Kanye West Disses Kendrick Lamar and Taylor Swift: “Where’s the Culture?”

Kanye West is at it again. The ever outspoken rapper courted controversy once more this Friday, as he took swipes at both Kendrick Lamar and Taylor Swift, in his tireless efforts to pull the culture with him, one ambiguous post at a time.

This time around, it would appear, the targets are Kendrick Lamar and, of course, Taylor Swift. Predictably enough, Kanye threw shade at that very unlikely 2015 team-up between Compton rapper and pop queen, questioning if said move had any business being labeled “culture.”

Well, Ye dropped a subtly slicing message via social media that immediately had fans reading between the lines. The post certainly seemed to side-eye Kendrick Lamar’s collab with Taylor Swift on the Bad Blood remix-a song which brought the Pulitzer-winning rapper into Swift’s glossy, pop-centric world during her 1989 era. It was a big song at the time, helping Swift extend her musical footprint into more hip-hop-adjacent circles while giving Kendrick some serious exposure to a more mainstream pop audience.

But Kanye? He’s unamused. “How is that culture?” he wondered aloud. Really, it’s just such a Ye thing to say: it’s not just shade, but it’s a callback to all those things Kanye’s always ranted about-hip-hop purity, the struggle to protect artistic integrity, the long-simmering Taylor Swift feud that goes all the way back to those 2009 VMAs.

Although Kanye did not name anyone, the fans pieced together this puzzle in no time. Added to which, the timing and tone of his post seemed like a jab, not just at Kendrick’s crossover moment but at the whole notion of “mainstream collabs” being passed off as groundbreaking cultural moments. He seems to say that if you marry hip-hop with commercial pop for either clout or chart success, does that really move the culture forward? Of course, it is not the first time Ye has gone after Taylor. At this juncture, their history’s the stuff of pop culture legend, from that infamous VMAs mic snatch to the back-and-forth over Famous and the leaked phone calls that followed. And dragging her name into the mix again? Not out of character, that’s for sure. But bringing Kendrick into it? That is new.

And the fans are divided. Some say they are Team Ye, and the Kendrick-Swift pairing did feel forced. Others claim Kendrick’s versatility is what makes him great. But a comment from ‘Ye has reopened the debate on what truly constitutes “cultural impact” in today’s music scene. Can hip-hop exist comfortably with pop and never lose its roots? Should artists like Kendrick-who built his entire rep on authenticity and conscious rap-avoid certain collaborations, or are these moves just part of evolving with the industry?

But regardless of what side of the fence you’re on, there’s one thing for sure: Ye’s question- “How is that culture?” -without a doubt has sparked debate. This speaks to a deeper argument in the music world: authenticity versus popularity, legacy versus relevance, and where the line is drawn for artists when it comes to genre-bending. And coming from a person who never plays by the rules, the critique hits different.

Kanye knows how to grab attention, and whether in silence or subtlety, his words pack a punch. Whether he’s raising a valid point or just trolling for drama, the one thing for sure is this: the Kendrick and Taylor conversation is far from over.