A$AP Rocky Thinks Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s Beef Is ‘Healthy for Hip-Hop’

A$AP Rocky is weighing in on Kendrick Lamar and Drake‘s rap beef.

In a cover story interview with ELLE published on Tuesday, Sept. 23, the “Sundress” rapper, 36, shared his thoughts on the back-and-forth disses, which began after the release of Drake and J. Cole’s “First Person Shooter” in November 2023. The song implied that they, along with Lamar, were the “big three” of rap.

“It was healthy for hip-hop,” Rocky told the outlet.

Before the feud escalated, Rocky casually dissed Drake, 38, on Future and Metro Boomin’s single “Show of Hands” by suggesting he slept with Drake’s former partner and the mother of his son Sophie Brussaux.

“N—-s swear they bitch the baddest, I just bagged the worst one / N—-s in they feelings over women, what, you hurt or somethin’? / I smashed before you birthed son, Flacko hit it first, son,” Rocky rapped. “Still don’t trust you, it’s always us, never them / Heard you dropped your latest s— / Funny how it just came and went.”

Then, when Drake released “Family Matters,” a diss track aimed at Lamar, 38, he also responded to Rocky: “Rakim talkin’ s— again / Gassed ’cause you hit my BM first, n—-, do the math, who I was hittin’ then?,” he rapped, seemingly referencing his past relationship with Rihanna. “I ain’t even know you rapped still ’cause they only talkin’ ’bout your ‘fit again.”

“The battle was between Kendrick and Drake, not Drake and everybody else who might have said something at that time, and that’s mainly why I fell back,” Rocky told ELLE. “I just hate the way it’s turning out with [Drake] suing and all that. What part of the game is that? What type of s— is that? That’s none of my business, I guess.”

After “First Person Shooter,” Lamar responded on the Future and Metro Boomin collaboration “Like That,” where he made his disdain for Drake and J. Cole’s insinuation that they were on the same level clear.

What followed was months of back-and-forth diss tracks until Lamar seemingly won the battle with the May 4, 2024, release of “Not Like Us,” in which he called Drake a pedophile and a “colonizer.” Reps for Drake did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment regarding Lamar’s allegations about him at the time.

In February, Lamar took home five Grammy Awards for the track and then performed it during his headlining 2025 Super Bowl Halftime Show.

Earlier this year, Rocky announced his fourth studio album, Don’t Be Dumb. Though there’s no release date set yet — Rocky told ELLE that the delay was because “life was lifeing.”

“We don’t plan on having children, but when it happens, you gotta adjust and move with it. I gotta be present for my family, because that’s first,” he said.

The Highest 2 Lowest star and Rihanna, 37, are parents to sons RZA, born in 2022, and Riot, who arrived in 2023. They are currently expecting their third baby together.