NEWS
Kendrick Lamar and Drake fans have been locked in a perpetual war of who's better – and so have the artists themselves – over their new releases and moves in the past year or so. That was always the case among hip-hop heads, but the battle really amped things up. Still, they're both doing really well right now, as much as the other side would have you believe otherwise. Canadian rapper Preme, who has close ties to Drizzy and OVO, recently clapped back at the narrative that K.Dot ended his career. How so? Well, by looking at the commercial success of the new track "NOKIA," which topped Apple Music's Top 100 Global chart recently over various Kendrick hits.
"They said we were dead," Preme wrote concerning the ongoing Kendrick Lamar and Drake showdown. "They said it was over, they said Super Bowl was checkmate, they said he should take a few years off and disappear. Back on top even while beefing with the label and it’s only April! This why yall hate the boy." "The best revenge is success," he added the next day.
However, all of this kind of becomes a jumble of loyalties and flexes when you consider that The Boy and The Boogeyman are besting each other in various different commercial metrics. Drake is streaming really well with "NOKIA," but Kendrick Lamar still has a grasp on the top Billboard Hot 100 spots. This could obviously change very fast, and they've obviously doing very well on all platforms regardless. After all, they are the two biggest rappers in the game right now. For anyone who really thought the battle would put either of their careers in a coffin, capitalistic interest in a griftable debate is chasing you, but you are faster.
Also, regardless of Drake's current dominance or the unstoppable run of Kendrick Lamar, these artists are too big to fail due to their legacy. How many 6ix God haters like IYRTITL despite complaining about ghostwriters? How many Kenny critics bump "Money Trees" despite diminishing his hit-making? We'll answer that: a lot. So Preme has a big point here, but that road goes both ways.
Ezra Furman has announced a new headline tour of the UK and Europe to take place early in 2026 – see all the dates below.
The Chicago-born singer-songwriter released her 10th studio album ‘Goodbye Small Head’ in May via Bella Union and is already set to take the record on the road around North America in August and October this year.
Now, she has added a slew of dates on the other side of the Atlantic, kicking off in Vienna, Austria on January 19 and taking in dates in Graz, Linz, Munich, Prague, Berlin, Hamburg, Amsterdam, Antwerp and Paris.
The tour rounds off with four UK dates – Glasgow, Manchester and Bristol are followed by a huge final show at the O2 Forum Kentish Town in London on February 4. Tickets are on sale now and you can find yours here.
JANUARY
19 – Vienna, Arena Wien
20 – Graz, Dom Im Berg
21 -Linz, Posthof
22 – Munich, Strom
24 – Prague, Cargo Gallery
25 – Berlin, Columbia Theater
26 – Hamburg, Molotow
27 – Amsterdam, Paradiso Tolhuisten
28 – Antwerp, Trix Club
29 – Paris, Le Cabaret Sauvage
FEBRUARY
1 – Glasgow, The Art School
2 – Manchester, New Century Hall
3 – Bristol, Electric
4 – London, O2 Forum Kentish Town
Furman described ‘Goodbye Small Head’ as being “vivid with overwhelm”, adding: “They’re not about someone going off the rails, they are inside that person’s heart. The songwriting here is a revision to William Wordsworth’s famous proclamation that ‘Poetry is the spontaneous overow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity’. I can agree with that, except for the tranquillity part.”
Furman continued: “This poetry, my poetry, arrived in the midst of the storm. It was written as I teetered toward the edge. (I did the edits once I was safe again).”
