And just like that, Kendrick Lamar has fired off at Drake and OVO. With “euphoria,” Lamar had a run of insults and jabs, but one recalled Drake’s history with Diddy.
During his “Push Ups” diss to Kendrick and more, Drake mentioned Chubbs, his right-hand man and enforcer, having The Weeknd’s manager as a blunt runner. But additionally, Chubbs is mentioned as a threat, specifically on “Summer Sixteen,” where Drake raps, “You know Chubbs like Draymond, better off not sayin none.”
So back to “euphoria,” Kendrick spits, “You gon’ make a nigga bring back Puff, let me see if Chubbs really crash somethin’”
But what exactly happened with Diddy and Drake? Seems a lot.
In October 2022, Kanye West was a guest on a podcast and claimed that Hov once broke up a fight between Drake and Diddy.
Ye made his guest appearance on the Lex Fridman Podcast yesterday (October 24) and said that at his 2015 Yeezy fashion show in NYC, Ye revealed that Jay had to play referee between the Bad Boy head honcho and the Certified Lover Boy.
“You had Puff Daddy. At that time, Puff Daddy had beef with Drake,” said Ye. “Drake still came to the show and JAY-Z had to break up the fight backstage.”
The two had a previous run-in in December 2014, when Drizzy and Puff got into a fistfight at DJ Khaled’s birthday party in Miami, causing the Toronto star to be hospitalized with an injured shoulder. Diddy is said to have approached Drake at Club LIV and told him: “You’ll never disrespect me again,” before punching him.
That event caused J. Prince to deliver a “courtesy call” about the confrontation. Prince said, “Puffy feeling like he can put his hands on my family, open the doors for his family to be touched. You reap what you sow.”
Diddy ultimately denied physically assaulting Drake, saying: “I did not put hands on Drake, and I do not want any problems with Drake. I did nothing to Drake. Drake is my friend.”
TMZ noted Boi-1da sent both Drake and Diddy the “0 to 100” beat. Drake made the single first. But Miss Info also had tea, stating:
Apparently Diddy was given that beat first, eventually sent it to Drake to put a verse on it, but as we all know Drake released “0 to 100″ as a freestyle using the beat instead. Reportedly, the beat was made during a series of sessions in Miami where Puff flew Boi-1da down…but turned down the beat. Which would make it up for grabs.
But back to the present. You can hear “euphoria” below.
Drake was the most talked-about man on the internet on April 30. Kendrick Lamar made sure of it. The Compton rapper dropped the monstrous diss record “Euphoria,” which left no stone unturned in terms of taking Drake to task. Fans were floored, but Drizzy is not letting the hype get to him. At least, not on the surface. The “Jimmy Cooks” rapper decided to surprise fans during the Toronto leg of Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday 2 Tour. The rap stars had fun onstage before Drake teased the next chapter in the Kendrick Lamar saga.
Drake’s appearance was likely, given the the show was in his city, but it was not guaranteed. Minaj has had plenty of tour dates in which the 6 God hasn’t appeared due to scheduling conflicts. Minaj brought him out and made sure to give him his flowers. “Make some noise for the king, Toronto,” she said during an embrace. “Make some noise for this icon, this legend.” The duo performed their latest collaboration, “Needle,” for the very first time. Drake was then given solo time onstage to perform one of his current hits, “Rich Baby Daddy.”
Drizzy reciprocated the love that Minaj and the Barbz showed him. “Toronto make some noise for the greatest female rapper of all time,” he announced. “Nicki, I love you.” The love fest came to an end as Drake left the stage, however. The rapper walked off while assuring fans that he has some business to take care of with Lamar. “You know what time it is,” he assured the fans. “You know what I gotta do.”
Both Drake and Minaj are currently involved in rap battles. Drake has taken on Kendrick Lamar, while Minaj has been swapping disses with Megan Thee Stallion. The battles have played out in strangely similar ways. Lamar’s “Like That” and Megan’s “Hiss” both topped the Billboard Hot 100, with many citing them as the favorites to win their respective battles. Drake and Minaj have dropped disses in response, but neither release managed to chart as high as their competitors (yet, at least).
Regardless, fans can take solace in the fact that the Young Money icons are still on good terms.
Round two begins. Drake and Kendrick Lamar did not disappoint with their first round offerings. The former dropped “Push Ups” and “Taylor Made Freestyle,” while the latter opened and closed things out with “Like That” and “Euphoria.” These diss tracks have received critical praise across the board, but things are going to inevitably get uglier as the battle wears on. Lamar upped the ante by attacking the Toronto rapper from all angles. Drake made it clear he was unimpressed, though, and told DJ Akademiks that he’ll be dropping again soon.
The “soon” was communicated through DJ Akademiks, who shared a text exchange with Drake during his live stream. The internet personality has been an advocate for Drizzy throughout the battle, so it’ll come as no surprise that he’s excited for what lies ahead. The thing is, Ak did a good job of getting the rest of us excited as well. During his April 30 stream, Akademiks claimed to have to heard the response diss that Drake has cooked up. The response is allegedly titled “Hi Whitney.” Whitney is, of course, the name of Kendrick Lamar’s wife, Whitney Alford. Akademiks was, predictably “impressed.”
“I was super impressed by it,” he told viewers. It was the second part of Ak’s statement, though, that really ramped up the anticipation. He claimed that Drake played the diss for him and assured him that things only get tougher from there. “He literally said, ‘If you think this is fire you have no idea what I got coming,’” he recalled. Drake made reference to Whitney Alford in “Push Ups,” but naming an entire song after her opens up an entirely new level of disrespect.
This level of disrespect is something DJ Akademiks has warned Drake about in the past. He hopped on a stream once “Push Ups” dropped, and went on a rant about how bad things went for the 6 God when he referenced Pusha T’s wife by name. “Drake… you did the same thing twice now,” Ak rightfully said. “You mentioned Virginia Williams or whatever, Pusha T’s wife. And you saw that n**ga took the gloves off, and we saw what happened.” Drake evidently weighed the consequences and has decided to go all in against K. Dot. This next round sounds like it’s going to be intense.
It seems like Drake has responded to Kendrick Lamar‘s scathing diss track, “Euphoria.” Lamar has has had the internet abuzz after dropping the diss track today (April 30), and fans have been wondering when and if Drake will respond.
Earlier this evening, Drake took to his Instagram story, sharing a clip from the 1999 movie, 10 Things I Hate About You. In the clip, Julia Stiles’ character reads a poem directed at Heath Ledger’s character.
“I hate the way you talk to me, and the way you cut your hair/ I hate the way you drive my car. I hate it when you stare. I hate your big dumb combat boots, and the way you read my mind. I hate you so much it makes me sick; it even makes me rhyme! I hate it, I hate the way you’re always right. I hate it when you lie. I hate it when you make me laugh, even worse when you make me cry. I hate it when you’re not around, and the fact that you didn’t call.”
The clip in the Instagram story ends right before Stiles’ character says “But mostly I hate the way I don’t hate you. Not even close, not even a little bit, not even at all.”
Drake seems to have shared this clip mockingly in response to several gripes listed in Lamar’s song.
On “Euphoria,” Lamar raps “It’s always been about love and hate, now let me say I’m the biggest hater / 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.”
But it looks like Drake is having a laugh about the whole ordeal.
Now, the question is, will Drake respond in the form of a new song.
Drake got what he wanted. Once the feuding flood gates were opened with Kendrick Lamar’s “Like That” verse, Drake has had a field day trolling him. He’s dropped two diss tracks, poked fun at Lamar’s pgLang manager, and even used the voice of AI-2Pac to hurry his opponent up. Lamar finally clapped back with “Euphoria” on April 30, and true to form, the 6 God has jokes. Drake got on Instagram the evening the song dropped and used a film clip to express how unimpressed he is.
The film in question is 10 Things I Hate About You, and the clip in question sees the female lead list off all the thing she hates about her love interest. “I hate the way you talk to me, and the way you cut her hair,” she says. “I hate the way you drive my car, I hate it when you stare.” The clip runs 32 seconds in length, but the longer it goes on, the more emotional the character becomes. In the film, the character realizes that she’s still in love with the person she’s describing. “I hate it when you’re not around, and when you don’t call,” she adds.
Drake really turns up the trolling by posting two emojis over the clip: a broken heart and a winking face. The rapper is alluding to the chorus of Kendrick Lamar’s “Euphoria.” In a style similar to that of the crying character in 10 Things I Hate About You, Lamar rattles off the things he despises about Drake. “I hate the way that you walk, the way that you talk,” he raps. “I hate the way that you dress, I hate the way you sneak diss.” Drake is basically dismissing Lamar’s approach and alluding to the fact that Lamar is spending way more time than he should thinking about him.
This is not the first time Drake has used a film clip to troll an opponent. The rapper told Metro Boomin to shut his a*s up and make some drums on “Push Ups,” then posted a clip of Drumline on his IG Story. The rapper likes to sneak film references into his bars, so this approach should come as no surprise. He told DJ Akademiks that a Kendrick Lamar response will be coming “soon.”
We’ve finally arrived at the main event. Kendrick Lamar started it with “Like That,” and Drake took it up a notch with “Push Ups” and “Taylor Made Freestyle.” There was concern that Lamar wasn’t going to get back at Drake in a timely manner, but he dropped “Euphoria” on April 30 and got things back on track. The first round of the Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar battle is done with. Both artists are firmly prepped for battle. One, in particular, is excited for what comes next.
DJ Akademiks has been the conduit for Drake messages throughout the battle. He’s relayed the rapper’s feelings towards Lamar and his desire to hash things out after “10 years” of waiting. Akademiks dropped another bombshell revelation during his April 30 live stream when he shared a text conversation with the 6 God.
According to the streamer, Drake said “I’m energized by the elimination of Drake” with laughing emojis. This is a reference to an interview Kanye West recently gave, in which he claimed to be teaming up with rappers in an effort to bring Drizzy down. The rapper then left Akademiks and the fans with an ominous: “See you soon.”
Drake has chosen his works carefully over the last few months. He’s done his fair share of trolling, but he has made a point of revealing as little as possible. The text message to DJ Akademiks, for example, is the first time he’s technically spoken on the “Euphoria” diss. The rapper has been liking IG posts since it was released, though. Right after “Euphoria” went viral, Drizzy liked a comment asking: “That’s it??”
Drake’s comment about seeing fans “soon” supports DJ Akademiks’ theory. The streamer hopped on X (formerly Twitter) to claim that the Toronto rapper will respond faster than Lamar did. Ak went as far as to assert that Drake could get a diss out in a week. “I expect Drake to respond expeditiously,” he tweeted. “He got 17 days (same time as kendrick).. but I think he’ll respond in 7 calendar days NGL. He happy asf that Kendrick showed he got a pulse.”
Regardless of how long it takes, the battle has officially been taken up a notch.
The hip-hop world is still processing Kendrick Lamar’s new song. “Euphoria” dropped like an atom bomb on April 30, putting an end to the debate over whether he would respond to Drake. Lamar spent a dense six minutes dismantling the Toronto rapper from every conceivable angle. Most fans were impressed with what they heard, especially given how many flows and beat switches Mr. Morale busts out. The thing that is mind-blowing to consider, however, is that the song was originally four times as long.
Daylyt, an affiliate of Lamar’s former label, TDE, broke the news on X (formerly Twitter). He claimed that he got a chance to hear “Euphoria” before it was officially released, and it contained even more scathing bars about Drake. “Crazy part is this not even the full song,” he tweeted. “Smh. Sh*t I herd was like 19 min smh.” Bear in mind the official version already covers a lot of ground with regards to Drake’s weaknesses and controversies.
Kendrick Lamar has a documented history of cutting down his verses. He removed verses from To Pimp a Butterfly because he deemed them too “brutal.” He also took out disses aimed at Big Sean and Drake on the 2017 song “ELEMENT” (the OG version eventually leaked online). Dot also spoke about his very habitual writing habit during a 2018 profile with Vanity Fair.
“‘Execution’ is my favorite word,” he admitted. “I spend 80 percent of my time thinking about how I’m going to execute, and that might be a whole year of constantly jotting down ideas, figuring out how I’m going to convey these words to a person to connect to it. What is this word that means this, how did it get here… Then, the lyrics are easy.” This lengthy process makes sense, given that Drizzy has accused Lamar of working on a diss against him for four years.
Fans may feel short-changed to not have gotten the fill version of “Euphoria,” but the fact that it’s six minutes is being interpreted as a pointed dig against Drake for being the “6 God.” Lamar knows what he’s doing.
Joe Budden is always good for a soundbite. He’s been tracking the Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar beef since day one, and has made it clear that he has admiration for both artists. He was complimentary of Drake’s diss song “Push Ups,” and even “Taylor Made Freestyle,” but he also praised Lamar when he put out the scathing “Euphoria” response. Lamar brought six minutes of mayhem to the table, and Budden feels as though he won the first round. That being said, Budden is excited to see what Drake does next.
Joe Budden called DJ Akademiks during a live stream on April 30. The two men debated the merits of both diss tracks, but the former came down as pro-Kendrick Lamar. He felt the Compton emcee raised the bar as the beef transitions to the second record. Budden’s ruling was by no means a slight against Drake, though. In fact, the podcaster is excited to see how the 6 God responds. In his estimation, Drake finally has an opponent who can test his abilities and his toughness as a rapper.
“I want to see Drake bleed,” Budden asserted. “I want to know how my favorites respond to getting punched in the face. Love Drake, and I’m gonna love him more if he do what he need to do.”
Joe Budden gets called in by Akademiks during stream, he says Kendrick won this round but he cant wait for Drake’s response
“I want to see Drake bleed… I want to know how my favorites respond to getting punched in the face… I love Drake and imma love him even more if he do… pic.twitter.com/TdSsoHa3Ny
Budden posited that Drake has had a “smooth ride” throughout his career, and is finally being challenged by someone who can compete in his commercial arena. The podcaster claims the Pusha T feud has been the only bump in the Toronto rapper’s career, which means there’s an aspect of Drake’s artistry that fans haven’t seen yet. “The a n**ga in front of you now that you have to respect even if you don’t like him,” Budden added. “Finish your food. I come from the finish your food era. This ain’t Meek Mill no more.”
This is a sentiment that Budden has expressed before. He’s questioned Drake in the past, and even put out diss tracks against the “God’s Plan” rapper back when he was an artist. He even doubted whether Drake would respond to Lamar’s original “Like That” diss in March, and was pleasantly surprised when “Push Ups” dropped. Budden wants Drake to keep impressing him, and by extension, the fans, in round two.
Suge Knight is a polarizing figure in hip-hop. He’s the bodyguard who co-founded Death Row Records. He was the driver of the car when 2Pac got shot. He’s currently behind bars for voluntary manslaughter, and won’t be eligible for parole until 2034. He does, however, have opinions on the Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar beef. Knight hopped on X (formerly Twitter) to share his thoughts on Lamar’s long-awaited diss record, “Euphoria.” His response was predictable in some ways, yet surprising in others.
For starters, Knight came out as pro K. Dot. Not one single hip-hop fan in surprised to hear this. “Round one goes to Kendrick Lamar,” he tweeted. It was the rest of the post that caught fans off guard. Knight, a notoriously violent criminal, decided to use the Drake vs. Lamar beef as a platform to condemn colorism and violence within the Black community.
Suge Knight Condemned The Colorism In K. Dot’s Diss
Round 1 goes to @kendricklamar. But youngin let’s stop saying light skinned people aren’t black. Cause the police think otherwise. Black is Black. That creates division amongst ourselves, and I ain’t fuckin with that. https://t.co/B5GBVs0wEV
This was sparked, presumably, by the ongoing mockery of Drake for being light-skinned, and therefore not as authentic as Lamar. “Youngin let’s stop saying light skinned people aren’t black,” Knight asserted. “Cause the police think otherwise. Black is Black. That creates division amongst ourselves, and I ain’t f**kin with that.” Some X users commended Knight for speaking out on the topic, but others criticized him for being a hypocrite given his past indiscretions. Then there those who simply wanted to know why Knight had access to X.
Those who have been plugged into the Drake vs Lamar beef know, however, that Suge Knight has been giving his opinion the whole time. He was extremely critical of Drake for using an AI-generated 2Pac on the diss record “Taylor Made Freestyle.” He even dedicated a segment to it on his podcast Collect Calls. “Putting him on a song and dissing Kendrick for everybody entertainment– that ain’t how it go,” Knight asserted. “Then putting him on a song with Snoop, who was a part of his downfall and exit, ain’t ever a good look. He never was a pawn.”
Do you agree with Suge Knight’s take? Is Kendrick up 1-0?
Seventeen days after Drake dropped “Push Ups,” his response to Kendrick Lamar’s “Like That,” Kendrick returned fire with disses of his own on his new record “Euphoria.” Kendrick’s response to Drake comes four days sooner than Drake’s own did, and the Compton rapper wasted no bars in the six-minute record. While Drake’s record took aim at Kendrick Lamar as well as took aim at names like Rick Ross, Future, Metro Boomin, Ja Morant, The Weeknd, Kendrick’s diss focuses solely on Drake. All in all, “Euphoria” is an excellently constructed response filled with double entendres that fire back at Drake in more ways than one.
Let’s break down all the disses and peel back the many layers that exist on the song:
“Euphoria” — the song title
The surface-level explanation for the song here is the feeling that Kendrick Lamar has as he puts out his response to Drake. As the artwork for the song reveals, “euphoria” is a “feeling of well-being or elation,” but it goes much deeper than that. Drake is an executive producer on Euphoria, a show centered on the experiences of high school students. Drake has been questioned by fans about his interactions with underage and young women all throughout his career. The most notable one came after Millie Bobby Brown, who was 13 at the time, gushed about her friendship with the rapper in an interview. “We just texted the other day and he was like ‘I miss you so much,’ and I was like ‘I miss you more!’” she said. Kendrick plays into these rumors and allegations with the song title.
“Everything they say about me is true…”
This line is said in reverse at the beginning of “Euphoria.” The audio is from the 1978 film The Wiz in a line said by Richard Pryor. The full line from the movie is “Everything they say about me is true, I’m a phony…” It’s the beginning of several lines in the song that question Drake’s character and authenticity.
“You not a rap artist, you a scam artist with the hopes of bеing accepted / Tommy Hilfiger stood out, but FUBU nеver had been your collection”
Kendrick continues to question Drake’s authenticity and even goes as far as to question Drake’s Blackness. Tommy Hilfilger was a prominent fashion brand in the hip-hop community during the 1990s, but by the following decade, Hilfiger was accused of being racist as he allegedly disapproved of hip-hop’s embrace of his brand. As a result, hip-hop artists dropped their support for Hilfiger in favor of supporting brands like FUBU. Kendrick casts doubt on Drake’s Blackness by alleging that Drake owned Tommy Hilfiger clothes as he believed it was needed to seem apart of the Black hip-hop community. However, as Kendrick alludes, if Drake was truly apart of the community, he also would’ve had FUBU in his closet, among other Black brands.
“How I make music that electrify ’em, you make music that pacify ’em / I can double down on that line, but spare you this time, that’s random acts of kindness”
Another reference to Drake’s interactions with underage and young women. Kendrick says his music gives people live, while Drake’s own calms people down and puts them to sleep, something a pacifier can help a child do. On the surface, this line is Kendrick’s way saying that Drake’s music is for kids, though he ackownledges a double entendre exists in the line. Despite that, Kendrick won’t go further on the topic, a moment of kindness that won’t be seen again for the rest of the diss track.
“The very first time I shot me a drac’, the homie had told me that “Aim it this way” / I didn’t point down enough, today I show you I learn from those mistakes”
Kendrick recalls the first time he shot a Draco pistol and admits that while he did not do it corrently back then, he eventually learned from those mistakes. Calling the Draco a “Drac,’” creates another double entendre, as it sounds like Kendrick is saying “Drake.” Kendrick is saying that his past jabs at Drake, weren’t good enough, but with “Euphoria,” he proved that he’s figured it all out.
Somebody had told that me you got a ring, on God, I’m ready to double the wage / I rather do that, than let a Canadian n**** make Pac turn in his grave”
Last summer, a report revealed that Drake purchased Tupac Shakur’s famed ring for the price of $1 million, three times more than the pre-sale estimate of between $200,000-$300,000. With this line, Kendrick says he ready to pay double for the ring as Drake possessing it is enough to make Tupac turn in his grave.
“Yeah, Cole and Aubrey know I’m a selfish n**** / The crown is heavy, huh / I pray they my real friends, if not, I’m YNW Melly”
Kendrick doesn’t want to share rap’s crown, and being that Drake and J. Cole have been atop the rap game beside him for years, Kendrick says his hip-hop counterparts are aware of his selfishness. In the end, Kendrick hopes Drake and Cole are his real friends, because if they aren’t, he’ll have to do away with them both as YNW Melly allegedly did to his two friends.
“I don’t like you poppin’ sh*t at Pharrell, for him, I inherit the beef / Yeah, f*ck all that pushin’ P, let me see you push a T / You better off spinnin’ again on him, you think about pushin’ me? / He’s Terrence Thornton, I’m Terence Crawford, yeah, I’m whoopin’ feet”
Kendrick wasn’t a fan of Drake dissing Pharrell on “Meltdown,” so he’s stepping in to respond for Pharrell. Kendrick doesn’t want Drake to diss Pharrell, he’d rather see him deliver his long-awaited response to Pusha T. Furthermore, Kendrick thinks it would be better for Drake to diss Pusha instead of him. Pusha T is Terrence Thornton (his birth name), but Kendrick is like undefeated boxing champion Terence Crawford, whose record is 40-0 (could be a sly reference to Drake’s longtime producer OVO 40). Kendrick will be “whoppin’ feet,” LA slang for beating up someone out of their shoes, in his battle with Drake.
“I know some sh*t about n**** that make Gunna Wunna look like a saint”
Kendrick essentially says if you think Gunna is a snitch in the YSL RICO case, wait till I tell you what I know about Drake and others.
I hate the way that you walk, the way that you talk / I hate the way that you dress / I hate the way you sneak diss, if I catch flight, it’s gon’ be direct / We hate the b*tches you fuck, ’cause they confuse themselves with real women / And notice, I said “We”, it’s not just me, I’m what the culture feelin’”
Kendrick hates everything about Drake: the way he walks, talks, dresses, and sneak disses other artists. Kendrick also hates the woman Drake’s has sexual interactions with because they are not “real women.” This could be another jab at Drake’s alleged affinity for underage/young women as a “real woman” could be defined as a woman over 21 years of age. Kendrick then says that it’s not only him who believes it, but the rest of hip-hop or music culture.
You gon’ make a n**** bring back Puff, let me see if Chubbs really crash somethin’
Kendrick recalls the 2014 club incident where Diddy allegedly punched Drake during a fight in LIV Miami. Kendrick considers bringing Diddy into the battle to really strike fear into Drake. This would mean that Chubbs, Drake’s bodyguard, would have to step in and defend Drake. The Chubbs mention is also a response to him calling Kendrick a “little boy.” In a post to his Instagram Story in response to a rumored Drake diss from Kendrick at that time, Chubbs wrote, “Tell That Little Boy Drop!!! But He Won’t.” Well. He did.
Yeah, my first one like my last one, it’s a classic, you don’t have one / Let your core audience stomach that / Didn’t tell ’em where you get your abs from”
Kendrick brags about having classic albums, something he says Drake does not have. He goes on to say that Drake’s fans need to stomach, or accept, the fact Drake doesn’t have a classic album. As if that wasn’t enough, Kendrick then mocks Drake for allegedly getting liposuction surgery in order to have a six-pack core, a fact he seemingly tries to keep hidden.
“Headshot for the year, you better walk around like Daft Punk”
An amazing double entendre!! Kendrick says his bars on “Euphoria” are the equivalent of Drake receiving a gunshot to the head. The head injuries will force Drake to hide his wounds and “walk around like Daft Punk,” the French electronic music duo known for wearing robot-lie helmets. Kendrick is also saying the “headshot” diss make Drake a “daft punk” dur to his brain injuries. Daft by definition is “silly; foolish” while punk means “a worthless person.” Thanks to “Euphoria,” Drake is now a silly, foolish, and worthless person according to Kendrick.
Surprised you wanted that feature request / You know that we got some sh*t to address
Kendrick suggests that Drake reached out to him for a guest verse (allegedly for “First Person Shooter“) despite their ongoing beef, a request that shocked Kendrick.
I’m knowin’ they call you The Boy, but where is a man? ‘Cause I ain’t see him yet
Kendrick is back to questioning Drake’s character, using the Toronto rapper’s nickname as “The Boy” to point to Drake’s inability to be a man.
“When I see you stand by Sexyy Red, I believe you see two bad bitches / I believe you don’t like women, that’s real competition, you might pop ass with ’em”
In recent months, Drake has been spotted with Sexyy Red on multiple occasions. Kendrick believes Drake wants to be like Sexyy Red and other female rappers. A line later, Kendrick goes on to say that Drake doesn’t like women and sees them as competition, enough to shake ass as some do in their videos, performances, and social media posts.
“Let’s speak on percentage, show me your splits / I make sure I double back with you / You was signed to a n**** that’s signed to a n**** that said he was signed to that n**** / Try cease and desist on the ‘Like That’ record / Hoe, what? You ain’t like that record?”
Kendrick responds to Drake’s claim that Kendrick was being extorted in his previous record deal with TDE and reminds Drake that once signed to Young Money under Cash Money Records which is under Universal Music Group. The “that n****” may be Birdman who was sued by Lil Wayne and accused of withholding profits and refusing to release his Tha Carter V album. Next, Kendrick accusses Drake of sending a cease and desist letter for Future & Metro Boomin’s “Like That,” which Kendrick appears on and used to diss Drake in his verse. This isn’t the first time Drake was accused of sending a cease and desist letter to another rapper.
“‘Back To Back’, I like that record / I’ma get back to that for the record / Why would I call around tryna get dirt on n****s? / Y’all think all of my life is rap?
That’s hoe sh*t, I got a son to raise, but I can see you know nothin’ ’bout that / Wakin’ them up, know nothin’ ’bout that / And tell ’em to pray, know nothin’ ’bout that / And givin’ ’em tools to walk through life like day by day, know nothin’ ’bout that / Teachin’ the morals, and take all the discipline, listen man, you don’t know nothin’ ’bout that / Speakin’ the truth and consider what God’s considerin’, you don’t know nothin’ ’bout that”
Kendrick shows love to Drake’s “Back To Back” record, which the Toronto rapper released in 2016 in response to Meek Mill’s ghostwriter claims against him, but explaining why he would never go on a search for dirt on Drake. Kendrick says fatherhood — something he believes Drake is failing at in multiple ways — occpuies too much of his time, making it impossible for him to find the dirt that would be useful for a diss. “Euphoria” proves that Kendrick didn’t need that dirt.
“Ain’t twenty-v-one, it’s one-v-twenty if I gotta smack n****s that write with you”
Since Meek Mill’s ghostwriting accusations against Drake in 2016, the Torono rapper has been unable to shake off claims that he does not write all of his music. So in response to Drake’s “What the f*ck is this, a twenty-v-one, n****?” line on “Push-Ups,” Kendrick corrects Drake and says it will actually be him against Drake and his ghostwriters if things get more violent.
“Am I battlin’ ghost or AI? N**** feelin’ like Joel Osteen / Funny, he was in a film called ‘AI’ /And my sixth sense tellin’ me to off him”
Kendrick responds to Drake’s “Taylor Made Freestyle” which featured AI verses by Snoop Dogg and Tupac from Drake, by asking if he’s battling AI or a ghost, instead of a real-life rapper. He then likens himself to Joel Osteen, though he actually meant Haley Joel Osment, the child actor who starred in the films The Sixth Sense and AI: Artificial Intelligence. Our own Aaron Williams dove into the connection to Haley Joel Osment in his ranking of the disses on “Euphoria.”
“Yeah, OVO n****s is d*ck riders / Tell ’em run to America to imitate heritage, they can’t imitate this violence”
Kendrick disses Drake’s OVO crew and suggest that they all left Canadian and came to the US to appropriate the culture in the states. Probablem is, as Kendrick says, they’re unable imitate everything including Kendrick’s level of aggression and violence on “Euphoria.”
“Don’t speak on the family, crodie / It can get deep in the family, crodie / Talk about me and my family, crodie? / Someone go bleed in your family, crodie”
Kendrick warns Drake about dissing his loved ones as things will get violent if the Toronto native decides to ignore his warning. Kendrick also mocks Drake by using a Toronto accent and the word “crodie,” a crip variation of “brodie” that Toronto rapper and member of the crip Wassa gang, in these bars.
“Whoever that’s f*ckin’ with him, f*ck you n****s, and f*ck the industry too”
Drake’s friends and the overall industry won’t stop Kendrick from going to war, and he’s ready to battle anyone who wants to stand beside Drake.
