Kendrick Lamar and Drake are two of the most famous artists in the rap and hip-hop genre; however, recent events have pitted these two against each other. These two have been feuding for a while, yet people did not pick up on the hints. It only took people up until recently to figure out that the artists were not on the same side anymore.
This is shocking because Kendrick Lamar signed to the same label as Drake. When the two artists first started, they got along well, doing many songs together. However, it looks like in between those years, the artists have gone their separate ways. In May, the two decided to air their beef to the public. They released songs mainly on YouTube, and people could hear and discuss the battle. Here is a timeline of the most recent events starting back in October 2023.
First Person Shooter
On Drake’s album “For All The Dogs,” released in October, a song all the rest to Lamar. J.Cole and Drake created a song called “First Person Shooter.” J. Cole’s line sticks out in this song: “Love to argue the hardest MC/ Is it K-Dot? Is it Aubrey? Or Me?” This line stuck out to Lamar because he believed that only he was on top. They argue how they are the “big three.” He addresses this in the next song.
Like That
After a while, neither side released anything until Metro Boomin and Future released a new album called “We Don’t Trust You.” This album was unexpected; people did not expect much from this duo. However, Kendrick makes a surprise feature when listening to the song “Like That” in the second verse.
People were shocked to hear Kendrick appear on the album because he typically does not do features anymore. He has not released any new music since his last album, “Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers.” It was even more shocking to hear what Lamar had to say on the track. A few of the lines call out Drake, more specifically, calling out the big three saying, “Motherfuck the big three, nigga, it’s just big me.”
Kendrick is saying there is no big three; there is only him. The other two artists do not compare or even on the same level as Lamar. This statement struck people because all three artists are well-loved; however, people quickly saw what Lamar was talking about.
Push Ups
After “Like That,” Drake released an unreleased song, “Push Ups.” It was leaked on YouTube first. It caught people’s attention as it has not yet been released on streaming platforms. This got people talking about the beef between the two artists.
Drake left no room for speculation as he directly called out Kendrick and other people in the music industry, like SZA and Travis Scott. The song is called Push Ups because, in the chorus, Drake says, “Drop and give me fifty, drop and give me fifty.” Referring back to Kendrick has to give 50% of his earnings to his old label because that is what he signed up for.
7 Minute Drill
J. Cole responds to Kendrick in an album called “Might Delete Later.” His last song on the album is “7 Minute Drill.” In this song, J. Cole says a few things, like how Kendrick’s album “To Pimp A Butterfly” was not even good; however, it is highly well-liked by people and has won multiple awards and Grammy’s. So, J. Cole saying it is not good is a big understatement, and people agreed.
Later on, J. Cole apologized for this song and, proved it, removes it from streaming platforms. It looks like J. Cole took the smart way out and decided to stay out of the feud, as from here on out, it starts to get dirty.
Euphoria
This was the first song to start the battle between the two artists in a weekend-long feud. “Euphoria” was the song that really got people talking and dissecting the lyrics word by word.
The original song was supposed to be 19 minutes; however, it was cut down to the finished product of 6 minutes. In this song, Kendrick gets everything he has to say about Drake. The lyrics were analyzed line by line. Kendrick noted how Drake got plastic surgery for his abs and is a being too Black, which is just a bit of what he says.
Lastly, Kendrick pokes fun at Drake for being Canadian by mocking his accent, saying “Crodie” and “There’s no accent you can sell me.” There is more to analyze in this song, which shows how Kendrick put time and effort into his songs. People’s reactions were jaw-dropping because they were sure they knew Drake and who he was; however, it seemed they did not.
6:16 in LA
Released on Kendrick’s Instagram, “6:16 in LA” was the first song released to start the beef on the weekend of May 3rd. The first look at the album cover showed that there was more going on than the public knew.
“6:16 in LA” was produced by Jack Antonoff, a famous producer and singer. His most notable work is that of other artists like Lana Del Rey, Lorde, and Taylor Swift. This information is crucial because it means that this song was made by Taylor Swift’s producers. Kendrick is poking at one of Drake’s unreleased songs, “Taylor Made Freestyle.” This is only the tip of the iceberg on this song and feud.
Family Matters
Drake’s comeback happened later that same Friday as Kendricks’s song “6:16 in LA.” This song addresses a lot towards Kendrick. He is accused of hitting his wife, being separated from her, and Kendrick’s kids are not his and instead it is his manager, Dave Free. Of course, This is all speculation, and none of it has been proven true.
In Drake’s lyric video for the song, the background is a van being crushed, which refers to one of Kendrick’s albums, “Good kid m.A.A.d city.” The album has a van as the cover, and Drake crushing the car represents Drake crushing Kendrick in this beef.
In this song, he talks to Kendrick and Metro again, saying how everyone is against him. The reactions from people were fueled by the back-and-forth between the two artists. People were thrilled that Drake released this new song quickly after “Euphoria;” however, Kendrick was already ten steps ahead of Drake.
Meet The Grahams
“Meet the Grahams” changed the game in this battle. The song was released in the 30 minutes that Drake put out “Family Matters.” This song is one of the quickest release tracks to date, which means Lamar already had this song prepared and knew that Drake would put out “Family Matters.” This further proves that Kendrick might have an insider in Drake’s life.
Returning to “6:16 in LA,” the cover for “Meet The Grahams” relates. The glove from earlier makes a return, as the glove is also seen here on the cover. Showing how Lamar already had a song prepared for Drake. The picture from the glove has only expanded, though, and there is more to the picture than we had seen before.
The song itself is deadly due to its instruments and lyrics. Off the bat, hearing the music gives off a scary and dangerous tone to the song. It makes you feel like you are in a horror film waiting for the monster to jumpscare you. Furthermore, the first lyrics of the song are “Dear, Adonis/ I’m sorry that that man is your father, let me be honest,” which sets the tone for the whole song, showing and proving to everyone how dark and dangerous Kendrick can be.
Kendrick saved one of his best diss songs for Drake and people to hear. It shows that you should not argue with someone who has won a Pulitzer Prize. Kendrick calls out Drake for being with minors, being too Black, and hiding a daughter. People were surprised by what Kendrick was saying. More importantly hiding a daughter.
Drake has a son, which he hid until another artist, Pusha T., made a diss on Drake in 2023 called “The Story of Adonis,” Adonis is the name of Drake’s kid. The internet has speculated on who the daughter might be, but Drake has denied that he has one.
Not Like Us
The next song, also by Kendrick Lamar, has a much different tone than “Meet the Grahams.” It is more upbeat and gives more of LA feel which makes sense due to Lamar being born in Compton.
“Not Like Us” continues to beat Drake over the head about allegations of being involved with minors. This song is a fan favorite out of all of the songs. Some iconic lines are “Certified Lover Boy? Certified pedophiles.” As well as “Tryna strike a chord and it’s probably A minor.” These lines have made it easy for people to be on board with Kendrick and his music.
Kendrick also calls out Drake’s involvement with minors, which people catch on to quickly. These lines made people see Drake differently, and at this point, it looks like Drake is severely losing the battle with two songs released back to back in one day unless he can come up with something quick so people can get back on his side.
The Heart Part 6.
This is the last song that was released over the long weekend. “The Heart Part. 6” comments on one of Kendrick’s other songs, “The Heart Part 5,” which also dissed Drake; however, it did not catch on.
The song did not get a good review from people. Drake did not do an excellent job of making a comeback as people hoped he would, as he did in “Family Matters.” It sounds like he went to the studio at the last minute and recorded the song. Some lyrics feel like he did not listen to Kendrick’s songs more closely. It was an overall disappointment for a majority of people to hear this song from Drake.
BBL Drizzy
Lastly, Metro Boomin decided to get on the fun last minute. He created a beat called BBL Drizzy, poking fun at Drake getting plastic surgery, as Kendrick mentioned in “Euphoria.” There is no singing, only a beat. Metro is a producer and does not sing. This is something that Drake called him out on in his song “Push Ups.” Telling him to go and “Make some drums.” Metro took this opportunity to clap back at Drake by making this beat, making fun of Drake.
The kicker of this beat was that Metro went online to allow people to create their lyrics for the song’s beat. Whoever had the best got to keep their lyrics on the song; this made tons of people write lyrics to the song’s beat, which again blew up. Currently, no one has one, but it is fun to see people have their take on the song.
Aftermath of the Two Artists
A few good things that came out of this battle were the released songs. Kendrick Lamar had not released any music since his last album in 2022, so this was a good refresher on his music. Tons of music came from both artists. Lots of speculations and discussions came from people. It helped people look forward to the next song as to when to drop.
Another is the many lyrical disses that both sides had on one another. People must analyze all the lyrics and figure out what each line means. Drake recently was featured in Sexy Red’s song, and Drake uses the BBL Drizzy beat. Kendrick, on the other hand, has been heard to have a new album dedicated to Drake, but nothing has been confirmed yet. Both sides look like they have more to say it is just a matter of time who says it first.
