In the spring of 2026, my AP Lang classes studied the 2024 Kendrick/Drake beef, song by song, and created podcasts about it. I’m sharing my lessons here and some of the analysis we generated.
- Teaching the Beef – “Push-Ups” – Drake’s Best Response - [This post is part 8 of a series on teaching the Kendrick/Drake Beef – click here for part 7 –J Cole’s “7 Minute Drill””] “First Person Shooter” – Drake featuring J Cole – 10/24/23“Like That” – Metro Boomin featuring Future and Kendrick Lamar – 3/26/24“7 Minute Drill” – J Cole – 4/5/24“Push Ups” – Drake … Continue reading Teaching the Beef – “Push-Ups” – Drake’s Best Response
- Teaching the Beef – 7 Minute Drill – From J Cole’s Might Delete Later (he sort of did) - [This post is part 7 of a series on teaching the Kendrick/Drake Beef – click here for part 6 –“Like That – The Beef Starts in Earnest””] “First Person Shooter” – Drake featuring J Cole – 10/24/23“Like That” – Metro Boomin featuring Future and Kendrick Lamar – 3/26/24“7 Minute Drill” – J Cole – 4/5/24 ← WE’RE HERE“Push … Continue reading Teaching the Beef – 7 Minute Drill – From J Cole’s Might Delete Later (he sort of did)
- “Like That” – The Beef Starts in Earnest - [This post is part 6 of a series on teaching the Kendrick/Drake Beef – click here for part 5 –“First Person Shooter – Rap Beef as Socratic Dialogue”] Introduction This post is really, really long. I hope you’ll go on the journey with me. This is one of those rabbit holes that got deeper and … Continue reading “Like That” – The Beef Starts in Earnest
- Teaching the Drake/Kendrick Beef – First Person Shooter – Rap Beef as Socratic Dialogue - [This post is part 5 of a series on teaching the Kendrick/Drake Beef – click here for part 4 –“Poetic Justice” – Even When They Were Friends There Were Issues]] For about the first two weeks of the unit, the class had now listened to and analyzed several songs – “Ab-Soul’s Outro” (Ab-Soul featuring Kendrick … Continue reading Teaching the Drake/Kendrick Beef – First Person Shooter – Rap Beef as Socratic Dialogue
- Teaching the Drake/Kendrick Beef – Last Prequel – “Poetic Justice” – Even When They Were Friends There Were Issues - [This post is part 4 of a series on teaching the Kendrick/Drake Beef – click here for part 3 – “Hiiipower” and “So Appalled” – How Kendrick Signifies on Kanye] A final lesson I did leading up to my students studying the beef itself was about Kendrick Lamar and Drake co-performing on the 2012 song … Continue reading Teaching the Drake/Kendrick Beef – Last Prequel – “Poetic Justice” – Even When They Were Friends There Were Issues
- Teaching the Kendrick/Drake Beef – Prequel 2 – “Hiiipower” and “So Appalled” – How Kendrick Signifies on Kanye - [This post is part 3 of a series on teaching the Kendrick/Drake Beef – click here for part 2 – “Ab Soul’s Outro” – Purpose in a Larger Context] Here’s a question – a literal AP Lang question – that Kendrick Lamar’s 2012 song “Hiiipower” could have been answering, from the 2010 exam: In his … Continue reading Teaching the Kendrick/Drake Beef – Prequel 2 – “Hiiipower” and “So Appalled” – How Kendrick Signifies on Kanye
- Teaching the Kendrick/Drake Beef – Prequel #1 – “Ab Soul’s Outro” – Purpose in a Larger Context - [This post is part 2 of a series – click here for part 1 – Why the Kendrick/Drake Beef is Great for AP Lang – One Line as Proof of Concept] I don’t know if Drake intended to set off the firestorm that eventually happened when he called himself the GOAT on “First Person Shooter” … Continue reading Teaching the Kendrick/Drake Beef – Prequel #1 – “Ab Soul’s Outro” – Purpose in a Larger Context
- Why the Kendrick/Drake Beef is Great for AP Lang – One Line as Proof of Concept - [This post is part 1 of a series – click here for part 2 – Teaching the Kendrick/Drake Beef – Prequel #1 – “Ab Soul’s Outro” – Purpose in a Larger Context] This last year I developed a unit that presented students with one of the most genuinely difficult challenges I’ve ever presented in 17 years of … Continue reading Why the Kendrick/Drake Beef is Great for AP Lang – One Line as Proof of Concept
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