The Kendrick Lamar vs. Drake beef, explained
The saga continues between two of today’s biggest hip hop artists: Kendrick Lamar and Drake.
Lamar doubled down on the feud with the release of “6:16 in LA” Friday morning. Later, Drake fired back with “Family Matters” and Lamar answered back minutes later. The lyrical feud continued through the weekend with diss tracks from both sides.
The fiery exchanges between both rappers had the internet in a frenzy well into the weekend, with many wondering what started the beef. In case you haven’t been plugged in, we’ve got you covered.
March 29: Kendrick lights the fire
It all started when Kendrick unleashed his gripe with the “God’s Plan” rapper on Metro Boomin and Future’s track “Like That.”
In the fiery verse, Lamar directly takes shots at Drake and J. Cole in response to their song “First Person Shooter.”
Cole refers to himself, Drake and Lamar as “the Big Three” in the song. “Love when they argue the hardest MC / Is it K. Dot? Is it Aubrey? Or me? / We the Big Three, like we started a league.”
Lamar wasn’t having any of that, responding to make it clear he doesn’t see either rapper as being on his level.
“Yeah get up with me, f— sneak dissing / ‘First Person Shooter,’ I hope they came with three switches,” he raps. “Motherf— the Big Three, n—a, it’s just big me.”
Lamar then compared himself to Prince, saying he will have more longevity than Cole and Drake.
“Your best work is a light pack / N—a, Prince outlived Mike Jack / N—a, bum, ‘fore all your dogs get buried / That’s a K with all these nines, he gon’ see ‘Pet Cemetery.’”
Listeners were taken aback by Lamar’s grievances toward both rappers considering they’ve all collaborated and went on tour together. But this ignited a chain reaction of explosive diss tracks that’s been going on for weeks.
April 5: J Cole briefly enters the chat
Cole fired back with a song “7 Minute Drill,” where he says Lamar’s career “fell off like ‘The Simpsons.’”
“The rap beef ain’t realer than the s–t I seen in Cumberland / He averagin’ one hard verse like every thirty months or somethin’,” he said, referring to the five-part “The Heart” series that Lamar has rolled out over the course of his career.
“If he wasn’t dissin’, then we wouldn’t be discussin’ him / Lord, don’t make me have to smoke this n—a ’cause I f— with him / But push come to shove, on this mic, I will humble him.”
April 19: Drake fires back
Shortly after, Drake seemed to address Lamar’s insults during one of his shows.
“A lot of people asking me how I’m feeling. The way I’m feeling is the same way I want you to walk out of here feeling tonight about your f—ing self,” he said to the crowd. “Because you know how I’m feeling? I got my head up high, my back straight, I’m 10 f—ing toes down, and feeling like anywhere else I go, and I know no matter what, there’s not a n—a on this Earth that can ever f— with me in my life.”
Three weeks later, Drake hit back with a four-minute song, “Push Ups,” firing shots, rebuttals and disses to any rapper who has mentioned him since “Like That” — including Rick Ross, Metro and NBA star Ja Morant.
But most of the track was clearly directed at Lamar. He makes fun of his height, calling him “pipsqueak.” He also says the more accurate Big Three would be himself twice and Cole — but he even takes a shot at the “She Knows” rapper: “I don’t care what Cole think, that Dot shit was weak as f—.”
Drake ends the song daring Lamar to drop a diss record or “shut your mouth,” a move that left fans highly anticipating the response.
He applied even more pressure when he dropped a second track using AI-generated versions of 2Pac and Snoop Dogg’s voice.
Online reactions to the track were divided. Some found his use of AI “corny” while others encouraged more of the AI shenanigans.
April 30: Kendrick responds to Drake with “Euphoria”
This week, Kendrick finally responded to Drake in a six-minute diss track called “Euphoria.”
In the song, Lamar takes shots at Drake’s former “Degrassi” days, saying how the “famous actor we once knew is looking paranoid and now spiraling.”
“You make music that pacify ‘em / I can double down on that line, but spare you this time,” Lamar raps. “Know you a master manipulator and habitual liar, too / But don’t tell no lie ’bout me, and I won’t tell truths ’bout you.”
The “Humble” rapper also attacks Drakes Blackness, addressing his insecurities about being biracial.
May 3: Kendrick doubles down
Lamar then drops a second diss track aimed at the Canadian rapper called “6:16 in LA”, where he alleges Drake’s own team is against him.
“Fake bully, I hate bullies, you must be a terrible person. Everyone inside your team is whispering that you deserve it. Can’t Toosie Slide up outta this one, its just gon’ resurface.”
May 3: Drake releases Third Diss Track “Family Matters”, making Lamar abuse allegations
Drake didn’t waste any time dropping a response to Kendrick’s “6:16 in LA,” dropping diss track “Family Matters” just 14 hours later.
Drizzy takes shots at Lamar’s relationship with his fiancee Whitney Alford, implying infidelity and physical abuse:
“When you put your hands on your girl, is it self-defense ’cause she bigger than you?” Drake spits.
He also implies one of Lamar’s children might not be his.
On the track, Drake also disses A$AP Rocky, The Weeknd, Metro Boomin, Future and Rick Ross.
May 3: Kendrick responds with diss track “Meet the Grahams” claiming Drake has secret child
The duo took their feud up a notch when Lamar dropped a response to “Family Matters” mere minutes later. In the 6-minute track titled, “Meet the Grahams,” Lamar speaks directly to individual members of Drake’s family including his son, Adonis; his parents, Sandra and Dennis Graham; and an unnamed little girl Lamar claims Drake has yet to claim publicly. (Drake denied this claim on social media.)
“Dear baby girl / I’m sorry that your father not active inside your world,” Lamar raps. “Should be teachin’ you time tables or watchin’ ‘Frozen’ with you / Or at your 11th birthday, singin’ poems with you / Instead, he be in Turks, payin’ for sex and poppin’ Percs.”
KDot adds, “You lied about your son, you lied about your daughter, huh, you lied about them other kids that’s out there hoping that you come.”
To Drake’s son, Lamar raps, “I’m sorry that that man is your father, let me be honest / It takes a man to be a man, your dad is not responsive.” He also claims Drake hires escorts and that he got a Brazilian butt lift.
In a few lyrics directed towards Drake’s mother and father, Lamar spews, “you gave birth to a master manipulator.”
“I’m blamin’ you for all his gamblin’ addictions / psychopath intuition, the man that like to play victim,” Lamar raps. “Him and Weinstein should” be “in a cell for the rest they life.”
“He hates Black women, hypersexualizes ’em with kinks of a nympho fetish / Grew facial hair because he understood bein’ a beard just fit him better / He got sex offenders that he keep on a monthly allowance.”
May 4: Kendrick strikes again with “Not Like Us”
Less than 24 hours after releasing “Meet the Grahams,” Lamar struck again with a fierce tongue lashing in “Not Like Us.”
The Los Angeles rapper accuses Drake and his team of being pedophiles saying, “Say, Drake, I hear you like ’em young/ You better not ever go to cell block one/ To any b—- that talk to him and they in love/ Just make sure you hide your lil’ sister from him.”
“They tell me Chubbs the only one that get your hand-me-downs/ And party at the party, playin’ with his nose now/ And Baka got a weird case, why is he around?/ Certified Lover Boy? Certified pedophiles.”
May 5: Drake reacts to allegations in “The Heart Pt. 6”
Drake’s rebuttal to Lamar’s claims came Sunday in “The Heart Pt. 6,” in which he denied having a secret daughter and implies the story was put out there as bait.
“We plotted for a week and then 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/ But you so thirsty, you not concerned with investigation.”
He then alleges that Lamar’s fiancé had a child with his business associate, Dave Free.
“And why isn’t Whitney denyin’ all of the allegations?/ Why is she following Dave Free and not Mr. Morale?/ You haven’t seen the kids in six months, the distance is wild/ Dave leaving heart emojis underneath pics of the child.”
The tracks have the internet debating who’s winning this rap beef, with opinions seemingly split.
After Lamar’s response, is the Drake/Kendrick saga over? Only time will tell.