Author: openjargon

• I tried 22 different flavors of Crumbl cookies and ranked them from worst to best.
• I didn't love the wedding-cake cookie, and found it to be too sweet.
• My favorite cookies were the mallow-sandwich and pink-velvet flavors.

It seems as though every few years, Americans embrace a new dessert trend. Like the frozen yogurt craze of the 2010s, cookie chains have been taking the US by storm in recent years.

However, one chain stands out as the country's fastest-growing cookie company: Crumbl.

Since its first location opened in Utah in 2017, the dessert chain has expanded to over 1,000 locations in all 50 US states, Puerto Rico, and Canada.

Though the first store only sold milk-chocolate-chip cookies, Crumbl now offers a rotating weekly selection of six desserts at a time and has featured over 200 varieties on its menu.

Trying to pick which weekly option to choose can feel like a lot of pressure. To help sort out which types of Crumbl cookies are the best, I sampled 22 desserts over multiple visits and ranked them from worst to best.

Here's what I thought of the flavors I tried.

• US Navy fighter aircraft were recently spotted carrying an air-launched variant of the SM-6 missile.
• The ship-fired SM-6 only recently saw combat for the first time during the counter-Houthi conflict.
• In a new role, the missile could be a big deal for the US in a China fight.

US Navy fighter aircraft have been spotted in the Pacific carrying an air-launched version of a powerful ship-fired interceptor missile that only recently debuted in combat.

American warships fighting in the Middle East have fired the Standard Missile 6, or SM-6, to intercept munitions launched by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, using it in a surface-to-air role.

But it appears to be getting a new role as a long-range air-to-air missile, a potentially significant development that could fill a crucial capability gap if the US went to war with China. A US Navy spokesperson told Naval News that "the SM-6 Air Launched Configuration (ALC) was developed as part of the SM-6 family of missiles and is operationally deployed in the Navy today."

Multiple F/A-18E Super Hornets have been spotted in recent days carrying the SM-6 variant aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson and on the tarmac at Hawaii's Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam during the Rim of the Pacific Exercise, which boasts the world's largest international maritime warfare drills.

The ship-launched SM-6, also known as the RIM-174 Standard Extended Range Active Missile and part of the Navy's advanced Aegis Combat system, is a three-in-one extended-range weapon capable of anti-air and anti-surface warfare and is able to engage ballistic missiles during the terminal phase of their flight.

"It uses a blast-fragmentation warhead to engage these threats in the endo-atmosphere," the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank's Missile Defense Project says of the missile. "The US Navy has also upgraded the SM-6 to perform strike missions."

CSIS also notes that "its tri-mission capability also presents opportunities for the Navy to arrange more efficient weapon loadouts onboard its guided missile ships."

The SM-6, which can strike targets as far as 230 miles away, had not seen confirmed combat until the Houthis began attacking commercial shipping lanes in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden last fall. Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro acknowledged in April that the sea service had used the SM-6 to engage enemy threats. He also confirmed the first use of the SM-3 in combat.

The missiles observed on Navy aircraft at RIMPAC can be seen sporting AIM-174B designations, indicating that they are an air-to-air variant. Observers have noted, though, that it has been modified for tests. This configuration has been spotted in previous years, although the Navy has yet to acknowledge the development.

Justin Bronk, an airpower and technology expert at the UK-based Royal United Services Institute think tank, said the recent public appearance of the SM-6 suggests the missile's development is nearing completion or has even reached initial operational capability.

It is "likely a deliberate signal of emerging capability to both allies and to Chinese military observers," he told Business Insider.

China has taken serious steps to upgrade and modernize its air force and navy, raising alarm bells on the other side of the Pacific as US military leaders and Biden administration officials observe Beijing's growing power with concern.

Extended air-to-air range missiles in a new role could help the Navy plug gaps in countering long-range missiles that China is fielding, especially should Washington and Beijing clash some day. A war between the two would primarily unfold across a maritime domain, where long-range strike and defensive capabilities would be crucial.

"The primary benefit offered by an air-launched SM-6 capability for Super Hornet is a dramatic increase in the range at which air targets can be engaged by the carrier air wing," Bronk said.

Such a capability would be particularly useful to the American Navy against China's "increasingly large and capable" air force and naval aviation elements, he said. China has invested in developing various long-range stand-off weapons for its aircraft.

The air-launched SM-6 capability could provide Navy carrier air wings with the ability to engage Chinese bombers and intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance aircraft at significantly longer ranges than the standard AIM-120D air-to-air missile, Bronk said.

Not only could it compete in that space, but an air-launched SM-6 missile would also be a practical asset for the US to deal with Beijing's warships and militarized artificial islands, both of which can threaten US and allied aircraft with missiles.

This missile, in this new air-launched configuration, can "extend protective coverage further from the carrier group without having to venture into heavily contested airspace," Bronk said.

• When climbing huge mountains, height and difficulty don't always go hand in hand, mountaineers say.
• Mt. Everest may be the world's tallest peak, but it's easier to summit than other smaller mountains, like the Seven Second Summits.
• Three professional mountaineers explain why these shorter peaks are so challenging, and why Mt. Everest is easier to climb than ever before.

Just because Mt. Everest is the world's tallest peak, that doesn't mean it's the most difficult to climb, according to three professional mountaineers.

In fact, one expert even described Everest as a "fun" and "playful" climb compared to other peaks she's summited around the world.

Mountaineers generally agree that the highest peaks on each of the seven continents — aka the Seven Summits, which include Everest, Denali, and Kilimanjaro — are easier to climb than the second highest peaks on each continent: the Seven Second Summits.

The three mountaineers shared why Everest isn't the hardest and which peaks they found most challenging in their years of climbing.

Climbing the Seven Second Summits

Don't let the name fool you — when it comes to difficulty, there's nothing secondary about the Seven Second Summits.

Only two people have successfully climbed all seven. Jenn Drummond, a retired businesswoman and mom of seven turned professional mountaineer, is one of them.

In 2023, she became the first woman to accomplish this climbing feat and said each one came with its own harrowing challenges.

Part of what makes these peaks so difficult is that they're more remote and not as commercialized as the seven highest summits, which makes getting to them its own challenge, Drummond told Business Insider.

Mt. Everest attracts hundreds of climbers each year, and is surrounded by a booming tourism industry. The spring 2023 climbing season alone generated $5.08 million in revenue for the Nepal government, the Kathmandu Post reported. That revenue helps fund people who mark trails, set up ropes, and establish camps before mountaineers even arrive at base camp.

"If I'm climbing Everest, I don't have to make decisions — if I go left or right. I just follow a rope that somebody else has set for me," she said, adding that it all makes Mt. Everest a "fun" and "playful" climb compared to the Seven Second Summits.

"When I'm climbing Mt. Logan, or I'm doing Mt. Tyree, there's no set route," Drummond said. That added mental labor significantly increases both exertion and risk. Plus, "if something goes wrong, it's only you guys there to fix it," she said.

And for the most part, they're more technically difficult to climb. Unlike the seven highest summits, some of the Seven Second Summits involve skiing and rock climbing in addition to hiking. "You're training for a variety of different skill sets," Drummond said.

Out of all the Seven Second summits, Mt. Logan was the hardest for Drummond. It's remote, there's no trail to follow, and mountaineers do most of the climb on skis, she said. She and her team had to chart their own route, constantly test the ground to make sure the snow wouldn't give way underfoot, and build igloos around their tents to help them withstand the strong, cold winds.

K2: The Savage Mountain

If you ask Garrett Madison what the hardest mountain he's climbed is, his answer won't be Mt. Everest, either.

This world-class mountaineer has summited Mt. Everest 14 times, in addition to other massive peaks like K2, Denali, and Mt. Everest's smaller but formidable neighbors, Mt. Lhotse and Mt. Nuptse.

K2 is the hardest mountain he's ever climbed, he said, and other mountaineers agree that although it's secondary to Mt. Everest in height, it's much more challenging.

"The major differences are that K2 is steeper, it's got more objective danger — rock fall, ice fall, crevasses — and the weather is more unpredictable," Alan Arnette, a Mount Everest summiter and climbing coach who writes an Everest blog, told BI.

But just because Mt. Everest is easier than K2, that doesn't mean that anyone can hike up the world's highest mountain on a whim, Arnette said.

Climbing Mt. Everest is still risky

In 2023, a record-breaking 18 climbers died attempting to summit Mt. Everest. Even with a pre-set route, established camps, and highly skilled Sherpas to guide you, summiting this mountain is still incredibly dangerous.

As a Mt. Everest summit coach, Arnette requires that his clients already have experience climbing at least 23,000 foot tall mountains, camping in harsh winter conditions, and have some basic mountaineering knowledge before he agrees to work with them. And even someone with that level of experience might need a year of training to get ready to summit, he said.

But professional mountaineers like Arnette, Drummond, and Madison go searching for even greater challenges, paving the way for others who aspire to reach the same heights. For Drummond, becoming the first woman to climb the Seven Second Summits was deeply meaningful.

"It just shows how far society has come for women to be in these places," she said.

• Gen Z and millennials are at odds over some social media, but they seem to agree on two of them.
• Gen Z uses Snapchat and TikTok more than millennials, who use Facebook more, Emarketer data shows.
• But they're pretty neck-and-neck on Instagram and YouTube usage, according to the report.

Gen Z and millennials have some differing preferences when it comes to social media platforms, but they seem to agree on two big ones.

Gen Z uses Snapchat and TikTok more so than millennials do, while millennials outdo Gen Z in Facebook usage, according to data in a new Emarketer report.

In the report, Gen Z is defined as those born between 1997 and 2012, while millennials are the generation born between 1981 and 1996.

For Instagram and YouTube, the two generations see nearly eye to eye.

US Gen Zers make up roughly 35% of Instagram's total users, while millennials represent slightly more at 36.1%, according to the report.

On YouTube, US Gen Zers are 25.5% of the platform's total users, while millennials trail closely at 25.2%, the report shows. A separate study of 1,000 US social media users last year found YouTube ranked as the best social media platform for viewing creator content and getting product reviews and information.

And while millennials still make up a decent chunk of Facebook's users, the platform in 2022 posted a drop in user numbers for the first time in the company's history.

Gen Z's beloved TikTok, meanwhile, got one step closer to being banned in the US earlier this year.

• JoAnn Pushkin was vigilant about getting breast cancer screening and performing self-exams.
• She was diagnosed late because she had "dense breasts," making cancer invisible on her mammograms.
• Pushkin became an advocate for raising awareness around breast density.

JoAnn Pushkin did everything she could to spot breast cancer early. She started getting annual mammograms at 40, the recommended age to begin screening. She also followed a healthy diet, regularly exercised, and performed additional self-exams, despite only having one aunt with breast cancer and no other risk factors.

But at 45, she felt a lump. She was shortly diagnosed with later-stage breast cancer.

Pushkin was shocked — another mammogram still showed no signs of a tumor. A technician explained that Pushkin had dense breasts, which makes tumors harder to spot on mammograms.

Pushkin was floored, especially when she learned that around 40% of women have dense breasts.

"I go on for the ultrasound and there it is, clear as a bell," Pushkin, now 64, told Business Insider. "So on the same day I learned I had breast cancer, I learned I had dense breasts, and I learned it had been missed because I had dense breasts."

Her late diagnosis meant Pushkin needed a double mastectomy, seven surgeries, and eight rounds of chemotherapy. Five years later, the cancer came back and she needed 30 rounds of radiation.

Even large tumors are hard to spot in some mammograms

"Dense" breasts have more glands and fibrous tissue, which makes them appear different on mammograms. Because dense tissue and cancer both appear white on mammograms, the cancer can blend right in, going completely unnoticed until the cancer advances, as it did in Pushkin's case.

Additionally, having dense breasts also increases your risk of developing breast cancer, though the CDC said scientists are still unsure why.

At first, Pushkin thought she had a rare condition. "I get home and find out 40% of women have dense breasts," she said. She quickly learned that other screening methods, like ultrasounds or MRIs, would have found her cancer much earlier.

Pushkin, now the executive director of the educational resource DenseBreast-info, is still shocked and furious that she was never informed she had dense breasts in the five years she got annual screenings. "I felt betrayed," she said.

These days, she has to be even more vigilant, testing more often and dealing with the side effects of so many treatments. "What could have been an early stage diagnosis with maybe a lumpectomy and back to work the next day wound up being very long drawn out," she said.

This year, new federal regulations to protect women with dense breasts

Infuriated by how preventable her cancer was, Pushkin set out to raise awareness about breast density.

She started in New York state, where she resides, helping to pass a law that requires doctors to flag high breast density after a mammogram.

In the years since, she has chipped away at regulations nationwide, testifying before the FDA and writing to lawmakers. This year, on September 10, 2024, it will become a federal regulation for healthcare practitioners to inform patients with dense breasts of their cancer risks.

While the new federal requirement is a huge victory, Pushkin can't help but think of the advocates who are no longer around to rejoice with her.

"Some of them were fighting for these laws literally while sitting in chemo chairs, getting infusions while they're fighting for these laws," she said. "When you think about the fact that these 39 state laws were fought for by sick women, it is quite something that these women and their families have paid the price for this," she said.

How to assess your own risk

Women who are at high risk for breast cancer (regardless of breast density) should have a yearly MRI in addition to a mammogram.

You can also talk to your doctor about additional screening methods like MRIs or ultrasounds.

"It's not a one-size-fits-all," Pushkin said. But for women with dense breasts, an annual mammogram should be the first step in getting screened — and probably not be the last.

• One of Ukraine's top tennis players, Marta Kostyuk, turned heads with her outfit at Wimbledon 2024.
• Kostyuk wore a sporty white version of her wedding gown on the court to play three games this week.
• Both were designed by Wilson, and the $298 tennis version has a V-neck and a sheer overlay.

A Ukrainian tennis star turned heads at Wimbledon for taking on the competition in a sporty version of her wedding dress.

Marta Kostyuk, 22, beat two challengers and suffered one loss wearing Wilson's $298 "Marta Dress." The garment is inspired by the gown crafted for Kostyuk's November 2023 wedding by Joelle Michaeloff, the brand's vice president of design.

Kostyuk wore the court-suitable homage to her bridal look for the first time at Wimbledon 2024 on Monday when she beat Slovakia's Rebecca Šramková. On Thursday, she defeated Australia's Daria Saville and wore the same look Friday, when America's Madison Keys put an end to her winning streak.

In a YouTube clip posted by Wilson on July 1, Kostyuk said both her wedding gown and her tennis dresses were designed to be "light, comfortable, free, feminine" and "beautiful."

Just like Kostyuk's wedding dress, which she wore to tie the knot with her now-husband George Kyzymenko, the tennis dress is sleeveless and semi-backless, with a sloping V-neck and a sheer outer layer.

"I want people to see this dress and think, 'Wow, I could actually get married in this dress that she's playing in,'" Kostyuk said.

Kostyuk told Vogue earlier this week that enlisting Michaeloff as her wedding dress designer was a spur-of-the-moment decision.

Michaeloff, who worked for Lululemon before joining iconic tennis brand Wilson in 2020, came up with 12 designs before they landed on a final version: a silk organza dress covered by a removable sheer piece with floral appliques that Kostyuk would take off for the after-party, according to Vogue.

"I wanted it to be easy and really functional," Michaeloff told Vogue, describing the gown, made out of ever-so-shimmery Italian fabric, as one of the "most technical wedding dresses ever made."

"It has a built-in shelf prop, much like our tennis dresses," she said. "It really hugged and fit her like something she could go and play a match in."

She isn't the only female player playing at Wimbledon in style.

US tennis star Coco Gauff wore a crisp white dress with cut-outs across the waist that some suspect was inspired by a look Serena Williams wore to Wimbledon in 2019, while Naomi Osaka took to the court on July 1 in an asymmetrical ruffled two-piece set designed by Nike.

Representatives for Kostyuk and Wilson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.

• Robert Hur described Joe Biden as a "well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory" in his DOJ report.
• Biden blocked the release of audio of his five-hour interview with Hur, claiming executive privilege.
• If he wants to counter Hur's claim and prove himself, he should release the tapes.

President Joe Biden is in a political crisis. He is losing the 2024 presidential race, with former President Donald Trump regularly trouncing him in polls of swing states.

Many of Biden's problems stem from the perception that he has, to some degree or another, lost his marbles. Biden is 81 years old and, if he completes another term, would be 86 by the end of his presidency.

There is a move he can take to help turn the tides: Release the Hur tapes.

Until last week's presidential debate — which Biden hopes to counter with a live ABC News interview Friday night — the biggest blow against Biden came from Robert Hur, a special counsel appointed by his own Justice Department.

Hur interviewed him for five hours in October, across two days, for his investigation into Biden holding onto classified documents from his time as vice president.

Hur, in an investigative report concluding that he would not bring any criminal charges, explained that jurors may not be willing to convict the president.

"At trial, Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory," Hur wrote in his report. "Based on our direct interactions with and observations of him, he is someone for whom many jurors will want to identify reasonable doubt."

In later testimony before Congress, Hur said Biden "himself put his memory squarely at issue." Biden appeared to forget the date that his son Beau Biden died and mixed up the dates of his own vice presidency, according to a transcript of the interview that was made public.

"What I wrote is what I believe the evidence shows, and what I expect jurors would perceive and believe," Hur said in his congressional testimony. "I did not sanitize my explanation. Nor did I disparage the president unfairly."

Biden reacted angrily to the report, insisting in a White House press conference that his "memory is fine." His White House lawyers also wrote letters objecting to the language, writing Hur characterized Biden's memory "in sweeping, quasi-medical terms."

"This is the very definition of a derogatory comment that violates DOJ policy: unsupported personal opinion criticism on uncharged conduct that is outside the Special Counsel's expertise and remit," the lawyers wrote.

There is a very easy way to resolve this debate: Release the audio recording of the interview and let the American people decide for themselves.

In an interview with law enforcement, did Biden appear old and addled? Or, as his lawyers argued, was he lucid with a few understandable lapses for someone trying to recall years-old events?

Biden could prove himself — if he really believes Hur is wrong

Biden himself is holding up the release of the audio, according to White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who told journalists in May that the president asserted executive privilege to keep the recording private at the request of US Attorney General Merrick Garland. (The Justice Department said in a court filing that it made an audio record of the interview, recorded across several files, but not video.)

The fight over the audio has sometimes been cast as a partisan battle. Republicans in the US House of Representatives held Garland in contempt of Congress for refusing a subpoena to hand over the audio, along with other records from Hur's investigation. This month, they filed a lawsuit asking a federal court in Washington, DC, to order the Justice Department to release the material. Judicial Watch, a conservative government watchdog organization, has also sued to obtain the tapes.

A coalition of media organizations — including Business Insider — filed a lawsuit against the Justice Department as well. The department has refused to fulfill Freedom of Information Act requests seeking the interview recordings.

In court, the Justice Department has raised a few defenses. The interview recordings are protected by executive privilege, DOJ lawyers say. Releasing the recordings can have a chilling effect on potential cooperators in other investigations, where people may not be willing to talk to DOJ lawyers out of fear that the recordings could be publicly disseminated, they argue. The audio of Biden's interview could be manipulated by deepfakes in a politically volatile moment, they say.

Biden could short-circuit those concerns by waiving privilege or ordering Garland to publish the audio. The taxpayer-funded interview with a taxpayer-funded subject of the most important public official in the country is clearly something the public should see.

Neither White House representatives nor Bob Bauer, Biden's lawyer representing him in the Hur investigation, responded to Business Insider's requests for comment.

The notion that Biden has any sort of privacy interest in the audio — particularly when the transcript is already public — does not make any sense.

There is "colossal public interest" in the audio, as Charles Tobin, an attorney at Ballard Spahr representing the press coalition, wrote in a court filing.

Hur invoked Biden's mannerisms in his report, referring to his "pauses, hesitations, mannerisms, and intonations" to describe the president as having "diminished faculties in advancing age, and his sympathetic demeanor." It's the audio recording that can help Americans see that for themselves as they evaluate Hur's recording.

"The health of our democracy relies on transparency into and trust in our government," Tobin wrote. "That trust in the Special Counsel's weighty decision is best served through public review of the Recording on which the head prosecutor expressly relied."

• Sasha Gaston is a 28-year-old living in a Tampa apartment complex
• She has become "really close" with her 80-year-old neighbor, Charlette, who has no family.
• For Charlette's 80th birthday, Sasha took Charlette to a casino to celebrate.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Sasha Gaston. It has been edited for length and clarity.

Soon after I moved into my Tampa apartment in 2018, I had water coming in through my bedroom window. When I went outside to see what was going on, I found an older woman cleaning off windowsills. It was the first time I met Charlette. She told me she often did little jobs around the apartment complex because the management doesn't do enough.

The next day, she invited me to her house and gave me a cup of ice before pouring tea into it. We sat at her kitchen table and talked for ages. I knew right away she was a wise, welcoming woman. I wanted to be around her more.

We started talking on the phone every day and hanging out

By 2019, I was talking to Charlette on the phone every day, visiting her apartment to drink tea, talk, and watch the news. I took her to the grocery store and on Target runs. We were getting closer and becoming good friends.

She's taught me so many basic tasks, like how to clean an air filter, do chores around the house, and clean and wax a car. She doesn't let her age define her and is always on the go. If either of us ever needs help, we do whatever we can to help.

As we got to know and trust each other more, she started sharing about her family. Her parents didn't raise her, and all her siblings have died. She has one cousin she rarely sees. Most of her friends live in the north, where she used to live.

Although she doesn't have a blood family anymore, we have become each other's family. When I gave birth to my daughter, our family grew.

My daughter was born in 2023, and Charlette loves when I bring her to visit. She has taken on a grandmother role.

She doesn't have kids, so I celebrated her birthday

Charlette has told me she chose not to have kids because she didn't think she'd be a good mom due to the fact that her own mother didn't raise her. But I always tell her she would have been a perfect mom, as evidenced by how she treats me and my daughter.

My daughter's dad joked with me that I'm obsessed with Charlette. When I told Charlette, we laughed about it, saying he was just jealous because I was always at her house.

Since knowing Charlette, I've always taken cupcakes and sang "Happy Birthday" to her on her special day. But in April, she turned 80 and I wanted to make a big deal of it.

She'd told me that when she was married to her second husband, she would go to Vegas to have a fun time gambling. So, for her 80th birthday, I proposed taking her to a local casino. She said she'd go and had her outfit picked out the day before our date.

We had dinner and drinks at the casino's restaurant and then played on the slot machines.

She loved it, and said it brought back great memories of Vegas. The next day, she wrote me a card with a long message telling me how much she appreciated me taking her out. She went on to talk about it for weeks.

I posted a video on TikTok about her 80th birthday, not thinking much of it. When I woke up, I found that so many people had liked and commented. I think people just loved seeing an older person being remembered because they are so often forgotten.

Even after hours of sitting in her apartment, Charlette doesn't want me to leave. She loves the company. She makes sure to tell me to call her the next day. I love being able to cure her loneliness.

But my friendship with Charlette has been so good for me too. Her wisdom has been such a help to me over the years. She's taught me practical stuff but been someone I can get advice from too. I can genuinely call her my friend, even though she is decades older than I am.

• A growing list of wealthy Democrats are using their checkbooks to pressure Biden to drop out.
• Others, such as Netflix cofounder Reed Hastings, simply no longer support Biden.
• The donor uprising adds further obstacles to Biden hanging on after his disastrous debate performance.

Some of the Democratic Party's biggest donors are pressuring President Joe Biden to step aside.

Some on this growing list of Hollywood titans, powerful heirs, and staunch Democratic Party supporters are pledging to cut off their support until Biden drops out.

Others are so angry about the president's standing after his disastrous debate performance that they have vowed to cut off all Democrats.

So far, only two congressional Democrats have called on Biden to drop out. The combined weight of the party's monied class could prove too much to bear.

Already, former President Donald Trump has erased Biden's cash advantage after a flood of donations spurred by Trump's felony conviction. Biden and his allies simply can't afford to lose much other ground.

Here's the list of donors who are calling for Biden to step aside

• Drake and Kendrick Lamar have exchanged nine diss tracks since "Like That" dropped in March.
• Hip-hop writers and critics favor Lamar in the feud, praising his songs as more persuasive.
• Most recently, Lamar released a music video for "Not Like Us" that seemed to cement his victory.

Drake and Kendrick Lamar were once considered collaborators, perhaps even friends.

Both rappers lent features to the other's 2011 albums ("Take Care" and "good kid, m.A.A.d city," respectively) and even teamed up with A$AP Rocky for the 2012 hit "F**kin' Problems."

Over the years, however, Drake and Lamar came to represent very different versions of hip-hop greatness: the former is a commercial juggernaut, racking up No. 1 albums and breaking chart records set by The Beatles, while the latter is a Grammy darling and acclaimed lyricist who's won a Pulitzer Prize.

Today, their separation is more apparent than ever: Drake and Lamar have become all-out foes.

In March, the Compton rapper used one simple line to reheat their long-simmering beef: "Motherfuck the big three, it's just big me."

The avowal appeared in Lamar's guest verse for "Like That," the sixth track on Future and Metro Boomin's collaborative album "We Don't Trust You."

When the album was released, attentive rap fans noted Lamar's sneaky reference to J. Cole's guest verse in the 2023 Drake hit "First Person Shooter."

"Love when they argue the hardest MC / Is it K-Dot? Is it Aubrey? Or me? / We the big three like we started a league," Cole rapped, referencing Lamar's nickname "K-Dot" and Drake's birth name, Aubrey Graham.

While Cole backed down from the challenge, Drake did not. He released a pair of diss tracks aimed at Lamar, "Push Ups" and "Taylor Made Freestyle."

In the former, Drake mocks Lamar's height with a reference to his latest Grammy-winning album, "Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers." ("How the fuck you big steppin' with a size-seven men's on?") The latter track opens with AI-generated advice from Tupac Shakur, whom Lamar has frequently been compared to. This strategy backfired, drawing criticism and legal threats from Shakur's estate; Drake removed the song from his social media.

Lamar finally responded after 11 days of silence, dropping an explicitly anti-Drake diss called "Euphoria."

The song contains layered insults about his rival's roots ("I'd rather do that than let a Canadian n**** make Pac turn in his grave"), Drake's track record as a dad ("I got a son to raise, but I can see you don't know nothin' 'bout that"), and long-stewing plastic surgery rumors ("Tell 'em where you get your abs from").

Even the title is likely a reference to Drake's role as executive producer on HBO's "Euphoria," a show that's been criticized for objectifying and sexualizing young girls. (None of the actors depicted having sex are actually teenagers.)

The drama didn't stop there. Less than 72 hours later, Lamar released "6:16 in LA," which sparked another response from Drake ("Family Matters"), which provoked two more jabs from Lamar ("Meet the Grahams" and "Not Like Us"), which finally led Drake to address criticism head-on ("The Heart Part 6").

As of writing, the rappers have exchanged a total of nine diss tracks (including "Like That") in a matter of weeks. It's the latest in a long, storied history of rap feuds, but even so, there's a lot to unpack here.

We broke down the key takeaways from hip-hop writers and culture critics.

After 'Euphoria,' critics said Lamar took round one

The unbridled energy of "Euphoria" has been widely praised by critics, even though Lamar's rebuttal came later than fans expected.

"Drake's 'Push Ups' and 'Taylor Made Freestyle' were solid efforts, but for my money, they didn't hit as hard as the 'Like That' verse or 'Euphoria,'" Angel Diaz wrote for Billboard. "This response was well worth the wait."

Similarly, music journalist Sowmya Krishnamurthy commended Lamar's patience, writing on Medium, "There's a reason that he's known as hip-hop's reigning boogeyman."

"What's so great about 'Euphoria' is that it's six minutes and 24 seconds of rapping. Straight bars," Krishnamurthy wrote, comparing Lamar's "vicious" lyrical skill to Drake's "penchant for social media trolling and gimmicks."

"This is a rap battle," Krishnamurthy added. "The victor needs to showcase actual skill, wit, wordplay, and flow in order to take it."

In a track review for Pitchfork, Alphonse Pierre argued that Lamar's humor and passionate delivery help to sell the song — despite its underwhelming production and its lack of a "knockout blow."

"He sounds like he's been waiting years for this moment. 'I hate the way that you walk, the way that you talk / I hate the way that you dress,' he raps; cliché, but it works because he sounds like he really means it," Pierre wrote.

Lamar declared, 'I'm the biggest hater,' and people are loving it

Drake is no stranger to diss tracks. Back in 2018, he was eviscerated by Pusha T's "The Story of Adidon," which Pierre said "set the bar for all future Drake teardowns."

Pusha T promoted the release with an old photo of Drake in blackface. In the song, he revealed that Drake had quietly fathered a child with an adult film star.

By contrast, "Euphoria" isn't especially specific or revelatory. Instead, what delighted critics is the sheer level of contempt that Lamar has been harboring for the Canadian chart-topper.

"This ain't been about critics, not about gimmicks, not about who the greatest / It's always been about love and hate, now let me say I'm the biggest hater," Lamar raps.

The lyric is probably a reference to a Breakfast Club interview with DMX in 2012 in which the rapper declared, "I don't like anything about Drake. I don't like his fucking voice. I don't like the shit he talks about. I don't like his face. I don't like the way he walks, nothing."

Pop culture writer Hunter Harris applauded Lamar's catty "war cry" in her newsletter "Hung Up," noting, "The meanest thing you can possibly do is to hate someone just because."

Zoe Guy echoed this sentiment in an article for Vulture, saluting Lamar for his "blatant honesty."

"We can only hope Lamar never relinquishes the hate in his heart, because we could go for another fiery verse or two," Guy wrote.

Music journalist Andre Gee agreed, contending that Lamar didn't need a big reveal or accusation for the song to land — he only needed to be energized by his own personal disdain.

"Some diss songs make listeners perceive an artist differently, but other disses say things people are already thinking in ways that they can't convey," Gee wrote for Rolling Stone. "The Cardo and Kyuro-produced 'Euphoria' is the latter. Kendrick doesn't say many new things, but the way he lobs his insults makes it a haymaker."

Social media users also put Lamar in the lead

Producer and DJ Marseel said on X that Drake "lost the culture" after the "Euphoria" drop, while culture critic Shamira Ibrahim wrote, "I'm actually shook at how disgusted Kendrick is with Drake."

The rapper and singer Tiger Goods celebrated Lamar's Gemini spirit, writing, "Real haters are detailed."

"Drake is responding because he has to," wrote Todd in the Shadows, a popular YouTube music reviewer. "Kendrick is doing this because he actively dislikes Drake."

Plenty of others noted Lamar's solo writing credit for "Euphoria," compared to three writing credits for Drake's "Push Ups," citing this as evidence of Lamar's superiority. (Drake has long been accused of using ghostwriters for his hits, a claim that Lamar has now repeated.)

"Kendrick absolutely ethered Drake," culture critic Ira Madison III wrote on X. "But as the male Taylor Swift, he is Teflon. His career will be just fine even if people hate him."

Critics praised Drake's rapping on 'Family Matters,' but Lamar's quick comeback gave him the upper hand again

Three days after Lamar released "Euphoria," Drake hit back with "Family Matters," a seven-minute song paired with a music video.

Drake begins the song with a disclaimer: "I was really, really tryna keep it PG." Then he goes after Lamar's family, accusing his opponent of infidelity and abuse: "They hired a crisis management team / To clean up the fact that you beat on your queen." (Lamar seemed to admit to having affairs in his latest album, "Mr. Morale," but as of writing, the domestic violence allegations are unsubstantiated.)

Drake also claims that one of Lamar's children with his fiancée, Whitney Alford, was actually fathered by Lamar's manager, Dave Free.

Journalists called the song "eviscerating" and "really real." Several opined that Drake rose to Lamar's challenge and delivered an impressive performance.

"In a vacuum, this song would be one of the strongest diss records of all time," David Dennis Jr. wrote for Andscape. "'Family Matters' is some of the best rapping Drake's done in his career. He knew he was up against the premier lyricist of our era, and he stepped up tremendously."

However, Drake's triumph was short-lived. Mere minutes later, Lamar countered with "Meet the Grahams," an open letter to members of Drake's family.

Throughout the song, Lamar addresses Drake's 6-year-old son ("Dear Adonis, I'm sorry that man is your father"), his mom ("Sandra, sit down, what I'm about to say is heavy, now listen / Your son's a sick man with sick thoughts"), his dad ("You raised a horrible fucking person, the nerve of you, Dennis"), and a mysterious 11-year-old daughter that he alleges Drake is hiding. (Drake denied this final point via Instagram.)

The brutal tone of the track, paired with the speed of its delivery, quickly returned the edge to Lamar.

As Charles Holmes wrote for The Ringer, "The quality of the most recent diss tracks became irrelevant the minute Kendrick outmaneuvered Drake by releasing 'Meet the Grahams' about an hour after 'Family Matters' dropped."

The next morning, Lamar stayed on the offensive with "Not Like Us," in which he explicitly accuses Drake of pedophilia and harboring sex offenders in his OVO camp. (Back in 2010, Drake did kiss a teenager onstage during a concert. He has also been criticized for questionable relationships with minors, including Billie Eilish and Bella Harris, though he has never faced official accusations of sexual misconduct.)

During a live-streamed reaction, music reviewer Anthony Fantano described the one-two punch as a "terminal case" for Drake.

"Drake could throw in the towel. It's starting to look like that might need to happen," Fantano said, adding, "This is pretty devastating."

Indeed, writers and editors at The Ringer have since crowned "Not Like Us" the seventh-greatest diss track in history.

"A fire can melt snow, but it's got no chance against an avalanche. That's effectively what it felt like watching 'Family Matters' go up against this Kendrick onslaught," Justin Sayles wrote. "This thing is over. Kendrick's legacy is secure. The only question now is what happens to Drake's."

Drake shot back with 'The Heart Part 6,' but it didn't sway public opinion in his favor

On Sunday night, Drake released another diss track, named after Lamar's Grammy-winning single "The Heart Part 5."

Drake uses the song to address Lamar's accusations of pedophilia, explicitly denying any inappropriate behavior. He even name-drops "Stranger Things" actor Millie Bobby Brown, whom Drake befriended when she was 14 years old, though Lamar has never mentioned her.

"Just for clarity, I feel disgusted, I'm too respected / If I was fucking young girls, I promise I'd have been arrested," Drake raps. "I'm way too famous for this shit you just suggested."

The Toronto native also claims that his own team leaked false rumors of a secret daughter to bait Lamar: "We plotted for a week and then we fed you the information," he raps. "You gotta learn to fact-check things and be less impatient."

In the spoken-word outro, Drake calls Lamar a liar and implies that he's done with their back-and-forth.

However, spectators online don't seem impressed with Drake's defensive maneuver. Some have compared "The Heart Part 6" to a scene from "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," in which a character says, "There is no quicker way for people to think that you are 'diddling kids' than by writing a song about it."

Many also noted that Drake's core argument — that he's "too famous" to get away with criminal behavior — contradicts well-documented evidence that fame and wealth can help people evade consequences.

"Drake's argument against the pedophilia allegations is 'if I was really fucking young girls I promise I'd have been arrested' UHHH WHAT??? Rich famous men don't get away with such crimes everyday???" lawyer and political commentator Olayemi Olurin wrote on X.

Critics broadly agreed that "The Heart Part 6" did not improve Drake's image.

Pitchfork contributor Evan Rytlewski wrote on X, "This is one of the worst songs I've ever heard, extremely ugly shit." Krishnamurthy opined that Drake's "credibility and integrity need work," whether or not Lamar's accusations are true.

"He sounds beaten-down and cold, spending nearly six minutes calling Kendrick a bad investigative journalist, attempting to mock the molestation story in Kendrick's 'Mother I Sober,' and disputing claims that he's had relationships with underage girls in the worst way possible," Pierre wrote for Pitchfork. "It's a miserable song. He sounds washed and exiled."

But even as critics declare Lamar as the victor, several have called for the cutthroat exchange to end here — especially given the dark accusations of misogyny and depravity that have been thrown in both directions.

"Drake and Kendrick don't have the politics to be doing all this," Holmes wrote. "As with most hip-hop beefs, we've ended up where we were always destined to — men using women, wives, baby mothers, parents, and children in increasingly gross and depraved ways to satisfy their rabid egos."

Lamar seemed to cement his victory with a Juneteenth concert and a music video for 'Not Like Us'

"Not Like Us" debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, while "Family Matters" debuted at No. 7 — a devastating blow to Drake, whose biggest leg up on Lamar was thought to be his commercial appeal.

Lamar flexed the popularity of his diss tracks during a one-night-only Juneteenth concert in Inglewood, California, dubbed "The Pop Out: Ken and Friends," which he opened with "Euphoria."

To close the show, Lamar performed "Not Like Us" five times in a row — six including an instrumental-only version. He was joined onstage by a huge array of guests, including West Coast rappers, athletes, and dancers. "This is unity at its finest," Lamar told the crowd.

The event was widely celebrated as Lamar's victory lap, cementing his support from both fans and members of the hip-hop community. According to NBC News, "SIX TIMES" began trending on X shortly after the concert ended.

"It was hard to overlook the fact that the thing unifying the coast in this moment was not love but hate, and Kendrick, the self-proclaimed biggest Drake hater, was primarily operating in his capacity as speaker for the culture in his personal war with the Toronto high roller," Sheldon Pearce wrote for NPR. "If the matter wasn't settled before, then it certainly is now."

But Lamar wasn't finished there. On July 4, he released an official music video for "Not Like Us," codirected by Lamar and Free, which is packed with unsubtle references to Drake and their feud.

In one scene, Lamar repeatedly whacks an owl-shaped piñata while a disclaimer flashes across the screen: "NO OVHOES WERE HARMED DURING THE MAKING OF THIS VIDEO." Of course, the logo for Drake's brand, October's Very Own, is an owl.

The video ends with Lamar leaving an owl trapped in a birdcage.

The visual also serves as an indirect rebuttal to Drake's claims about Lamar's home life. Lamar's fiancée and their two children make a rare appearance, dancing along to "Not Like Us" and standing together as a family, both literally and symbolically.

Once again, the video was treated as a "victory lap" in headlines and on social media. It has also been described as "triumphal" (Pitchfork), "celebratory" (Complex), "the most anticipated video of the year" (Billboard), and "the cap on Lamar's definitive victory over Drake" (The Hollywood Reporter).