Be careful what you wish for. After Joyner Lucas said clashing with Skepta was the “moment he was waiting for,” the U.K. legend took to the booth and delivered the bristling “Friendly Fire” diss track, aiming at Lucas and others on Friday (July 11).
Skepta had plenty of smoke for JL on the second verse, which he began by sniping at Lucas’ skillset: “Joyner Lucas, you bastard/ Why you rap like you studied at Harvard?”
He continues to jab Joyner for not producing hit songs. “Praise the lord, you want beast? Then I’ve got this/ You haven’t had a hit song for the longest/ Too concerned with your clothes/ You should be focusing on flows,” Skepta raps.
That wasn’t all either, as Skepta hailed himself as a “GOAT” while referring to Lucas as a “lyrical miracle” and claims he’s looked at as a “joke” in the United States.
“Where I’m from, I’m a GOAT/ Where you’re from, you’re a joke/ SK turn you to a ghost, yo/ Talkin’ like you’re lyrical miracle, oh please/ Where I come from, that’s a default speed,” he spews.
Lucas has been waiting for Skepta to step into the ring, so this most likely isn’t the last we’ve heard from this feud, which began brewing last week amid the U.K. versus U.S. rap debate.
“I wanna clash an American rapper anyway,” Skepta wrote to X on July 3. “Finally get this UK/US rap debate sorted.”
Lucas accepted the challenge and baited Skepta on July 4. “The moment I’ve been waiting for… say the word, Joyner Lucas vs @Skepta #UKvsUS,” he said.
Prior to dropping “Friendly Fire,” Skepta offered up a final warning for Joyner Lucas. “Hey Jonah, I wasn’t even gonna reply back but I’m a rapper’s rapper,” he wrote on his IG Story. “I’m gonna respect the fact that you stood up and said something. The first man, you get me? But this is just another example of the ignorance. Jonah, if you was from the UK, fam? Quiet, bro, understand?”
However, Joyner Lucas wasn’t the only person on Skepta’s “Friendly Fire” hit list, as he also jabbed at Hot 97 radio host Ebro Darden and streamer DJ Akademiks. “Old man Ebro askin’ me stupid questions
Tryna use me to get clicks, I said what I said,” he raps to open the track. The bar appears to be tied to their 2024 interview on Apple Music, which saw Skepta chime in about the Drake-Kendrick Lamar battle.
Listen to “Friendly Fire” below.
