Drake’s diss to Kendrick, explained

In what seems like the hip-hop equivalent of Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers, Kendrick Lamar and Drake have for some time been engaged in a passionate back-and-forth, though this feud is decidedly less glamorous.

While the two rappers might have been feuding in recent years, they were once prolific collaborators, lending verses to each other’s songs way back in the the 2010’s. Now, however, the friendship has turned sour, and the beef reached its head with the release of Drake’s recent diss track, “Taylor Made Freestyle.”

The song, shared only to social media, was a response to Lamar’s earlier diss track of Drake, and in one fell swoop manages to implicate Lamar, Snoop Dogg, 2Pac, and Taylor Swift, the last of whom just can’t seem to be left alone. It’s a complex web of hip-hop quarrels, so here’s everything we know about Drake’s diss to Kendrick Lamar. 

Drake’s diss track to Kendrick Lamar, explained

On April 20, 2024, Drake dropped his latest song, “Taylor Made Freestyle.” The track was aimed squarely at Kendrick Lamar, who himself had traded barbs with Drake with his verse on the Future and Metro Boomin’ song “Like That,” which was released in March. For his part, Drake brought Snoop Dogg and 2Pac into the fold, using AI renderings of their respective voices to address Lamar in the lyrics. 

On “Taylor Made Freestyle,” an AI version of 2Pac can be heard goading Lamar into responding to the song, telling the rapper that “we need ya, the West Coast savior/Engraving your name in some hip-hop history.” Snoop Dogg’s voice, meanwhile, is heard asking Lamar to “do some dirty work” and questioning whether Lamar is “out of moves.”

Though the reason for her involvement is tenuous, Taylor Swift — who collaborated with Lamar on the 2015 remixed version of “Bad Blood” — is mentioned by Drake in “Taylor Made Version.” The rapper says that, given the chart-hogging success of Swift’s new album Tortured Poets Department, Lamar has to “wait a week” before responding to him with another diss track. “If you ’bout to drop,” he raps, “she gotta approve.” 

Needless to say, but “Taylor Made Freestyle” has brought yet more mess to the already messy relationship between Drake and Lamar. The song specifically caught the ire of 2Pac’s estate, who sent a legal letter to Drake citing the “misappropriation and misuse” of his voice through artificial intelligence. The estate wrote that it was “deeply disappointed and dismayed” by the use of 2Pac’s likeness, and called it a “blatant abuse” of his legacy. Ouch.

Drake has since removed the song from social media, though it appears that damage has already been done in the eyes of 2Pac’s estate, which firmly sided with Lamar. The estate described Lamar as a “good friend” who “has given nothing but respect to Tupac.” 

The song adds to a long line of diss tracks released by the pair in recent months, with Lamar taking aim at the so-called Big 3 of rap — being him, J. Cole and Drake — on the track “Like That,” which dropped in March. “Mother**** the big three, it’s just big me,” Lamar said.

More recently, Drake responded with the song “Push Ups,” released on streaming services in early-April. That song sees Drake make fun of Lamar’s small stature, and his relationship with his label, Top Dawg Entertainment.