May 1, 2024,01:31pm EDT
Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s ongoing feud reached a new peak this week after Lamar dropped “Euphoria,” a more than six-minute long diss track in which he takes repeated shots at Drake, who seemingly responded to his longtime rival early Wednesday morning in a post on his Instagram story.
TIMELINE
Oct. 6, 2023: Drake and J. Cole released collaboration “First Person Shooter,” in which J. Cole raps that himself, Drake, and Lamar are the “big three” of rap.
March 22, 2024: Lamar responded on his verse on Metro Boomin and Future’s song “Like That,” slamming the rappers for “sneak dissing” and rejecting their idea of the “big three,” instead rapping: “It’s just big me.”
April 5, 2024: J. Cole dropped his own Lamar diss track, “7 Minute Drill,” in which he fired “warning shots” at the rapper, accusing him of seeking “attention” and slamming his latest music releases as “tragic.”
April 7, 2024: Just two days after releasing “7 Minute Drill,” J. Cole backed down from the feud, stating he felt pressured to respond because “the world wanna see blood.”
April 13, 2024: Drake’s response to Lamar, “Push Ups,” leaked online (before its April 19 release), with lyrics slamming Lamar’s shorter stature and his mainstream collaborations with Taylor Swift and Maroon 5, while also dissing other artists including Rick Ross and The Weeknd.
April 15, 2024: Ross responded to Drake with “Champagne Moments,” alleging that Drake had multiple cosmetic procedures done including a nose job and ab surgery, while also accusing him of using ghostwriters (an accusation Drake has repeatedly denied).
April 19, 2024: Drake released another diss track, “Taylor Made Freestyle,” using AI-generated voices of Snoop Dogg and the late Tupac Shakur to diss Lamar, daring him to respond: “We waitin’ on you,” Drake rapped.
April 21, 2024: Kanye West jumped into the beef on a remix of “Like That,” taking shots at Drake’s music and his deal with Universal Music Group, stating he and his collaborators are “energized” for the “elimination of Drake.”
May 1, 2024: Lamar dropped “Euphoria,” a six-minute long diss track in which he lambasts Drake’s biracial identity (suggesting he shouldn’t be able to say the n-word), slams the rapper’s ability as a father, and calls Drake a “scam artist,” questioning his authenticity as a rapper.
May 2, 2024: Drake seemingly responded to Lamar’s diss by posting a clip from the 1999 film “10 Things I Hate About You” on his Instagram story in which Julia Stiles’ character Kat lists all the reasons she hates Heath Ledger’s character Patrick—possibly mirroring a part of “Euphoria” where Lamar lists reasons he hates Drake.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
Whether Drake will respond to Lamar’s “Euphoria” in a new diss track. Drake hinted on his previous diss tracks that the feud is only just beginning. “The first one really only took me an hour or two/ The next one is really ’bout to bring out the coward in you,” Drake rapped on “Taylor Made Freestyle,” possibly a nod to future diss tracks. He also rapped on “Push Ups” that he’s just “heating up.”
SURPRISING FACT
Drake’s “Taylor Made Freestyle” is no longer available to stream after Tupac Shakur’s estate threatened legal action for the AI-generated use of his voice. Drake posted the song to his X and Instagram accounts on April 19, but deleted them a week later.
KEY BACKGROUND
Drake and Lamar’s beef spans more than the past decade. The two once had a seemingly friendly relationship, collaborating multiple times between 2011 and 2012. But in 2013, their relationship appeared to change after Lamar featured on Big Sean’s song, “Control,” in which he called out Drake and many other rappers, including Pusha T, Mac Miller, and A$AP Rocky. “I got love for you all, but I’m tryna murder you,” Lamar rapped, adding he’s “tryna make sure your core fans never heard of you.” Fans have since theorized that the two have taken subtle shots at each other in their raps throughout the years. Some interpreted Lamar’s shots at artists who use ghostwriters in his 2015 song “King Kunta” could be a dig at Drake. Fans and observers of Lamar and Drake’s beef have interpreted the feud to be over who could be considered the greatest rapper of today—though a Rolling Stone analysis of their feud noted the two have different strengths and different claims to the title of “greatest” rapper. Lamar has long been known for his critically acclaimed work, including 17 Grammy Award wins and a Pulitzer Prize for his 2017 album, “DAMN.” Drake, meanwhile, is commercially dominant: He was the most-streamed artist of the 2010s on Spotify, and he has the most certified digital singles of any artist, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.
TANGENT
Drake, Lamar, and other artists involved in the feud have found recent success on the charts, possibly thanks to the publicity offered by the feud. “Like That” has dominated the Billboard Hot 100 since release—it topped the chart for three consecutive weeks (though it fell to No. 17 this week, behind 14 tracks from Taylor Swift’s new album “The Tortured Poets Department”). “7 Minute Drill” debuted at No. 6 on the Hot 100 after its release, while “Push Ups” debuted at No. 19 this week (the fifth-highest non-Swift song). Lamar’s “Euphoria” is the No. 1 trending video on YouTube one day after release with 8 million views. Drake rose from No. 18 to No. 3 on this week’s Billboard Artist 100, which measures the most popular artists in a given week based on sales, streaming, and radio airplay numbers.