The Drake-Kendrick Lamar beef has been one of the most talked-about feuds in the rap industry. It all started in 2013 when Kendrick Lamar released his verse on Big Sean’s song “Control,” where he called out several rappers, including Drake, and claimed to be the “King of New York.” This sparked a response from Drake, who released a song called “The Language” with lyrics that seemed to be directed at Kendrick.
In 2014, Kendrick Lamar released his critically acclaimed album, “To Pimp a Butterfly,” which many saw as a direct response to Drake’s subliminal shots. The album’s lead single, “King Kunta,” had lyrics that seemed to be aimed at Drake, with lines like “I can dig rappin’, but a rapper with a ghostwriter? What the fuck happened?” This led to speculation that Kendrick was accusing Drake of using ghostwriters for his songs.
The feud seemed to die down for a while, with both rappers focusing on their own music. However, in 2016, things heated up again when Drake released his song “Two Birds, One Stone,” where he took shots at both Kendrick and Pusha T. In the song, Drake rapped, “But really it’s you with all the drug dealer stories that’s gotta stop, though / You made a couple chops and now you think you Chapo.” This was seen as a response to Kendrick’s song “HiiiPower,” where he rapped about drug dealing and referenced Pablo Escobar.
In 2017, Kendrick Lamar released his album “DAMN,” which many saw as a direct response to Drake’s “Two Birds, One Stone.” The song “ELEMENT” had lyrics that seemed to be aimed at Drake, with lines like “I don’t give a fuck, I don’t give a fuck / I don’t give a fuck, I don’t give a fuck / I’m willin’ to die for this shit / I done cried for this shit, might take a life for this shit.” This was seen as a direct response to Drake’s line about Kendrick thinking he’s “Chapo.”
The feud seemed to die down again, with both rappers focusing on their own music and success. However, in 2018, things took a turn when Pusha T released his diss track “The Story of Adidon,” where he revealed that Drake had a secret child. This led to a back-and-forth between Drake and Pusha T, with Drake releasing a response track called “Duppy Freestyle,” where he also took shots at Kanye West, who was producing Pusha T’s album.
In response, Pusha T released another diss track called “The Story of Adidon,” where he revealed a photo of Drake in blackface and accused him of being a deadbeat father. This led to Drake addressing the situation on his album “Scorpion,” where he confirmed the rumors of his secret child and addressed the blackface photo.
Since then, the feud between Drake and Kendrick has seemingly died down, with both rappers focusing on their own music and success. However, fans and critics continue to speculate about the underlying tension between the two and whether there will be any future diss tracks or responses. Only time will tell if this beef will ever truly be squashed.
