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No story in music this year has been more all-consuming than the ongoing beef between superstar rappers Drake and Kendrick Lamar (and a whole lot of supporting characters) — and this week, on the chart dated May 18, the Billboard Hot 100 properly reflects the drama’s cultural dominance.
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Three songs from the two feuding artists hit the chart’s top 10 this week, led by Lamar’s No. 1-debuting “Not Like Us” and also including Kendrick Lamar’s “Euphoria” (No. 3) and Drake’s “Family Matters” (No. 7) — while a fourth, Lamar’s “Meet the Grahams,” bows just outside the region at No. 12. The entrance of “Not Like Us” has been particularly explosive, as the climactic diss cut tops the chart with just five full days of consumption to its credit for the tracking week (ending May 9), still amassing over 70 million official on-demand U.S. streams for the period, according to Luminate.
What contributed to “Not Like Us” being such a runaway hit? And what does its success mean for both its performer and its subject moving forward? Billboard staffers discuss these questions and more below.
1. “Not Like Us” posts historic streaming numbers on its way to a Hot 100 No. 1 debut — already Lamar’s second this year from this extended beef alone — while already burrowing its way deep into pop culture. Is this already the biggest diss track you can remember from your lifetime?
Kyle Denis: Easily. The only two that come relatively close are Pusha T’s “The Story of Adidon” and Remy Ma’s “Shether,” but the cultural imapct and legacy of those songs far outweigh their commercial success. I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention Drake’s own “Back to Back” — I fondly remember yelling, “Is that a world tour or your girl’s tour?” all summer ‘15.
Angel Diaz: The only other diss track with this kind of impact was Nas’ “Ether.” That was such a seismic shift in the game, the song’s title became a verb that’s still used 20-something years later. Mustard’s production and the chorus will stand the test of time. Expect to hear “they not like us” a bunch during the college football and basketball seasons.
Carl Lamarre: I’m old enough to have experienced Jay-Z vs. Nas and 50 Cent vs. Ja Rule in real time — but this particular feud has the advantage over those because of the advent of social media. Watching these records fall from the sky and instantly seeing real-time reactions amplified the pressure and momentum of this battle. Fans were huddling around this social media bonfire, clamoring for more, exchanging thoughts and conspiracies in such a short time — and it all climaxed with the ecstatic response to Kendrick’s death blow. Even in past beefs Drake had with Meek and Pusha, neither opponent was as big as Kung Fu Kenny, and certainly neither had a record as big as “Not Like Us.”
Jason Lipshutz: Quantitatively, probably! Diss tracks didn’t tend to top the Hot 100 prior to 2024, a.k.a. The Year of Beef Cuts, and “Not Like Us” starts with far bigger streams than Megan Thee Stallion’s “Hiss” or Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That” (although time will tell whether “Not Like Us” can stick as long at No. 1 as Kendrick’s three-week chart-topping opening diss). In terms of its stature, however, we’ll need some time to see how “Not Like Us” endures as a standalone single, removed from the context of this Kendrick-Drake diss deluge. Maybe “Not Like Us” gets lumped into the multi-track back-and-forth historically, or maybe it will stand on its own as Lamar’s pop smash with the sharpest edges. Too early to tell for me, but signs point toward “Not Like Us” separating itself from the other recent Kendrick (and Drake) songs commercially.
Andrew Unterberger: Absolutely — that is, unless you expand beyond hip-hop and consider Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License,” one of the only songs this decade (beef or no) to approximate Lamar’s breakaway momentum here. And honestly, even then, “Not Like Us” might still have the advantage.
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2. Obviously there had already been no shortage of memorable and massively consumed back and forth musical moments from this feud, dating back to the first chart-topping blast with “Like That” a month and a half ago. What about “Not Like Us,” either in its content or its timing, do you think was the biggest factor in it hitting an even-higher commercial level than this feud had previously reached?
Kyle Denis: If you’re looking for a perfect storm, “Not Like Us” is it. The timing of the drop was perfect. Kendrick was able to capture the zeitgeist before the “let’s move on” takes started pouring in, and he was also able to quickly build on the momentum of his other culture-shifting diss tracks. You couple that with Mustard’s infectious string-laden beat, a K.Dot cadence that leans more into his West Coast bag than most of his recent output, and a bevy of quotables that double as damning disses – you’ve got a winner.
I think the key difference with “Not Like Us” is that Kendrick made an anthem that people could rally around. Obviously, the West Coast was always going to eat this song up, but by using “Not Like Us” to draw an “us vs. them” line in the sand between Drake and his fans and the rest of hip-hop culture, Kendrick forced people to pick a side and stand tall in that decision. “Not Like Us” rejects ambivalence, either you’re on Kendrick’s side and what he stands for or you’re on the side deemed “certified pedophiles.” Of course, it also helped that Drake didn’t deliver a pop-facing, anthemic hit of his own, leaving room for Kendrick to swoop in and beat him at his own game.
Angel Diaz: The content is almost secondary as to why people enjoy the song. There are those who have prayed for Drake’s downfall and there are others who doubted Kendrick’s ability to make a certified banger. The Compton rapper managed both in this instance. He tripled down on Drake’s rumored age-gap dating habits and used a culturally traditional West Coast sound to further dissect his foe’s overall character and place in rap music. No one expected Lamar to drop something as high energy as “Not Like Us” after the very dark and dramatic “Meet the Grahams” a day earlier.
Carl Lamarre: Kendrick playing chess and using Drake’s strengths against him. K. Dot’s approach in this battle was slow and methodical, like a horror film, and “Not Like Us” was the shocking climax nobody saw coming. He made a West Coast anthem with a DJ Mustard-produced beat that wasn’t only memorable because of the witty catchphrases (“69 God” and “OV-Hoe”), but it placed him out of his element. This knockout blow showcased Kendrick’s proper Gemini side and why we can’t rule out the unexpected when dealing with him.
Jason Lipshutz: “Not Like Us” was released as both a knockout punch and celebration, capping off Kendrick’s speed-bag treatment of Drake’s reputation with his most immediate pop hook in years, a ton of quotable new takedowns and a springy club track courtesy of Mustard. If “Not Like Us” was released at the beginning or in the middle of the Kendrick-Drake back-and-forth, the song’s context changes — but Lamar positioned the track as a victory lap following “Like That,” “Euphoria,” “6:16 in LA” and “Meet the Grahams,” the majority of which were more academic in their personal eviscerations. So really, it was both content and timing that helped elevate “Not Like Us,” and eclipse Lamar’s other diss tracks on the charts.
Andrew Unterberger: It’s the beat and the hook. Lamar’s verses are also largely on point, but they were on “Meet the Grahams” and “Euphoria” too; what sets “Not Like Us” apart commercially is the same thing that initially put “Like That” over the top: It’s just an absolutely killer single by any measure. You could — and by now many doubt have — hear the song blaring out of a car window or in the background at a bar or even through supermarket speakers with no prior knowledge of the feud and think the same thing everyone else did the first time they heard it: “Wow this song rules.” Personally, I was sure from the first second that the strings entered in the intro that this was gonna be the biggest and longest-lasting song from this entire cultural moment.
3. A trio of other Drake-Kendrick Lamar songs from the feud also appear in this week’s top 15: Kendrick’s “Euphoria” (No. 3) and “Meet the Grahams” (No. 12) and Drake’s “Family Matters” (No. 7). Which of the three do you think will prove the most enduring beyond their first week of release and initial excitement over the back-and-forth?
Kyle Denis: I don’t think any of the three songs end up enduring hits, but I’ll give the edge to “Euphoria,” which already has a slew of lines going viral on TikTok and boasts a more radio-ready tempo than “Meet the Grahams.” In that vein, “Grahams” is probably too incisive of a track to become a legitimate hit song, not to mention there’s no hook and it’s the slowest of the three tracks. As for “Family Matters,” it’s a really great track, but I don’t really see a world in which the loser of the beef still squeezes a hit single out of it. Then again, if anyone can do that, it’s Drake.
Angel Diaz: “Family Matters” is the easier listen. Drake is good at that. But: I gave “Meet the Grahams” the car test over the weekend and it gave me chills. I almost wish Drake broke “Family Matters” up into three different songs. I’m not sure if I’ll go back to any of them on a regular basis and while the Toronto rapper’s song is a quality track, it just doesn’t hit the same after what transpired immediately after.
Carl Lamarre: Though “Meet the Grahams” was surgical and exuded Stephen King vibes, “Family Matters” is arguably Drake’s best record in years. From the beat switches to the myriad of flows he had on display, had that song dropped after “Grahams” or didn’t experience any disruption at its release, it could have given Drake “More Life” in this heavyweight match.
Jason Lipshutz: Probably “Euphoria,” which has shown that it has legs on streaming platforms beyond the initial shock of hearing a no-holds-barred six-minute-plus Drake takedown upon its release. Think of “Euphoria” as the yin to the “Not Like Us’” yang, the more stream-of-consciousness version of Lamar’s rap theatrics compared to his radio-ready side — which has also proven to cater to a sizable audience over the past decade. I’d guess that clubs will continue to play “Not Like Us,” while wordplay obsessives will continue to pore over every word of “Euphoria,” in the coming weeks and months.
Andrew Unterberger: Can I vote for “Meet the Grams,” the viral mashup of the beat from “Meet the Grahams” with the vocal from Pusha T’s own Drake-toppling classic “The Story of Adidon”? It feels impossibly right, and I’ve already listened to it more than either of the tracks it’s formed from.
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4. While Kendrick Lamar has already scored No. 1 songs and albums and been one of the consensus greatest rappers alive for over a decade already, this still feels like a new mainstream peak for him. What kind of impact, if any, do you see this recent success having on his career over the next few years?
Kyle Denis: I think that almost totally depends on the style of music he chooses to make. He’s done the pop collabs successfully, he has scores of crossover hip-hop hits, he’s done the big-budget movie soundtrack thing flawlessly – when he wants to meet the mainstream where it’s at, he always wins. Even when he forces the mainstream to meet him where he’s at, as he did with 2022’s Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, he still pulls off Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hits, worldwide arena tours and robust streaming and pure sales numbers.
At the very least, these recent chart wins will likely line him up for a handsome streaming debut whenever he decides to drop a new LP. There’s also something to be said about this beef causing a generation of listeners who only experienced Mr. Morale in real time to go back and discover the Lamar albums they were too young to take in upon release.
Angel Diaz: Word on the street is that he’s dropping a project this year, so it all depends on if this next album delivers. Jay and Nas dropped The Blueprint and Stillmatic, respectively, during their legendary beef, and both albums are considered classics — with the former widely thought of as an all-timer. If Kendrick drops another classic, the Best Rapper Alive title won’t be leaving Compton for the foreseeable future.
Carl Lamarre: Eyes will be on both Kendrick and Drake, and for obvious reasons. For Kendrick, it’ll be interesting to see if he’ll return to his 2017 bag, where DAMN proved to be his colossal mainstream win, etching out “HUMBLE” — his last solo Hot 100 chart-topper before “Not Like Us” — and his highest opening-week numbers on the Billboard 200 with 603,000 album equivalent units. The bigger question will be: With the battle behind him, can he make records without uttering The Boy’s name and still garner as much interest and attention within his music?
Jason Lipshutz: It’s a great question, and it’s impossible to answer, considering how mercurial Kendrick has proven as a mainstream star over the course of his career. Could “Not Like Us” inspire a run of hard-edged pop singles that continues to flex his muscle on the charts and capture more of Drake’s territory? Will his next album completely eschew this beef, and follow the more insular streak of Mr. Morale? Maybe we simply don’t hear from Kendrick for multiple years after this, considering the extended break before that last album! Kendrick Lamar remains one of our most exciting superstars because of the inherent unpredictability of his artistry, so when prognosticating how this beef affects his future, the answer has to be: TBD.
Andrew Unterberger: I think his first-week ceiling should certainly be higher on his next full-length release than it would be otherwise following the commercially underwhelming (though by this point, fairly underrated) Mr. Morale. But whether he continues having smashes like this from here is entirely up to him; Kendrick has proven on numerous occasions throughout his run that he can produce crowd-pleasers when he wants, he’s just had different priorities a lot of the time. (Which, for the record, is also one of the reasons it hits so hard when he does give the people a proper banger or two.)
5. Meanwhile, Drake has taken perhaps the biggest blow of his career by finding himself the loser of the feud not just among hip-hop heads and tastemakers but among the general public — and on the charts specifically, where Drake rarely loses to anyone. What kind of lasting impact, if any, do you see this loss having on his commercial success moving forward?
Kyle Denis: I think Drake may have a bit of a commercial dip in the coming months, but that’s truly nothing a danceable summer hit or two can’t fix. The real blow for Drake here is where he stands culturally. It’s cool to dunk on Drizzy again. When the No. 1 song in the country is calling you and your affiliates pedophiles and bastardizing the name of your record label, it’s clear that your public perception has drastically shifted. How does Drake regain his cool factor without the cultural/sonic philandering he’s been criticized for throughout this beef? That’s for him to figure out and for us to evaluate when the time comes.
Angel Diaz: Fans have been turning on Drake since Views dropped in 2016. They’ve felt that he’s been in autopilot for far too long. Hopefully the turmoil he finds himself in today will motivate him to challenge himself. He did that with Honestly, Nevermind, but was criticized for not rapping enough and was goaded into releasing For All the Dogs by fans and pundits. I think he’ll be fine commercially in the long run, but this rap thing has never been just about sales. His image took a major blow culturally and that’s something I’m not sure he’ll ever be able to fix.
Carl Lamarre: Zero because soccer moms, teens, and college kids will continue to stream his music and buy his albums as long as he churns out “One Dance” and “Hotline Bling” caliber records. That fanbase was unaffected by Kendrick’s demolition derby and isn’t keen on Drake’s standing within The Culture. He’ll be OK if he can keep the mainstream American singing and dancing.
Jason Lipshutz: Very little, actually! Drake’s reputation has taken a massive hit, but if he drops a new proper single or album in the near future, I’d still expect No. 1 debuts across the board. Real hip-hop fans might look less favorably upon Drake after his skirmish, but he also maintains an enormous base of pop listeners, and remains a giant streaming presence; in spite of the narrative of Kendrick’s lyrical K.O., a slightly weakened Drake is still a superstar.
Andrew Unterberger: At the beginning, I thought there was no way this feud would have any lasting impact on Drake’s commercial fortunes — now I’m not so sure. I do think the answer here is, in many ways, still largely up to Drake and how well he responds to the outcome here. Ironically, the most valuable lesson he can take away from all this is one implied by Kendrick himself on “Euphoria”: It’s time to focus on Drake With the Melodies and not on Tough-Acting Drake. The latter’s been too compromised; the former will always be welcome.
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Questlove opined on the ongoing beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar but some fans called his statements dramatic after the war of words largely concluded. The veteran drummer from The Roots band believed that the battle between the two titans took nasty turns, thus signaling a death knell for Hip-Hop.
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, 53, took to social media to issue one of the loudest detracting statements yet to emerge against what is one of the biggest Hip-Hop beef battles in the history of the genre.
“Nobody won the war,” Questlove opened his statement with. “This wasn’t about skill. This was a wrestling match level mudslinging and takedown by any means necessary — women & children (& actual facts) be damned.”
The statement continued with “Same audience wanting blood will soon put up ‘rip’ posts like they weren’t part of the problem. Hip Hop truly is dead.”
The caption of the Instagram post with the statement read “Here We Are Now…Entertain us?,” which seems to be aimed at Drake and Kendrick Lamar.
As it stands, K-Dot doesn’t seem to want any manner of reconciliation with Drizzy and said as much on the track “euphoria” where the Compton lyricist rapped, “Whoever that’s f*ckin’ with him, f*ck you n*ggas, and f*ck the industry too” and once more on “Not Like Us” with the lines, “The industry can hate me, f*ck ’em all and they mama.”
As far as responses go, Drake’s last missive was “The Heart Part 6” and the two have left it at that. The Canadian superstar is contending with other issues after a security guard was shot outside his home in a drive-by shooting along with another incident in which a man was arrested for trying to break into the the massive mansion.
On X, formerly Twitter, the comments from Questlove garnered some sharp responses. However, we’ve got reactions from all sides below.
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From the looks of it, the dust has settled in the lyrical war between Drake and Kendrick Lamar after the general consensus is that the Compton MC emerged victorious after a furious diss track back-and-forth. But the collateral damage from one of the fiercest bar beatdowns in recent history continues to spill out. On Tuesday, […]
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Drake has responded to Kendrick Lamar as some expected with “The Heart Part 6,” adding new fuel to their explosive feud. In the track, the Canadian superstar addresses the accusations of being romantically involved with minors and more and fans on Xitter are wondering if it’s enough.
I want to speak as myself for a minute and express that I have never cared less about a rap beef. I find nothing exciting, interesting, or enthralling about two Black titans of the culture fighting and exposing each other. What is the end goal? It does nothing for the greater good. And, as Vince Stapes said, this is only aiding a particular segment of the industry and certainly not the creators. Anyway, let’s get into this newest salvo from Drake.
Titling the response “The Heart Part 6” is clearly taking a page out of Kendrick Lamar and his “The Heart” series, and directly addresses some of the heinous acts that K-Dot accused Drizzy of.
From “The Heart Part 6”:
The Pulitzer Prize winner is definitely spiralin’I got your fucking lines tapped, I swear that I’m dialed inFirst, I was a rat, so where’s the proof of the trial then?Where’s the paperwork or the cabinet it’s filed in?1090 Jake would’ve took all the walls downThe streets would’ve had me hidin’ out in a small townMy Montreal connects stand up, not fall downThe ones that you’re gettin’ your stories from, they all clownsI am a war gеneral, seasoned in prеparationMy jacket is covered in medals, honor and decorationYou waited for this moment, overcome with the desperationWe plotted for a week and then we fed you the informationA daughter that’s eleven years old, I bet he takes itWe thought about giving a fake name or a destinationBut you so thirsty, you not concerned with investigationInstead you in Advantage Studio, it’s a celebration
Considering that Kendrick Lamar seemingly has a lot of contempt for Drake, most fans are expecting a response from that side very soon. As it stands, fans of the pair of siding with their faves while detractors are taking their positions as expected. We’ve got reactions from X, formerly Twitter, from all sides below along with the track in question.
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Kendrick Lamar and Drake have engaged in an explosive back-and-forth that took a dark turn according to some observers but the onslaught is far from over. Fresh from dropping the blistering “Meet The Grahams” track, Kendrick Lamar took aim Drake and doubled down on some serious allegations with “Not Like Us.”
Produced by DJ Mustard, “Not Like Us” delivers what some are considering the first of the series of Lamar’s diss tracks to take a sonic approach that might end up getting burn outside of content creator streaming channels and the headphones of dedicated fans.
Unlike the sinister “Meet The Grahams,” “Not Like Us” is a far more upbeat affair but still maintains the intensity from the previously released diss tracks with K-Dot not taking his foot up off the gas even in the slightest.
From “Not Like Us”:
Say, Drake, I hear you like ’em youngYou better not ever go to cell block oneTo any b*tch that talk to him and they in loveJust make sure you hide your lil’ sister from himThey tell me Chubbs the only one that get your hand-me-downsAnd Party at the party, playin’ with his nose nowAnd Baka got a weird case, why is he around?Certified Lover Boy? Certified pedophilesWop, wop, wop, wop, wop, Dot, f*ck ’em upWop, wop, wop, wop, wop, I’ma do my stuffWhy you trollin’ like a b*tch? Ain’t you tired?Tryna strike a chord and it’s probably A-Minor
Honing in on the allegations that Drake has targeted younger women, K-Dot delivered the “A-Minor” in an extended sing-song fashion that was designed to cut deep. The bars above also take digs at the Canadian superstar’s head of security, Chubbs, PartyNextDoor, and Baka Not Nice, who reportedly forced a woman into prostitution and later plead guilty to assault and other charges back in 2015.
Although some fans thought Drizzy delivered a valiant effort with “Family Matters,” the pendulum is swinging in the direction of Kendrick Lamar, especially given the fact he took his time in responding to the earlier jabs but has unloaded the full clip.
On X, formerly Twitter, the debate of who is winning the battle rages on and we’ve got comments from all sides below.
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You knew Drake was going to respond to Kendrick Lamar’s “6:16 In LA” track, and he did with a whole video in tow for “Family Matters.” However, no one was expecting K. Dot to return fire with “Meet The Grahams” in less than an hour.
The result is a Hip-Hop civil war with fans bitterly bickering about who is up on social media while intensely dissecting the savage-level bars their rap heroes have aimed at each other.
The latest dust-up started on Friday night (May 3) at 11:23pm, when the 6 God took to social media to drop a YouTube link to “Family Matters.”
There’s no denying that the Boy went in, coming for Kendrick’s family (“You the Black messiah wifing up a mixed queen,” he raps) and sending shots at foes like Rick Ross and Metro Boomin, too.
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But as the Internets debated whether or not Drake’s retort was worthy, K. Dot re-entered that chat at midnight, when he dropped a link to a new tune called “Meet The Grahams.” To say the track is scathing would be the understatement of the decades. Kendrick essentially tells Drake’s family that their son ain’t sh*t, and never will be, while accusing him of having “hidden children” and even pedophiles in his circle.
Drake did quickly refute the hidden daughter claim, though.
Nothing too new here, but damn.
Check out the more outrageous reaction to their rhetorical nukes, and wild conspiracies, in the gallery.
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Kendrick Lamar has clearly had enough for the shots and subliminal messages from Drake, beginning his blitz earlier this week with the blistering “euphoria” track. With Drake still absorbing blows from that salvo, Kendrick Lamar once again fired back with the cleverly titled “6:16 in LA” track and the culture is in a frenzy.
While the issues between Drizzy and K-Dot have long been rumored, nothing to the level of the recent flurry of disses fans have been treated to lately.
Dot took the most measurable shot on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That” track earlier this year and it was clear who the target was. The Canadian superstar hit back with “Push Ups” and “Taylor Made Freestyle,” the latter of which has been served with a takedown notice from the estate of Tupac “2Pac” Shakur.
It was just this past Tuesday (April 30) when “euphoria” dropped and it wasn’t expected that another song was coming. Using Drake’s timestamp title formula, “6:16 in LA” (released Friday, May 3) digs even deeper into the persona of his rival.
From “6:16”:
Have you ever thought that OVO is workin’ for me?Fake bully, I hate bullies, you must be a terrible personEveryone inside your team is whispering that you deserve itCan’t toosie slide up outta this one, it’s just gon’ resurfaceEvery dog gotta have his day, now live in your purposeIt was fun until you started to put money in the streetsThen lost money ’cause they came back with no receiptsI’m sorry that I live a boring life, I love peaceBut war-ready if the world is ready to see you bleed
As it stands, most fans are saying the battle is leaning in favor of Kendrick Lamar, definitely since Drake egged him on to respond. Now, the timeline waits to see what the response will be or if the “Red Button” will be pushed.
Check the reactions below and the track below.
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A diss-track battle between two of the world’s biggest hip-hop stars has led to cryptic allegations that Drake directed his heavyweight record label to yank a hit featuring Kendrick Lamar from the airwaves. But would such a move be possible?
Probably not, say legal experts who study broadcast rights and the music business. “As a general law, broadcast stations have a lot of discretion over what they put on the air — almost unlimited discretion,” says Charles Naftalin, a Washington, D.C., attorney for Holland & Knight who specializes in telecommunications law. “A station is virtually free to pick and choose what it wants.”
Lamar’s new song “euphoria,” which he released April 30, alleges Drake and Republic had attempted to “try cease and desist on the ‘Like That’ record” — a reference to the recent Future–Metro Boomin hit containing a Lamar verse that attacks last year’s Drake-J. Cole track “First Person Shooter,” and helped spark the recent back-and-forth between the two rappers. Then a screenshot of an alleged email appeared on social media purporting to be from a Republic business-affairs executive declaring “we are not granting radio rights” for “Like That.” (Reps for Republic and Universal Music Group, the label’s parent company, did not respond to requests for comment, and the screenshot could not be verified.)
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Hypothetically, if Lamar’s lyrical allegation were true, and the Republic exec’s email were legitimate, how could a label, even the home of Taylor Swift, Morgan Wallen, The Weeknd and Post Malone, which has the industry’s largest market share, pull off such a move? One conceivable explanation stems from the fact that “Like That” is an unusual business collaboration — it’s a joint release from competing major labels, Universal-owned Republic and Sony-owned Epic. The former is Metro Boomin’s label; the latter is Future’s label. (Adding confusion to the affair: Lamar records for Interscope, also owned by UMG, so he is, in a very broad sense, Drake’s labelmate.)
Because Republic had a hand in releasing “Like That,” it is conceivable — though extremely unlikely — that the company could demand that radio stations stop playing its own song. “I don’t readily see a legal reason to request takedown from radio solely based on certain lyrics being in the song,” says Matt Buser, an attorney who represents top artists and music companies. “However, there could be a justified legal reason for takedown based on the promotional grant of rights and understanding between the two collaborating labels.”
Like Buser, Larry Kenswil, a retired top business and legal affairs executive for UMG, has no idea what is in the contractual agreement between Republic and Epic for “Like That.” (A rep for Sony, Epic’s parent company, also did not respond to a request for comment.) But he’s certain that Republic has no right to demand a radio takedown. If Lamar’s “euphoria” lyric about a cease-and-desist is true, Kenswil says, “The artist [Drake] complained to the label [Republic] and the label felt like they had to do something to satisfy the artist. But, of course, we probably don’t have the full story.”
He adds: “That happens all the time. Artists tell their lawyers: ‘Send a cease-and-desist.’ The lawyer says, ‘Uh, I don’t think they’re doing anything wrong.’ ‘Send a cease-and-desist or I’ll fire you.’ And they send the cease-and-desist — and don’t follow up.’” Evidence on behalf of Kenswil’s theory: “Like That” not only came out, but radio played the track, it debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100 and remained there for three weeks. And as of this writing, “Like That” is No. 21 on the all-genre Radio Songs chart.
After two and a half weeks of anticipation following the leaking of Drake’s “Push-Ups” in mid-April, Kendrick Lamar continued what he started two months ago with his pot-stirring “Like That” verse with his new Drake response, “Euphoria.” Lamar’s haters’ anthem has electrified the internet and put all eyes back on the 6 God to see how he will respond. But after one full official diss track each in the beef, who’s leading on our scorecards? Billboard Hip-Hop writers Mark Elibert and Carl Lamarre present both cases.
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Why Drake Won Round One
Drake is a cunning and crafty individual when he’s locked in on a target. He has a way of using his resources in a way that has others come at him with heavy artillery, as one needs to do in the heat of battle. His first diss track in this hip-hop civil war, “Push Ups,” showed how good the 6 God is at taking center stage to rip into his opponents. Kendrick Lamar caught the most heat on a record, and Drake did precisely what people wanted of him in rap beef with his longtime rival: cut the subliminals and go on a direct offense.
K Dot officially started their long-simmering feud with his explosive guest feature on “Like That” off Metro Boomin and Future’s collaborative effort, We Don’t Like You. There were several lines that clearly referenced Drake, such as saying there’s no “big three” in hip-hop when he’s the only GOAT, seemingly a shot at Drizzy’s J. Cole-assisted “First Person Shooter” where the latter nodded to the hip-hop trinity. He also mentioned Prince “outliving” Michael Jackson, another assumed crack at Drake’s line on that same song where he said he was one hit single away from tying Michael Jackson for most No. 1 hits by a male solo artist on the Billboard Hot 100.
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Drake caught wind of the shots Lamar took at him on “Like That” and responded just a few weeks later with “Push Ups.” Most people didn’t expect Drake to respond in this manner, as he and K Dot had a lengthy cold war throughout the 2010s and early ‘20s that never really blew up the rivalry as big as it is now. Still, he used this opportunity to dip into his bag of tricks to put out a worthy diss track – one that has people paying attention.
Drake’s creativity has been essential in several of his rap feuds. On 2018’s “Duppy Freestyle,” Drake rapped, “Tell ‘Ye we got a invoice comin’ to you/ Considerin’ that we just sold another 20 for you” and actually sent an invoice to G.O.O.D. Music in the middle of his quarrel with Pusha T.
For the cover art of his 2015 Meek Mill diss track “Back to Back,” Drake used an image of the Toronto Blue Jays’s Joe Carter hitting a series-clinching home run against the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series. And he even dropped the song on the same day the Blue Jays and Phillies played against each other. Drake doesn’t do anything by coincidence, and every move he makes is a potential checkmate – with “Push Ups” serving as his latest master chess move.
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For starters, the title shows Drake’s knack for using social media as a tool, as it references a viral 2023 video of Kendrick doing push-ups in a park with The Boy using that to ridicule K Dot, and claim he’s better off doing that workout instead of giving him a lyrical exercise.
When listeners actually start the track, they can hear DJ Who Kid’s iconic DJ tagline, which channels vintage rap beef vibes. That “Whooo Kid” tagline was the first thing listeners heard echoing at the beginning of various G-Unit Radio mixtapes, where 50 Cent and his crew routinely annihilated their competition. By using that tagline, Drake was letting his listeners know he wants all the smoke with the DAMN. rapper and everyone else that dissed him.
Drake’s guile was even extended to the menacing production on “Push Ups.” The beat samples The Notorious B.I.G.’s 1997 track “What’s Beef?,” in which the late rapper showed disgust with his peers for not knowing what real beef is, and instead trying to start a feud on wax. Drake had already made several stinging attacks before he could even rap his first few words on the song, which had listeners anxiously waiting to hear what he was going to say.
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And with the bars, Drake left nothing on the table – firing at Kendrick in a way we’ve never heard him do before. All the subliminals in the past were focused on Drake claiming he was lyrically better and more popular, but “Push Ups” found the 6 God shining a light on things that people haven’t often said about Lamar, such as hilariously making fun of his short stature and questioning his deal with Top Dawg Entertainment.
“You won’t ever take no chain off of us/ How the f–k you big steppin’ with a size-seven men’s on?,” Drake raps before attacking Kendrick’s diminished stature in hip-hop’s hierarchy. “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 in a scope right now/ And you gon’ feel the aftermath of what I write down.”
Drake even went as far as calling Lamar his child in a clever flip where he said, “What’s a Prince to a king? He a son, n—a,,” a direct response to the pgLang rapper comparing their career trajectories to the competitive ‘80s rivalry of Michael Jackson and Prince on “Like That.” To add more fuel to the fire, “Push Ups” is a catchy record thanks to Drake’s masterful hitmaking ability with infectious hooks such as “Ayy, better drop and give me fifty, ayy Drop and give me fifty, drop and give me fifty, ayy.”
It may not be as hit-worthy as “Back to Back,” which was the first diss record to receive a Grammy nomination, but “Push Ups” will most likely get rotations in various clubs and on radio months from now. Seriously, what’s more annoying than continuously hearing a diss song aimed at you no matter where you go?
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Regardless of what people feel about Drake, he defended his throne and stood tall against Lamar and everyone else who called him out over the last few weeks that led up to the commencement of this war. But even though “Push Ups” was a strong response and may have given Drake the W in the first round of this hip-hop war, he needs to keep up this intensity if he wants to come out on top.
Drake received criticism in 2018 for not dropping a response to Pusha’s “The Story of Adidon,” despite rumors claiming he had something nuclear in the chamber. He may have gotten out of that with a slight dent in his armor, but the same won’t happen this time if he doesn’t carry this energy into Round Two. We don’t want to hear that he found new inspiration and redirected that energy into himself, as he said about the Pusha T beef on an episode of Maverick Carter’s interview series The Shop in 2018.
He’s made it clear that he won’t be stopping his onslaught against Kendrick, as he did by dropping the AI-assisted (and since deleted) “Taylor Made Freestyle,” where he tried to bait Kendrick into responding to “Push Ups” with fake verses from Snoop Dogg and the late 2Pac. Many felt the move was clever, while others felt it wasn’t a real response. But regardless, each move that Drake makes now has to be better than the already excellent “Push Ups.” If not, he’ll have another L on his resume, and an even tougher one to come back from. — MARK ELIBERT
Why Kendrick Won Round One
17 days. That’s how long it took for Kung Fu Kenny to strike fear back into the hearts of hapless MCs and have all of Aubrey’s Angels squirming in their shoes. As a Drake fan, I was mortified – because “Euphoria” is only a snippet of Kendrick’s madness. After the release of “Push Ups” and “Taylor Made Freestyle,” this was just Kendrick drawing first blood.
Though Kendrick savors the art of storytelling and engages in dad raps about being an all-world father figure, it doesn’t mean he can’t tap back into the grimy menace he once was when he nuked hip-hop with “Control” in 2013. “Euphoria” is child’s play compared to where Kendrick can still take it, and after the opening bell, I have him up in the scoreboard. And here’s why: “Euphoria” was not just a song, it was a cultural earthquake about finally crowning the King of all Kings in this illustrious Big 3 Era that we’re currently in. Drake baited, Kendrick waited, and delivered the first true haymaker of the battle.
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With a Teddy Pendergrass sample leading the way, Lamar initially lulled listeners with a calm delivery at the start of “Euphoria,” degrading Drake by calling him a “degenerate” and “scam artist.” Once he settled in and adapted to the beat switches, Lamar seared Drake with incendiary bars. Kendrick went on a callous assault on Drake’s character, strategically aiming to question his integrity as a father and his identity as a Black man. These jabs had previously unsettled Drake, particularly when Pusha T questioned his parenting during their 2018 feud. Kendrick’s decision to bring Drake’s n-word usage to light was calculated, referencing Drake’s feud with Push. The Clipse rapper not only found an old photo of Drake in Blackface but used it as the cover art for “The Story of Adidon,” the record that sealed Push’s victory. Drake’s biracial background also remains a point of contention, as Rick Ross similarly mocked him during their brief feud on his song “Champagne Moments,” repeatedly calling him “White Boy.” While the racial callouts may seem harsh, rap purists consider them fair game in the battle of wordplay, making Kendrick’s jabs permissible in battle.
Another bar that probably went over many people’s heads was when Kendrick said: “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.” in double-entendre form – also suggesting a baby pacifier — speaks to Drake’s immature music and problematic dating history. Theories have swirled about Drake creeping on underage girls, but while none of those rumors have been proven true, Lamar here opts to “spare” him before escalating things.
What also makes “Euphoria” a more robust reply is the high level of punchlines used by Kendrick in the song in contrast to “Push Ups.” While he isn’t considered a punchline-first MC, Dot had an arsenal of bars scattered in his six-minute demolition of Drake, with some lines even requiring a second glimpse on Genius. “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,” says Lamar about Drake allegedly getting cosmetic surgery. There’s also a shrewd, but chilling name-drop early in the song: “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.” Melly is currently involved in a double murder retrial, dating back to when he allegedly killed two of his friends in 2018. “Kendrick Lamar is one of my favorite rappers so I feel honored and appalled … I’m a household name — just for the wrong s–t!!!,” he told TMZ following the release of “Euphoria.”
While some may accuse Kendrick of recycling other lyrical attacks on Drake, his performance on “Euphoria” is a testament to his Hall of Fame-caliber. Not only does he deliver a six-minute lyrical tour de force, but he seamlessly transitions between three different flows over three different beat switches, including a nod to Drake’s signature delivery. This performance solidifies his status as a rap virtuoso on the battlefield, especially when seemingly on the brink of elimination. According to the Compton MC, his fiery raid was only friendly fire, which makes his assault that much more devastating. He admits to liking Drake’s “Back to Back” and being a fan of Drake when he’s at his most melodic (as opposed to his most tough-talking). To show even this minimal amount of respect amid lyrical warfare means K. Dot isn’t worried about his adversary.
Lamar’s rebuttal also strengthened his comeback because he treated Drake as if they were back in the playground. Anointing himself “the biggest hater,” Lamar was curt in his response, rapping: “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.” For a feud spanning ten years, it’s refreshing to finally have some actual namedrops and unabashed shots taken, with no physical repercussions. With an electrifying performance that found three different versions of Kendrick eager to seek and destroy, he made sure those 17 days between “Push Ups” and “Euphoria” were worth the wait. The cherry on top? Dropping it at 8:24 a.m. on West Coast time. The significance? The L.A. legend Kobe Bryant donned the numbers 8 and 24. Coincidence? I think not.
Remember, Drake asked for this version of Kendrick to come out. On “Taylor Made Freestyle,” he punked him for allegedly pushing his diss back to allow Taylor Swift’s new blockbuster album, The Tormented Poets Department, to have all the shine. Drake’s baiting hip-hop’s Boogeyman backfired and has given Lamar ample time to whip up a formidable diss that puts the pressure back on him. If Drake’s next track isn’t an atomic bomb, “Euphoria” could be the song to win Lamar the overall war. — CARL LAMARRE
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Quavo and Chris Brown are embroiled in a beef that appears to be over their past dalliances with former lovers in common. Quavo, who took a shot from Chris Brown over the “Weakest Link” track fired back with a diss of his own, “Over Hoes & B*tches.”
The Migos rapper used an infamous image of Brown putting his hands around a woman’s neck, an incident that the singer claimed was friendly and not at all violent. Quavo superimposed his face over Brown’s face while placing the singer’s face on the woman who was choked.
“Over Hoes & B*tches” adds to the growing war of words that was ignited notably on Brown’s track “Freak” from his 11:11 (Deluxe) album. Huncho fired back with “Tender” which then sparked Breezy to respond with “Weakest Link” and now we arrive at “Over Hoes & B*tches.”
A common theme across the songs is references to Brown’s ex, Karrueche Tran, who was linked with his current rival although Tran denied that the pair dated after breaking up with Brown in 2015. The two also mentioned each other’s domestic violence allegations, including an incident involving Saweetie, whom Brown claims he slept with while she dated the “Workin Me” rapper.
From “Over Hoes & B*tches”:
Lil’ boy wanna die ’bout some coochie? (Baow) You still f*cked up ’bout Karrueche? (Damn)
You tried to beat up Teyana (No cap), but Usher wouldn’t let you do it (Usher)
The cocaine got him, your honor (White), bipolar disorder, no wonder
You was the greatest, n*gga, you fumbled, goin’ out sad, I’m watchin’ you crumble (Uh)
Why they got Quavo out here goin’ back and forth with a singer that turned to a junkie?
Now we got light skin versus brown skin, n*gga finna divide the country (Go)
N*gga, you ain’t been in the trenches (Trenches)
We stompin’ the yard, you know how that ended (Stomp)
Brown responded to the diss, referring to the lyrics as “Google Raps” before dismissing the attempt. No word yet if Brown will deliver a proper response.
Check out the full song below.
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Photo: Getty