Although the beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar blew up in the beginning of May, it has actually existed for over 10 years. In a feature on Big Sean’s song “Control,” Kendrick dissed Drake saying he’s “tryna make sure [his] core fans never heard of [him].” Fans began dissecting and rumored that Drake responded to this by subtly dissing Kendrick in his own tracks, such as “The Language” from 2013 and “6PM in New York” from 2015.
After multiple low-key jabs at one another, the drama escalated after J. Cole claimed himself, Drake and Kendrick to be “the big three” of rap in a feature on Drake’s song “First Person Shooter” Oct. 6, 2023.
Kendrick refuted Cole’s claim March 26 by saying “Motherf*** the big three, n****, it’s just big me” on “Like That.” The track also featured Future and was produced by Metro Boomin — which somewhat involved the two in the drama on Kendrick’s side. Cole responded 10 days later with his release of “7 Minute Drill,” essentially saying that he didn’t want the beef to go any further than harmless verses. At the Dreamville Festival only two days after releasing his diss, Cole removed it, apologized and promised to stay out of the drama even if his track incited a response.
After Cole’s shaky involvement and later removal from the feud, Drake inserted himself further with his release of “Push Ups” April 19. That same day, Drake followed up with the release of “Taylor Made Freestyle” to taunt Kendrick and his team to produce a response. The track used AI-generated vocals to sound like Tupac Shakur; however, Shakur’s estate threatened to take legal action if Drake did not delete his song, so he did. Coincidentally, Shakur was involved in a rap battle with the Notorious B.I.G. in the 90s. Their lives both ended because of unsolved assassinations supposedly stemming from their feud. Due to the parallel, fans have questioned and theorized if the battle between Drake and Kendrick could end in the same way.
In “Push Ups,” Drake dissed Kendrick for his size, lack of freedom, lack of financial control and random song features. He also took it as an opportunity to diss The Weeknd, Future, Rick Ross, Travis Scott and J. Cole — ultimately claiming himself to be far above them on every level.
Kendrick responded with “Euphoria” April 30, which spent two days at Number One on Spotify and iTunes charts. Kendrick made disses like, “I make music that electrify ‘em, you make music that pacify ‘em,” and “Yeah, my first one like my last one, it’s a classic, you don’t have one.” The track took many shots at Drake, but they were too surface level to be his heaviest hits.
Things became explosive May 3 after Kendrick fired another track at Drake, bringing out the big guns with his release of “6:16 in LA.” Kendrick used the track as an allusion to his annoyance with Drake and to make disses towards his career while simultaneously building up his own. He said, “It was fun until you started to put money in the streets / Then lost money ‘cause they came back with no receipts / I’m sorry that I live a boring life, I love peace / But war-ready if the world is ready to see you bleed.”
Later that day, Drake released “Family Matters” making disses about Kendrick being a domestic abuser. Within less than an hour, Kendrick released “Meet the Grahams,” with verses that spoke to Drake’s entire family. He accused Drake of having a secret kid, being a sexual predator and trafficker. On this track, Kendrick said to Drake’s son “I’m sorry that that man is your father, let me be honest / It takes a man to be a man, your dad is not responsive / I look at him and wish your grandpa woulda wore a condom.” He also said to Drake’s alleged secret daughter that he is “sorry that [her] father not active inside [her] world” and that Drake is “a narcissist, misogynist, livin’ inside his songs.”
Less than 24 hours after unleashing “Meet the Grahamas,” Kendrick went back-to-back by releasing “Not Like Us.” The track was extremely successful and broke Spotify’s record for most single-day streams only three days after its release. In the song, Kendrick extended his pedophile claims made in “Meet the Grahams.” He had many verses that went viral, the most famous one being “tryna strike a chord but it’s probably A-minor,” referring to Drake’s history with underage women. The line went so viral that it even became a TikTok trend.
The next day, Drake responded with “The Heart Part 6.” Throughout the track, he seemed to be tired of the whole situation and he bravely dodged the accusations Kendrick made of him. He said, “I’m way too famous for this sh*t you just suggested.” And although this is technically denying what Kendrick claimed of him, it has no viable line of defense to be persuasive. The main reason fans found his diss track faulty was his line “Only f***in’ with Whitneys, not Millie Bobby Browns,” because Kendrick never mentioned a name and Drake used to message Brown when she was 14 years old. He also fired back at Kendrick with claims about him, his family and his relationship with his wife, but the general consensus of the internet was that Drake’s response was weak and embarrassing.
But since the release of “The Heart Part 6,” the murky water between Kendrick Lamar and Drake has been very still. Fans, critics and other observers have argued that Kendrick’s lyrical strikes trumped Drake’s, essentially crowning him winner of the feud. However, it will remain a mystery, at least for a little while, as to who will have the most fame, who will be higher on the charts and who will hold the ultimate rapper title.
by ALEXANDRA BOSANO & NATALIE DEEBLE
