Drake and Kendrick Lamar have had lowkey beef for years, but everything got kicked up a notch last year, when Drake and J.Cole did “First Person Shooter,” in which they reference Kendrick. Kendrick didn’t respond for months, then came out on Future’s “Like That,” attacking both Drake and J.Cole. That’s when J.Cole skedaddled on out of there – he saw the smoke up ahead and he called it a day, leaving Kendrick and Drake to go to war. Drake then released “Push Ups,” a song about how Kendrick is short and has small feet. Drake kept pushing, releasing “Taylor Made Freestyle” on April 24, suggesting that Kendrick didn’t want to respond to him because Taylor Swift was dominating the headlines with The Tortured Poets Department. Sidenote: Kendrick and Taylor have been friends/work colleagues for years now, and Kendrick is rumored to appear on Reputation (Taylor’s Version), because he visited her New York studio a few times last fall. Like, Kendrick is still tight with Taylor.
Kendrick was just biding his time though – on April 30, Kendrick released “Euphoria,” a cornucopia of hate directed at Drake, attacking Drake for using the n-word, being a poseur and a joke. Kendrick even referenced that he knew Drake’s play, that Drake would go too personal and start talking about his family. On May 3rd, Kendrick then followed up “Euphoria” with “6:16 in LA” – a song produced by Jack Antonoff, Taylor Swift’s go-to producer – and Kendrick claimed to have a mole working in Drake’s camp. Kendrick was telling Drake: you’re surrounding yourself with people who hate you, people who want to see you fail or worse.
About 14 hours after “6:16 in LA,” Drake released “Family Matters,” where Drake sh-ttalked Kendrick’s family, his partner Whitney and their children. Less than an hour later, Kendrick dropped “Meet the Grahams,” a song which Kendrick had clearly recorded days if not weeks earlier, correctly predicting that Drake was going to lie about his family. “Meet the Grahams” is more than a diss track – it’s just pure, mainlined hatred and the most personal gossip about Drake ever, since Pusha T revealed that Drake was hiding a whole-ass son. Kendrick says that Drake has a daughter too, and possibly other kids, and he’s a deadbeat dad who won’t acknowledge or raise his children. Kendrick claims Drake has a gambling problem, that he’s on Ozempic and he’s gotten cosmetic surgery and that Drake is a predator who surrounds himself with predators. As soon as “Meet the Grahams” came out, Kendrick won. It was over as far as the “battle” part of this, with Kendrick easily declared as the winner. After all that, Drake’s only response was “oh, I have a daughter, huh?” It’s like the Pusha T situation all over again, only it’s even worse. Does Drake have other secret children out there??? And the stuff about Drake being a predator who likes teenage girls… well, those rumors have circulated for many years.
Oh and the image for “Meet the Grahams” is a smorgasbord of literal and figurative receipts.
After all that, Kendrick dropped “Not Like Us,” which is basically Kendrick completely ending Drake again. Kendrick not only calls Drake a “certified pedophile,” he dissects Drake’s colonizer moves in Atlanta. Kendrick told Drake to keep Serena Williams’ name out of his mouth, a great callback to Drake’s bullsh-t from 2022. The “A-minor” thing is *chef’s kiss*. Apparently, Kendrick has a lot more to say, so there’s probably more music coming out??
Just in case you lost track…
3/22 – Kendrick Lamar, “Like That”
4/5 – J. Cole, “7 Minute Drill”
4/7 – J. Cole apologizes for “7 Minute Drill”
4/12 – J. Cole deletes “7 Minute Drill”
4/19 – Drake, “Push Ups”
4/19 – Drake, “Taylor Made Freestyle”
4/30 – Kendrick Lamar, “Euphoria”…— Complex Music (@ComplexMusic) May 4, 2024
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.
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- MTV Video Music Awards (VMA) 2017 Press Room held at the Forum in Inglewood, California.,Image: 347403946, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Kendrick Lamar, Credit line: Adriana M. Barraza / Wenn / Avalon
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- MTV Video Music Awards (VMA) 2017 Press Room, held at the Forum in Inglewood, California.,Image: 347469755, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Kendrick Lamar, Credit line: FayesVision / Wenn / Avalon
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- 169429, Kendrick Lamar attends The 2017 MTV Video Music Awards Arrivals. Los Angeles, California – Sunday, August 27th, 2017.,Image: 533173664, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS, DIRECT SALES ONLY UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE IN CAPTION – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: PacificCoastNews / Avalon
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- New York, NY – Drake enjoys a day off from his “It’s All A Blur/Big As The What? tour with dinner at Mamo Italian restaurant in New York Pictured: Drake BACKGRID USA 1 APRIL 2024 BYLINE MUST READ: BlayzenPhotos / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- New York, NY – Drake, accompanied by his father Dennis and the recently single Odell Beckham Jr, ignites the night with an electrifying afterparty at Zero Bond following his sensational performance at the Prudential Center in NJ. Drake appeared to be unbothered despite his current rap beef with Kendrick Lamar, Future, and Metro Boomin. Pictured: Drake BACKGRID USA 5 APRIL 2024 BYLINE MUST READ: BlayzenPhotos / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
Kendricks tracks are chefs kiss.
Get him, Kendrick!!
Drake’s shady shit has been escalating for years. Someone needs to stop him before he becomes R. Kelly.
“Tryna strike a chord but it’s prolly A Minorrrrr” 🔥🔥🔥
I need a semaglutide for my health but I can’t get it because all the rich people are on it. I’ve discussed it with my endocrinologist and he shruggd6, rich people get it first. I really believe the people who say ‘everyone’ in Hollywood is on it. I’ve never seen the level of weight loss. If people weren’t ashamed they wouldn’t lie about it. And they do. To be extra skinny VS normal thin and lie, and taking drugs from those who need them? They’re loathsome. I have no respect for anyone. N
You said it sister. But peasants not being able to get Ozempic because rich people are monopolizing it might a blessing in disguise. I have read online that Ozempic may cause nasty side effects like stomach paralysis to the point where some people have needed a colostomy bag, yikes.
No,@Lolo86lf, rich people and compounding pharmacies buying up all the stock for people who do not have a legitimate medical need for it is not a blessing in disguise. Every medication has a risk:benefit ratio and the development of meds are generally based on the target population and indication (in a nutshell, you’re willing to take more side effects to treat cancer than to deal with symptoms of a minor illness). Is gastroparesis a possible side effect to use of a GLP-1? Yes but so does having diabetes (approx 30-50% of diabetics show signs of delayed gastric emptying). Other risk factors for gastroparesis include smoking, alcohol consumption, hyperthyroidism & lupus.
Safety surveillance points to just under 1% of those on a GLP-1 suffering from gastroparesis – this is from all users which includes patients who already had delayed gastric emptying and people who shouldn’t even be on the compounds.
The purpose of prescribing GLP-1s to diabetics and obese patients isn’t solely to drop weight. Patients who hit a plateau weight wise still see a distinct clinical benefit (better a1c control and all that comes with that, huge cardioprotective benefit, etc.). Understanding this will help you understand why it’s so heinous that the actual patients these meds were developed for aren’t getting to the patients because people/weight-loss companies/compounding pharmacies/irresponsible physicians are appealing to people to whom they shouldn’t be given.
Well rybelsus costs a lot less in Canada (like a -lot- less), I wonder if there’s a way for you to get it there?
@Astaisabtvh Look for clinical trials in your area. I’m pretty sure there are a bunch of phase 2 and phase 3 trials in even the marketed GLP-1 agonists that are enrolling T2DM as well as obese patients. Participating in a clinical trial is not only a good way to get access to these meds, but you do get much closer follow up from staff at the study site (if money/insurance is a concern: the meds, labs and other testing that’s done in the study protocol doesn’t cost you any money and isn’t billed to your insurance)
you can look up trials at clinical trials.gov to see if there’s one going on near you that’s recruiting. (you may also want to look up trials of GIPR)
I think your anger is misdirected here. It should be towards the govt that allows and the pharmaceutical companies that choose the price gauge and hoard life saving drugs for profit. There is nothing to indicate that there isn’t enough supply to meet the demand for this. I worked with the COVID-19 vaccine distribution and it was the same thing. Extreme profit over lives always.
I really hope you get what you need for your health. It’s crazy that your income determines that. It’s a horrible situation to be in. Sending healing vibes your way.
Try finding out the different dosages in both wegovvy and ozympic (same thing) because some dosage sizes are easier to get.
My son thank goodness tolerates it well and he skipped a few dosage levels because some are harder to find.
he is on 2.7 wegovvy now and i have no problem getting that one
the one dose lower was harder but the one under that was easier. you just need to call around and see who can easily get what
The memes about this on r/blackpeopletwitter are too funny.
Loving Kendrick’s tracks. Do I need to even bother with Drake’s?
😝 I’m a certified Drake hater. Haven’t listened to any of his tracks but all of KDot’s.
I say as a kdot fan, family matters is a bop. Too bad it got obliterated less than an hour later by Meet the Grahams. But it’s worth seeing the video to hear drake sling better bars than he has in years.
This beef has been taking up fully 80% of my brain since it started, RIP my job.
First mistake Drake made was come for a Gemini. Second mistake was coming for a man who has a whole ass Pulitzer prize for his album. Third was trying to come for the west coast. Drake has learned nothing from Pusha T.
“First mistake Drake made was coming for a Gemini”- as a Gemini myself, I 1000% agree with this. We always have receipts.
Yes indeed, Gemini here too. Wow, I have always liked Kendrick Lamar too.
As a Gemini, rising sign Gemini, I agree.
My motto is “one of *us* is always right”, and people have learned not to mess with me.
Not only do I have receipts, but, as I am a scientist, I’ve learned to argue. Calmly, but deadly, if need be.
I’m not a Gemini, but I have heard about ya’ll Geminis, and I am very careful. lol
I know the accusations on both sides are incredibly serious but I just have to say they both made twitter so much fun again.
The memes have been great. As a Gemini myself I related to your comment. Like Geminis are always right and we will finish the situation.
But the ones I loved:
“Drakes first mistake coming after a Gemini Pulitzer Prize winner from Compton.“
“ Kendrick has inspired me. I realize I have maybe not been hating to my full potential”
It was an 80s style battle but when Kendrick accuses Drake of a crime which he claims to know about and not report to police..it’s a loss for me.
Do we know if it’s been reported?
I would believe Drake paid to have any report completely buried or the police deciding there wasn’t enough evidence to even investigate.
I believe he has been reported, but because privacy laws in Canada are different, journalists won’t have access to police reports until he is charged with a crime. Even then, there would be a heavy publication ban if it involved someone under 18. Which.. it would.
Don’t be so quick to think the police care about justice, esp for black girls & women
Someone on Twitter did a deep dive of his inappropriate relationships with minors. All but two were white. F-ed up to say but that might be the only thing that takes him down. He goes after young white girls as well.
Sadly 🎯
Without a victim coming forward or cooperating, I don’t see what he can do. If he knows more than just gossip, like names and dates and places I guess that would be on him. I’d be more mad at Drake personally though.
Drake is everything
Kendrick says he is.
The truth about drake needs to be told and people need to stop supporting him.
Kendrick’s victory in this beef is so complete that it has transcended the hip hop community and gone mainstream. EVERYBODY knows Drake is getting cooked. He will never recover from this.
I love this comment!!!!
Miriam Webster got in on it. 😆
So did the Guardian!
Thank you Kaiser for the cliff notes version of what this beef was all about. I was trying to understand and follow along but got confused. I’m aware of who Drake and Kendrick are but don’t listen to any of their music. I’ve always got negative energy vibes from Drake. There’s dark energy emanating from him. Kendrick seems like a quiet, thoughtful artist who just goes about his business. Glad to see Kendrick eviscerate Drake.
If I’m Drake, I’m keeping quiet and putting my lawyer on standby for when the police come knocking on my door.
Amen, Amy Bee, Amen. Cause those rumors have been circulating for years…
That’s my thought as well. If I know the rumors, then surely the authorities do?
I mean how many dozens of girls went to the FBI about Nassar the gymnastics r*pist? And they did nothing for years. I have zero faith in the authorities. The spotlight might make them move I guess.
Feels like Kendrick has a whole album of drake diss tracks ready to go.
Based on one of the bars it sounds like he has 10 ready to go
Drake never stood a chance.
Someone please call 911; there’s been a killing. Dot is the perp and Drake is the victim. 🔥
Looooool I didn’t know any of this—I only knew that Drake pulled one of his songs from social media because Tupac’s estate sent a cease-and-desist letter. Drake allegedly used AI to fake Tupac’s voice in one of these diss tracks. Now I have the full context for it, and it’s even more hilarious. Thank you for summarizing Kaiser!
Drake can try to push back, but the allegations of being with underaged women or barely legal have been there for a while now.
Remember when he was dm’ing Millie Bobbie Brown? So weird and shady at the time. I felt like it was minimized at the time, but the explanations never really added up.
Yeah and her explanation at the time sounded like text book grooming.
I think he was absolutely targeting her, hopefully he didn’t get her.
Drake name dropped MBB in one of his reply tracks. He’s so gross.
I actually hate all of this and don’t think anyone comes out looking good: Kendrick, Drake, or J Cole. I’m pretty sure I’m alone though. Hopefully this moment is over as quickly as Katt Williams’ interview.
Cole did nothing wrong. He released a mildly disrespectful diss track, focused only on the music, and then said it was all silly and apologized like an adult. Kendrick also initially made it about the music on Like That. Drake is the one who got nasty and personal first, and then trolled Kendrick for weeks to get a response. Kendrick is simply giving Drake what he asked for while reminding everyone that he is the greatest rapper of his generation. Drake shouldn’t have poked the bear.
@Tuesday why do you hate it? I’m a huge hip hop fan and studied is history. This very typical. It’s always been combative. Usually against the establishment. What are you looking for in hip hop?
We Stan a short king 🙌🏻
Kendrick has always been wildly talented beyond Drake and Drake is trash. Like others have said upthread, he grooms underage girls.
It’s just nice to see non royal coverage. Kendrick is a poet who resonates because he speaks the hard truths. What’s drake’s most memorable claim to fame….using Mario brother’s in game music and dating Rihanna. Now he’s going to be known by everyone for being into teens and not acknowledging his kids. Maybe this forces drake to grow up and take care of business but I doubt it
I want to second that about non royal coverage. And this was honestly a huge cultural moment and has been for like a month. So to see it here is nice. Once Europhia dropped that was a total wrap. Of course Kendrick is going to be Kendrick and keep it going to make a point but yeah. This is it.
I second being glad for non-royal coverage. There are always like 8 articles about some inbred royal goon.
I’m third or fourthing about non-royal drama.
Agreed, appreciate the coverage. Kendrick’s stuff is art! Love your comment about him being a poet speaking hard truths.
Thrilled to see this get an article and a break from another royal story. So sick of that family
I love how Jack got involved. He’s like, no one mentions Taylor and produces the track.
Taylor was in like multiple hip hop beefs this weekend it was weird
Kendrick did what Rick from Degrassi couldn’t.
I hated drakes character on Degrassi lol
He was such a whiner and drake is a very poor actor.
There have been a lot of rumors oh his grooming underage girls and sleeping with them.
And over the years I remember he has been under investigation a few times because of reports.
I remember being horrified when he started trying to groom Millie Bobby Brown it was so obvious what he was doing.
OMG! I’ve never seen an episode of Degrassi. Between my age (40) and obviously not being the demographic for I just never did. Was he whiney? It’s literally the reason I can’t stand his music. Everything is a whine from his tone to his content!
I watched the older degrassi when it was Joey Jeremiah and Snake etc. it was a dorky Canadian show for teens but it was less glamorous than 90210 which had older actors play teens. But degrassi also covered issues realistically.
I stopped watching long before Drake showed up.
I watched all the episodes until a couple seasons after his character had a accident and became wheelchair jimmy.
He was a whiny moody teen before that but after that good grief his acting was bad lol
It was like a temu 90210, but it was pretty entertaining 😀
I don’t know if I was in the demographic tho, im 55
I think Rick Ross’s contribution was good. It feels like a coordinated attack from everyone and Drake just had too much ego and hubris to notice the traps. Rick Ross said the same exact things Kendrick said but in his Rick Ross style. Kendrick’s feels more personal because we know that there has been simmering beef between those two for 10 years.
Also, what did Drake expect? He went into a lyrical battle with a Pulitzer Prize winner – he didn’t have a chance! 🙂
Lol so true. Drake refers to Kendrick’s pulitzer prize in one of his response tracks. All I could think about was Drake’s imposter syndrome is prolly eating him alive going toe to toe with a true artist. Just a boring pop star, you have no chance!
Kendrick said in Euphoria “but don’t tell no lie about me, and I won’t tell truths about you”. Of course Drake is too stupid and arrogant to heed the warning.
That and the “a-minor” reference were just brutally perfect.
The a-minor line chilled me to the bone! And did you know he literally sang that line in the key of A-minor???? Nothing short of exquisite!
I asked my young adult daughter to explain the Kendrick/Drake beef. She said it’s a lot to unpack (she knows I get confused easily), but we are on Kendrick’s side (I asked which side we are on). My thanks to Kaiser for breaking this down in a concise manner.
Yes, I appreciate the breakdown. On topic but slightly off-topic, I don’t understand why Drake came for Meghan the Stallion. Was he one of the ones who doubted that she was shot? That right there makes me mad, along with everything else.
He did go after Megan because she had the audacity to turn down his advances and he jumped on the bandwagon of attacking her. If you listen to Hiss she reads him for filth w/r/t his nonsense; the ‘Cosplay Gangster ‘ and BBL lines are about him.
What a d*ck
I have disliked Drake as a human being for a long time. I think he is a very fake person and has backstabbed every “friend” he pretends to have. The problem is that he was so rich and popular that nobody could take him on directly. But Pulitzer Prize Winner Kendrick Lamar is not afraid and not the least bit reluctant. Kendrick is much more talented than Drake and he is destroying him verse by verse. I notice that NOBODY is coming to Drake’s side in the rap community. People are silent or helping Kendrick. That silence says all I need to know about this battle
At the moment drakes house in the bridle path is being trolled on google maps. Owned by Kendrick is just one of the labels.
Never have liked Drake, he’s got an off/weird vibe. Don’t care for his music save 1 collab, way back he’s barely on.
I have always loved Kendrick. He is a genius in my opinion.
Oh Kaiser.
The happiness you are bringing by giving us legitimate HipHop Tea in a sea of Royal vapours. THE HAPPINESS. Thank you.
Thank you for this really good post Kaiser. I had no idea about this feud but it’s such good gossip.
I’ve listened to Meet the Graham, what an incredible diss track! I absolutely loved how it incrementally exposed Drake. The controlled anger towards the end. The sample used is perfect.
Check out Not Like Us too. Such a bop
What makes my literary nerd heart happy is the fact Kendrick uses not just imagery but double and triple entendres. The 6:16 had so many different meanings, so many references were deeply personal in Europhia, and it went beyond “ah ha, I messed with your girl before you did/while you did.” Kendrick did a masterful takedown that could be studied in school. The imagery from 6:16 in LA cover was bada$$ psychological manipulation, and by the time we got to Meet the Grahams it was hard even to conceive how Drake could come back. I’m sorry all Drake’s responses have done is prove Kendrick’s points, which makes it even funnier. Last Not Like Us was just a bop to prove he could do bops since that was one of the biggest criticisms Drake likes to use against Kenrick.
yeah it was soooo crazy listening to Kendrick’s tracks. Like I needed closed captioning and had to re-listen and still couldn’t catch all the artistry. I’m fully nerding out over it. Did you read that KL sang the A-minor line literally in the key of A-minor??? Exquisite!
Drake’s responses were low brow and dull in comparison to KL’s artistry. Like you know when your teachers in grade school used to say “show not tell” with your writing? That’s all I could think about listening to Drake’s cringey attempts to respond.
When did rap turn into a meeting of teenaged girls in the bathroom at the school dance?