Written by: Taylor Duff | Staff Writer    Sophie Taylor | Designer

Content warning: this article contains mentions of violence and sexual assault/grooming.      

Kendrick and Drake have a tangled past that includes almost 10 years of static. As Kendrick Lamar’s popularity increased, Drake embraced him — giving him an interlude on his 2011 album, “Take Care,” and inviting him on the ensuing Club Paradise tour. 

The beef between the two began when Kendrick made a personal attack on Drake and 11 other rappers during his feature appearance on Big Sean’s song, “Control,” in August 2013, and tensions escalated. In October 2023, Drake, with fellow rapper J. Cole, released “First Person Shooter.” In the song, J. Cole boasts about his proficiency at rapping. He calls himself, Drake and Lamar the “big three.” 

Lamar responded to “First Person Shooter” in March 2024 by criticizing Drake and J. Cole during featured verses on “Metro Boomin” and Future’s song, “Like That.” Lamar rejected the notion that there was a “big three,” stating, “f–k the big three, it’s just big me.”

In response, Drake released a song titled “Push Ups (Drop and Give Me 50),” in which he mocked Lamar’s height. Within hours of Drake’s diss, Rick Ross responded with a single called “Champagne Moments,” claiming Drake had undergone plastic surgery, including a nose job, false abs and a Brazilian Butt Lift.

Drake’s “Taylor Made Freestyle” implied that Lamar was too cowardly to release music in the same week as Taylor Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department.” Drake used artificial intelligence to hurl insults in the voices of Lamar’s heroes: Tupac and Snoop Dogg. 

Lamar released “Euphoria” — after the HBO show of which Drake is an executive producer — which read like a laundry list of grievances against his sparring partner. Lamar described Drake as “predictable,” a “master manipulator” and a “habitual liar.” Less than 72 hours after “Euphoria” dropped, Lamar released a second song, “6:16 in LA.” In this track, he alleged that someone within Drake’s organization was leaking negative material.

Drake’s response was the song, “Family Matters,” which elevated the conflict to new heights. He quotes: “You mentioned my seed; now deal with his father,” Drake said. “I gotta go bad, I gotta go bad.” Drake hypothesized in the song that Lamar could be a perpetrator of domestic abuse — the star has never faced such an allegation. 

Within 20 minutes of Drake’s release of “Family Matters,” Lamar responded with a third diss track, “Meet The Grahams,” which began with the foreboding warning, “You messed up the minute you called out my family’s name.” Each verse was addressed to one of Drake’s closest family members, including his mother, father and six-year-old son, as well as an alleged “daughter” no one knows about. Lamar claims Drake covertly fathered a second child and was hooked on gambling, sex and drugs.

On his fourth diss track, “Not Like Us,” Lamar accused Drake of having connections with underage women. This is one of Lamar’s most popular quotes from “Not Like Us”: “Ain’t you tired? Tryna strikes a chord and it’s probably A Minor.” Drake alleges that an informant purposefully fed Lamar several statements with the expectation that the star would rap about them. 

The “Not Like Us” cover art is also an overhead picture of Drake’s house marked with red tags that would normally represent sex offenders on such websites, making more allegations about Drake. Producer Metro Boomin entered the battle by releasing a beat dubbed “BBL Drizzy,” urging fans to rap over it. Drake had previously criticized Boomin on “Push Ups,” instructing him to “shut up and make some drums.” 

Drake countered with “The Heart Part 6” May 5, denying Lamar’s claims of grooming accusations and saying that his crew deceived Lamar over the secret child. Matters took a bad turn when a security officer outside Drake’s home was shot. It is unclear whether the incident was related to the rappers’ dispute. The latest, Drake raps over “BBL Drizzy,” halfway through his part on Sexyy Red’s “U My Everything.” Shots going back and forth make this a rap battle for this generation and it’s apparent everyone has chosen a side: Kendrick or Drake. 

Contact the authors at tduff23@mail.wou.edu or howldesigner@wou.edu