THE REAL WINNER OF THE DRAKE-KENDRICK LAMAR FEUD IS CHINESE RESTAURANT NEW HO KING

“I be at New Ho King eatin’ fried rice with a dip sauce and a blammy, crodie,” Lamar raps in the diss track “Euphoria,” which has more than 50 million streams on Spotify and 18 million views on YouTube Drake subsequently featured New Ho King in the music video for his rebuttal track “Family Matters.”

New Ho King’s owner, Johnny Lu, says business has gone up 300% since it was mentioned in Lamar’s song.

“It’s more busy than before,” Lu told MarketWatch. “Now that Drake and Kendrick did that, now there’s more, more, more stuff to do.”

Lu, 32, has worked at New Ho King since he was 14 years old. He bought the place in 2019.

Lu admitted that he hasn’t been at his restaurant for the past five days to enjoy the newfound boom in business because he had a previously planned trip to China.

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He said that while the restaurant usually has a four-person working staff, it was down to just three when he went on vacation. “But when I leave, the song comes out, and now I need more people working,” the exuberant Lu told MarketWatch at 4:45 a.m. local time in China. “I might change my flight back earlier because they need my help.”

In addition, food blogger @insta.noodls detailed New Ho King’s “Kendrick Lamar special,” which consists of a slew of dishes including fried rice.

Whether it’s rap beef, Szechuan beef, stir-fry beef with broccoli or beef-brisket noodle soup, there’s no question that beef and New Ho King are a good match.

“I’m so proud, I’m so surprised,” Lu said. “I’m so happy.”

In a shrewd move, Lu also declined to say which side of the feud he was taking.

“I’m an Asian guy, a Chinese guy. These rappers, they sing well, but I have to translate it to hear what they are saying. So the thing is, I don’t want to get in any trouble with Drake and Kendrick. I see the news everyday. They both are good rappers — oh my God, I love them.”

Of course, the two artists are likely bringing in serious money from this feud, too, as it’s commonplace that these types of controversies lead to more interest, and consequently more streams. And in the music industry, huge streaming numbers on Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music equate to more money.

Four of Lamar’s songs released as part of the beef were in the top 10 of Spotify’s streams on Tuesday, the most of any artist. Lamar’s “Not Like Us” achieved the most streams for any hip-hop song in a single day, passing the previous record held by Drake’s “Champagne Poetry.”

The feud seemed to start in 2023, when rapper J. Cole dubbed himself, Drake and Lamar as the “big three” of hip-hop in his song “First Person Shooter.” On March 22, Lamar fired back, “It’s just big me,” on the song “Like That.”

One of the most well-known rap beefs in history occurred between 2Pac and the Notorious B.I.G; it ended tragically when both artists were killed in shootings roughly six months apart in 1996 and 1997, respectively.

The current feud has also involved some illegal activity.

On Monday, Drake’s October’s Very Own (OVO) store in London was vandalized with spray paint — with the words “They not like us” painted on the front, a likely reference to Lamar’s “Not Like Us” track. OVO Sound, also referred to as OVO, is a Canadian record label that Drake founded in 2012.

On Tuesday, police began investigating a shooting outside Drake’s Toronto mansion at around 2 a.m., in which one of the rapper’s security guards was injured and hospitalized. Toronto Police Inspector Paul Krawczyk said the guard “was shot from a vehicle which then fled the scene.” Law enforcement declined to say whether the current rap beef was related to the crime, but admitted they were aware of the ongoing quarrel.

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