Earlier this month, Skepta took to X to announce that he wanted to go head-to-head with a rapper from the United States. “I wanna clash an American rapper. Finally get this UK/US rap debate sorted,” he declared. “No violence, just bars, punchlines and counteractions." At the time, he specifically set his sights on ASAP Rocky. Rocky has yet to publicly acknowledge the callout, but another American rapper quickly rose to the occasion.
This, of course, was Joyner Lucas. "The moment I’ve been waiting for… say the word, Joyner Lucas vs @Skepta. #UKvsUS," he tweeted. Skepta quickly got on board. “Hey Jonah, I wasn’t even gonna reply back but I’m a rapper’s rapper,” he wrote on his Instagram 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?”
From there, he dropped "Friendly Fire," and Lucas fired back with "Nobody Cares."
Skepta & Joyner Lucas
"Maybe you're mad because you ain't got buzz up in the U.K. no more / I heard your career just ain't what it was and you don't get paid no more / If you want a feature, n***a, just say it, but you gotta pay me for it / And after I body you I don't want you ever saying my name anymore," he rhymes.
Skepta responded to that with "Round 2" last week, and now, Lucas has dropped off "Round 2 K.O." In it, he mocks his opponent's career, accuses him of stealing ASAP Rocky's style, and more. So far, the track has earned mixed reactions from listeners. While some have crowned Lucas the winner of the battle, others think his latest release left a lot to be desired.
"There’s not a single UK rapper that can do this. Not one," one X user says. "So bad it doesn't even warrant a reply," another claims.
