By Keerat Sidhu
Ever wondered what the Kenrick Lamar and Drake feud is all about and why it’s captivated the music world? Do you even know who they are? Here’s everything you need to know to put you in the picture.
So here is a broken down version that will be easy to follow, even if you have never heard of Kendrick, J Cole or Drake before.
2011: The beginning
Drake released his acclaimed album Take Care which included a feature from Kendrick Lamar on the track ‘Buried Alive’. At this time, Kendrick was an emerging artist, while Drake was on his second album.
2012: Touring together
In 2012, Drake invited Kendrick Lamar and ASAP Rocky (Rihanna’s husband) who is also now in a feud with Drake, to be the opening acts on his tour.
2013: The first shots fired
Kendrick Lamar appeared on the song ‘Control’ with Big Sean, where he called out several big names in rap, including Drake and Big Sean, asserting his competitive intent. Later that year, Kendrick took another shot at Drake during the BET Awards Cypher* saying, “Nothing’s been the same since they dropped Control,” and referring to Drake as a “fake.”
Renewed tensions
October 2023: Drake and J. Cole collaborated for the first time on the song ‘First Shooter’. In his verse J. Cole says “I love when they argue who’s the hardest MC? Is it K Dot (Kendrick Lamar), is it Aubrey (Drake) or is it me?” He also states, “we the big three like we started the league.”
March 2024: Kendrick Lamar featured on ‘Like That’ with Future and Metro Boomin, where he responded with “mother f*ck the big three, it’s just big me,” dismissing the notion of a ‘big three.’
April 2024: Drake released his first diss track ‘Push Ups’, mocking Kendrick’s height and referencing his record label, Top Dawg Entertainment, implying that Kendrick’s earnings are heavily split with the label. Drake followed up with another diss track ‘Taylor Made Freestyle’, suggesting that Kendrick was waiting for Taylor Swift’s new album to drop before releasing his diss track. Drake also implied that Taylor Swift was Kendrick’s new ‘Top Dawg’.
The escalation
Kendrick retaliated with ‘Euphoria’, where he criticises Drake for alleged plastic surgery and questions Drake’s authenticity regarding his skin colour. He also accused Drake’s label of attempting to suppress his song ‘Like That’. Drake quickly responded with ‘Family Matters’, accusing Kendrick of being a fake activist and questioning his comments on Drake’s skin colour, given that Drake is mixed and his long-term partner is a ‘mixed queen’. He also alleged that Kendrick had hit his partner and hired a crisis management team after discovering her infidelity.
Kendrick immediately released ‘Meet the Grahams’, a brutal track with four verses addressed to Drake’s son Adonis, Drake’s mother Sandra, Drake himself, and an alleged daughter of Drake who he never publicly acknowledged. In the song, Kendrick accuses Drake of being a deadbeat father, an alcoholic, and a substance user. He advises Adonis to ‘don’t cut corners like your daddy, f*ck ozempic’ and criticises Drake for spending time in Turks and Caicos rather than with his alleged daughter on her birthday. Kendrick further accuses Drake of hiding other children besides Adonis and the alleged daughter.
Now
Kendrick has since released ‘Not Like Us’, one of the most famous diss tracks across the globe, in which he doubles down on allegations against Drake of sexual misconduct and pedophilia. He made history when he performed the track five times at a Juneteenth ‘Pop Out’ show.
*BET Awards Cypher – The BET Awards are a US awards show started by the Black Entertainment Television network in 2001. A cypher is an informal gathering of rappers, beatboxers and/or breakdancers in a circle to jam together.
Image not the real artists.
