What may have felt like a blackout blur, things got dark, ugly and extremely personal during the Endgame-esque beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar.
In a historic outing for hip-hop, Drake and Kendrick Lamar not only traded multiple five-minute long diss tracks, but aired out each other’s dirty laundry in the process. A feud that’s bubbled behind closed doors, Dot and Drizzy’s long-awaited battle held hip-hop’s undivided attention for weeks on end.
With No. 1 records in “Like That” and “Not Like Us” coming out of Kendrick’s camp, and Drake’s disses being overshadowed by Dot’s relentless, and rather ruthless, barrage of drops—and jabs from The Weeknd, Future, Metro Boomin, A$AP Rocky, Rick Ross and more—here’s a breakdown of everything that transpired in the Drake vs. Kendrick saga.
Like That (March 22)
Sending shockwaves to the heart of hip-hop, Kendrick Lamar’s brazen “Like That” diss ultimately rekindled the competitive nature the genre was built on. Heard on Metro Boomin and Future‘s collab album WE DON’T TRUST YOU, Dot’s now-iconic “Motherf**k the Big 3, it’s just big me” line blares clear as day in who he took aim at.
Discourse about Rap’s Big 3 (Drake, J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar) has been a topic of conversation for years, with most giving the No. 1 spot to Drake due to his immense—and quite untouchable—success as hip-hop’s top hitmaker. Lamar decided it was time to bring this back into question, (rightfully) challenging the throne Drizzy and Cole claim on their FATD collab “First Person Shooter.” “Is it K-Dot, Aubrey or Me? We the Big 3 that started the league,” J. Cole raps. “Motherf**k the Big 3, it’s just the big me,” K-Dot retorts on “Like That,” evidently bringing the beef to light and claiming the crown altogether.
“Sneak dissin’, first person shooter, I hope they came with three switches,” Kendrick raps on “Like That.” “For all your dawgs gettin’ buried / That’s a K with all the 9s, they gon’ see pet cemetery.” The Big 3 further waged online warfare after J. Cole shared his surprise mixtape MIGHT DELETE LATER (April 5), where he clapped back at K-Dot on the explosive yet sub-par “7 Minute Drill.” However, Cole was quick to retract these statements, apologized and bowed out of the beef entirely. He seemed to have saw what was coming next…
Push Ups / Taylor Made Freestyle (April 19)
A pair of diss tracks dropped hours apart from one another (well, kind of), Drake’s first line of defense from the barrage of disses heard on WE DON’T TRUST YOU and WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU saw the 6 God speak ill of all those dissing.
On “Push Ups,” which leaked a week prior to its official release on April 19, Drizzy had bars for everybody, including “First Person Shooter” collaborator J. Cole, who removed his diss track toward Kendrick Lamar, “7 Minute Drill,” from all streaming platforms on April 12. “And that f*king song y’all got is not starting beef with us/This sht been brewing in a pot, now I’m heating up… I don’t care what Cole think, that Dot sh*t was weak as f**k,” Drake raps on the 4-minute long song. “Push Ups” also proved to be a teaser for Drake’s eventual red button push, “Family Matters.”
“Taylor Made Freestyle” is where things first escalated. Using the AI likeness of Lamar’s West Coast heroes, 2Pac and Snoop Dogg, Drake pleaded Kendrick to respond through the voices of both Snoop and Pac. Imploring and baiting Kendrick to respond (because at this time, many were unsure Dot would), Drake’s internet savvy ultimately backfired on him when 2Pac’s estate threatened to sue over the song’s unapproved use of the late Shakur’s voice, scrubbing the song from his social media. Snoop Dogg even seemed bewildered this chess move, but nevertheless, “Taylor Made Freestyle” provided the shock value and intrigue to keep fans wanting more—especially on “Taylor” Swift’s album release weekend. “I guess you need another week to improve, what the f**k is taking so long, we waiting on you.”
Champagne Moments (April 23)
To be honest, what was Rick Ross even doing here? Going at his “Ashton Martin Music,” “Lemon Pepper Freestyle,” “Money In The Grave” (you get it) collaborator on “Champagne Moments,” Ross’ nosy and rather hilarious juxtaposition of the “elimination of Drake” provides greater context to the game’s overall feelings towards the 6 God. A perpetuator of the majority of memes that caught fire throughout the beef (see Metro Boomin’s “BBL Drizzy” challenge), Ross played the role of instigator to perfection, and had some memorable lines for Champagne Papi.
Euphoria (April 30)
Produced by Kyuro and CARDOGOTWINGS, “Euphoria” proves to be a blitzing array of jabs and hooks aimed at the OVO Sound boss—seemingly letting out frustrations pent-up over a decade of closed-door sneak disses. “I know they call you the boy, but where is the man? Cuz I ain’t seen him yet,” Lamar tears off amongst a handful of eye-popping lines, addressing his prior feud with Pusha T, relationship with J. Cole, calling Drake a “scam artist” and admittedly, being his “biggest hater.” Ultimately, he claims the throne of hip-hop for himself.
Mr. Morale‘s rebuttal came 17 days after Drake’s initial leak of “Push Ups” earlier in April. “Euphoria,” described in its cover art, is “a feeling of well-being or elation” indicates that Lamar feels unbothered by Drizzy’s disses—welcoming all the smoke with open arms. “It ain’t a 20v1 it’s 1v20 if I gotta smack the n***s that write with you,” Lamar proclaims, combatting Drake’s “what is this a 20v1?” bar on “Push Ups”—once again bringing his authenticity as a lyricist into question. Also too, that Sexyy Red bar is foul, but hilarious: “When I see you stand by Sexyy Red, I believe you see two bad bitches/ I believe you don’t like women, that’s real competition, you might pop ass with ’em.”
Peep a few of the most disrespectful bars below:
- “Yeah, Cole and Aubrey know I’m a selfish nigga/ The crown is heavy, huh/ I pray they my real friends, if not, I’m YNW Melly”
- “You know that we got some shit to address/ I even hate when you say the word ‘nigga,’ but that’s just me, I guess/ Some shit just cringeworthy, it ain’t even gotta be deep, I guess”
6:16 in LA (May 3)
Lamar’s “6:16 in LA” is a scathing barrage of bars; the knockout shot fans were waiting for. The “quadruple entendre” Drake begged Dot to bring forth on “Taylor Made Freestyle” appears on a timestamp record—a jab at Drizzy’s signature titles—referencing a slew of parallels from Drake’s life and career.
It was clear at this point that Dot had taken the lead in the beef with bars that seemingly expose the OVO camp’s integrity. “Have you ever thought that OVO is working for me? / Everyone inside your team is whispering that you deserve it,” Lamar raps. “If you was street smart, you woulda caught your entourage is only to hussle you / 100 guy that you got on salary, and 20 of them want you as the casualty / It’s time you look around and see who’s really around you.”
The song samples Al Green’s “What A Wonderful Thing Love Is,” a track where Drake’s uncle Mabon “Teenie” Hodges played guitar on, and features production from Taylor Swift’s go-to producer Jack Antonoff. A “Taylor Made” track on a timestamp record—how much more disrespectful can you get? Whether it’s the blatant comparison to OJ Simpson (“if the doesn’t glove fit, you must acquit”), Lamar poured kerosene on the fire, but didn’t push the red button.
Family Matters (May 3)
On “Family Matters,” however, Drake pushed his red button. The rebuttal to “6:16 in LA” saw the 6 God tear off lines about Lamar’s infidelity—a main topic of his latest album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers—essentially implying that Lamar abuses his wife, among other salacious remarks on “Family Matters.” Drake also alleged that one of Kendrick’s children was fathered by pgLang co-founder and collaborator Dave Free. However, this claim was reported as false by DJ Akademiks.
“When you put hands on your girl. Is it self defense cause she bigger than you? / Why did you move to New York? Is it cause you living that bachelor life / Proposed in 2015; But don’t wanna make her your actual wife / I’m guessing this wedding ain’t happening right. Cause we know the girls that you actually like.” Another line that stands out continues to allege Lamar’s abuse. “They hired a crisis management team to clean up the fact that you beat on your queen.”
Three beat switches, all with separate vibes clad with bars aimed at everybody that’s come after him, this would’ve been what should have teetered the battle in Drake’s favor… if it wasn’t for what Kendrick did minutes after its release.
Meet The Grahams (May 3)
This is where things got dark. Lamar quit holding his tongue on how he truly felt about Drake on the most visceral, evil and down-right maniacal diss track “meet the grahams.” Wishing for him to “die” and claiming that he’s hiding a second child, an 11-year-old daughter, its cover art showcases prescriptions with Drake’s government name on them (Aubrey Graham), which are reportedly fabricated, according to Drake.
“Baby girl, I’m sorry that you father ain’t really in your world,” Dot raps on the follow-up to “6:16 in LA.” A bombshell Drake instantly laughed off and disputed, Lamar didn’t hold back: Calling Drake a predator, pedophile and imploring women to stay away from him. What was once a “good exhibition in the game,” turned deeply personal for both emcees—revealing dark truths about one another that have still yet to be confirmed.
Not Like Us (May 4)
Lamar’s incessant dissing continued mere hours after “meet the grahams” dropped on streaming platforms, sharing his fourth diss track “Not Like Us” on May 4. Catchy, upbeat and made for the club, Lamar recruited West Coast icon DJ Mustard for an undeniable West Coast bop.
At the expense of “69 God,” which Lamar refers to Drake on “Not Like Us,” themes of Drake’s culture vulture persona and more accusations of questionable sexual misconduct—dropping offender icons over Drake’s house on the track’s cover art—are Dot’s main disses. “Say OV-HOE” is also so infectious. Unbiased opinion: Kendrick has a hit with this one, a Billboard No. 1 hit to be exact. WOP WOP WOP.
“You called Future when you didn’t see the club / Lil Baby help you get your lingo up / 21 gave you false street cred / Thug made you feel like you a slime in your head / Quavo said you can be from Northside / Why 2Chainz say you good, but he lied / You run to Atlanta when you need a few dollars / No you not a college, you a f**kin’ colonizer.”
Kendrick Lamar, “Not Like Us”
The Heart Part 6 (May 5)
Claims of a breach in the OVO camp swirled around Lamar’s triple release week, however, rumors indicated that this mole has been feeding Kendrick misinformation—invalidating the gut-punching allegations heard on “meet the grahams.”
Drake seems to confirm this on “The Heart Part 6,” rapping “We plotted for a week and we fed you the information / A daughter that’s 11 years old, I bet he takes it… We thought about giving a fake name or a destination / You gotta learn to fact check things, rejoicing on my expiration.”
On the track, Drake goes on to refute Kendrick’s claims of Drake being a predator, saying that he’s “too famous” for it to be real otherwise he’d be in jail. Drizzy even admits that this beef is wearing even him down, trolling Kendrick above all.
“You definitely got this sh*t burnt the f*ck out though,” Drake says on the track’s final minute. “Like, you got 10 more records to drop… the one before the last one we finessed you into telling a story that doesn’t even exist… and then you go and drop the west coast one to try and cover that up. I would like that one… that would be some sh*t I can dance to if you wasn’t tripeling down on some whole other bullsh*t.”
So who won?
Both emcees haven’t left anything unsaid—all these tracks are bombs. Lamar, out of pure hatred and spite, definitely bested Drake in the battle. As “Euphoria,” “meet the grahams” and “Not Like Us” stand as the daggers for Drake’s loss, Dot essentially beat Drake, “the chart topper,” at his own game. “Not Like Us” became the No. 1 song on the Hot 100, earning RIAA platinum honors just two weeks after its release. However, Drake was always going to be seen as the loser, according to close collaborator Lil Yachty.
Truthfully, there’s no real winner here. Personal affairs being aired out in the manner that they have—at the expense of the women in their lives and close relatives—is embarrassing for both rappers and fans. However, it proved to be a contest akin to the great beefs of 2Pac and Biggie, Jay-Z and Nas; it feels immovable and hard-pressed for a victor. This is that moment for our generation, and it seems like it’ll fester for years to come.
Photo courtesy of Danny Pleckham
Peep some tweets on the beef below!