A$AP Rocky covered plenty of ground in his recent interview with DJ Akademiks, touching on everyone from Playboi Carti to Kanye West. But the most attention-grabbing moments came when the conversation turned to Rocky’s ongoing tension with Drake—and, by extension, Drake’s high-profile battle with Kendrick Lamar.
In a clip shared by Kurrco, Akademiks asked Rocky whether he was “rooting” for Kendrick during the feud. Rocky pushed back on the idea of picking sides, instead giving credit where he felt it was due. He explained that Kendrick was simply “going crazy” and doing his thing, adding that both artists showed sportsmanship and delivered a battle that benefited hip-hop culture as a whole.
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That praise, however, came with a clear caveat. Rocky pointed to the aftermath of the battle—specifically Drake’s defamation lawsuit tied to Kendrick’s diss track “Not Like Us,” which Drake is currently appealing after an initial dismissal. In Rocky’s view, that legal turn is where things started to feel “crazy,” even though he still felt both rappers handled the lyrical competition itself with respect.
Akademiks then brought up New York’s deep roots in battle culture, something Rocky said he grew up watching closely. When asked if there should be limits in rap battles, Rocky made his stance clear: once disrespect enters the picture, all bets are off. According to him, crossing that line turns the situation into a no-holds-barred exchange, and it’s not his place—or anyone else’s—to decide how far another rapper should go once the gloves are off.
Rocky’s comments arrive amid his own complicated history with Drake. In 2024, he took a shot at Drizzy on “Show Of Hands,” a track from WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU by Future and Metro Boomin. That diss landed before the Kendrick–Drake battle fully erupted, but after tensions reignited with “Like That.”
Still, Rocky has since expressed regret over one aspect of his Drake diss—specifically referencing Sophie Brussaux, the mother of Drake’s son, Adonis, and someone Rocky was allegedly involved with in the past. Despite the lingering bad blood between the former collaborators, Rocky’s comments suggest there’s still mutual respect for the competitive spirit of rap—even when things get personal.
