21 Savage Says He Warned Drake About Engaging in the Kendrick Lamar Feud
Sometimes the smartest move in hip-hop isn’t responding, it’s knowing when the battle isn’t worth fighting at all.
That’s the perspective 21 Savage shared while reflecting on Drake’s high-profile clash with Kendrick Lamar during a wide-ranging sit-down with host Bank on Perspektives With Bank.
As the conversation stretched on, the “American Dream” rapper revealed that he actually urged Drake to steer clear of the situation altogether, believing the outcome was stacked against him from the start.
From his point of view, Drake was entering a situation where winning, at least publicly, was never really on the table.
The rapper, who just dropped a project called “What Happened To The Streets,” doesn’t believe the feud damaged Drake in any tangible way.
He pointed out that the “Take Care” rapper remains one of the most-streamed artists of the year, arguing that the backlash felt louder online than it did in real life.
In his eyes, any perceived loss existed more in internet discourse than in actual impact.
21 Savage admitted that he tried to stop it before it escalated. He explained that he told the Canadian rapper directly that engaging further wouldn’t lead anywhere productive.
He went on to explain how Drake felt compelled to respond because his lyrical credibility was being questioned.
That instinct, he said, is understandable, but still risky.
Recalling a phone call between the two, Savage shared the warning he gave his longtime collaborator after the first shots were fired.
“You finna go into a battle that you can’t win,” Savage told him, explaining that some situations are structured so that even success feels like a loss.
From his perspective, public opinion had already decided how the story would end.
“How can you win a battle if n****s want you to lose it?” he said to the interviewer, clarifying that he wasn’t claiming the “Nonstop” rapper lost the feud outright.
Instead, he argued that no matter how things played out, Drake’s standing wouldn’t have changed in his favor.
The “rockstar” artist went even further, suggesting that even if Lamar had stayed silent, Drake still wouldn’t have emerged as the winner in the public eye.
In a climate like this, he said, the narrative often matters more than the music.
“It’s rigged,” Savage added. “Even if Drake won, he would’ve been the bad guy for winning.”
Watch the interview in full below:
