Drake & Kendrick Lamar's Feud Explained as Their Diss Tracks Heat Up
As Drake and Kendrick Lamar continue to exchange diss tracks at an impressive rate, you might be wondering what exactly started this heated feud.
On Saturday (May 4), Kendrick took the beef to another level with his song “Not Like Us.” On it, he referred to his opponent as a “certified pedophile,” after proclaiming that Drake “like[s] ‘em young.”
“Not Like Us” follows a string of diss tracks that the rappers have been dropping in the last few weeks.
What’s going on? We did some digging to see what is at the root of their bad blood.
Keep reading to find out more…
Fans of Drake and Kendrick likely recall that they appeared to have at least a good working relationship in the earlier days of their career. The duo collaborated a few times starting in 2011.
In fact, Kendrick even toured with Drake.
However, Billboard noted that some shady disses started flying within a few years. In 2013, Kendrick rapped that he was going to “murder” Drake and several other rappers, a claim that his peer handled gracefully in an interview at the time.
After that, the pair continued to hint at a feud. Things started heating up again in 2023 when Drake dropped his J. Cole collaboration “First Person Shooter.” On the song, Cole claimed that the public questions if he, Kendrick and Drake are the greatest rapper.
That apparently did not go over well, as Kendrick took aim on his March 2024 collab “Like That” with Future and Metro Boomin. He made it very clear that there is no trio of top rappers; it’s just him at the pinnacle position.
In April, Drake hit back with several songs, starting with “Push Ups.” Another song called “Taylor Made Freestyle” was teased but never officially released. His third, called “Family Matters,” arrived in early May.
On top of “Not Like Us,” Kendrick has dropped “Meet the Grahams,” “6:16 in LA” and “Euphoria.”
At this point, it’s not clear what behind the scenes started things for Drake and Kendrick, but it seems like they are just heating up.
Did you see that Drake recently made a surprise appearance at a concert?
Listen to “Not Like Us” below…