- The pair were involved in a heated string of diss tracks last spring
- The rappers made some explosive claims about each other
- Lamar’s Not Like Us ended up becoming a huge hit
Drake and Kendrick Lamar were at each other’s throats last spring and hit out at each other via the medium of music.
The pair levelled huge accusations against each other in a series of diss tracks, marking probably the biggest rap feud in recent memory.
Read more: The biggest moments from Super Bowl LIX
Earlier in their careers, the rappers were on much friendlier terms. As their friendship soured, they traded occasional jibes but things escalated in a big way last year. However, Lamar in particular has wrangled some pretty big hits out of the beef.
How did it start?
It all began when Lamar contributed an uncredited guest verse to Metro Boomin and Future’s song Like That, from their collaborative album We Don’t Trust You. Crucially, Metro Boomin and Drake are not on good terms.
In his verse, Lamar called out Drake for at one point comparing himself to Michael Jackson, rapping: “Prince outlived Mike Jack.”
Drake responds with Push Ups and Taylor Made Freestyle
Drake took shots at Lamar, as well as the likes of Metro Boomin, Future, Rick Ross, and The Weeknd, on Push-Ups.
On the track, Drake claimed Kendrick was not in “the big three” of modern music since SZA, Travis Scott and 21 Savage had him “wiped down”. He further claimed that half of Lamar’s music is owned by Anthony Tiffith, the CEO of his former label Top Dawg Entertainment.
Lamar didn’t immediately respond so Drake began taunting him, claiming his rival “had nothing to drop”. Drake then followed up his earlier diss with a second one, Taylor Made Freestyle. The track made fun of Lamar’s working relationship with Taylor Swift and used AI-generated verses from Snoop Dogg and Tupac.
However, this got Drake into hot water. Tupac’s estate threatened to sue him over the verse, so he took the track down.
Lamar claps back with Euphoria
Drake claimed Lamar had nothing to say, but he was left looking a bit of a fool when Lamar dropped Euphoria. The six-minute track criticised Drake’s rap skills, appearance, racial identity, and notably his parenting: “I got a son to raise, but I can see you know nothin’ ’bout that.”
In response, Drake fired back with Family Matters. Over seven-and-a-half minutes, he accused Lamar of domestic violence and cheating on his partner Whitney Alford. Drake also claimed Dave Free, Lamar’s childhood friend and business partner, was actually the father of one of Lamar’s children.
Amazingly, Lamar responded just 20 minutes later with Meet The Grahams. e implied that Drake was a sexual predator, which Drake strenuously denied, saying he had “never been with no one underage”.
Lamar takes his biggest shot yet with Not Like Us
The most commercially successful song from the entire exchange was also the most explosive. Lamar’s Not Like Us doubles down on his accusations against Drake of paedophilia and attempting to profit off the exploitation of Black artists and culture. More recently, it enabled him to scoop up five Grammys.
Drake’s attempt to claw back some pride with The Heart Part 6 went down like a lead balloon, receiving over 1 million dislikes on YouTube. Within it, he boasted that he’d fed Lamar the alleged lies he’d used in his diss tracks.
