A small feud that started almost 10 years ago that wasn’t expected to lead to anything has recently blown into full force. And at the center is Drake, this time up against Kendrick Lamar.
Drake and Lamar began their partnership when Drake was featured on Lamar’s “Take Care” album in Nov. 2011.
There seemed to be no tension when Drake invited Lamar to open for him along with A$AP Rocky in Feb. 2012 for his Club Paradise tour, and they even collaborated on several songs.
In August 2013, Lamar was featured in Big Sean’s song “Control” where he called out several rappers including Drake, J. Cole, Meek Mill, Big K.R.I.T. Wale, Pusha T, ASAP Rocky, Tyler, the Creator, Mac Miller, Big Sean and Jay Electronica.
Drake responded to this during an interview with Billboard when he said that he wasn’t threatened by Lamar and didn’t really have anything to say to it.
At the 2013 BET Hip-Hop award cypher, Lamar came at Drake for the second time.
Once again, this didn’t really lead to anything besides a few bars in a couple of their songs throughout 2015-2016. Some songs included Lamar’s “King Kunta” and some on Dr. Dre’s Compton album in songs “Darkside / Gone” and “Deep Water” then, Drake’s “100.”
Then on Oct. 6 2023 Drake and J Cole dropped “First Person Shooter.” On this song, J Cole reignited the drama with what he called “The Big Three”.
“Is it K-Dot? Is it Aubrey? Or me?” K-Dot referencing Lamar and Aubrey referencing Drake, as that’s his birth name.
Lamar was quiet for a few months until March 22 2024 when he dropped “Like That.” In this song he dismissed “The Big Three” saying it was just him.
Drake released “Push ups” less than a month later on April 19 when he mocked Kendrick for his small figure, mainly his shoe size. The featured picture for the album was a shoe size chart with the US size seven.
Just a few days later on April 24, Drake used AI vocals of Tupac and Snoop Dogg and expressed his disappointment that Lamar has not responded yet.
He called this “Taylor Made Freestyle” and on it he said that the release of Taylor Swift’s new album “The Tortured Poets Department” was the reason Lamar had pushed back his retort and that he was scared to release something in the same month as her.
Later, it was taken off every platform after Tupac’s estate threatened to sue him.
Lamar released “Euphoria” a week later on April 30. In this song he had called Drake “predictable,” a “master manipulator” and a “habitual liar.”
Lamar’s second diss was “6:16 at LA” and this time he claimed that Drake has a mole in the OVO and that people close to him were going to betray him.
The OVO is Drake’s sound record label that he founded with his close friend Noah “40” Shebib and Oliver El-khatib.
Only a few hours after “6:16 at LA” was released, Drake released his next diss called “Family Matters.”
Drake used this song to go after Lamar’s fiancée, Whitney Alford, saying that Lamar abused her and even claimed that his son, Enoch, wasn’t his. He said that Alford cheated with director Dave Free and he was the father.
The major turning point of this feud was when Lamar dropped “Meet The Grahams” at midnight that night.
Drake’s birth name is Aubrey Graham and this song is written like a letter to each member of his family. In each verse he talks to one member of Drake’s family, starting with his son Adonis, who he apologizes to for having a “deadbeat father.”
The second verse is written to his parents, saying that they raised a horrible son. He accused Drake of being a gambler, an addict and a predator.
In the third verse, Lamar addresses Drake’s “baby girl.”
Before this, there was no evidence that Drake had another child — and it still hasn’t been confirmed — however, Lamar goes on to apologize to this girl about how Drake abandoned her and that he’s a “narcissist” and “misogynist.”
The final verse in “Meet the Grahams” is addressed to Drake.
The next day, on May 4, Lamar released “Not Like Us.”
In other songs, Lamar had alluded to it, but it wasn’t until this song that he outright calls Drake and staff at the OVO pedophiles.
On May 6, Drake came back with “The Heart pt 6,” a reference to Lamars song he dropped in 2022 “The Heart pt 5.”
In this song, Drake denied all the allegations Lamar accused him of in “Meet The Grahams.”
Drake also repeated the allegations he had mentioned in “Family Matters.”.
While no more songs have been released yet, this feud is far from over.
They’re set to battle it out during the 2024 BET Awards in June with both of them being nominated for best collaboration and best male hip hop artist.
