Sean Ono Lennon has apparently taken sides when it comes to Drake and Kendrick Lamar. While accepting The Beatles’ award for Best Rock Performance at the 67th GRAMMY Awards, John Lennon’s son appeared to make his allegiance in the rap feud known.
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“I’m getting older in my middle age and I just wanted to give some advice to the young people out there. Never get into a rap battle with Kendrick Lamar,” Lennon said while accepting The Beatles’ award for their AI-made track, “Now and Then.”
The audience gasped at Lennon’s statement, and social media went equally wild.
“I was not expecting John Lennon’s son to s**t on Drake during the Grammy awards,” one person tweeted, with another quipping, “Dawg why Drake just catch a stray by John Lennon son who won Best Boxed or Special Limited Package?”
Indeed, in addition to The Beatles’ win, Lennon won the aforementioned award for his release, Mind Games.
“I want to give advice to young people… NEVER get into a rap battle with Kendrick Lamar”
— NFR Podcast (@nfr_podcast) February 2, 2025
— Sean Ono Lennon during his #GRAMMYs speech pic.twitter.com/2E1viaLjFo
The Story Behind Drake’s Beatles Tattoo and Lyrics
As for why Lennon looks to have taken sides in the rap battle, some fans speculated that it had to do with Drake’s past comments about The Beatles.
In Meek Mill and Drake’s 2018 track “Going Bad,” the used his time on the song to take aim at The Beatles.
“I got more slaps than The Beatles,” he rapped on the track.
Then, in 2019, Drake passed many of The Beatles’ records. He commemorated as much by getting a controversial tattoo of the band. Drake’s ink featured the iconic Abbey Road image of the band, with the rapper standing in front of the icons and waving back to them.
Drake has a tattoo of himself in front of the Beatles on his arm. “I got more slaps than the Beatles…” pic.twitter.com/krzzFSF2Mj
— Word On Road (@WordOnRd) August 9, 2019
Kendrick Lamar Wins Big at the GRAMMY Awards
Lennon’s team came out in front at Sunday’s GRAMMY Awards, as Lamar won big. The rapper swept the awards, winning in every category he was nominated for his Drake diss track, “Not Like Us.”
In all, Lamar won five GRAMMYs: Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song, and Best Music Video.
Lamar dedicated his Record of the Year win to Los Angeles amid the devastating wildfires in the city.
“This is my neck of the woods that held me down… since I was in the studio scrapping to write the best raps and all that, in order to do records like these,” he said during his acceptance speech. “So I can’t give enough thanks to these places that I rolled around since high school. And most importantly, the people and the families out in the Palisades and Altadena. This is a true testament that we can continue to restore this city. We gonna keep rocking.”
Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images
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