The brutal rap battle currently going on between Drake and Kendrick Lamar has to be one of the most entertaining things to happen in the past few weeks, but if you’re just jumping on board this crazy train, you’ve got a lot of catching up to do.
When did the beef start?
The beginning of this tale is practically ancient history at this point; Kendrick dissed Drake on his track “Control” back in 2012, and the Canadian rapper seems to have been unable to let it go. More recently, Drake released a song with J Cole titled “First Person Shooter” in which Cole claimed himself, Drake, and Kenrick Lamar to be the big three in hip hop. That’s sort of the Cliffs Notes leading up to the current all-out war, but we’ve got a more in depth article of the events here. Anyways, here’s a timeline of the diss tracks to date.
March 22nd: “Like That” – Future, Metro Boomin, Kendrick Lamar
Earlier this year, Kendrick would respond to Drake’s claim that he was part of the “big three.” Ultimately he would dismiss the idea, saying, “it’s just big me.” He throws in a few more subtle digs at Drake, but it’s nothing too serious at this point.
April 13th: “Push Ups” – Drake
Not being one to take an insult lying down, Drake decided he’d hop in with his own diss track a few weeks later. In the leaked song, Drake effectively taunts the rapper, claiming that he’s at the “top of the mountain” and implying Kendrick is below him, “Just to have this talk with yo’ *ss, I had to hike down.” He also takes shots at Kendrick’s work with other musicians, bringing in a few names who don’t really have too much to do with the drama, including Taylor Swift and Rick Ross.
April 19th: “Taylor Made Freestyle” – Drake
Not done yet, Drake followed up his first response with another less than a week later. The track has since been deleted due to the fact that the musician made use of A.I. generated voices from two of Kendrick’s heroes: Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg; he received a cease and desist from the Shakur estate. Anyways, after the A.I. verse, Drake’s vocals continue to mock his rival once again, dragging Taylor Swift into the beef with “Now we gotta wait a f***ing week cause Taylor Swift is your new top, and if you boutta drop, she gotta approve.”
April 30th “Euphoria” – Kendrick Lamar
The title is obviously alluding to the HBO series of the same name, of which Drake is a producer. During the six minute track Kendrick doesn’t hold back, mocking Drake for anything and everything from the rapper’s racial identity, to accusing him of having plastic surgery, and even taking fire at his parenting. Obviously Kendrick isn’t messing around this time, with the lines “I hate the way that you walk, the way that you talk/ I hate the way that you dress/ I hate the way you sneak diss,” making his feelings very very clear.
May 3rd: “6:16 in LA” – Kendrick Lamar
But it seems that the six minute diss track wasn’t enough though, because Kendrick was back 3 days later, like Jesus, to deliver even more burns. Even the title of this song is a jab at Drake’s habit of using dates and times in his own titles; not only is that date Father’s Day, but it’s also Tupac Shakur’s birthday. The track was also produced by Swift’s producer, Jack Antonoff, which is another subtle, yet genius detail.
May 3rd: “Family Matters” – Drake
The evening of the same day Kendrick released “6:16,” Drake responded with an eight minute long track implying that Kendrick’s son was actually fathered by his manager. He also brings the rapper’s wife, Whitney Alford, into it and at the end of the diss, outright accuses Kendrick of domestic abuse against Alford.
May 4th: “Meet the Grahams” – Kendrick Lamar
Clearly Kendrick was ready for Drake’s response, dropping “Meet the Grahams” mere hours after “Family Matters.” In this track, Kendrick accuses Drake of having a secret daughter, as well as being addicted to gambling, drugs, alcohol, sex, and spending. The lyrics also address Drake’s son, Adonis directly as he tells him he’s sorry Drake is his father. For good measure, Kendrick throws a few more digs regarding Drake’s supposed plastic surgery.
May 4th: “Not Like Us” – Kendrick Lamar
Kendrick’s latest diss track came Saturday evening/Sunday morning, and has already amassed millions of views on YouTube. Once more, Kendrick doesn’t hold back, opting to go in with the pedophile allegations against Drake. One line in particular caught the internet’s attention, “Tryna strike a chord and it’s probably A-minor,” — I mean, how do you even recover from that?
May 5th: “The Heart Part 6” – Drake
Drake was ready, dropping his response shortly after “Not Like Us.” The title is a reference to Kendrick’s five part “The Heart” series. In it, Drake dispels the rumors regarding his supposed secret daughter, claiming that the rumor was actually planted by his own team to catch Kendrick out before further taunting his new arch-nemesis.
What’s next?
There’s no doubt that this won’t be the end of it; it seems like things are just heating up and both sides have got plenty of ammo to keep this beef going for a while longer. So anyways, let’s just sit back, bust out the popcorn, and watch the fireworks.
