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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial | |
ARTICLE VIEW: | |
Kendrick Lamar and Drake gave us an epic hip-hop beef weekend. Here’s | |
what to know | |
By Lisa Respers France, CNN | |
Updated: | |
10:46 AM EDT, Mon May 6, 2024 | |
Source: CNN | |
Two of hip-hop’s biggest stars have beef and people are taking sides. | |
Kendrick Lamar and Drake have been engaged in a lyrical battle in | |
recent weeks that escalated over the weekend. The two artists each | |
released songs about the other, in one case with Lamar not even waiting | |
a full hour before he dropped a track in response to one of Drake’s. | |
Here’s what you need to know about the verses that have been a hot | |
topic of cultural . | |
Early collaborations | |
There is plenty we don’t know in terms of why there is apparent | |
animosity between the two superstar rappers, but we do know that there | |
is history. | |
Back in 2011, Lamar appeared on Drake’s second album “Take Care” | |
on “Buried Alive Interlude.” It was the same year Lamar released | |
his debut studio album “Section.80.” | |
The two men were both carving a place for themselves in the industry at | |
the time, with Drake then best known as an actor for his role as | |
student Jimmy Brooks in the Canadian teen TV series, “Degrassi.” | |
The pair would go on to tour together and collaborate on the track | |
“Poetic Justice” on Lamar’s sophomore studio album, “Good Kid, | |
M.A.A.D. City.” | |
“King of New York” tries to take “Control” | |
As one of hip-hop’s rising stars, Lamar leaned into his growing | |
success with the swagger one would expect in the rap game during a | |
guest appearance on Big Sean’s 2013 single, “Control.” | |
Multiple artists are name-checked in the song, including Drake. The | |
lyrics include, “I got love for you all but I’m tryna murder | |
you,” a euphemism for besting them professionally. Lamar proclaims | |
himself both “King of New York” and “King of the Coast.” | |
Drake told of the verse, “I didn’t really have anything to say | |
about it.” | |
“It just sounded like an ambitious thought to me. That’s all it | |
was,” Drake said at the time. “I know good and well that | |
Kendrick’s not murdering me, at all, in any platform. So when that | |
day presents itself, I guess we can revisit the topic.” | |
An ‘Infinity War’ of rappers | |
The pair have continued to take shots at each other on tracks over the | |
years, but this latest skirmish appears to have begun in October 2023, | |
when rapper J. Cole collaborated with Drake on the song, “First | |
Person Shooter.” | |
On the track, Cole refers to himself, Lamar and Drake as the “Big | |
three” in rap. Drake likened his own popularity in the game to the | |
stardom of the late singer Michael Jackson. | |
Lamar seemingly took exception to the comparisons and hit back on a | |
collaborative track with Future and Metro Boomin that caught fire in | |
March 2024, titled “Like That.” | |
Lamar makes clear on the song that there is no “Big three” just | |
“Big me.” He casts himself as Prince to Drake’s Jackson, noting | |
that the former outlived the latter. | |
“Like That” is a cut on the album “We Don’t Trust You,” which | |
many believe is filled with disses aimed at Drake. The apparent jabs | |
surprised some listeners as Drake and Future have been longtime | |
collaborators. | |
Things got even more heated when Future and Metro Boomin released the | |
followup “We Still Don’t Trust You,” is “filled with Drake | |
disses, not only from Future, but from The Weeknd and A$AP Rocky as | |
well.” | |
With so many coming after the Canadian rapper lyrically, it started | |
feeling like Marvel Infinity War of hip-hop superheroes battling it | |
out. The man who helped kick it all off, J. Cole, quickly exited the | |
battle. | |
Cole released “7 Minute Drill” on a surprise project “Might | |
Delete Later” in which he came after Lamar, only to later declare the | |
song lame. He removed it from streaming services, and has gone quiet | |
since. | |
Drake pushes back | |
Last month, Drake dropped the diss track “Push Ups” in which he | |
poked fun at Lamar’s shoe size to his past collaborations with pop | |
stars. | |
“Maroon 5 need a verse, you better make it witty / Then we need a | |
verse for the Swifties,” Drake raps, appearing to mock Lamar’s work | |
with Maroon 5 on their song “Don’t Wanna Know” and with Swift on | |
her song “Bad Blood.” | |
Drake also took a swipe at Rick Ross, who was featured on “We Don’t | |
Trust You.” Ross then began a social media war of words with Drake, | |
which included accusing Drake of having undergone plastic surgery. | |
K.Dot’s onslaught | |
Lamar, known also as K.Dot, responded with multiple volleys. | |
First there was “Euphoria,” which is now as famous for the insults | |
lobbed at Drake as it is for making the general public aware that the | |
rapper . (HBO is owned by CNN’s parent company.) | |
Within days, Lamar followed that with “6:16 in LA,” which many | |
interpreted to be making fun of Drake’s penchant for titling songs | |
with times and locations. | |
Drake gets personal with “Family Matters” | |
Things got increasingly personally in this rap battle on Saturday, when | |
Drake dropped the eight-minute diss track, “Family Matters.” He | |
makes allegations about abuse and infidelity involving Lamar and his | |
fiancée, Whitney Alford, on the song. | |
Don’t mess with a Pulitzer Prize winner | |
Lest we forget that Lamar by becoming the first rapper to win a | |
prestigious Pulitzer Prize for his album “DAMN,” he didn’t even | |
let an hour go by after the release of “Family Matters” to drop a | |
response, titled “Meet The Grahams.” (Drake’s legal name is | |
Aubrey Graham.) | |
The song gets heavy as Lamar addresses Drake’s parents and Drake’s | |
parenting, accusing him of have a secret daughter. Lamar followed that | |
within hours with another song, titled “Not Like Us,” in which | |
accuses Drake of being attracted to underage girls. | |
Drake responds | |
Drake again had his say on Sunday with “The Heart Part 6.” On this | |
song, Drake claims he’s the one who fed Lamar fake information about | |
a secret child. | |
“We plotted for a week and then we fed you the information/A daughter | |
that’s 11 years old, I bet he takes it,” Drake raps. | |
CNN has reached out to representatives for both artists for comment. | |
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