The dust seems to have mostly settled on the Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar rap beef (for now), but the musical back and forth between the two hip-hop titans has imprinted itself on pop culture. That imprint includes video game mods, as a Mortal Kombat 1 fan has recently recreated both rappers in the game to pit them against each other. You can check out a match using the mod below, but spoilers, it ends the same way the real-world beef did: Kendrick won.
The mod by NegativeZoneNerd is up on Nexus Mods as Def Jam MK1 Pack 1 – Kendrick VS Drake, a reference to the Def Jam fighting game series starring different rappers and hip-hop artists from the mid-2000s. The series has been dormant since 2007, so fans haven’t been able to pit a lot of modern rappers against one another in a fighting game. But this Mortal Kombat 1 mod is a decent enough substitute. The Def Jam MK1 Pack has two options to play as Lamar, one makes the “Not Like Us” rapper a skin for Reiko, and the other lets you play as him as a skin for Kung Lao. Drake, meanwhile, is a skin for Johnny Cage.
Buy Mortal Kombat 1: Amazon | Best Buy
The Drake vs. Kendrick beef has been entertaining to watch unfold and I don’t think I’ve ever seen people be so unified online. Though it seems both of them have stopped dropping songs about each other for now, it was easily one of the most significant pop culture moments of 2024, even though it’s only May. People love to watch others be haters. I now understand why they held gladiator matches in ancient Rome. Mortal Kombat 1 mods aren’t those, but the fighting game is brutal enough that it gives you a modicum of the same adrenaline rush.
Anyway, stream “Not Like Us” on your favorite music streaming service.
.
