I don't think that's the case for Kendrick. IMO he's always been fairly versatile but now he has hit that point where he knows exactly when and where to go super lyrical and when to keep it simple. GNX feels like he's actually getting better with time to me because of that.
But with all that said, with where both of them are currently, I can't see either one absolutely destroying the other on the same track unlike Black Friday from years ago
I think Kendrick just found new pockets honestly. He’s always had a nice flow but now he’s added more west coast into his flow and he’s doing less of the robot shyt he’d do At the end of his songs with the multiple alien voices
I think his rhyme schemes were better back then too. Still a dope artist, I just see more complexity in Cole’s writing than Kendrick’s these days
Kendrick is reaching that point where he doesn’t have to go super hard and still sound nice.. similar to how it’s arguable that Hov rapped more complex at the start of his career then dumbed it down… I’d say Kendrick is somewhat similar… while Cole is steady trying to push how complex he can go from how fast he can rap or how many syllables he can rhyme.. kinda like what Eminem did