out” (Proverbs 17:14, NIV).
However, overemphasis on peace as conflict avoidance can amplify conflict later. Passive aggression is still aggression. It’s worth examining which conflicts are worth addressing.
Many Christians love to quote Jeremiah 29:11, but an earlier section in the same chapter is more instructive on peace:
This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper”. Jeremiah 29:4-7, NIV
The word for “peace” here is the famous Hebrew word shalom, meaning “completeness.” Jeremiah communicated to the exiled Israelites that their salvation would come through mutual community flourishing. This is why Jesus included peacemakers in his blessings in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5). Promoting peace means fostering collective welfare, where everyone benefits if no one is left behind. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called this “an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.” Lisa Sharon Harper later explored the depths of shalom in her book The Very Good Gospel.
If God’s people engage in practices that thwart the mutual flourishing of shalom, that’s a beef worth addressing. Scot McKnight, in A Fellowship of Differents, teaches that the church should the place be where conflicts, especially those involving race, culture, and ethnicity, are addressed. Our collective witness as Christians depends on it.
Beef in the Cafeteria
One of the best examples of this phenomenon is found in Galatians 2:11-14 and involves food. Paul writes to the Galatian Christians to explain his actions, presumably because his mid-meal confrontation caused quite a stir.
But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood self-condemned…for until certain people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But after they came, he drew back and kept himself separate for fear of the circumcision faction. And the other Jews joined him in this hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were not acting consistently with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the gentiles to live like Jews?” – Galatians 2:11–14 NRSV
Paul responded so seriously to this violation because he knew it was a bigger issue than just who sits with whom at the lunch table. He knew that this kind of ethnic favoritism could undermine the discipleship movement to Jesus they were building. He didn’t want to see anyone else led astray by mixing their religious devotion to Jesus with a falsified gospel.
So, yes, Paul had beef with Cephas, a.k.a. Peter. But he didn’t talk about Peter behind his back. He didn’t release a diss track or write a vague post implicating Peter on social media. He dealt with it publicly, on the spot, to the astonishment of many in attendance.
And address it, he did!
If this moment were dramatized in a ’90s high school comedy, Paul would’ve walked away in a slow-motion swagger with “This Is How We Do It” playing on the soundtrack.
What Does this All Mean?
Real-life conflicts can be both exhausting and exhilarating. In a culture that often avoids confrontation, addressing the source of conflict promptly and thoroughly can be refreshing, preventing toxicity from festering . That said, we must avoid letting righteous convictions derail into performative grandstanding on social media. While such displays may feel satisfying momentarily, they often fail to foster meaningful engagement with those we disagree with.
Leaning into conflict doesn’t mean every disagreement warrants a nuclear response. Instead, we can trust God to guide us, even in contentious situations. Rather than viewing conflict as evidence of sin, we can see it as an opportunity for discipleship.
So, when you sense unresolved tension hindering your goals in your household, church staff, or your youth group, remember the wisdom of that famous Wendy’s ad campaign and ask yourself: “Where’s the beef?”
Jelani Greenidge is the missional storyteller for the Evangelical Covenant Church and ministers in and around Portland, Oregon, as a worship musician, cultural consultant, and stand-up comic.
Commentary
The Nutritional Value of Beef: Lessons from a Hip-Hop Feud
Clockwise from top left: Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Steven Yeun, Ali Wong, and two generic Al battle rappers
With Beyonce’s recent foray into country music and Taylor Swift dominating Super Bowl coverage, it seemed like hip-hop had somewhat faded from the cultural conversation for the moment. However, late this spring, two rap titans grabbed the spotlight with a fierce exchange of diss tracks. Between March 22 and May 5, Kendrick Lamar and Aubrey “Drake” Graham released a series of records aimed at each other, turning a simmering rivalry into an inferno of antagonism. These tracks created a significant buzz in the hip-hop community and caught the attention of mainstream news outlets.
And for good reason. Beefing—maintaining enmity against another person—has a long history in hip-hop culture. (If you’ve ever wondered when hip-hop music and culture became a part of the cultural establishment, it might’ve been right around when The Wall Street Journal started covering it.)
Rap Beefs and Battles
Hip-hop beefs were often settled in rap battles, highlighted in feature films like Kid ’n Play’s House Party (1990) and Eminem’s 8 Mile (2002). During the 2010s, YouTube became a primary source for youth-oriented programming, featuring “Epic Rap Battles of History,” where comedic actors dressed up as famous figures, engaged in verbal jousting. (My favorite was Einstein vs. Stephen Hawking.)
However, as music and pop culture merged with social media, the dynamic changed. Feuds became more personal as diss tracks were created in studios and posted online. Thus, when Drake and Kendrick Lamar started their feud, it wasn’t just boasting. Drake mocked Kendrick’s height and accused him of abusing his fiancée. Kendrick teased Drake about being light-skinned and Canadian, while also accusing him of preying on teenage girls and hiding a secret daughter.
These intense conflicts between two men who once collaborated with each other show that beefs often start small and evolve over time.
Escalating Beefs
One of Netflix’s breakout hits of 2023, the Golden-Globe-winning dramedy Beef, exemplifies this phenomenon. Starring Steven Yeun (Nope, Tuca & Bertie, Space Jam: A New Legacy) and Ali Wong (Birds of Prey, Always Be My Maybe), Beef depicts a chance encounter between two strangers that escalates into a literal life-or-death struggle.
As Yeun’s character, Danny, and Wong’s character, Amy, engage in a simmering feud of one-upmanship, their words become pranks, and their pranks become crimes. As their high jinks escalate, members of their family and community become involved, raising the stakes for everyone. What results is a hilarious, dramatic, and occasionally poignant reflection on the perils of modern society.
It’s instructive to consider the racial identity of both main characters in the story. As descendants of immigrants—people who survive by fitting in and not making waves—neither Danny nor Amy feels like they have permission to externalize their angst. Amy externalizes her anxiety through performance, and Danny buries it under feelings of inadequacy. Their conflict stems from misplaced anger, a result of unresolved issues with loved ones leaking into interactions with strangers.
Beef shows us that it’s not just platinum-selling rappers, social media influencers, or wealthy celebrities who get into long-running, bitter feuds. The drama is compelling in part because the characters are so relatable. They’re regular people, caught in unhealthy modes of living and communicating. We might not respond exactly like they do, but many of us get trapped in similar cycles of dysfunction.
Real Versus Fake
Dramas like Beef stand out in part because so many beefs in popular culture are shallow and performative. Often, the hostile public exchanges between celebrities, musicians, or even political pundits are not rooted in actual enmity. Such public feuds tend to benefit both participants because they create intrigue, engagement, and speculation—the currencies of publicity. Like pro wrestlers before a match, they create drama to attract an audience. Like plant-based meats, the beefs are fake.
However, many beefs are a combination—performative but rooted in significant conflict. The Netflix show Beef is fake in that it’s obviously a work of fiction, but its plotting and character development are drawn from realistic conflicts between real people. The Kendrick vs. Drake beef is performative because each person is literally performing rap music, and their public feud considerably boosted each rapper’s streaming numbers. However, it was also quite personal. Kendrick cannot stand Drake because he feels Drake’s popularity results from clout-chasing that dilutes the origin of hip-hop culture, which is rooted in the Black American experience. Drake accuses Kendrick of performative and inauthentic gatekeeping and says Kendrick is jealous of his superior streaming numbers and social media reach (he might be right). Kendrick says Drake is jealous because Kendrick has more respect from his industry peers than Drake (and he’s right).
Sadly, both men have elements of truth to offer one another; however, each man’s pride and the digital crowd egging them on prevent them from truly listening to each another. In so doing, they miss out on the best aspect of a good beef: the way it can catalyze meaningful change.
Navigating Biblical Beefs
The Bible has much to say about navigating conflict. “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (Romans 12:18, NIV). “Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels” (2 Timothy 2:23, NIV). “Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam; so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out” (Proverbs 17:14, NIV).
However, overemphasis on peace as conflict avoidance can amplify conflict later. Passive aggression is still aggression. It’s worth examining which conflicts are worth addressing.
Many Christians love to quote Jeremiah 29:11, but an earlier section in the same chapter is more instructive on peace:
This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper”. Jeremiah 29:4-7, NIV
The word for “peace” here is the famous Hebrew word shalom, meaning “completeness.” Jeremiah communicated to the exiled Israelites that their salvation would come through mutual community flourishing. This is why Jesus included peacemakers in his blessings in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5). Promoting peace means fostering collective welfare, where everyone benefits if no one is left behind. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called this “an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.” Lisa Sharon Harper later explored the depths of shalom in her book The Very Good Gospel.
If God’s people engage in practices that thwart the mutual flourishing of shalom, that’s a beef worth addressing. Scot McKnight, in A Fellowship of Differents, teaches that the church should the place be where conflicts, especially those involving race, culture, and ethnicity, are addressed. Our collective witness as Christians depends on it.
Beef in the Cafeteria
But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood self-condemned…for until certain people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But after they came, he drew back and kept himself separate for fear of the circumcision faction. And the other Jews joined him in this hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were not acting consistently with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the gentiles to live like Jews?” – Galatians 2:11–14 NRSV
Paul responded so seriously to this violation because he knew it was a bigger issue than just who sits with whom at the lunch table. He knew that this kind of ethnic favoritism could undermine the discipleship movement to Jesus they were building. He didn’t want to see anyone else led astray by mixing their religious devotion to Jesus with a falsified gospel.
So, yes, Paul had beef with Cephas, a.k.a. Peter. But he didn’t talk about Peter behind his back. He didn’t release a diss track or write a vague post implicating Peter on social media. He dealt with it publicly, on the spot, to the astonishment of many in attendance.
And address it, he did!
If this moment were dramatized in a ’90s high school comedy, Paul would’ve walked away in a slow-motion swagger with “This Is How We Do It” playing on the soundtrack.
What Does this All Mean?
Real-life conflicts can be both exhausting and exhilarating. In a culture that often avoids confrontation, addressing the source of conflict promptly and thoroughly can be refreshing, preventing toxicity from festering . That said, we must avoid letting righteous convictions derail into performative grandstanding on social media. While such displays may feel satisfying momentarily, they often fail to foster meaningful engagement with those we disagree with.
Leaning into conflict doesn’t mean every disagreement warrants a nuclear response. Instead, we can trust God to guide us, even in contentious situations. Rather than viewing conflict as evidence of sin, we can see it as an opportunity for discipleship.
So, when you sense unresolved tension hindering your goals in your household, church staff, or your youth group, remember the wisdom of that famous Wendy’s ad campaign and ask yourself: “Where’s the beef?”
Jelani Greenidge
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