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The dust has settled and the raps have been written. Now it is time to summarize the massive history making beef between the chart topper and the Pulitzer Prize winning rapper.
The beef began subtly on Drake’s song, “First Person Shooter,” where featured artist J Cole said that him, Drake, and Kendrick are the big 3 and that they should start a league together. Soon though, on Metro Boomin’s new album, Kendrick fires back on the song “Like That,” in which he said that the big 3 doesn’t exist and that it’s just “big him.” Soon, J Cole was the first one of the “First Person Shooter” duo to fire back at Kendrick with a song known as “Seven Minute Drill” which is a fitting name because in less than a week, two days to be more specific, J Cole apologized live in concert to Kendrick and then took down the “Seven Minute Drill” song from streaming platforms.
The ball was now in Drake’s court.
Drake then fired back at Kendrick with two songs on April 19, “Push Ups,” and “Taylor Made.” This would all be moot once April 30 rolled around when Kendrick Lamar rebutted with his song “Euphoria.” This vicious song which eviscerated Drake was considered the warning shot, even with lyrics calling into question Drake’s blackness, his manhood, and his street cred. Soon enough, on May 3, Kendrick released “6:16 in LA,” a diss that while less vicious than “Euphoria,” gave a more insidious rumor to Drake, that there were moles in his organization.
Drake then fired back with a massive seven-minute opus known only as “Family Matters,” where he rapped the hardest, switched beats, and accused Kendrick of hitting his wife and that his son is illegitimate.
The audience was stunned … for about 30 minutes until Lamar dropped “Meet the Grahams” which was a six-minute destruction of Drake’s character, persona, and accused him of heinous things such as human trafficking and pedophilia, not to mention the accusation that he was hiding another child, this time an eleven year old girl. To add salt to the wound, the next day, Kendrick drops the ultimate banger, “Not Like Us.”
This song here was expedited to clubs, events, and parties all over the world once it dropped as it effectively was the equivalent of Kendrick dancing on Drake’s grave. Drake wasn’t done yet though, as he dropped “The Heart: Part 6,” to lukewarm fanfare, more of a show of strength rather than a white flag. The beef soon stayed quiet until Kendrick sang the songs all over again at his Inglewood “pop out” concert on Juneteenth, and then released the “Not Like Us” video on the Fourth of July, putting an end to the beef.
Guillermo Guzman (he/him/they) is a Texas-based nerd who loves talking about video games, autism, and entertainment. Follow him on Instagram: @boofy_booferson and X: @Dimpy_Tenders.
Edited by Nykeya Woods