Kendrick Lamar shocked the world with the release of the explosive diss track “Euphoria” earlier this week, taking aim at Drake. The track, which runs over six minutes in length, is an all-out assault on Drake’s musical catalog, his personal relationships, and his very essence. On “Euphoria,” Kendrick raps “I hate the way that you walk, the way that you talk, I hate the way that you dress / I hate the way that you sneak diss, if I catch flight, it’s gon’ be direct / We hate the b****es you f***, ’cause they confuse themselves with real women / And notice, I said ‘we,’ it’s not just me, I’m what the culture feeling.”
Some rap fans have said that Kendrick Lamar is the best entertainer in the world in terms of creating a viral moment. This has been exhibited with feature verses on records such as “Like That,” which kicked off this hip hop civil war, and 2013’s “Control,” which ignited the game with a number of name-drops. Here’s how hip hop is reacting to Kendrick Lamar’s “Euphoria” in the days since the Drake diss dropped.
Jay Rock
A number of TDE signees have taken to social media to react to their former label-mate’s diss record, with Jay Rock providing some of the most humorous commentary. Though he’s surely biased in this exchange, Jay Rock expressed the firm opinion that Kendrick cooked Drake on “Euphoria.” Jay even went so far as to compare Drake to a “golden brown wing,” roasting the OVO head honcho even further. After receiving a flurry of negative responses from Drake Stans, Jay Rock doubled down, sharing a second tweet that reads, “Why yall mad at me it ain’t my fault my n**** cook some chicken this morning lol!!”
Denzel Curry has been following this beef closely as a fan and has had a great deal of unbiased insight into the back-and-forth. On the day Kendrick dropped “Euphoria,” Curry had a lot to say about the Drake diss, pointing out, “It took two of the biggest artist in the world to diss each other for people to appreciate lyricism.” Elsewhere on social media, Denzel echoed the popular sentiment that J. Cole was aware of the impending slug-fest, which may explain why he peacefully bowed out of the battle with an apology to Kendrick just days after releasing his own diss titled “7 Minute Drill.”
Reason
Another TDE signee, Reason, further elucidated on the J. Cole angle of the beef. Though Reason has been on Top Dawg since 2018, he has never appeared on a track alongside Kendrick Lamar. He has, however, collaborated with J. Cole’s Dreamville outfit numerous times and appeared on multiple placements in the Dreamville album Revenge of the Dreamers 3.
Reason previously weighed in on this beef with a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter), including an April 5 post that read, “Clearly yall don’t understand what ‘friendly sparring’ means lol n****s will rap! It just won’t go pass that or get super personal, that’s what I’m saying. But I think both of them will GO!!!!” Days later, when Cole first apologized to Kendrick Lamar, Reason expressed frustration online. It’s clear that, with the benefit of hindsight, more artists and fans alike are seeing why Cole wanted nothing to do with the Kendrick Lamar and Drake beef, retroactively repairing the Might Delete Later rapper’s image.
Top Dawg, Punch, & Moosa
After Kendrick Lamar announced his departure from TDE in 2022, many fans began to speculate that there was bad blood between Kendrick and the label. Drake even alluded to this in the lyrics to his initial “Push Ups” diss. In the wake of the “Euphoria” drop, it seems clear that these rumors were false, as Top Dawg himself has reaffirmed his kinship to Kendrick, alongside label heads like Punch and Moosa.
Like Kendrick, Rick Ross is currently embroiled in his own beef with Drake, having dropped the track “Champagne Moments” just hours after the “Push Ups” leak hit the internet. Ross shared some words after Kendrick Lamar released “Euphoria,” asking Drake to admit defeat and not respond. The lyrics in “Euphoria” echoed claims made by Ross that Drake has undergone numerous plastic surgeries to alter his abs, nose, and butt, leading to an ongoing social media dispute between the rappers. Drake has not yet responded to “Euphoria” on wax, so for now, we’ll just have to wait and see if he takes Rick Ross’s advice.
Suge Knight
Love him or hate him, Suge Knight is certainly an authority on rap beef. Despite his incarceration in federal prison for voluntary manslaughter, the former Death Row Records head offered his perspective on the ongoing Kendrick Lamar vs. Drake situation. Suge firmly gives the W to Kendrick by his own ear but offers an interesting insight into the state of colorism within rap.
One of the key moments in Kendrick Lamar’s “Euphoria” track saw him attacking Drake’s race, claiming that he isn’t black enough to use the n-word. Kendrick even concluded the 6-minute song with a singing outro stating, “We don’t wanna hear you say n**** no more.” While Suge Knight seems to have enjoyed the “Euphoria” track, he suggests dropping this narrative, as light-skinned black people continue to experience the same racism that plagues darker-skinned individuals.
Like Suge Knight, YNW Melly has weighed in on “Euphoria” from prison. Kendrick mentions the incarcerated rapper by name on “Euphoria,” rapping, “Cole and Aubrey know I’m a selfish n**** the crown is heavy. I pray they my real friends, if not, I’m YNW Melly.” These bars reference the fact that Melly is accused of murdering two of his own friends. In response, Melly issued a statement to TMZ, explaining, “Kendrick Lamar is one of my favorite rappers so I feel honored and appalled … I’m a household name — just for the wrong s**t!!!”
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