Hip-hop’s biggest have beef, and people are taking sides.
Kendrick & Drake have been in a lyrical battle in recent weeks that escalated over this past weekend. The two artists each released songs about the other, in one case with Lamar not even waiting a full hour before he dropped a track in response to one of Drake’s.
There is plenty we don’t know about why there is animosity between them, but we do know that there is history.
Back in 2011, Lamar appeared on Drake’s second album “Take Care” on “Buried Alive Interlude.” It was the same year Lamar released his debut studio album “Section.80.” The two men were both carving a place for themselves in the industry and They would go on to tour together and collaborate on the track “Poetic Justice” on Lamar’s sophomore studio album, “Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City.”
As one of hip-hop’s rising stars, Lamar leaned into his growing success with the swagger one would expect in the rap game during a guest appearance on Big Sean’s 2013 single, “Control.”
Multiple artists are name-checked in the song, including Drake.
The pair have continued to take shots at each other on tracks over the years, but this latest skirmish appears to have begun in October 2023, when rapper J. Cole collaborated with Drake on the song, “First Person Shooter.” On the track, Cole refers to himself, Lamar and Drake as the “Big three” in rap. Drake likened his own popularity in the game to the stardom of the late singer Michael Jackson.
Lamar seemingly took exception to the comparisons and hit back on a collaborative track with Future and Metro Boomin that caught fire in March 2024, titled “Like That.”
Lamar makes clear on the song that there is no “Big three” just “Big me.” He casts himself as Prince to Drake’s Jackson, noting that the former outlived the latter. “Like That” is a cut on the album “We Don’t Trust You,” which many believe is filled with disses aimed at Drake. The apparent jabs surprised some listeners as Drake and Future have been longtime collaborators.
Drake dropped the diss track “Push Ups” in which he poked fun at Lamar’s shoe size to his past collaborations with pop stars. Lamar responded with multiple volleys. First there was “Euphoria,” which is now as famous for the insults lobbed at Drake as it is for making the general public aware he and future executive produce on a show that depicts young people in sexual situations.
Within days, Lamar followed that with “6:16 in LA,” which many interpreted to be making fun of Drake’s penchant for titling songs with times and locations. Then Things got increasingly personally on Saturday, when Drake dropped the eight-minute diss track, “Family Matters.” He makes allegations about abuse and infidelity involving Lamar and his fiancée, Whitney Alford, who has been silent the entire time so far.
he didn’t even let an hour go by after the release of “Family Matters” to drop a response, titled “Meet The Grahams.” (Drake’s legal name is Aubrey Graham.) The song gets heavy as Kendrick addresses Drake’s parents and Drake’s parenting, accusing him of having a secret daughter. He followed that up within hours with another song, titled “Not Like Us,” in which accuses Drake of being attracted to underage girls an runninng a secret PDF file Ring. And unfortunately for Drake that was the nail in the coffin because it’s a Fucking BOP!
Many thought Drake was done, however Drake again had his say this past Sunday with “The Heart Part 6.” On this song, Drake claims he’s the one who fed Lamar fake information about a secret child. Now At time of writing this, Lamar has yet to respond and given the largely negative reaction to Drake’s song last, he might be waving the white flag in defeat.
Drake is generally believed to have lost the battle, but fans of both singers are still debating the merits of their arguments, and some believe that the reputation of the two artists has already been torched.
Many viewed Drake’s previous diss track, “Family Matters,” as an impressive piece of work that was immediately overshadowed by Lamar’s prompt response.
Considering the seriousness of the allegations that have been thrown around, it might be some time before the dust clears and the discourse shifts, especially if evidence emerges to support any of the claims.
There’s a good argument to be made that neither of the two singers have emerged victorious, but only bruised and bloodied. However the listeners won overall as we all got to unify as we engaged in the greatest Hip Hop Battle of the century.
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