Grime pioneer, Skepta, has ignited a trans-Atlantic rap feud that has hip-hop fans buzzing. The North London MC openly declared that U.K. rappers are lyrically superior to their American counterparts, a bold and daring statement.
Soon after, Skepta challenged U.S. rappers to a battle on wax, a U.K. vs U.S. showdown, and Massachusetts spitter Joyner Lucas answered the call. What followed was a volley of diss tracks: Skepta’s scathing “Friendly Fire” and “Round 2” versus Joyner’s retort “Nobody Cares,” turning a cross-Atlantic clash of egos into headline news. And while this battle may seem unprecedented, Skepta’s fans know one thing for sure – this isn’t his first rodeo. The grime legend has been here before, breed in a culture that treats lyrical warfare as a rite of passage.
Skepta vs Joyner Lucas, on the surface, pits two highly skilled MCs from different rap traditions in a duel. Skepta fired the first shot with “Friendly Fire,” a track that not only dismisses Joyner’s impact but takes swipes at American rap at large. “Joyner Lucas, you bastard / Why you rap like you studied at Harvard?” Skepta spits aggressively, threatening to “catch ’em outside” and even crash Lucas’s show in London to humble him.
Joyner Lucas wasted no time responding. On “Nobody Cares,” he hits back with personal jabs, painting Skepta as a fading legend: “Nobody cares about how you and Drizzy are close, or how you invented U.K. rap, but still ain't Top 10 on your coast”. The trash talk spilled onto social media: Joyner hyped up the battle on Twitter (“The moment I’ve been waiting for… say the word, Joyner Lucas vs @Skepta #UKvsUS”), while Skepta coolly compared their streaming numbers and sneered “ignorance is bliss” at Joyner’s lesser reach.
What might seem like a sudden international beef is actually the product of a long-simmering debate about U.K. vs U.S. rap – one that Skepta intentionally stoked, and one he’s exceptionally well-equipped to fight. After all, Skepta built his name through diss tracks and clashes long before this U.K. vs U.S. face-off.
To understand why Skepta looks so comfortable in battle mode, one must understand grime’s clash culture and his origins in it. Grime, the British-born genre that Skepta helped globalize, was built on lyrical warfare. In the early 2000s, before chart hits and Mercury Prizes, grime MCs earned their stripes on pirate radio stations and in crew showdowns.
Skepta himself began as a DJ on London’s pirate airwaves, spinning beats for the Meridian Crew in Tottenham. Back then, pirate stations like Heat FM and Déjà Vu FM were the battlegrounds where hungry young MCs took turns on the mic, battling for bragging rights in crackling broadcast signals over London.
Skepta’s early role was behind the decks, crafting instrumentals like the underground hit “Private Caller” and reloading tracks as MCs (including his younger brother Jme) sprayed rapid-fire bars live on air. It was an on-the-job boot camp for timing, lyricism, and the art of “sending” (dissing rival MCs in lyrics). In these no-frills settings, Skepta honed the sharp tongue and fearless attitude that now serve him in high-profile feuds.
By the mid-2000s, Skepta had stepped out from behind the turntables to grab the microphone himself, and quickly proved he could dish out battle bars with the best. When Meridian Crew disbanded amid street and legal pressures in 2005, Skepta and Jme formed Boy Better Know, their own independent grime collective and label. BBK embraced the clash culture ethos: they did things DIY, dropped mixtapes and freestyles directly to fans, and never shied away from lyrical confrontation.
In this era, Skepta began releasing diss tracks and war dubs that gained attention on the scene. He famously boasted “I’m a mic man,” meaning battling and dominating the microphone is in his blood. Grime OGs like Wiley, Dizzee Rascal and D Double E had set the template with clashes on pirate radio and live events, and Skepta eagerly carried that mantle forward.
Skepta’s baptism by fire as an MC came in 2006 with one of grime’s most legendary clashes: Skepta vs Devilman on Lord of the Mics 2. Lord of the Mics (LOTM) is a famed DVD series started by Jammer (of BBK) that puts two MCs face-to-face in a basement for a battle, effectively grime’s version of a prizefight. Skepta, then an upcoming North London spitter, went up against Devilman, a Birmingham MC, in a showdown that has since passed into grime folklore.
In that clash, both MCs employed a then-novel tactic: flipping each other’s lyrics in real time to mock the opponent. This innovative approach, mimicking and remixing an opponent’s bars to undermine them was “one of the first times” the style was used, and it “changed clashing” as an art form going forward. Jammer himself ranks Skepta vs Devilman among the top clashes ever. For grime fans, that DVD battle is required viewing – the tension in the room, Skepta’s relentless flow and Devilman’s provocations all make for electrifying entertainment.
Critically, Skepta won more than just bragging rights from the Devilman battle, he earned respect that would fuel his rise. Those few minutes in a basement proved Skepta’s mettle to the entire grime scene. The battle became grime lore: fans still debate who really won (Devilman had hometown support; Skepta’s career undeniably skyrocketed afterward), and quotes from the clash became part of grime’s lexicon, “Are you dizzy, blud?” From that point on, Skepta was battle-tested, a self-proclaimed “Microphone Champion” (the title of his 2010 album) who could back up bravado with bars.
Not only has Skepta tangled with Devilman, he’s also sparred with fellow grime heavyweights when provoked. Case in point: his feud with Wiley (the Godfather of Grime) a few years ago. In late 2018, Wiley publicly criticized Skepta for collaborating with Dizzee Rascal (Wiley’s own longtime rival), calling Skepta a “fraud” among other things. Never one to let a call-out slide, Skepta clapped back in early 2019 with a diss track titled “Wish You Were Here,” whose lyrics taunted Wiley for being a no-show in person. “Came to squash beef but you weren’t there… Came to your party, you weren’t there,” Skepta rapped over a classic grime beat, directly poking at Wiley’s absence. The track was a cheeky response to Wiley’s prior diss (“Flip The Table”), and it showed Skepta’s ability to engage in internal beef while keeping it mostly on wax and relatively light-hearted. (Interestingly, Skepta even hid a backwards-message Easter egg in the song that cheekily shouted out Wiley, indicating there was a layer of respect beneath the beef.) The Wiley exchange, coming long after Skepta had achieved mainstream success, proved that Skepta still relishes a clash. From pirate radio sparring to Lord of the Mics to trading barbs with his own mentors, Skepta has built his legacy in no small part on the art of the diss.
Fast forward to 2025, and it’s little surprise that Skepta would be the one to spark a grand “UK vs US” rap battle. Ever the instigator, he explicitly set out to “finally get this U.K./U.S. rap debate sorted”. It all began with a series of posts Skepta made on X (Twitter) in early July, where he floated the idea of staging clashes between UK and US rappers. He wasn’t shy about naming names. He offered up potential pairings including:
Skepta’s tweets instantly set twitter ablaze. Fans debated the hypothetical showdowns, some with excitement, others with skepticism. Many doubted these face-offs would ever materialize (they felt more like fantasy football for rap nerds), but the conversation was sparked. Crucially, one American rapper did take the bait for real: Joyner Lucas. The Worcester, MA native, known for his rapid-fire flow and past battle with Tory Lanez, volunteered to represent Team USA. “Alright, say less, my boy,” Joyner wrote in response to Skepta’s challenge, making it clear he was game to spar. In fact, Joyner tweeted the #UKvsUS call-out with his name versus Skepta’s as soon as Skepta hinted he “wanna clash an American rapper”. Thus, the stage was set for an actual transatlantic rap battle, perhaps not the marquee names Skepta initially envisioned, but a contest nonetheless.
What’s remarkable is how quickly this playful suggestion turned into a tangible beef. Skepta’s “Friendly Fire” track was essentially a response to Joyner accepting the challenge – Skepta calling him out by name and questioning his pedigree. Joyner’s counter-diss “Nobody Cares” arrived days later, and just like that, the two were entrenched in a battle carrying the weight of national pride. The feud tapped into age-old debates: UK rap’s global standing, the perceived lyrical vs commercial focus of US artists, even accent and slang differences (at one point Joyner shared a viral comedy skit mocking British rap accents).
Skepta, ever the showman, embraced the role of UK’s champion. After Joyner’s first diss, Skepta doubled down with “Round 2,” a follow-up track where he ups the ante, ridiculing Joyner for taking a week to respond and even clowning Joyner for wearing a Union Jack ski mask on his cover art. In “Round 2”, Skepta savagely reminds Joyner exactly who he’s dealing with: “You can ask Devilman how I get busy,” he sneers, name-dropping his old clash opponent to warn his new one. It’s a full-circle moment, Skepta invoking a 19-year-old battle to bolster his 2025 grudge match. This is not his first rodeo, indeed.
Not everyone is convinced the Skepta vs Joyner duel is worth the hype. On Reddit, some listeners called the whole UK vs US theme “corny, a manufactured spectacle rather than a genuine grudge. They do have a sound argument – that trying to fit a battle rap format (which is traditionally live, face-to-face with rapid rebuttals) into the slower medium of diss tracks and tweets loses its edge. Indeed, the spat has sometimes felt more like a pre-agreed promotional exercise than an organic rivalry, both artists have new projects to promote, and the exchange has boosted their visibility. Yet, even if there’s an element of showmanship, it’s undeniable that fans are engaged.
Social media has been flooded with bar-by-bar breakdowns, reaction videos, and patriotic trash talk from both sides. The very hashtag #UKvsUS became a trending topic as the beef peaked, illustrating that Skepta successfully captured the rap world’s attention.
Amid all the side spectacles and hot takes, one thing is clear: Skepta is in his element. The 40-year-old grime veteran has taken on the mantle of transatlantic battle champion with the same ferocity and charisma that won him clashes in the underground days. This entire episode underscores how Skepta’s battle-hardened background prepared him for a moment like this. When he raps on “Round 2” that Joyner can “ask Devilman how I get busy”, it’s not just a boast – it’s a reminder that Skepta has been putting competitors to the test since Joyner was a teenager.
The technical skills, the strategic mindset, the thick skin for insults, these were all honed in London pirate radio sets and grime clashes long before Skepta had a worldwide fanbase. It’s telling that Skepta himself views this less as a blood feud and more as sport. “I wasn’t even gonna reply back but I’m a rapper’s rapper,” he wrote in an Instagram story addressed to Joyner, acknowledging that Lucas “stood up and said something” and thus earned a response. To Skepta, lyrical war is an exercise in respect: you send for those who are brave enough to send for you. It’s the same code of the pirate radio days, if you grab the mic and call someone out, you better be ready when they reload and fire back.
“This is not Skepta’s first rodeo.” The phrase rings true as we watch him navigate the Joyner Lucas battle with a veteran’s poise. He’s not only trading bars; he’s educating a global audience on grime’s battle culture by example. From spitting on pirate radio as a hungry young DJ, to tearing up rivals in basement clashes, to settling scores on festival stages, Skepta’s entire career has been defined by competitive fire. It’s the same fire fueling the current UK vs US exchange, an event he orchestrated almost for the love of the sport. And while the outcome of the Skepta-Joyner duel remains to be seen (as at the time of this writing, Skepta has landed two diss tracks to Joyner’s one, and fans await if Joyner will respond again), one outcome is indisputable: Skepta has reaffirmed his status as a grime warrior. Win, lose, or draw in this battle, Skepta’s legacy as a clash veteran is secure.
In the bigger picture, the “UK vs US” rap beef has been both a homage to grime’s roots and a savvy modern spectacle. It harks back to the energy of Meridian vs East London clashes and Lord of the Mics battles, but unfolds via YouTube and Twitter in front of a global crowd. And who better to lead that charge than Skepta? He’s the artist who bridged underground and mainstream, UK and US, and now he’s bridging generations by showing younger artists what a proper war of words looks like. As Skepta gears up in his corner, fans on both sides of the Atlantic can agree on one thing: they’re witnessing a master at work. This is Not His First Rodeo, and Likely Not His Last.
