The Long Wave: The Lamar v Drake beef has gone legal – what does it say about today’s hip-hop industry?

In this week’s newsletter: Lawyers are now involved in the most explosive rap feud of the century. A look at the potential cultural and commercial impact, and how hip-hop became big business

Hello and welcome to The Long Wave. Kendrick Lamar v Drake was already the biggest rap beef of the 21st century – and then it got legal. This week I spoke with Nels Abbey, Guardian contributor and author of The Hip-Hop MBA: Lessons in Cut-Throat Capitalism from Rap’s Moguls, for his take on Drake’s legal action against Universal Music Group (UMG) and Spotify. He argues that to understand this latest development, you need a business lesson on how the hip-hop industry became what it is today. Let’s get into it, after the roundup.