Punch on How “Control” Spawned Kendrick Lamar and Drake Beef, Blames People Who ‘Took It Personal’
Terrence “Punch” Henderson provided some much-needed insight into when Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s beef began.
According to Punch, it all started with Lamar’s verse on Big Sean’s 2013 song, “Control.”
“Dot did the whole thing and—it’s a competition thing, not a ‘I hate you’ thing,” Punch said on the Curtiss King TV podcast at around the 1:20:00 hour mark. “We rapping, I’m tryna be better than everybody. You should be too. So, lotta people took it personal.”
When host Curtiss King asked why people took it personally, Punch said, “It was all the light-skinned n***as,” which prompted them both to laugh.
“I’m joking, but I’m kinda serious at the same time. Pusha T was mentioned, right? Pusha T tweeted Dot and said, ‘I hear you loud and clear, Kendrick Lamar.’ Meek Mill seen Dot in the club, walked up and shook his hand, say, ‘I gotta get you back.’”
He continued, “My guy [J. Cole] seen Dot, that end up escalating into the fight with him and Puff,” referencing Cole and Diddy’s 2013 VMAs afterparty fight.
“Then with Drake, he doing interviews like he really upset about it,” Punch added. “And like that kinda threw everybody for a loop. It was like, ‘Huh?’”
When King pointed to the inherently competitive nature of rap music, Punch said that what they “didn’t take into consideration is everybody didn’t come up that way.”
“So it was second nature for us,” Punch explained. “To me, I know it was friendly competition. It was like, we on the court, we playing basketball, I’m tryna win the game. I mean, we can go get something to eat after, whatever it is, but while we playing, I’m elbowing you, shoulders, it’s going crazy. But it’s still love. I don’t hate you my n***a, it’s cool. … But again, everybody wasn’t raised that way.”
Back in 2013, at the time of Diddy and Cole’s scuffle, multiple sources told Complex that Diddy was “visibly intoxicated” and tried to challenge Dot over his “King of New York” claim on “Control.” Cole reportedly became involved when Diddy attempted to pour a drink on Kenny, which led to an argument and an ensuing altercation.
As for Punch’s mention of Drake sounding “really upset” in interviews, one of the biggest moments came during his conversation with Elliott Wilson in September 2013. To provide a bit more clarity on the timeline: “Control” arrived on Aug. 14, 2013, the VMAs took place on Aug. 25, 2013, and Drake’s ensuing conversation with Elliott Wilson happened in late September 2013, following the arrival of his 2013 album, Nothing Was the Same.
At that point, Drizzy had some time to ruminate over Dot’s diss—enough to respond on the Nothing Was the Same album cut, “The Language.”
“I don’t know why they been lying/But your shit is not that inspiring,” Drake raps on the opening verse.
When Wilson broached the subject of Lamar’s “Control” verse, Drake said, per Pitchfork, “[Kendrick] is giving people moments, but are you listening to it now, at this point in time? Okay… It was real cool for a couple weeks.”
He continued, “If I asked you, for example, how does that verse start?” Wilson didn’t remember. “Mind you, it’ll go on—Complex and Rap Radar will give it like, verse of the millennium and all that shit or whatever.”
Back in 2020, Complex’s Eric Skelton ranked “Control” as Kendrick’s No. 10 best verse, writing that he “simply steals the show” from Sean and Jay Electronica.
“If you were a rapper in 2013, it was almost more offensive for Kendrick to leave you off of his incendiary Control’ verse than for him to go at you,” Skelton added.
