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- Drake and Kendrick Lamar, once collaborators early in their careers, are now actively beefing.
- Their feud reached a fever pitch in May 2024, when Lamar dropped the diss track "Not Like Us."
- Now, Drake is suing Universal Music Group for allowing the song's release.
Drake and Kendrick Lamar's explosive feud has captivated the hip-hop world — but as Drake notes in his diss track "Push Ups," the two have an even more tangled, contentious history than meets the eye.
"That fucking song y'all got did not start the beef with us," Drake raps. "This shit been brewing in a pot, now I'm heating up."
The song in question is Future and Metro Boomin's hit single "Like That," released on March 22, 2024. It features Lamar issuing a challenge to both Drake and J. Cole, considered by many to be the three biggest rappers working today.
Lamar's taunt ignited a diss-track war in April and May, with Drake and Lamar hurling eight more diss tracks back and forth.
At first, fans delighted in a whiff of fresh beef. Diss battles are common in hip-hop, as rappers use them to showcase their reflexes, tenacity, and songwriting skills.
Feuds can also be a savvy marketing tactic to help artists boost streams and sales. "Like That," for instance, reigned atop the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks, and "We Don't Trust You" debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Later, both Drake and Lamar climbed Hot 100 with various jabs, including "Push Ups," "Euphoria," and "Family Matters."
However, as Drake and Lamar continued to clash, Drake escalated his attacks to the courts, launching a legal complaint against Spotify and suing Universal Music Group (his own label's umbrella company), accusing both of artificially inflating streams of Lamar's fan-favorite diss track "Not Like Us."
How did we get here? Here's everything to know about Drake and Lamar's relationship, both past and present.
Hannah Getahun contributed to an earlier version of this story.
Drake and Lamar have been taking shots at each other since 2013
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Drake and Lamar may have started out as friends, or at least trusted colleagues. They released two collaborations in 2011 ("Buried Alive Interlude" on Drake's album and "Poetic Justice" on Lamar's album) and teamed up with A$AP Rocky for the 2012 hit "F**kin' Problems." Lamar also opened for Drake's Club Paradise Tour in 2012.
Their bad blood likely began when Lamar declared he was better than all the rising rap stars, including Drake and J. Cole, during a guest verse on Big Sean's 2013 song "Control."
"And that goes for Jermaine Cole, Big K.R.I.T., Wale, Pusha T, Meek Millz, A$AP Rocky, Drake, Big Sean, Jay Electron', Tyler, Mac Miller / I got love for you all, but I'm tryna murder you n*****," he rapped.
Drake apparently responded on his own song, "The Language," from the 2013 album "Nothing Was the Same" — though he didn't call out Lamar by name.
"I don't know why they been lying but your shit is not that inspiring," Drake raps. "Bank account statement just look like I'm ready for early retirement / Fuck any n**** that's talking that shit just to get a reaction."
Since then, Drake and Lamar have seemed to make small digs at each other in both music and interviews.
In 2015, Lamar released "King Kunta" as a single from his acclaimed album, "To Pimp a Butterfly." In the song, he mocks an unnamed "rapper with a ghostwriter."
Although Lamar hasn't confirmed who the "King Kunta" lyric is about, Drake has been repeatedly accused of using ghostwriters by rappers like Meek Mill and Pusha T.
J. Cole entered the feud after appearing on Drake's 'First Person Shooter' in October 2023
Drake released his collaboration with J. Cole, "First Person Shooter," as a single from his latest album, "For All the Dogs."
In the braggadocious song, J. Cole references Lamar as "K-Dot" (his former stage name) and Drake as "Aubrey" (as in Aubrey Graham, his legal name) when listing the biggest names in hip-hop: "Love when they argue the hardest MC / Is it K-Dot? Is it Aubrey? Or me? / We the big three like we started a league, but right now, I feel like Muhammad Ali."
Drake ends the song by comparing his success to that of the late Michael Jackson, one of the best-selling artists in history. "First Person Shooter" debuted atop the Hot 100 in October 2023, earning Drake his 13th No. 1 song on the chart, the same total as Jackson.
Five months later, Lamar's verse in "Like That" directly references those lyrics, as well as the song's title.
"Fuck sneak dissin', first-person shooter, I hope they came with three switches," Lamar raps. "Motherfuck the big three, n****, it's just big me."
One month after 'Like That' dropped, Cole fired back at Lamar, then apologized two days later
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J. Cole didn't comment on Lamar's "Like That" verse until April 5, 2024, when he released a 12-track EP, "Might Delete Later," featuring Gucci Mane, Ari Lennox, and others.
The first verse of the final track, "7 Minute Drill," appears to be a direct response to Lamar, who Cole implies is losing popularity.
"He still doing shows, but fell off like the Simpsons / Your first shit was classic, your last shit was tragic / Your second shit put n***** to sleep, but they gassed it / Your third shit was massive and that was your prime / I was trailing right behind and I just now hit mine," Cole raps.
Fans believe Cole is referencing 2012's "Good Kid, M.A.A.D City" ("classic"), 2022's "Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers" ("tragic"), 2015's "To Pimp a Butterfly" ("gassed"), and 2017's "Damn" ("massive"), respectively.
However, two days after the song was released, Cole apologized to Lamar during his performance at the Dreamville Festival in Raleigh, North Carolina.
"I just want to come up here and publicly be like, bruh, that was the lamest, goofiest shit," Cole said in a video shared on X. "And I pray that y'all are like, forgive a n**** for the misstep and I can get back to my true path. Because I ain't gonna lie to y'all. The past two days felt terrible."
Cole said he felt conflicted because he respects Lamar but felt pressure from his peers and fans to respond.
J.Cole speaks on his response to Kendrick and says it hasn’t felt good or right with his spirit, calling his own response “corny” and telling Kendrick to return his best shot if he feels a way pic.twitter.com/jan2jctfk9
— Glock Topickz (@Glock_Topickz) April 8, 2024
Cole said releasing "7 Minute Drill" (and the discourse it inspired) didn't "sit right with my spirit," adding that he hoped Lamar, who he describes as "one of the greatest motherfuckers to ever touch a fuckin' microphone," wasn't hurt by his words.
Representatives for Lamar and Cole did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Future and Metro Boomin stirred more trouble with 'We Still Don't Trust You'
On April 12, 2024, Future and Metro Boomin released their second collaborative album, "We Still Don't Trust You." While neither rapper directly dissed Drake, they enlisted The Weeknd and A$AP Rocky to do their bidding.
In the eighth track, "All To Myself," The Weeknd references his decision not to sign with Drake's OVO label earlier in his career, which reportedly led to a falling out between the two Canadian stars.
"They could never diss my brothers, baby / When they got leaks in they operation / I thank God that I never signed my life away / And we never do the big talk / They shooters makin' TikToks / Got us laughin' in the Lambo," The Weeknd raps.
On the later track, "Show of Hands," Rocky references the rumor that he had sex with Sophie Brussaux, the mother of Drake's son, before Drake did.
"N***** in they feelings over women, what, you hurt or something? / I smash before you birthed, son, Flacko hit it first, son," Rocky raps.
Rocky and Drake had appeared to be friends until the "F**kin' Problems" rapper began to date Rihanna, who previously had a will-they-won't-they relationship with Drake.
However, Rocky's diss wasn't exactly unprovoked. In "Fear of Heights," the fourth track on "For All the Dogs," Drake mocks both Rocky and Rihanna, implying sex with his ex-girlfriend was "average" and saying Rocky "can't leave" because they have children together, evoking a classic sexist trope known as "baby trapping."
Drake and Kendrick's diss track battle begins in earnest
One day after the release of "We Still Don't Trust You," Drake dropped his response, setting off a back-and-forth exchange of barbs in diss tracks that would last through the spring.
April 13, 2024: "Push Ups" (Drake)
Drake spends most of the four-minute track dissing Lamar, although he reserves a few shots for Future, Metro Boomin, J. Cole, The Weeknd, and Rick Ross.
Ross quickly recorded and released a response, "Champagne Moments," in which he calls Drake a "white boy," claims the rapper got a nose job, and accuses him of stealing his flow from Lil Wayne.
April 19, 2024: "Taylor Made Freestyle" (Drake)
This track is best known for Drake's ill-advised use of AI to generate verses from the late Tupac Shakur, aka 2pac, and Snoop Dogg. Many fans criticized this move, particularly as Shakur was unable to consent.
Snoop Dogg responded to the song with a jokey Instagram video in which he reacts to messages about Drake using his voice.
