Photo (on left) by Aaron McMurtry, CC BY-2.0 on Flickr Photo (on right) by Eli Watson, CC BY-2.0 on Flickr

By Jasmine Wong

For long, rappers Kendrick Lamar and Drake have had an unrelenting feud consisting of insults and allegations about both rappers’s personal lives. Recently, this bitter conflict exploded, as both rappers released increasingly escalating diss tracks. 

The history between these two rappers go back till 2011 where the relationship between them started in a friendly way. From 2011-2012, Kendrick Lamar and Drake collaborated multiple times, such as on Drake’s 2011 Take Care album and on Lamar’s 2012’s Good Kid, M.A.A.D City.

The tense relationship between the two is speculated to have begun in 2013 when Lamar called out Drake and other rappers in a song. However, it was not until last October that the situation escalated a bit, when lyrics of Drake’s “First Person Shooter” stated that Drake, Lamar, and J. Cole were the “big three” current rappers. Lamar’s feature on “Like That” in March was the beginning of their beef, when his lyrics criticizes Cole and Drake for implying that they have a similar status as the “big three” of modern (since 2010) rap.

Recently, this April and May, both Drake and Lamar have decided to continue their feuding and released multiple tracks directly aimed at the other rapper. As of May 8th, here is a timeline of the recent releases and their overall messages:

  • April 19 – Drake released “Push Ups” and “Taylor Made Freestyle,” where he makes fun of Lamar for being featured in pop songs, such as with Maroon 5 and Taylor Swift. However, Drake’s “Taylor Made Freestyle” had to be removed from public platforms because of the use of AI-generated vocals.
  • April 30 – Lamar released “Euphoria,” which responds to Drake’s releases and also bashes Drake’s music and rap. Specifically, he focuses on mentioning Drake’s many relationships and how Drake is not completely black.
  • May 3 – Lamar released a second song, “6:16 in LA,” where he once again disses Drake of his taste in women. It is speculated that “6:16” has many different meanings, such as June 16th being Father’s Day and the day Lamar held his Toronto concert in 2011. It also mirrors Drake’s series of songs which have names of a time in a certain place, such as “5 Am in Toronto”and “6PM in New York.”  Many fans also theorize that “6:16” references Corinthians 6:16. 
  • May 3 – Drake responded through “Family Matters.” Here, he responds to Lamar’s lyrics of him being not fully black. Drake’s lyrics state that Lamar is not any better as he associates with white women as well. Drake also brings up the fact that one of Lamar’s children may not actually be his, but of Lamar’s close record executive, Dave Free.
  • May 4 – Less than an hour after Drake’s release, Kendrick Lamar continued this feud by releasing “Meet the Grahams.” This track is considered the most aggressive of all releases relating to the rapper’s dispute, and it escalates the situation because of the allegation Kendrick makes. Through this track, Lamar speaks to every member of Drake’s family, including Drake’s parents, his son, his alleged daughter, and Drake himself. To Drake’s son, Adonis, he apologises to them for having Drake as a father. Throughout this track, Lamar makes many claims of Drake taking Ozempic and Drake being a pedophile. He compares Drake to a known sex offender and warns the public to keep their children safe from “predators like him.” Finally, Lamar speaks to Drake’s alleged daughter, whose life Drake was again allegedly “not active” in. In response to this, Drake denied these claims that he has a daughter.
  • May 4 – Lamar continues with his allegations by releasing “Not Like Us” not even a day after his release of “Meet the Grahams.” He once again continues with claims of Drake being a child predator. He also calls out Drake for using AI-generated vocals for his previous release.
  • May 5 – Finally, the most recent release was from Drake, named “The Heart Part 6,” which references Lamar’s “The Heart” song series. Through this, he denies the allegations Lamar claimed, including the allegation of him being a child predator. In this release, Drake reveals that he and his team fed Lamar  “false information,”implying that Lamar jumped to conclusions and did not do his research. 

The feuding between Drake and Kendrick Lamar continuously led to the unraveling of truths and lies. With no end in sight, the beef between the rappers continues to escalate and may eventually lead to larger truths.

Works Cited

Mendez, Moises, and Solcyré Burga. “A Recent Timeline of the Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar Beef.” time.com, 6 May 2024, https://time.com/6975027/kendrick-lamar-drake-beef-explained-timeline/. Accessed 8 May 2024.

Ushe, Naledi. “Kendrick Lamar drops ‘6:16 in LA’: Lyrics, Drake diss title analyzed.” USA Today, 3 May 2024, https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2024/05/03/kendrick-lamar-616-in-la-drake-lyrics-title-fathers-day/73554914007/. Accessed 8 May 2024.

Vivinetto, Gina, and Candice Williams. “Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s longstanding feud, explained.” today.com, 5 May 2024, https://www.today.com/popculture/music/drake-kendrick-lamar-feud-explained-rcna150621. Accessed 8 May 2024.