I don’t see how you can place Kendrick above Drake – M.I Abaga weighs in on rivalry

Nigerian rapper M.I. Abaga has delivered his assessment of the beef between Kendrick Lamar and Drake.

M.I. made his opinion about the rivalry known during a recent interview on Afropolitan.

The beef started last year, and the two rappers went hard at each other with several diss tracks. The beef culminated in one of Kendrick’s diss tracks, ‘Not Like Us,’ winning five Grammy Awards at the 2025 ceremony.

With Kendrick clearly taking the win with his Grammy success and landing a historic Super Bowl halftime performance, M.I. backed Drake to make a comeback that would elevate him above everyone else.

ALSO READ: Drake is the highest-selling rapper globally, ahead of Kendrick Lamar, Eminem

The Nigerian rapper also expressed admiration for Drake’s ability to produce hits consistently over the past 15 years.

He said, “If Drake is able to make a comeback, it will elevate him above everyone. Because not just the music industry, but also tech boys—everybody came and danced on his ‘grave.’

“If there’s one person who has the talent to make a comeback album, it is Drake. He is the guy who knows how to put music together.

“If the first part of listening to Drake’s music was about his journey to becoming a rap star, now life is giving him a second story. And he is the best storyteller there is. That opportunity is there.

“Kendrick wasn’t in my top 10 before this moment. But I think this has put Kendrick, at the very least, in the top 3.

“I don’t see how, objectively, you can place Kendrick above Drake just because they were active at the same time. Drake was consistently dropping hits for 15 years. You can’t deny what Drake has done.

“I felt a little bit of sympathy for Drake because I have had a similar experience”.

M.I. recounted his experiences within the Nigerian rap community, saying he faced criticism, which culminated in some labeling his work “boring.”

ALSO READ: Drake is set to tie Taylor Swift & Jay-Z’s Billboard record for most #1 albums

He said, “At a certain point, no matter what I did, the ‘rap community’ in Nigeria would say it was boring. The American hip-hop face-off was great and entertaining. Shoutout to Kendrick and Drake.”