Kendrick Lamar “Euphoria”: 6 Bars Drake Needs To Respond To

Folks, welcome to Round Two of hip-hop’s coup d’état against Drake… or was it the true king asserting his dominance all along against the Toronto challenger? In this corner, we have Drizzy, who launched two diss tracks, took down one of them, is still on top of the game commercially, and has been eagerly waiting for Kendrick Lamar to clap back with a “quintuple entendre or something.” And in this corner, we have K. Dot, who kicked this current fight off in the first place and reaped what he sowed today with his “Euphoria” response.

As expected, Kendrick Lamar’s song was explosive on impact, leading to many wild reactions, interpretations, theories, and predictions. Not everyone’s a fan, of course, but one thing is definitely clear: Drake got the smoke he wanted, and the ball is back in his court. Across this new diss track’s six-and-a-half-minute runtime, we believe there are six specific sets of bars that the 6ix God must address.

I Pray They My Real Friends, If Not, I’m YNW Melly

First, let’s start off with Kendrick Lamar addressing “First Person Shooter,” the Drake and J. Cole collab that seems to have provoked the “Like That” diss. There’s a “feature request” line that suggests that K.Dot actually turned down a guest spot with Drake. Kendrick then insinuates that Drizzy didn’t want to work with him after his “Control” verse because his feelings were hurt, and he clarifies that he doesn’t have a problem with Drake and Cole working together… in theory. While he “loves them to death,” the former TDE lyricist suggests that if Aubrey, Cole, or both aimed to belittle Kendrick or take him down with their collab, this changes the dynamic.

This culminates with the line: “There’s no accent you can sell me / Yeah, Cole and Aubrey know I’m a selfish n***a / The crown is heavy, huh / I pray they my real friends, if not, I’m YNW Melly.” Not only does he question Drake trying to make music representing a lot of different cultures and communities, which many have called appropriation, but Kendrick Lamar also compares himself to Melly, who will eventually face a retrial for accusations of murdering his two friends. So “First Person Shooter” requires an explanation, because even though J. Cole’s made his stance clear, it’s still up in the air whether The Boy intended to legitimately pay tribute or disrespect him instead.

Let Your Core Audience Stomach That / Then Tell Them Where You Get Your Abs From

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Another set of bars goes over a few different topics, starting with a reference to the alleged 2014 incident at DJ Khaled’s birthday party at the LIV Miami club in which Diddy reportedly struck Drake in the face. This line also ropes in the “Evil Ways” rapper’s longtime personal bodyguard Chubbs: “You gon’ make a n***a bring back Puff, let me see if Chubbs really crash something.” This continues Kendrick Lamar and Drizzy’s references to security guards and physical confrontation, such as Kendrick’s security guard 2TEEZ and Drake making fun of Kendrick trying to get physical “with a size 7 men’s on.”

However, right after this bar, we get another instance of Kendrick Lamar questioning whether the rap game at large really accepts Drake, as well as a few jabs at his alleged liposuction. “Yeah, my first one like my last one, it’s a classic, you don’t have one / Let your core audience stomach that, then tell them where you get your abs from.” J. Cole’s “7 Minute Drill” diss proved that going at Mr. Morale’s catalog is a huge risk, so maybe Drake will instead offer up his acclaimed projects like Nothing Was The Same, Take Care, or If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late. But the picture painted here presents the former Degrassi star as someone who, at many turns and via some non-commercial metrics, has found it difficult to find acceptance or respect, for right or wrong reasons.

When I See You Stand Next To Sexyy Red, I Believe You See Two Bad Btches*

Drake definitely found his due flowers from the new generation, something that Kendrick Lamar also questioned in “Euphoria.” There’s a Lil Yachty mention here, but the bombshell relating to this is a commentary on his artistic friendship with Sexyy Red, and how K.Dot seemingly accuses Drizzy of faking this support while putting other women down because he sees them as competition. “When I see you stand by Sexyy Red, I believe you see two bad b***hes / I believe you don’t like women, that’s real competition, you might pop a** with them.” Not only does this continue the lipo allegations and poke at Drake’s femininity and strength (another controversial and frankly, tired move), but it insinuates that he needs the St. Louis MC more than she needs Drake.

Also, the specific line about not liking women is very relevant given Drake’s complicated relationship with women in his personal life, as explored through topics in his music, and with industry peers. On Her Loss‘ “Circo Loco” (2022), he seemed to take shots at Megan Thee Stallion, and on For All The Dogs‘ “Away From Home” (2023), he disses jazz musician Esperanza Spalding. Kendrick Lamar even shouted Megan out on “family ties” in 2021. With all this in mind, Drake will have to respond to folks questioning his authenticity, his ego, and his true intentions when it comes to his relationships with women… and the pgLang creative didn’t even have to “talk about [Drake] liking young girls” as Drizzy predicted on his “Taylor Made Freestyle” A.I. diss from Tupac Shakur’s “perspective” to do that. Yikes.

I Got A Son To Raise But I Can See You Know Nothing ‘Bout That

One of the most incendiary moments on “Euphoria” relates to another scathing Drake diss: Pusha T’s “The Story Of Adidon.” Earlier in Kendrick Lamar’s three-part diss, he calls his rival out for never responding to Pusha T’s cut and for going at Pharrell, but the real call-back appears later on. First, K. Dot accuses the Canadian superstar of trying to look for dirt on him. Interestingly enough, Pusha made similar claims in 2018 when they were at the height of their beef. “Why would I call around tryna get dirt on n***as, y’all think all of my life is rap?” Kendrick raps, which also responds to people pressuring him to respond to Drake quickly, as this track took over two weeks to arrive.

But the plot thickens on the very next bar, which continues to call out Drake for being a troll, constantly goading Kendrick Lamar to respond, and posting and talking about this constantly on social media. “That’s h*e s**t, I got a son to raise, but I can see you know nothing about that.” Kendrick calls back to “The Story Of Adidon” by mentioning that Drake never announced his son to the public until Pusha T exposed that he was a father.

Pusha T’s diss was eventually mulled over, and the Scorpion artist now has a public and very wholesome bond with his son. But the “Silent Hill” spitter flips this once more by making fun of Aubrey Graham’s social media obsession and concerning himself with pettiness rather than family. Once more, Drake will have to back up his online persona through bars, not just more IG stories, likes, comments, or DMs.

*Ain’t 20v1, It’s 1v20 If I Gotta Smack N***as That Write With You*

One of the simplest but sharpest lines on “Euphoria” directly responds to this “Push Ups” line: “What the f**k is this, a 20v1?” On that line, Drake calls out many rap industry players (Future, Metro Boomin, Rick Ross, etc.) for teaming up on him at the same time, something that Kendrick Lamar turns right back against him. “Ain’t 20v1, it’s 1v20 if I gotta smack n***as that write with you,” he spits, once again bringing up ghostwriting claims that Drizzy has been dogged by ever since 2015.

While Drake’s said a lot about it since his Meek Mill beef, it does carry a different context now. Alleged reference tracks recently leaked, in which he supposedly took them one-for-one from his peers. While these are just rumors (particularly Cash Cobain’s track), it truly questions whether Drake could confidently place himself as the GOAT. The 6ix God might have to respond to Kendrick Lamar’s accusations by claiming more artistic responsibility for his own work than what the credits (or a lack of credits, rather) would have you believe. More importantly, he needs to explain why he can still be the GOAT in hip-hop today, which isn’t an impossible task: just a difficult one.

Toronto’s “Crodies” Can’t Touch K.Dot

Finally, Kendrick Lamar pettily and mercilessly clowns the 6ix’s accent, slang, and street ties. While closing “Euphoria,” he insinuates that Drake can’t fake the street funk, even if he found success in the U.S. rap scene. Kendrick uses the term “crodie” to taunt him, a Crip flip of “brodie” popularized by Toronto rapper Pressa. He’s allegedly affiliated with the Wass Gang, a Crip set in the city that Drake has rapped about often through direct reference and through using “crodie.” After this mocking use of the Toronto accent to warn Drake to refrain from mentioning family business, Kendrick Lamar says he’s never in trouble in Toronto when he goes, contrary to what his nemesis would have you believe.

“I be at New Ho King eating fried rice with a dip sauce and blamy, crodie / Tell me you’re cheesing, fam/ We can do this right now on the camera, crodie.” New Ho King is a popular late-night Chinese food spot in Toronto, and “cheesing” is Toronto and Jamaican patois slang for being angry. The last line proposes that these two hip-hop titans duke it out for real in the public eye, which was the challenge K.Dot offered on “Like That.”

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