Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s rap feud explained

Rapper and musician Drake - real name Aubrey Graham - has had a number of public spats with fellow artists over the years (including the likes of The Weeknd, Rick Ross and Metro Boomin), and now he’s once again arguing with Kendrick Lamar.

Back in March, Lamar featured on the track “Like That” with Future and Metro Boomin and claimed he was the best rapper out of Drake, J Cole and himself by rapping: “M********* the big three, n**** it’s just big me”.

This was in response to a verse by fellow rapper J Cole on Drake’s 2023 song, “First Person Shooter” where J Cole rapped: "Love when they argue the hardest MC / Is it K-Dot? Is it Aubrey? Or me? / We the big three like we started a league, but right now, I feel like Muhammad Ali."

In April, J Cole hit back at Lemar with his track "7 Minute Drill," but two days later retracted the diss and issued a public apology to Lemar and said he would pull the song from streaming services.

Meanwhile, Drake clapped back at Lemar with the song “Push Ups”, in which he says: “How the f*** you big steppin' with a size 7 men's on? / Your last one bricked, you really not on s*** / They make excuses for you ’cause they hate to see me lit / Pull your contract ’cause we gotta see the split / Ain’t no way you doin’ splits b**** your pants might rip."

He also goes on to mock Lamar’s appearances on pop songs such as “Don’t Wanna Know” and “Bad Blood”.

"Maroon 5 need a verse, you better make it witty / Then we need a verse for the Swifties / Top say drop, you better drop and give him 50 / Pipsqueak, pipe down / You ain’t in no big three, SZA got you wiped down, Travis got you wiped down, Savage got you wiped down / Like your label boy, you Interscope right now," he raps.

Drake also dared Lamar to respond to him in “Taylor Made Freestyle”, which ends with him rapping: “We waitin’ on you.”

The 37-year-old later removed the track from social media, after the estate of the late rapper Tupac Shakur threatened him with legal action over the song, which appears to feature a version of Shakur’s voice using artificial intelligence.

Then came the week of diss tracks on Tuesday (April 30), when Lamar released the six-minute song “Euphoria”, taking aim at Drake being biracial by questioning his use of the n-word and asking “how many more Black features 'til you finally feel that you're Black enough”.

He also slams Drake’s apparent use of an AI version of Shakur, saying the “Hotline Bling” rapper made “Tupac turn in his grave”.

And before Drake could even release an official diss track in response, Lamar shared a second song targeting his rival – titled “6:16 in LA”, a parody of tracks by the Canadian such as “8am in Charlotte” and “5am in Toronto” – in which he brands Drake a “fake bully” and claims “everyone inside your team is whispering that you deserve” his insults.

On Friday night, Drake responded with “Family Matters”, a seven-minute track in which he alleges Lamar “called the Tupac estate and begged ‘em to sue me and get [“Taylor Made Freestyle”] down” and accuses him of domestic abuse.

Lamar’s third diss track came just minutes after that. “Meet the Grahams” saw Lamar allege Drake has a secret daughter and is addicted to drugs, sex and gambling.

And the "m.A.A.d city" rapper didn't stop there as on Sunday (May 5), he dropped a fourth diss track - the third in 36 hours - titled "Not Like Us" where he called out Drake out for his alleged preference for younger women and even branded him a “certified paedophile."

"Certified lover boy, certified paedophiles… Why he trollin’ like a b****? Ain’t you tired?/ Tryna strike a cord and it’s probably A-Minor," said Lemar.

Drake has not yet responded to Lamar's latest track, at the time of writing.

That’s the latest, and the whole saga has resulted in countless memes from fans:

The feud certainly doesn’t look like it’s stopping anytime soon…

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