Kendrick Lamar and Drake Getty Photos (2)
Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s feud has turn out to be one of the vital storied rap beefs in historical past, however their relationship wasn’t at all times so fraught with pressure.
Earlier than Lamar made his main label debut with 2012’s Good Child, M.A.A.D Metropolis, the Compton native and Drake had been on good phrases. Lamar made a visitor look on Drake’s 2011 album, Take Care, and later opened for the Canadian rapper on his 2012 Membership Paradise tour. That very same 12 months, the duo contributed visitor verses to ASAP Rocky’s “F—in’ Issues,” and Drake appeared on Lamar’s monitor “Poetic Justice.”
Only one 12 months later, nevertheless, cracks of their skilled relationship began to indicate because the pair started taking pictures at one another of their music, beginning with Lamar’s verse on Huge Sean’s “Management.” Within the decade-plus since, the drama has solely escalated — and there’s no signal that these two ever plan on burying the hatchet.
Preserve scrolling for an entire timeline of Drake and Lamar’s feud:
August 14, 2013
The drama kicked off when Lamar took goal at Drake — and each different widespread rapper of the period — in his verse on Huge Sean’s “Management” with Jay Electronica. “I’m often homeboys with the identical n—-s I’m rhymin’ with / However that is hip-hop, and them n—-s ought to know what time it’s / And that goes for Jermaine Cole, Huge Okay.R.I.T., Wale / Pusha T, Meek Millz, ASAP Rocky, Drake / Huge Sean, Jay Electron’, Tyler, Mac Miller / I obtained love for you all, however I’m tryna homicide you n—-s / Tryna be certain your core followers by no means heard of you n—-s / They don’t wanna hear not yet another noun or verb from you n—-s.”
Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s rap feud is so heated that it could burn the hip-hop world to the bottom. Lamar, 36, and Drake, 37, have been waging lyrical warfare with more and more private diss tracks launched over the past a number of days. Drake’s “Household Issues” tune accused Lamar of being a “make-believe” activist, claimed Lamar obtained bodily […]
On the time, Drake mentioned he was unbothered by the tune, telling Billboard he “obtained dinner and stored it transferring” after listening to the monitor. “I didn’t actually have something to say about it,” he added. “It simply gave the impression of an formidable thought to me. That’s all it was. I do know good and effectively that Kendrick’s not murdering me, in any respect, in any platform. So when that day presents itself, I assume we will revisit the subject.”
September 24, 2013
Drake launched his third studio album, Nothing Was the Identical, which included a monitor referred to as “The Language” that some followers believed was a response to Lamar’s “Management” boasts. “I don’t know why they been lyin’ however your s— just isn’t that inspirin’ / Checking account assertion simply seem like I’m prepared for early retirement,” Drake rapped on the primary verse. “F— any n—- that’s speaking that shit simply to get a response.”
October 15, 2013
Kendrick Lamar Arnold Jerocki/Getty Photos
Throughout the BET Hip Hop Awards, Lamar seemingly snuck in a dig at Drake throughout his freestyle efficiency with the TDE cypher, rapping, “Yeah, and nothing been the identical since they dropped ‘Management’ / And tucked a delicate rapper again in his pajama garments.”
December 17, 2013
Drake hopped on a remix of Future’s monitor “S—” with Juicy J and hit again at Lamar, rapping, “I hear you discuss your metropolis such as you run that.” He additionally referenced Lamar mentioning him on “Management” with the strains, “And if a n—- say my identify, he the recent s— / But when I say the n—- identify, he nonetheless the recent s— / F—ed up, fortunate I don’t feed into the gossip.”
Days later, Vibe printed a canopy story that includes Drake, through which he claimed that “The Language” was not a direct rebuttal to “Management.”
“I don’t ever need to get into responses,” he mentioned when requested straight whether or not the monitor was a response to Lamar. “‘The Language’ is simply vitality. What it was impressed by, I’m certain that, and different issues. It’s simply me speaking my s—. I by no means as soon as felt the necessity to answer that document. The sentiment he was placing forth is what he ought to have. After all you wanna be the very best. The place it grew to become a difficulty is that I used to be rolling out an album whereas that verse was nonetheless effervescent, so my album rollout grew to become about this factor. What am I purported to say? ‘Nah, we’ll be buddy-buddy?’ Thoughts you, I by no means as soon as mentioned he’s a nasty man [or] I don’t like him. I feel he’s a f—ing genius in his personal proper, however I additionally stood my floor as I ought to.”
The meat between Drake and Kendrick Lamar has many individuals, together with some A-list stars, speaking about hip-hop. The conflict between the 2 rappers got here to a head when Metro Boomin teamed with Future — who’s labored ceaselessly with Drake prior to now — for We Don’t Belief You and We Nonetheless Don’t Belief You, […]
Drake famous that he hadn’t seen Lamar because the BET Hip Hop Awards, however he thought issues could be tremendous between them. “I’ve no in poor health emotions towards that man,” he mentioned. “It’s similar to, it’s there for me if I wanna fall for it. I’m simply too sensible for that. … We haven’t seen one another [since the BET cypher], however I’m certain we’ll see one another and it’ll be cool. And if it’s not, then I assume that’s how our story unfolds.”
March 15, 2015
Lamar launched his third studio album, To Pimp a Butterfly, that includes the tune “King Kunta.” One line particularly — “I can dig rapping, however a rapper with a ghost author? What the f— occurred?” — left followers questioning whether or not Lamar was acknowledging rumors that Drake doesn’t write his personal raps. (Lamar has by no means confirmed who that quip was about.)
June 26, 2015
Drake BG027/Bauer-Griffin/GC Photos
The duo’s extra refined beef continued throughout Drake’s visitor look on The Sport’s “100,” through which he seemingly took a shot at Lamar’s repute for socially aware lyrics. “I might have all your followers / If I didn’t go pop and I stayed on some aware s—,” Drake boasted.
October 6, 2023
Whereas the pair traded a couple of extra refined barbs after “King Kunta” and “100,” their feud didn’t actually kick off once more till 2023 when Drake launched his album For All of the Canines. On the monitor “First Particular person Shooter,” J. Cole delivered the strains that seemingly impressed all of the back-and-forth that was but to come back: “Love once they argue the toughest MC / Is it Okay.Dot? Is it Aubrey? Or me? / We the large three like we began a league, however proper now, I really feel like Muhammad Ali.” (Okay.Dot refers to Lamar’s unique stage identify, whereas Aubrey is Drake’s given first identify.)
Drake, in the meantime, described himself as “massive because the Tremendous Bowl” — a reference he’d arguably come to remorse in a while.
March 22, 2024
5 months later, Lamar responded to Cole’s “massive three” strains on “Like That,” which appeared on Future and Metro Boomin’s album We Don’t Belief You. “Motherf— the large three, n—-, it’s simply massive me,” he rapped.
For those who’re confused by Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s feud, look no additional than Dua Lipa for all of the intel. The pop star, 28, tried to clarify the rappers’ unhealthy blood whereas internet hosting Saturday Night time Reside on Saturday, Might 4, in a skit titled “Good Morning Greenville.” (Dua was additionally the episode’s musical visitor.) Within the […]
Two days later, Drake seemingly responded to the dig on stage, telling a Florida crowd, “Lots of people ask me how I’m feeling. … I obtained my f—ing head up excessive, my again straight, I’m 10 f—ing toes down in Florida and wherever else I’m going. And I do know that it doesn’t matter what, it’s not a n—- on this Earth that would ever f— with me in my life!”
April 5, 2024
Cole launched a Lamar diss monitor referred to as “7 Minute Drill” on the mixtape May Delete Later, that includes pointed lyrics like, “Your first s— was traditional, your final s— was tragic.” Two days later, nevertheless, he issued a public apology, saying he “felt horrible” concerning the tune, which he later faraway from streaming providers.
April 12, 2024
Future and Metro launched their collaborative album We Nonetheless Don’t Belief You, which included visitor appearances from ASAP Rocky and The Weeknd, each of whom followers believed insulted Drake on their respective tracks. On “Present of Fingers,” ASAP appeared to take pictures at For All of the Canines not making a lot of a cultural affect, whereas The Weeknd appeared to specific reduction that he hadn’t signed with Drake’s label, OVO Sound.
April 13, 2024
Drake Prince Williams/Wireimage
The diss monitor warfare started in earnest with the leak of Drake’s “Push Ups,” which mocked Lamar’s peak and referred to as him a “pipsqueak.”
April 19, 2024
Days later, Drake adopted up with “Taylor Made Freestyle,” which took goal at Lamar’s connection to Taylor Swift (the pair collaborated on the “Dangerous Blood” remix in 2015). The tune ended up making headlines for a special purpose, nevertheless: It included an AI-generated pattern of Tupac Shakur. Shakur’s property despatched Drake a cease-and-desist over the usage of the pattern, and Drake eliminated the monitor from streaming providers.
April 30, 2024
Lamar hit again with “Euphoria” — the primary of a number of diss tracks — as a nod to the HBO drama of the identical identify (which Drake govt produces). The six-minute tune noticed Lamar hurling insults like, “I hate the way in which that you just stroll, the way in which that you just discuss, I hate the way in which that you just gown / Shocked you needed that function request / You understand that we obtained some shit to handle / I even hate while you say the phrase ‘n—-,’ however that’s simply me, I assume / Some s— simply cringeworthy, it ain’t even gotta be deep, I assume.”
Might 3, 2024
Days later, the pair had been at it once more, with Lamar dropping “6:16 in LA” and Drake releasing “Household Issues” in response. Lamar’s tune claimed that there was a mole inside OVO sharing filth on Drake, whereas Drake accused Lamar of dishonest on his spouse, Whitney Alford.
Might 4, 2024
Lamar dropped two extra songs that almost all commentators agreed successfully ended the battle: “Meet the Grahams” and “Not Like Us.” Within the former monitor, Lamar alleged that Drake has a secret daughter he’s by no means publicly acknowledged, and within the latter he famously accused him of pedophilia.
Might 5, 2024
Drake denied the allegations in “Meet the Grahams” and “Not Like Us” with “The Coronary heart Half 6,” the title of which is a play on Lamar’s personal “The Coronary heart” sequence. In a single verse, Drake claimed that he baited Lamar into receiving pretend intel concerning the alleged secret daughter, rapping: “We plotted for per week after which we fed you the data / A daughter that’s 11 years previous, I guess he takes it / We considered giving a pretend identify or a vacation spot / However you so thirsty, you not involved with investigation.”
Metro Boomin, in the meantime, launched the immediately viral “BBL Drizzy” pattern and supplied a prize to the one that delivered the very best rap over the beat. (The tune’s title and hook is a reference to Rick Ross’ joking that Drake had a Brazilian butt elevate.)
In an unexpected flip of occasions, J. Cole has had a change of coronary heart about his current Kendrick Lamar diss monitor. Movies posted to social media that confirmed Cole, 39, addressing the crown throughout his set at Raleigh’s Dreamville Pageant on Sunday, April 7. Cole launched his newest album, May Delete Later, two days prior, […]
Might 24, 2024
Drake contributed a visitor verse on Sexxy Pink’s “U My Every little thing,” which included a pattern of “BBL Drizzy.”
June 19, 2024
At his Pop Out live performance on Juneteenth, Lamar carried out “Not Like Us” 5 consecutive occasions. Notable attendees included NBA stars LeBron James, Russell Westbrook and James Harden in addition to actors Ayo Edebiri and LaKeith Stanfield.
July 4, 2024
Lamar launched the “Not Like Us” music video, which features a scene that exhibits him beating up an owl puppet. (The brand for Drake’s OVO model is an owl.)
September 8, 2024
Kendrick Lamar Taylor Hill/WireImage
The NFL introduced Lamar as the halftime show performer for Tremendous Bowl LIX, that means that he — not Drake — would formally be as “massive because the Tremendous Bowl.”
September 11, 2024
After a number of musicians criticized the NFL for not selecting Lil Wayne because the halftime headliner (the sport will happen in his hometown of New Orleans), Drake seemingly weighed in by sharing a number of images of Wayne by way of his Instagram Story.
October 1, 2024
Drake denied speculation that he despatched a cease-and-desist letter to Lamar about performing “Not Like Us” on the halftime present. “The rumors are fully false,” a rep for the rapper instructed Us on the time.
November 22, 2024
Lamar stunned followers with the discharge of his sixth studio album, GNX, which options manufacturing by longtime Swift pal and collaborator Jack Antonoff. On the opening monitor “Wacced Out Murals,” he addressed the controversy surrounding his halftime present gig and hinted that he and Drake won’t ever kiss and make up: “I by no means peaced it up, that s— don’t sit effectively with me / Earlier than I take a truce, I’ll take ’em to hell with me.”
November 25, 2024
Drake Prince Williams/Wireimage
In a authorized criticism, Drake alleged that Lamar’s document label, Common Music Group (which can be his personal document label), conspired to “artificially inflate” the recognition of “Not Like Us.” The submitting listed a number of strategies UMG allegedly used to popularize “Not Like Us,” together with hiring bots, paying influencers to spice up the tune and charging Spotify diminished licensing charges in alternate for recommending the tune to customers looking for “unrelated songs and artists.” The doc additionally accused UMG of paying Apple to have Siri “purposely misdirect” customers to Lamar’s monitor.
UMG vehemently denied Drake’s claims in a press release, telling Billboard: “The suggestion that UMG would do something to undermine any of its artists is offensive and unfaithful. We make use of the very best moral practices in our advertising and marketing and promotional campaigns. No quantity of contrived and absurd authorized arguments on this pre-action submission can masks the truth that followers select the music they need to hear.”
There’s clearly beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar, however after Lamar’s latest diss monitor, will there be “unhealthy blood” between Drake and Taylor Swift? Lamar, 36, stunned followers on Friday, Might 3, by releasing “6:16 in LA.” This second diss monitor got here mere days after he shared “Euphoria,” his long-awaited response to Drake’s “Push Ups” […]
November 26, 2024
Drake filed a second movement in opposition to UMG in Texas, accusing the label of allegedly utilizing payola to advertise “Not Like Us” with iHeartRadio. He additionally accused UMG of defamation, claiming they may have prevented the tune’s launch due to its lyrics “falsely accusing him of being a intercourse offender.”
December 20, 2024
Spotify weighed in on the authorized motions filed in opposition to UMG, denying Drake’s claims that the streaming platform was concerned in falsely inflating the streaming numbers of “Not Like Us.”
“Spotify and UMG have by no means had any such association,” the corporate mentioned in a court docket submitting, noting that they’d additionally discovered no proof to assist claims of an alleged bot assault.
In response, Drake’s authorized workforce mentioned in a press release, “It’s not stunning that Spotify is attempting to distance themselves from UMG’s allegedly manipulative practices to artificially inflate streaming numbers on behalf of certainly one of its different artists. If Spotify and UMG don’t have anything to cover then they need to be completely tremendous complying with this fundamental discovery request.”
January 3, 2025
Drake kicked off the brand new 12 months with one other freestyle addressing his feud with Lamar. In “Preventing Irish” — which was shared by way of YouTube by producer Conductor Williams and shortly deleted — the Canadian rapper seemingly addressed pals (like LeBron James) who attended Lamar’s Pop Out live performance in June 2024. “The world fell in love with the gimmicks, even my brothers obtained tickets / Appeared like they beloved each minute,” he rapped. “Simply know this s— is private to us, and it wasn’t simply enterprise.”
The Grammy winner additionally hinted at his authorized dispute with UMG within the line, “I’d hate to see the empire crumble on choose’s convictions.”
January 14, 2025
Drake formally withdrew his authorized petition accusing UMG of artificially inflating the recognition of “Not Like Us” utilizing bots and different strategies of promotion, per Billboard. The rapper’s firm Frozen Moments LLC mentioned it could voluntarily withdraw the motion “with out prices to any occasion.”
A separate motion filed in Texas accusing UMG of defamation and payola stays pending.
January 15, 2025
Someday after withdrawing his unique authorized petition, Drake filed a federal lawsuit accusing UMG of defamation and harassment, claiming that the label “selected company greed over the protection and well-being of its artists.” In an 81-page criticism, Drake’s attorneys alleged that Lamar’s security impressed quite a few break-in makes an attempt at his Toronto residence in addition to a capturing that left a safety guard injured.
UMG denied his allegations, telling Us in a press release: “Not solely are these claims unfaithful, however the notion that we’d search to hurt the repute of any artist — not to mention Drake — is illogical. We’ve got invested massively in his music and our staff world wide have labored tirelessly for a few years to assist him obtain historic business and private monetary success. All through his profession, Drake has deliberately and efficiently used UMG to distribute his music and poetry to interact in conventionally outrageous back-and-forth ‘rap battles’ to specific his emotions about different artists. He now seeks to weaponize the authorized course of to silence an artist’s artistic expression and to hunt damages from UMG for distributing that artist’s music.”
The assertion continued: “We’ve got not and don’t have interaction in defamation — in opposition to any particular person. On the identical time, we’ll vigorously defend this litigation to guard our individuals and our repute, in addition to any artist who would possibly straight or not directly turn out to be a frivolous litigation goal for having executed nothing greater than write a tune.”
February 9, 2024
After weeks of hypothesis about whether or not Lamar would truly perform “Not Like Us” on the Tremendous Bowl, he did — and introduced out Drake’s rumored ex Serena Williams in the course of the tune. As Lamar completed his halftime present set, the tennis icon danced on stage in a blue and white outfit. (Lamar and Williams are each natives of Compton, California.)
Drake and Williams had been romantically linked within the early 2010s. Whereas neither ever confirmed their relationship, Drake mentioned in 2024 that he wrote the tune “Too Good” from his 2016 album, Views, about her. “It’s humorous as a result of once I make songs about girls, I additionally make songs for them,” he defined in behind-the-scenes video footage. “If I’m gonna discuss them, I’ll a minimum of do them the justice of constructing them a tune that they like. So, I do know Serena very effectively and I do know that she’ll hear it loud and clear, however she’ll additionally not hate me for it as a result of it’s lighthearted.”
Kendrick Lamar and Drake Getty Photos (2)
Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s feud has turn out to be one of the vital storied rap beefs in historical past, however their relationship wasn’t at all times so fraught with pressure.
Earlier than Lamar made his main label debut with 2012’s Good Child, M.A.A.D Metropolis, the Compton native and Drake had been on good phrases. Lamar made a visitor look on Drake’s 2011 album, Take Care, and later opened for the Canadian rapper on his 2012 Membership Paradise tour. That very same 12 months, the duo contributed visitor verses to ASAP Rocky’s “F—in’ Issues,” and Drake appeared on Lamar’s monitor “Poetic Justice.”
Only one 12 months later, nevertheless, cracks of their skilled relationship began to indicate because the pair started taking pictures at one another of their music, beginning with Lamar’s verse on Huge Sean’s “Management.” Within the decade-plus since, the drama has solely escalated — and there’s no signal that these two ever plan on burying the hatchet.
Preserve scrolling for an entire timeline of Drake and Lamar’s feud:
August 14, 2013
The drama kicked off when Lamar took goal at Drake — and each different widespread rapper of the period — in his verse on Huge Sean’s “Management” with Jay Electronica. “I’m often homeboys with the identical n—-s I’m rhymin’ with / However that is hip-hop, and them n—-s ought to know what time it’s / And that goes for Jermaine Cole, Huge Okay.R.I.T., Wale / Pusha T, Meek Millz, ASAP Rocky, Drake / Huge Sean, Jay Electron’, Tyler, Mac Miller / I obtained love for you all, however I’m tryna homicide you n—-s / Tryna be certain your core followers by no means heard of you n—-s / They don’t wanna hear not yet another noun or verb from you n—-s.”
Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s rap feud is so heated that it could burn the hip-hop world to the bottom. Lamar, 36, and Drake, 37, have been waging lyrical warfare with more and more private diss tracks launched over the past a number of days. Drake’s “Household Issues” tune accused Lamar of being a “make-believe” activist, claimed Lamar obtained bodily […]
On the time, Drake mentioned he was unbothered by the tune, telling Billboard he “obtained dinner and stored it transferring” after listening to the monitor. “I didn’t actually have something to say about it,” he added. “It simply gave the impression of an formidable thought to me. That’s all it was. I do know good and effectively that Kendrick’s not murdering me, in any respect, in any platform. So when that day presents itself, I assume we will revisit the subject.”
September 24, 2013
Drake launched his third studio album, Nothing Was the Identical, which included a monitor referred to as “The Language” that some followers believed was a response to Lamar’s “Management” boasts. “I don’t know why they been lyin’ however your s— just isn’t that inspirin’ / Checking account assertion simply seem like I’m prepared for early retirement,” Drake rapped on the primary verse. “F— any n—- that’s speaking that shit simply to get a response.”
October 15, 2013
Kendrick Lamar Arnold Jerocki/Getty Photos
Throughout the BET Hip Hop Awards, Lamar seemingly snuck in a dig at Drake throughout his freestyle efficiency with the TDE cypher, rapping, “Yeah, and nothing been the identical since they dropped ‘Management’ / And tucked a delicate rapper again in his pajama garments.”
December 17, 2013
Drake hopped on a remix of Future’s monitor “S—” with Juicy J and hit again at Lamar, rapping, “I hear you discuss your metropolis such as you run that.” He additionally referenced Lamar mentioning him on “Management” with the strains, “And if a n—- say my identify, he the recent s— / But when I say the n—- identify, he nonetheless the recent s— / F—ed up, fortunate I don’t feed into the gossip.”
Days later, Vibe printed a canopy story that includes Drake, through which he claimed that “The Language” was not a direct rebuttal to “Management.”
“I don’t ever need to get into responses,” he mentioned when requested straight whether or not the monitor was a response to Lamar. “‘The Language’ is simply vitality. What it was impressed by, I’m certain that, and different issues. It’s simply me speaking my s—. I by no means as soon as felt the necessity to answer that document. The sentiment he was placing forth is what he ought to have. After all you wanna be the very best. The place it grew to become a difficulty is that I used to be rolling out an album whereas that verse was nonetheless effervescent, so my album rollout grew to become about this factor. What am I purported to say? ‘Nah, we’ll be buddy-buddy?’ Thoughts you, I by no means as soon as mentioned he’s a nasty man [or] I don’t like him. I feel he’s a f—ing genius in his personal proper, however I additionally stood my floor as I ought to.”
The meat between Drake and Kendrick Lamar has many individuals, together with some A-list stars, speaking about hip-hop. The conflict between the 2 rappers got here to a head when Metro Boomin teamed with Future — who’s labored ceaselessly with Drake prior to now — for We Don’t Belief You and We Nonetheless Don’t Belief You, […]
Drake famous that he hadn’t seen Lamar because the BET Hip Hop Awards, however he thought issues could be tremendous between them. “I’ve no in poor health emotions towards that man,” he mentioned. “It’s similar to, it’s there for me if I wanna fall for it. I’m simply too sensible for that. … We haven’t seen one another [since the BET cypher], however I’m certain we’ll see one another and it’ll be cool. And if it’s not, then I assume that’s how our story unfolds.”
March 15, 2015
Lamar launched his third studio album, To Pimp a Butterfly, that includes the tune “King Kunta.” One line particularly — “I can dig rapping, however a rapper with a ghost author? What the f— occurred?” — left followers questioning whether or not Lamar was acknowledging rumors that Drake doesn’t write his personal raps. (Lamar has by no means confirmed who that quip was about.)
June 26, 2015
Drake BG027/Bauer-Griffin/GC Photos
The duo’s extra refined beef continued throughout Drake’s visitor look on The Sport’s “100,” through which he seemingly took a shot at Lamar’s repute for socially aware lyrics. “I might have all your followers / If I didn’t go pop and I stayed on some aware s—,” Drake boasted.
October 6, 2023
Whereas the pair traded a couple of extra refined barbs after “King Kunta” and “100,” their feud didn’t actually kick off once more till 2023 when Drake launched his album For All of the Canines. On the monitor “First Particular person Shooter,” J. Cole delivered the strains that seemingly impressed all of the back-and-forth that was but to come back: “Love once they argue the toughest MC / Is it Okay.Dot? Is it Aubrey? Or me? / We the large three like we began a league, however proper now, I really feel like Muhammad Ali.” (Okay.Dot refers to Lamar’s unique stage identify, whereas Aubrey is Drake’s given first identify.)
Drake, in the meantime, described himself as “massive because the Tremendous Bowl” — a reference he’d arguably come to remorse in a while.
March 22, 2024
5 months later, Lamar responded to Cole’s “massive three” strains on “Like That,” which appeared on Future and Metro Boomin’s album We Don’t Belief You. “Motherf— the large three, n—-, it’s simply massive me,” he rapped.
For those who’re confused by Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s feud, look no additional than Dua Lipa for all of the intel. The pop star, 28, tried to clarify the rappers’ unhealthy blood whereas internet hosting Saturday Night time Reside on Saturday, Might 4, in a skit titled “Good Morning Greenville.” (Dua was additionally the episode’s musical visitor.) Within the […]
Two days later, Drake seemingly responded to the dig on stage, telling a Florida crowd, “Lots of people ask me how I’m feeling. … I obtained my f—ing head up excessive, my again straight, I’m 10 f—ing toes down in Florida and wherever else I’m going. And I do know that it doesn’t matter what, it’s not a n—- on this Earth that would ever f— with me in my life!”
April 5, 2024
Cole launched a Lamar diss monitor referred to as “7 Minute Drill” on the mixtape May Delete Later, that includes pointed lyrics like, “Your first s— was traditional, your final s— was tragic.” Two days later, nevertheless, he issued a public apology, saying he “felt horrible” concerning the tune, which he later faraway from streaming providers.
April 12, 2024
Future and Metro launched their collaborative album We Nonetheless Don’t Belief You, which included visitor appearances from ASAP Rocky and The Weeknd, each of whom followers believed insulted Drake on their respective tracks. On “Present of Fingers,” ASAP appeared to take pictures at For All of the Canines not making a lot of a cultural affect, whereas The Weeknd appeared to specific reduction that he hadn’t signed with Drake’s label, OVO Sound.
April 13, 2024
Drake Prince Williams/Wireimage
The diss monitor warfare started in earnest with the leak of Drake’s “Push Ups,” which mocked Lamar’s peak and referred to as him a “pipsqueak.”
April 19, 2024
Days later, Drake adopted up with “Taylor Made Freestyle,” which took goal at Lamar’s connection to Taylor Swift (the pair collaborated on the “Dangerous Blood” remix in 2015). The tune ended up making headlines for a special purpose, nevertheless: It included an AI-generated pattern of Tupac Shakur. Shakur’s property despatched Drake a cease-and-desist over the usage of the pattern, and Drake eliminated the monitor from streaming providers.
April 30, 2024
Lamar hit again with “Euphoria” — the primary of a number of diss tracks — as a nod to the HBO drama of the identical identify (which Drake govt produces). The six-minute tune noticed Lamar hurling insults like, “I hate the way in which that you just stroll, the way in which that you just discuss, I hate the way in which that you just gown / Shocked you needed that function request / You understand that we obtained some shit to handle / I even hate while you say the phrase ‘n—-,’ however that’s simply me, I assume / Some s— simply cringeworthy, it ain’t even gotta be deep, I assume.”
Might 3, 2024
Days later, the pair had been at it once more, with Lamar dropping “6:16 in LA” and Drake releasing “Household Issues” in response. Lamar’s tune claimed that there was a mole inside OVO sharing filth on Drake, whereas Drake accused Lamar of dishonest on his spouse, Whitney Alford.
Might 4, 2024
Lamar dropped two extra songs that almost all commentators agreed successfully ended the battle: “Meet the Grahams” and “Not Like Us.” Within the former monitor, Lamar alleged that Drake has a secret daughter he’s by no means publicly acknowledged, and within the latter he famously accused him of pedophilia.
Might 5, 2024
Drake denied the allegations in “Meet the Grahams” and “Not Like Us” with “The Coronary heart Half 6,” the title of which is a play on Lamar’s personal “The Coronary heart” sequence. In a single verse, Drake claimed that he baited Lamar into receiving pretend intel concerning the alleged secret daughter, rapping: “We plotted for per week after which we fed you the data / A daughter that’s 11 years previous, I guess he takes it / We considered giving a pretend identify or a vacation spot / However you so thirsty, you not involved with investigation.”
Metro Boomin, in the meantime, launched the immediately viral “BBL Drizzy” pattern and supplied a prize to the one that delivered the very best rap over the beat. (The tune’s title and hook is a reference to Rick Ross’ joking that Drake had a Brazilian butt elevate.)
In an unexpected flip of occasions, J. Cole has had a change of coronary heart about his current Kendrick Lamar diss monitor. Movies posted to social media that confirmed Cole, 39, addressing the crown throughout his set at Raleigh’s Dreamville Pageant on Sunday, April 7. Cole launched his newest album, May Delete Later, two days prior, […]
Might 24, 2024
Drake contributed a visitor verse on Sexxy Pink’s “U My Every little thing,” which included a pattern of “BBL Drizzy.”
June 19, 2024
At his Pop Out live performance on Juneteenth, Lamar carried out “Not Like Us” 5 consecutive occasions. Notable attendees included NBA stars LeBron James, Russell Westbrook and James Harden in addition to actors Ayo Edebiri and LaKeith Stanfield.
July 4, 2024
Lamar launched the “Not Like Us” music video, which features a scene that exhibits him beating up an owl puppet. (The brand for Drake’s OVO model is an owl.)
September 8, 2024
Kendrick Lamar Taylor Hill/WireImage
The NFL introduced Lamar as the halftime show performer for Tremendous Bowl LIX, that means that he — not Drake — would formally be as “massive because the Tremendous Bowl.”
September 11, 2024
After a number of musicians criticized the NFL for not selecting Lil Wayne because the halftime headliner (the sport will happen in his hometown of New Orleans), Drake seemingly weighed in by sharing a number of images of Wayne by way of his Instagram Story.
October 1, 2024
Drake denied speculation that he despatched a cease-and-desist letter to Lamar about performing “Not Like Us” on the halftime present. “The rumors are fully false,” a rep for the rapper instructed Us on the time.
November 22, 2024
Lamar stunned followers with the discharge of his sixth studio album, GNX, which options manufacturing by longtime Swift pal and collaborator Jack Antonoff. On the opening monitor “Wacced Out Murals,” he addressed the controversy surrounding his halftime present gig and hinted that he and Drake won’t ever kiss and make up: “I by no means peaced it up, that s— don’t sit effectively with me / Earlier than I take a truce, I’ll take ’em to hell with me.”
November 25, 2024
Drake Prince Williams/Wireimage
In a authorized criticism, Drake alleged that Lamar’s document label, Common Music Group (which can be his personal document label), conspired to “artificially inflate” the recognition of “Not Like Us.” The submitting listed a number of strategies UMG allegedly used to popularize “Not Like Us,” together with hiring bots, paying influencers to spice up the tune and charging Spotify diminished licensing charges in alternate for recommending the tune to customers looking for “unrelated songs and artists.” The doc additionally accused UMG of paying Apple to have Siri “purposely misdirect” customers to Lamar’s monitor.
UMG vehemently denied Drake’s claims in a press release, telling Billboard: “The suggestion that UMG would do something to undermine any of its artists is offensive and unfaithful. We make use of the very best moral practices in our advertising and marketing and promotional campaigns. No quantity of contrived and absurd authorized arguments on this pre-action submission can masks the truth that followers select the music they need to hear.”
There’s clearly beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar, however after Lamar’s latest diss monitor, will there be “unhealthy blood” between Drake and Taylor Swift? Lamar, 36, stunned followers on Friday, Might 3, by releasing “6:16 in LA.” This second diss monitor got here mere days after he shared “Euphoria,” his long-awaited response to Drake’s “Push Ups” […]
November 26, 2024
Drake filed a second movement in opposition to UMG in Texas, accusing the label of allegedly utilizing payola to advertise “Not Like Us” with iHeartRadio. He additionally accused UMG of defamation, claiming they may have prevented the tune’s launch due to its lyrics “falsely accusing him of being a intercourse offender.”
December 20, 2024
Spotify weighed in on the authorized motions filed in opposition to UMG, denying Drake’s claims that the streaming platform was concerned in falsely inflating the streaming numbers of “Not Like Us.”
“Spotify and UMG have by no means had any such association,” the corporate mentioned in a court docket submitting, noting that they’d additionally discovered no proof to assist claims of an alleged bot assault.
In response, Drake’s authorized workforce mentioned in a press release, “It’s not stunning that Spotify is attempting to distance themselves from UMG’s allegedly manipulative practices to artificially inflate streaming numbers on behalf of certainly one of its different artists. If Spotify and UMG don’t have anything to cover then they need to be completely tremendous complying with this fundamental discovery request.”
January 3, 2025
Drake kicked off the brand new 12 months with one other freestyle addressing his feud with Lamar. In “Preventing Irish” — which was shared by way of YouTube by producer Conductor Williams and shortly deleted — the Canadian rapper seemingly addressed pals (like LeBron James) who attended Lamar’s Pop Out live performance in June 2024. “The world fell in love with the gimmicks, even my brothers obtained tickets / Appeared like they beloved each minute,” he rapped. “Simply know this s— is private to us, and it wasn’t simply enterprise.”
The Grammy winner additionally hinted at his authorized dispute with UMG within the line, “I’d hate to see the empire crumble on choose’s convictions.”
January 14, 2025
Drake formally withdrew his authorized petition accusing UMG of artificially inflating the recognition of “Not Like Us” utilizing bots and different strategies of promotion, per Billboard. The rapper’s firm Frozen Moments LLC mentioned it could voluntarily withdraw the motion “with out prices to any occasion.”
A separate motion filed in Texas accusing UMG of defamation and payola stays pending.
January 15, 2025
Someday after withdrawing his unique authorized petition, Drake filed a federal lawsuit accusing UMG of defamation and harassment, claiming that the label “selected company greed over the protection and well-being of its artists.” In an 81-page criticism, Drake’s attorneys alleged that Lamar’s security impressed quite a few break-in makes an attempt at his Toronto residence in addition to a capturing that left a safety guard injured.
UMG denied his allegations, telling Us in a press release: “Not solely are these claims unfaithful, however the notion that we’d search to hurt the repute of any artist — not to mention Drake — is illogical. We’ve got invested massively in his music and our staff world wide have labored tirelessly for a few years to assist him obtain historic business and private monetary success. All through his profession, Drake has deliberately and efficiently used UMG to distribute his music and poetry to interact in conventionally outrageous back-and-forth ‘rap battles’ to specific his emotions about different artists. He now seeks to weaponize the authorized course of to silence an artist’s artistic expression and to hunt damages from UMG for distributing that artist’s music.”
The assertion continued: “We’ve got not and don’t have interaction in defamation — in opposition to any particular person. On the identical time, we’ll vigorously defend this litigation to guard our individuals and our repute, in addition to any artist who would possibly straight or not directly turn out to be a frivolous litigation goal for having executed nothing greater than write a tune.”
February 9, 2024
After weeks of hypothesis about whether or not Lamar would truly perform “Not Like Us” on the Tremendous Bowl, he did — and introduced out Drake’s rumored ex Serena Williams in the course of the tune. As Lamar completed his halftime present set, the tennis icon danced on stage in a blue and white outfit. (Lamar and Williams are each natives of Compton, California.)
Drake and Williams had been romantically linked within the early 2010s. Whereas neither ever confirmed their relationship, Drake mentioned in 2024 that he wrote the tune “Too Good” from his 2016 album, Views, about her. “It’s humorous as a result of once I make songs about girls, I additionally make songs for them,” he defined in behind-the-scenes video footage. “If I’m gonna discuss them, I’ll a minimum of do them the justice of constructing them a tune that they like. So, I do know Serena very effectively and I do know that she’ll hear it loud and clear, however she’ll additionally not hate me for it as a result of it’s lighthearted.”
