For weeks, hip-hop aficionados and gossip hounds have been at the edge of their seats, watching Kendrick Lamar and Drake go at each other’s throats. And with each diss track, the two MCs have aimed further below the belt. It’s the brawl of the season, one that has sent spectators crashing the Genius website as they attempt to parse all of the rappers’ name-drops, double entendres, and allusions. Spotify rented a Times Square billboard reading “Hip-hop Is a Competitive Sport.” It’s an analytical workout that has even Swifties redirecting their egg-hunting and textual-dissection skills to hip-hop lyrics. (The pop star gets name-dropped by Drake, who accuses Kendrick on “Taylor Made Freestyle” of stalling on a reply track to avoid competition with The Tortured Poets Department; in response, Kendrick enlisted Swift’s longtime producer, Jack Antonoff, to make the beat for “6:16 in L.A.”)

But as the attacks have become more personal, dragging in not only the rappers’ collaborators but also family members, the fight has become increasingly discomfiting to witness. Drake has accused Kendrick of cheating on and abusing his wife, Whitney Alford; Kendrick has retorted by calling Drake a trafficker, pedophile, and deadbeat dad to not just one but two children. These are explosive (and unsubstantiated) claims that invoke the trauma and suffering of a multitude of women. But it’s clear by their talk that neither rapper cares about the alleged victims involved.

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