Young Thug Praises Drake Over Kendrick Lamar, Lil Baby Over Gunna

Young Thug is drawing his allegiances in the sand as he readies his comeback album from prison ... Drake and Lil Baby are cool and Kendrick Lamar and Gunna are NOT.

Thug recently sat with GQ to chat about a handful of topics and while discussing Atlanta's Hip Hop pedigree over the years, Thug gave props to Future, 21 Savage, Lil Baby, Migos, T.I., André 3000, Gucci Mane -- in addition to himself -- as the musical leaders of the city.

Kendrick Lamar chided Drake on his blockbuster diss anthem "Not Like Us" for heavily collaborating with most of those guys, including Thug, but the Young Stoner Life boss says he is confused about it all and gave K. Dot no credit -- he doubled down as a Drake fan!!!

Lil Baby also didn't take kindly to Kendrick's "Not Like Us" shout-out and he and Thug are apparently in great alignment -- because Thug still hasn't welcomed Gunna back into the fold either.

When GQ asked Thug the current status of his relationship with Gunna, the interviewer was met with a flat "I don't know" before the topic fizzled altogether.

Thug also echoed many of Joe Budden's recent gripes and blasted the current state of rap music ... too many artists rapping about the same things and too many low-budget videos -- thanks to directors who got too comfortable making trash visuals!!!

DJ Vlad and 600 Breezy feel Gunna is doing better without the Young Thug association and think the beef has been overblown, considering music industry friendships typically aren't tangible.