All's Fair in Love & War: Malicious Misogyny from Hip Hop's "Nice Guy"

Abstract: Kendrick Lamar's 2025 Super Bowl Halftime performance has been hailed as a "victory lap" given the hip hop star's lyrical defeat of rival Drake. In spite of his early reputation as a "nice guy" known for infusing relatable and emotionally vulnerable subject matter into his work, Drake has consistently attacked his romantic partners and those of his rivals. This paper suggests that the true losers of the musical feud are the women that were attacked in the songs released before and during the beef. This has profound consequences for Black women in terms of gender relations and the prevalence of misogynoiristic abuse reaffirmed and perpetuated by popular culture.