Drama in the music industry has always been huge, and this time around, two of the biggest male rappers in the industry are involved: Kendrick Lamar and Drake.
Drake and Lamar’s relationship started as a collaboration in 2011 on Drake’s album Take Care, followed by another on Lamar’s album Good Kid, M.A.A.D City a year later. Lamar later dissed Drake and several other rappers in his 2013 song “Control” by Big Sean, but later clarified that his verse was intended to be seen as “friendly competition.” In the upcoming years, the tension settled, and the industry was calm.
However, in Mar. 2024, Lamar disses J. Cole and Drake in “Like That” after J. Cole proposed in the song “First Person Shooter” that he, Drake, and Lamar were the “Big Three” of hip hop. In Kendrick’s “Like That” diss, he responds by mentioning how there is no “Big 3″ and he rests solely “at the top,” while also expressing his disdain for Drake.
Cole responded to Lamar on the diss track “7 Minute Drill” which he later apologized for and removed from streaming services. Drake then released the songs “Push Ups” and “Taylor Made Freestyle” in April. “Taylor Made Freestyle” featured Tupac Shakur as an A.I-Generated voice. The song was later deleted from social media after Tupac Shakur’s estate threatened Drake with legal action for the use of AI-generated vocals resembling Shakur.
In response, Lamar released “Euphoria” on Apr. 30th and “6:16 in LA” on May 3rd. Drake responded with “Family Matters” later that day, accusing Lamar of being a domestic abuser and mentioning Kendrick’s wife and children. Less than an hour later, Lamar released “Meet the Grahams,” accusing Drake of various crimes, such as trafficking, being a sexual predator, and also fathering a secret child. Lamar then released “Not Like Us” just the following evening, further accusing Drake of pedophilia and of lying about Lamar’s family.
On May 5th, Drake responded with “The Heart Part 6,” denying Lamar’s accusations and claiming that his team gave Lamar false information about the secret child. Since then, there haven’t been any other updates concerning the rappers. Many speculate the drama is presumably over since things have seemed to cool down and no new songs have been released.
