Skepta Takes Aim At Joyner Lucas On “Friendly Fire”

Key Takeaways:

• Skepta’s new track “Friendly Fire” directly disses Joyner Lucas and throws shots at DJ Akademiks and Ebro Darden.
• A line referencing “Praise The Lord (Da Shine)” has fans speculating that ASAP Rocky is also a target.
• The lyrics reignite the U.K. vs. U.S. rap rivalry, adding new heat to the ongoing debate.

Let the U.K. versus U.S. rap battle officially begin! On Friday (July 11) at midnight, Skepta fired a shot heard around the world with “Friendly Fire,” his diss track aimed at Joyner Lucas.

He wastes no time getting into it. “Old man Ebro askin’ me stupid questions / Trynna use me to get clicks, I said what I said,” Skepta raps in the opening verse. For those who might’ve missed it, he sat down with Ebro Darden for Apple Music last year, where they most notably discussed whether the Kendrick Lamar and Drake beef had gone too far.

A few bars later, the Insomnia artist takes shots at DJ Akademiks: “Time to wipe the smile off Ak’s face / Time to say, ‘Chat, W Skepta.’” Despite previously claiming he’d have “two bars max” for Lucas, Skepta evidently had a lot more to get off his chest.

“Joyner Lucas, you bastard / Why you rap like you studied at Harvard?” he begins the second verse, followed by lines like, “Catch ‘em outside and move to him, heartless / Cuts, bruises and plasters / If I see him on tour in London, I jump on stage and move to his dancers.”

Although Skepta doesn’t call out ASAP Rocky by name, he does reference their platinum-selling collaboration and fashion, which is more than enough reason for fans to think it’s aimed at the Harlem rapper. “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,” he later dishes out.

As Skepta clarified earlier in the week, “Rocky is my family,” so don’t expect things to get too personal there. That being said, everyone else seems to be fair game.