When Drake’s “Taylor Made Freestyle” dissed Kendrick Lamar from the “perspectives” of Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg by replicating their voices with A.I. technology, the latter West Coast legend didn’t really seem to mind that much. He simply uploaded a video on Instagram of him laughing in disbelief, questioning what happened, pointing to his Death Row clothing, and saying that he’s going back to bed. However, Tha Doggfather’s recent Instagram Story repost has fans thinking that he actually picked a side here. Moreover, he reposted a clip of him, ‘Pac, and other Cali icons over the years with the audio of “Taylor Made Freestyle” in the background.
Furthermore, this is a very curious repost given that Drake himself took down “Taylor Made Freestyle” from his social media after a legal threat from Tupac’s estate. Some Kendrick Lamar die-hards are scrambling for answers right now, either criticizing Snoop Dogg for this repost or making excuses: he didn’t hear the audio, he doesn’t run his account, he got hacked… the whole shebang. But to be honest, this isn’t really a surprising co-sign if it is actually a co-sign. After all, he appeared on the Toronto rapper’s For All The Dogs album last year, and maybe he does want K.Dot to uphold unwritten rap beef law and come through with a response already.
Either way, it definitely wasn’t what Kendrick Lamar fans wanted to see, and it would be really curious to hear Snoop Dogg explicitly speak on this issue. Maybe that’s something that we’ll see once (or if) the Compton creative responds, but we know that Drake will likely keep basking in his current, still up-for-grabs victory and taunting him to clap back. His most recent social media troll was wearing chains that either are or at least resemble Tupac’s, plus a sweatshirt of Compton Community College. This is allegedly where Mr. Morale’s wife graduated from.
Meanwhile, the Long Beach MC is busy dealing with his current Death Row tenure. For example, he recently brought back Danny Boy as an artist for the label after years of separation. We’ll see what the future of the collective holds, especially as the West Coast is looking for a “savior” right now. For more news and the latest updates on Drake, Kendrick Lamar, and Snoop Dogg, stay logged into HNHH.
Well, it seems like Drake is far from done with trolling Kendrick Lamar again on social media amid their rap beef, for which the latter still has yet to drop another track responding to the former’s two disses. Moreover, some fans think that his latest Instagram Story is actually targeting rival. This is due to what Drizzy is wearing in the “fit pic”: a sweatshirt of Compton Community College, where K.Dot’s wife reportedly (and allegedly) attended, and chains that (allegedly) are or at least resemble Tupac Shakur’s. No caption, no song attached: just a mirror selfie. That’ll definitely show him…
Furthermore, what was once the most exciting and potentially expansive hip-hop “civil war” the genre’s seen in decades now turned into a coup d’état… on both ends. On one hand, you have the “20 versus 1” against Drake, which he’s been able to effectively dismiss despite Future, Metro Boomin, and company’s attempts to unite to “take him down.” On the other, there’s Kendrick Lamar’s lack of response, and how much of the rap community now doubts if he can “hold the crown” if he can’t clap back in a beef he technically started. But it’s fair to say that, for rap fans with no horse in this race, both outcomes have been disappointing to some degree.
For one, Drake’s consistent trolling of Kendrick Lamar is starting to backfire at least a little bit, as putting all this energy with no response is really putting him in a 50 Cent antic category that he was right on the border of. Add onto that a removed diss track that used Tupac and Snoop Dogg’s A.I. voices and you’ve got plenty of reason as to why hardcore rap nerds, casual fans, and the industry at large is either feeling skeptical about this approach or mostly interested in the spectacle of it all. Of course, the Compton lyricist’s lack of response is patient and somewhat confusing, but above all, it speaks volumes as to his confidence in his superiority and his refusal to play into social media bait. But it’s also harder to swallow when he’s been wanting this for years.
Meanwhile, with rumors that this was all to promote a supposed new album from the pgLang creative, that would certainly be a sad reality to cope with that many fans are fearing right now. If all the smoke is for marketing or to give yourself a boost, weren’t there less combative, incendiary, or genuine ways of building hype? It’s clear that the only thing that can get things back on track is a response, or at least something from Mr. Morale, but it’s definitely been an interestingly bizarre dynamic to witness. On that note, come back to HNHH for more news and the latest updates on Kendrick Lamar and Drake.
While Kendrick Lamar fans either patiently or desperately anticipated his response to Drake’s “Push Ups,” his opponent chose not to wait until he suits up. Drizzy dropped “Taylor Made Freestyle” on Instagram late Friday night (April 19) after sharing “Push Ups” on streaming services that same day. Add onto that the other players in rap’s coup d’état, and you’ve got a whole lot of drama that the 6ix God is happily laughing through.
The principal idea is that Drake wants Kendrick Lamar to respond to him because the Compton lyricist has supposedly been sitting on a diss track for four years. That’s in addition to the fact that Dot ignited this whole situation with his verse on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That.” On “Taylor Made Freestyle,” Drake uses three main tactics and angles to portray K. Dot as a scared dog who “barked up the wrong tree and got his head popped off in a crowded room.” Whether you think this is a desperate move or a nail-in-the-coffin moment, the OVO mogul certainly got what he wanted: respect through being disrespectful.
Examining the primary controversy surrounding the song is imperative to understand the levels of disrespect. The first two verses on “Taylor Made Freestyle” use A.I. technology to replicate Tupac and Snoop Dogg’s voices, respectively. Drake raps from their “perspective” about how “they” want Kendrick Lamar to ether Drake on behalf of the West Coast. However, lines like “You supposed to be the boogeyman, go do what you do” question whether Kendrick is really like that, as Snoop and ‘Pac were more combatively upfront in their Death Row days. Aubrey also alludes to Snoop passing Kendrick the torch as the new frontrunner for the West Coast at a 2011 concert in L.A., emphasizing this historical pressure.
Aside from any ethical conversations about the use of A.I. here, the illusion is just a shiny taunt in this context and doesn’t truly emulate either Cali legend. Kendrick, on the other hand, previously used similar technology in ways many felt were more thematically appropriate and less disrespectful to their subject’s memories. These include talking to ‘Pac on TPAB‘s “Mortal Man” or using deepfakes of Will Smith, Nipsey Hussle, and more to draw parallels between their stories and his own in the music video for “The Heart Part 5.” But more importantly than all of this, the “Evil Ways” spitter questions the “Savior” creative’s L.A. ties by mentioning an apartment he bought in New York, and accuses Lamar of faking his aggressive funk and being “out of moves” in this “chess game” that the world is watching.
Kendrick Lamar Is A Swiftie Through & Through, Drizzy Declares
Drake also audits Kendrick Lamar’s artistic roots through Taylor Swift’s new album, which dropped the same day “Push Ups” hit DSPs and this “freestyle” hit @champagnepapi’s IG. Specifically, he claims that Kendrick hasn’t responded yet because he doesn’t want to interfere with Swift’s schedule, despite Drake mentioning her as his only competition on the song “Red Button” last year. “She Taylor-Made your schedule with Ant, you out of the loop / Hate all you corporate industry puppets, I’m not in the mood,” he raps, possibly referencing TDE’s Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith, or Kendrick’s manager Anthony Saleh. It follows similar points from “Push Ups” and posits that Mr. Duckworth is prioritizing money over his craft.
On this point, though, someone tried to turn this argument against Drake: Kanye West. The now-independent Chicago artist raps the following on his “Like That” remix: “Where’s Lucian? Serve your master, n***a / You caught a little bag for your masters, didn’t ya? / Lifetime deal, I feel bad for n***as.” This paints the former Degrassi star as a puppet of UMG head Sir Lucian Grainge who, in 2022, confirmed that Drake entered a multi-faceted deal with Universal Music Group, per Variety. At the time, the publication reported that Drake signed a rumored “Lebron-sized deal” with UMG that could be worth upwards of $400 million.
Nonetheless, Ye’s retort remains muddy, speculative, and lacks actual information that would make these claims worthwhile in this feud. Another muddy point is how Ye and Drake argue over ghostwriting and credits when they’ve both written for each other. Regardless, Kendrick Lamar is now “independent” through pgLang. However, another separate report from Varietyin 2020 indicated that Lamar signed a worldwide administration agreement with Universal Music Publishing.
“Taylor Made Freestyle” Anticipates Kendrick’s Next Shots
Drake throws shots at Kendrick Lamar on ‘Taylor Made Freestyle’
“Dot, I know you in that NY apartment / You struggling right now, I know it…”
“In the notepad doing lyrical gymnastics, my boy / You better have a motherf***in’ quintuple entendre on that sh*t” pic.twitter.com/NQWnAU7AGU
Finally, Drake addresses potential disses that Kendrick Lamar’s response track would include. The Tupac A.I. verse begs K.Dot to call out the “Canadian lightskin” for “liking young girls.” First, this attempts to disarm shots at his perceived racial ambiguity and insecurity. Later, it addresses the speculation surrounding his alleged proximity to Millie Bobby Brown, Bella Harris, and others when they were underage. It’s important to note that the only documented evidence of this type of alleged behavior was from a Denver concert in 2010. Per The Guardian, the then-23-year-old Drake brought a girl onstage, caressed her, kissed her on the lips, and was shocked when the girl told her that she was 17 — the age of consent in Denver — afterward. However, her actual age is still officially unconfirmed at press time.
In addition, Drake jokes that Kendrick Lamar needs a “quintuple entendre” on his response track, mocking how folks hype up his complex pen. This complements his claim that “Push Ups” only took him “an hour or two” to write and that his next diss track is when Kendrick will really lose. Overall, the Certified Lover Boy tries to downplay his rival’s artistic value and patience through consistent pressure. Some jabs could be interpreted as hypocritical, though, such as Drake questioning Kendrick’s street ties. Nevertheless, as of writing this article, there are only rumors of whether or not K.Dot will eventually respond mercilessly or if he’ll pull a J. Cole. But history shows us that a single verse can change everything.
Out of the two Drake diss tracks that he launched against Kendrick Lamar and company, “Taylor Made Freestyle” is definitely the most controversial for a few reasons. There’s the back-to-back nature of it without a K.Dot response, the use of A.I. technology to replicate Snoop Dogg and Tupac’s voices, and the mentions of Taylor Swift to goad the Compton lyricist into clapping back. It’s all sounding very familiar to what might be the biggest and most effective troll in hip-hop’s entire history: 50 Cent. Moreover, the G-Unit mogul had some surprising words for this diss track that indicate he actually thinks it would be better if this all stopped here… at least, for The Boy’s opponents.
“[eyes emoji] OK in my professional expert opinion on this matter, leave this man alone,” 50 Cent shared on Instagram this weekend, with this caption on a clip of this diss seemingly talking about Drake himself. “I’ve seen this [film camera emoji] movie before, it will not end well. [shrug emoji] you disagree ok, [thinking face emoji] then where is your s**t at boy [angry face emoji],” concluding things by seemingly calling Kendrick Lamar out for not dropping a response track yet.
Of course, if you assumed that 50 Cent would automatically ride for Drake when it comes to this diss track, then this apparent co-sign might not come as much of a surprise to you. Even if it is slightly vague, it’s not enough to back up any other interpretation, especially considering what Fif had to say about the previous diss track, “Push Ups.” “All you [ninja emoji]’s got smoked by a light skinned N***a,” he wrote as the caption of a snippet of the diss on Instagram. “LOL YALL BETTER GET HIGH AS A MOTHER FVCKER AND COME UP WITH SOMETHING!”
Meanwhile, this is a very interesting dynamic because Mr. Morale not only had a cameo role in the Queens icon’s series Power on top of performing together at the Super Bowl halftime show in 2022, but the former also spoke on some great advice he got from the latter in August of last year. Will they reconcile if there’s a great response or has 50 picked a side here for good? We’ll have to wait and see. For more news and the latest updates on 50 Cent, Kendrick Lamar, and Drake, stay logged into HNHH.
DJ Akademiks is one of Drake’s biggest cheerleaders right now in his Kendrick Lamar beef, and one of the main sources of info that’s been sharing the latest updates on it. As such, it’s no surprise that he has some very kind things to say about the new “Taylor Made Freestyle,” which replicates Tupac and Snoop Dogg’s voices with A.I. technology to taunt the Compton lyricist. Many of them, while obviously up for debate, are no less valid as a result, but the media personality also suggested that this is starting to define Drizzy as a winner more and more, yet he still wants K.Dot to fight back and drop a response ASAP. While he doesn’t outright say this in the series of tweets below, it’s hard to think that there’s much Kendrick could do to turn him against OVO based on his remarks.
“DRAKE ON THIS N***A HEADTOP,” DJ Akademiks began his tweet storm, which you can see continue further down below, on Friday night (April 19). “Drake drops AI assisted track to Give Kendrick Lamar a pep talk to actually engage in the Beef he STARTED. WE LIVE. Ps. I heard Drake wrote the AI verses for AI Tupac and AI Snoop Dogg. this next level. his Verse is clearly real and him tho. He wrote all 3 lmao. FIGHT BACK KENDRICK LAMAR.
“DRAKE pen ready…..” DJ Akademiks continued. “He writing verses for himself and AI characters. He might need to write one for Kendrick too. Kendrick Lamar fans in shambles.. they been doing mental gymnastics tryna defend their guy for BAITING a beef and letting a n***a shoot up the block twice before he responded once. No more excuses… We aint tryna hear no response on ur album. DROP ASAP. Drake violating Kendrick Lamar ‘Now we gotta [wait] a f***in week, cuz Taylor Swift ya new Top and if you bout to drop.. she gotta approve. This girl really bout to make you act like you not in a FEUD.’
More Ak Tweets
Drake drops AI assisted track to Give Kendrick Lamar a pep talk to actually engage in the Beef he STARTED. WE LIVEhttps://t.co/FKAPX0xyN8
Kendrick Lamar fans in shambles.. they been doing mental gymnastics tryna defend their guy for BAITING a beef and letting a nigga shoot up the block twice before he responded once. No more excuses… We aint tryna hear no response on ur album. DROP ASAP.
Drake violating Kendrick Lamar “Now we gotta a f*ckin week, cuz Taylor Swift ya new Top and if you bout to drop.. she gotta approve. This girl really bout to make you act like you not in a FEUD.”
“Drake to Kendrick Lamar ‘The First one only took me only a hour or two… the next one about to bring out the coward in YOU,’” he went on. “Chris Browndissed Quavo before Kendrick responded to Drake…. wtf… the light skin n***as keeping it hip hop. Day 7 with no Response from Kendrick Lamar yet.” Then, the former Everyday Struggle host posted Snoop Dogg’s apparent response to this whole debacle. We’ll see what else these rap personalities have to say. For more on DJ Akademiks and the latest updates on Drake and Kendrick Lamar, stay posted on HNHH.
Drake went “Back To Back” on the rap game again, dropping yet another diss towards Kendrick Lamar on social media last night (Friday, April 19). Of course, probably the most notable aspect of this song is the fact that he used A.I. technology to replicate Tupac and Snoop Dogg’s voices in order to rap from their perspectives and goad K.Dot into responding ASAP. A lot of folks are debating the points that Drizzy made here, the use of this tech, when we’ll get a response (if at all), and other factors. However, one question had fans particularly interested, predicting whether it would be a positive or negative moment for the Toronto superstar: what does Tha Doggfather think of this?
Well, even though Snoop Dogg published a video in the wee hours of Saturday, April 20 (and thus, ironically enough, seemingly reacted to a lot of smoke on 4/20), it didn’t really get us any closer to knowing what he thinks of it. “They did what?” he said in the clip below with a skeptical face. “When? How? Are you sure?” Then, the West Coast legend sighed and pointed to the “Death Row” stitching on his jacket. “Y’all have a good night. And to all… *laughs* Everybody calling my phone blowing me up. What the f**k, what happened? What’s going on? I’m going back to bed, good night.”
As such, this doesn’t really clarify whether Snoop Dogg knew of “Taylor Made Freestyle” before its IG release, whether he co-signed the track, or whether he’s supporting his fellow L.A. native in Kendrick Lamar. There are a few conflicting elements: shouting out Death Row (a sign of respect to himself and ‘Pac), laughing (seemingly enjoying the ruckus it’s caused), not really wanting to engage just yet (which could mean anything), and Aubrey Graham himself liking the post (a salute or a jab?). We also know that the Long Beach MC is good friends with Drake and that he’s on the fence about A.I. technology, sometimes co-signing it and sometimes being more critical, particularly about Tupac A.I. But he likely also has some deep appreciation for the Compton creative, so the disrespectful nature of this usage might not just be a point on the rap beef board for him.
Drizzy With The Like
Screenshot via Instagram @snoopdogg
Meanwhile, with the former TDE MC rumored to respond to this along with an album release in May, it seems like both artists are trying to set up goalposts that the other can’t even play in. How do you think the rest of this will pan out? Let us know your takes on all these aspects down in the comments section below. Also, come back to HNHH for more on Snoop Dogg and all the latest updates on the Drake and Kendrick Lamar beef.
Well, after folks were wondering whether Drake’s “Push Ups” diss would ever drop on streaming services, its awaited arrival today (Friday, April 19) shows us why. Moreover, the beat here is a little more fleshed-out than the original version that leaked, and it looks like this is just another way for him to pressure Kendrick Lamar and company to respond. Also, it’s quite interesting that Drizzy dropped the same day that Taylor Swift chose to release her new album The Tortured Poets Department considering that he previously named her on wax as his only commercial release competition. We’ll see once next week’s charts come out whether this will dethrone “Like That,” the song that ignited this whole debacle, for Billboard‘s No. 1 spot on the Hot 100, and whether either will be able to compete with the superstar songwriter.
However, we know that it might be a bit difficult on paper for Drake’s officially released version of “Push Ups” to dethrone Kendrick Lamar, Future, and Metro Boomin’s “Like That” from that top spot. After all, the song has remained at No. 1 for three weeks straight, holding up against even a new Beyoncé album and plenty of other hyped releases. But that being said… this is the 6ix God we’re talking about here, one of the most (if not the most) commercially successful hip-hop artist of all time. As such, we doubt that he will have much of a hard time finding massive commercial success with this diss track dropping on DSPs.
Drake’s “Push Ups” Hits DSPs After Almost A Full Week: Stream
Elsewhere, Aubrey Graham is also doing his best to troll his opposition and goad them into trying to beat him. Some of it’s been very effective, such as his social media back-and-forths with Rick Ross. As for Drake’s attempts to elicit a reaction (or suppress one) from Kendrick Lamar, it’s a bit more up in the air considering that K.Dot is decidedly not an online person at all. We probably won’t hear from him again until he actually decides to drop something, and whether that’s a response track or something else entirely is a mystery.
Meanwhile, what do you think about “Push Ups” finally landing on streaming services? How has the track and its shots aged for you in the last week, and how would you assess the scoreboard right now considering The Boy’s gleeful Internet drama-stirring? In any case, drop your takes down in the comments section below. Also, stay logged into HNHH for the latest news and more updates on Drake.
It’s been almost a full week since Drake “dropped” his scathing diss track “Push Ups” at press time, taking aim at many targets. Chief among them was Kendrick Lamar, someone who notoriously stays away from the media and from really most forms of overt engagement. As such, it’s not really surprising that he hasn’t dropped a response track to the OVO mogul yet… but there’s certainly a lot of pressure on him from the hip-hop world who knows that he basically started this. Whether the Compton lyricist will refrain from responding due to a change of heart, belief in his original “Like That” verse, not feeling like “Push Ups” was adequate (or even weak) enough to respond to is a question only for Father Time.
But many, like Charlamagne Tha God, want an answer expeditiously… and the conversation below is a really weird one that we’ll try to keep focused on the Kendrick Lamar stuff in our transcription. “Where Dot at?” he told Andrew Schulz during a recent sit-down. “First of all, I’m the OG Drake hater. I’m an OG veteran Drake hater… If Kendrick comes with some s**t, I’ma come in here and give a fair analysis of that, too. If he comes in here with some s**t that’s like ‘Oh, s**t,’ then yes, I’ma give it up for Kendrick, too.
“Oh, my God, yo, Kendrick, please, Kendrick, you gotta drop,” Charlamagne Tha God continued. “Kendrick, you on the clock, you see what you doing? You see what you doing to your fans? Kendrick! I don’t know either, man. Kendrick, if you f**k around and don’t drop this week or by this weekend, I don’t know what’s going to happen to your fans. I’ma still support you, I’ma still ride with you.
“You got to have your head up,” he concluded. “I like hip-hop, I was listening this weekend like, ‘Yes!’ I like all this s**t, I like watching Drake do this. I like to watch Ross do this, I like watching Akademiks going crazy on the live, I like this s**t. Okay? I like watching this s**t, I love it, It’s dope.” Regardless of the debate, for more news and the latest updates on Charlamagne Tha God, Kendrick Lamar, and Drake, keep checking in with HNHH.
Like most hip-hop fans right now, Joe Budden has a lot of questions about the explosive beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar right now. Moreover, a big point of contention for fans is where these Kendrick A.I. leaks are coming from, which some believe are real diss tracks. However, close listens show that something’s up, and one TikTok producer in particular came forward to explain how he made that “diss” using artificial intelligence technology to replicate K.Dot’s voice. Furthermore, the Slaughterhouse MC thinks that the Toronto superstar is actually behind these leaks and A.I. verses, as he’s been accused before of using online bots and other methods to troll and harass his enemies on social media.
“To address some of that stuff we talked about earlier with all of this A.I. stuff,” Joe Budden began. “Don’t kill me, I’m just a messenger here. I have it on good information that that’s just Drake. Drake is responsible for the Kendrick leaks, A.I. leaks, Drake and the bots.” “That makes sense,” his co-host added. “He plays the bot game, he plays the Internet game. There’s been issues with other rappers where they got thousands of bots. There was a time where, if you said Pusha T’s name, your mentions would get flooded with bots that have nothing… ‘Pusha T is really half-lizard.’”
Joe Budden’s Theory On Drake Being Behind Kendrick Lamar AI Diss Tracks: Listen
The plot thickens! According to Joe Budden, Drake is responsible for the fake Kendrick Lamar AI records and has a history of using bots to troll his enemies pic.twitter.com/bJ8yvIFc4b
“Pusha T has accused Drake of this, salamander or some s**t,” Joe Budden continued. “Meg has accused Drake of this. People have accused Nicki of this, I think, in the past. You can’t even accuse somebody of these things if you don’t know that game. Right? So these are people that understand that game.
“This would explain Drake every day posting, ‘Come out. Is it today? Is today the day? When are we gonna hear this?‘” he concluded. “Sounds like he’s just trying to take some of the luster off of whatever is coming. And he’s playing Internet games and A.I. games to do it. Apple’s son.” For more news and the latest updates on Joe Budden, Drake, and Kendrick Lamar, come back to HNHH.
Drake is easily one of the biggest trolls when it comes to the hip-hop world. Overall, he came up in an era where internet trolling became the norm. Consequently, he knows how to maneuver spaces such as Instagram. Furthermore, whenever he gets into a feud, you can be sure that he is going to find clever ways to get under people’s skin. It is the price of doing business whenever you come after someone like Drizzy. As it turns out, Kendrick Lamar is beginning to find this out the hard way amid his beef with the megastar.
Over the weekend, Drake dropped his response to “Like That” in the form of a leaked track called “Push Ups.” Overall, the song was a success, with fans praising the bars throughout the joint. Now, the ball is in Kendrick’s court, and there is no diss in sight. A song actually leaked online, although it was eventually called AI. Drizzy and OVO have been refuting this fact, claiming that Lamar is just upset that the song didn’t get the reception he hoped for. This morning, the Canadian is continuing his social media assault on Lamar, this time with an Instagram story containing a photo of the rapper’s manager, Anthony Saleh.
As you can see, Drake added some text to the image, saying “wonder is today the day” with some turtle emojis on either side. Clearly, he is trying to say that Lamar is taking too long with his response. This is a bit ironic, considering Drizzy took three weeks to respond to “Like That,” while Kendrick has only been given a couple of days in the aftermath of “Push Ups.” There is no telling if Lamar will respond, but there is no doubt that the pressure is on and the clock is ticking.
Let us know what you think of the feud between Kendrick Lamar and Drake, in the comments section down below. Do you feel as though Drake is doing too much right now? Will Kendrick respond today or is he chilling? Additionally, stay tuned to HNHH for the latest news and updates from around the music world. We will continue to keep you informed on all of your favorite artists and their upcoming projects.
