He talked to them after the fact, most of them.. He started calling himself King in 2002. It's not like he was calling 3 stacks and saying "Hey I'm a new rapper with an average album that flopped, Is it okay to call myself King?"
The point was that, the whole "king spirit" and whatever the fukk, has become or perhaps has always been irrelevant. The only thing it sparks is conversation, that was what it did with T.I. It was a controversial statement, but only fans gave a fukk.
And as I mentioned in this case it's even worse, cause Kendrick is not a street dude. Non-street dudes beefing are never taken seriously, they are just entertaining. I mentioned Tips statements cause he claimed king over mad states, like 140 million people. States he is not from. Claiming king of south means that he's king of Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Tennessee and on. All completely different states in every single way except belong to the confederate states and generally being republican.