State Champ Radio Feuds
Between Kendrick Lamar, Drake and even J. Cole, rap fans have been devouring their favorite flavors of beef all month long. But now, pop fans think Taylor Swift is serving up her own heaping helping of piping hot conflict with her old rival, Kim Kardashian.
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With the surprise, 2 a.m. release of The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology, a complete, double-album version of the Swift’s long awaited eleventh studio album, fans seem to think that her song “Thank You Aimee” is aimed at the reality star she’s been feuding with since 2016.
For starters, fans pointed to the strange capitalization of the song’s title across all streaming services. Billed as “thanK you aIMee,” Swifties clocked that the three capitalized letters in the title spell out “KIM.”
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That trend continued when the Taylor Nation X account tweeted the chorus’ lyrics “Screamed, ‘f–K you aIMee’ to the night sky,” alongside a GIF of Swift performing during the Reputation portion of her Eras Tour set. Not only did fans latch onto the continued spelling of “KIM” through capitalized letters, but they also glommed onto the fact that Reputation was inspired, in part, by Swift’s ongoing feud with Kardashian and her then-husband Ye (formerly known as Kanye West).
Fans also pointed to a number of the excoriating lyrics throughout the song, which sees Swift apparently reminiscing on a high-school bully (the titular Aimee) and the impact she had on the pop star’s life. With the opening line, “When I picture my hometown/ There’s a bronze spray-tanned statue of you,” Swifties quickly pointed out the use of the words “spray-tanned,” potentially referencing Kardashian’s famous tan.
In the song’s third verse, Swift sings that she “wrote a thousand songs that you find uncool,” and “built a legacy which you can’t undo,” while adding that “there wouldn’t be this, if there hadn’t been you.” Fans theorized that the lyric referenced the infamous leaked phone call and subsequent snake emoji tweet that Kardashian shared in 2016, instances that fans believe deeply influenced Swift’s writing on Reputation.
Perhaps the most talked-about lyric on “Thank You Aimee” comes during the bridge, when Swift goes after her bully’s lack of development. “I don’t think you’ve changed much. And so I changed your name, and any real defining clues,” she sings, with fans pointing at the obfuscated name throughout the song’s lyrics. Swifties then pointed to a video of Kardashian and her daughter North West dancing to Swift’s “Shake It Off” as evidence for the bridge’s final lyric: “And one day, your kid comes home singin’/ A song that only us two is gonna know is about you.”
Swift last spoke about her feud with both Kardashian and Ye during her wide-ranging interview as TIME’s Person of the Year in December 2023. “You have a fully manufactured frame job, in an illegally recorded phone call, which Kim Kardashian edited and then put out to say to everyone that I was a liar,” Swift said during the interview. “That took me down psychologically to a place I’ve never been before. I moved to a foreign country. I didn’t leave a rental house for a year. I was afraid to get on phone calls. I pushed away most people in my life because I didn’t trust anyone anymore. I went down really, really hard.”
Listen to “Thank You Aimee” and see just a few fan reactions to the new track below:
I love that in thank you Aimee Taylor’s like “no one’s ever gonna know it’s about you” and then she put KIM in the title in an extremely unsubtle way— clara 🎀 (@thenerve2adore) April 19, 2024
Jack Antonoff is bringing his distaste for Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) to national television. Speaking to Jimmy Kimmel Tuesday night (April 16), the producer took shots at the rapper while indulging in a mock-therapy session with the late-night host, likening the “Donda” musician to a fussy baby with an overly full diaper.
“There’s two people that I think are too oversensitive to even function, and it’s men and members of the music industry,” the Bleachers frontman explained on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, lying back in his chair while role-playing a patient in therapy. “The amount of sensitivity — it’s sort of like watching Kanye. If I saw Kanye, I’d run up to him and be like, ‘Your diaper is so full, we have to change your diaper. Your diaper needs to be changed, it’s a huge problem.’”
“The truth is, I’m not that offended,” Antonoff added, touching on Ye’s history of antisemitism, which last year cost the rapper multiple brand partnerships and led to the loss of his billionaire status. “I’m offended, but I’m not that offended, so I don’t like to play this character of overly offended. I prefer to sort of up the trolling.”
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It’s not the first time Antonoff, who is Jewish, has poked fun at Ye. In fact, it’s not even the first time he’s implied that the controversial figure is suffering from a loaded pull-up. In a February interview with the Los Angeles Times, the “Don’t Take the Money” singer quipped that the rapper “just needs his diaper changed so badly.”
“It’s been a long time since I would’ve taken Kanye’s call,” he added at the time when asked whether he’d ever work with Ye in the future. “I’m so incredibly bored when someone doesn’t have the sauce anymore, so they go elsewhere to shock. It’s just a remarkable waste of space.”
Aside from Ye’s hate speech, Antonoff has another big reason to oppose the hip-hop titan. The former Fun band member is a longtime friend and collaborator to Taylor Swift, whose tumultuous feud with Ye has been highly publicized over the years.
In January, Antonoff also called the “Gold Digger” artist a “little cry baby b—h“in a tweet upon finding out that Ye’s album Vultures 2 was slated to arrive on March 8, the same day Bleachers dropped its self-titled record. Bleachers debuted at No. 62 on the Billboard 200, while the Yeezy founder’s project was delayed.
Antonoff is fresh off his performance with Bleachers at the opening weekend of Coachella 2024, which was attended by Swift and Travis Kelce. The guitarist will take the Mojave Stage once again Saturday (April 20), when the festival resumes for a second weekend.
Watch Antonoff’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! interview above.
Rick Ross has brought his war of words with Drake to streaming services. After premiering “Champagne Moments” with DJ Akademiks over the weekend, Rozay uploaded the Drake diss to DSPs on Monday evening (April 15).
“‘CHAMPAGNE MOMENTS’ STREAM IT NOW @AppleMusic#bbldrizzy#nosejobpapi,” Ross wrote on X before adding artwork of a nose with an MMG bull ring. The cover art appears to show Drake’s face Photoshopped onto a white person in a suit.
The MMG boss has continued to speculate that Drake had a nose job and now refers to him as “BBL Drizzy” because of the alleged cosmetic work.
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“That’s why you had an operation to make your nose smaller than your father nose,” Ross raps on “Champagne Moments.”
Drake has remained quiet regarding Rozay’s diss besides sharing text messages from his mother, Sandi Graham, who playfully joked about the alleged nose surgery.
“Aubs- the internet is saying you got a nose job?? You looked the same to me in the kitchen today,” Drizzy’s mom begins her message. “I can’t believe you would get one without me … cuz you know I always wanted one. Don’t tell me that you got tattoos without me and now this too?”
Drake’s response had tears of joy emojis before writing, “I would have got us a 2 for 1 deal if I went ma.”
Ross claimed “I got more money than you” when addressing Drake on “Champagne Moments,” which Drizzy is allegedly laughing off.
According to New Rory & Mal podcaster Mal, Drake seems to be unfazed by Ross, as Drizzy told him that he turned the diss off after Ricky claimed he was richer than him on the diss track.
“I said, ‘Yo, how you feel about the Ross record?’ I’m really trying to gauge him … He was like, ‘He said he was richer than me and I turned it off,’” Mal explained of his convo with Drake.
It’s unclear exactly what’s at the root of the issue causing friction between Drake and Ross, but Rozay appeared on Metro Boomin and Future’s We Don’t Trust You in March. The 6 God went on to snipe at Ross on his leaked “Push Ups” diss track, which surfaced on social media on Saturday (April 13).
“I might take your latest girl and cuff her like I’m Ricky/ Can’t believe he jumpin’ in, this n—a turnin’ 50/ Every song that made it on the chart, he got from Drizzy/ Spend that lil’ check you got and stay up out my business,” Drake raps.
This one is far from over. Stream “Champagne Moments” below.
Drake is feeling like he’s being swarmed by opps in the rap game right now. As he asks on his leaked “Push Ups” diss track: “What the f–k is this a 20-v-1, n—a?” The 6 God drew a line from his feuds to Hollywood when comparing his rap beefs to a photo of Uma Thurman […]
The shots are coming from all different directions, with many looking to snipe at Drake’s throne these days. Metro Boomin and Future’s We Still Don’t Trust You arrived on Friday (April 12), and they recruited more guests — A$AP Rocky and The Weeknd, who fans think took aim at Drake on separate tracks.
Rocky popped out for a fiery assist on disc No. 2 standout “Show of Hands.” He appears to jab the 6 God about his For All the Dogs album not hitting, which is a bold move considering the Mob frontman hasn’t released a project since 2018.
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The Harlem native brags about being intimate with a certain woman, which sounds like Flacko talking about Drake’s baby mama, Sophie Brussaux, whom A$AP rumored to be romantically involved with prior to her relationship with Drizzy.
“N—-s in they feelings over women, what, you hurt or something/ I smash before you birthed, son, Flacko hit it first, son/ Still don’ trust you, it’s always us, never them/ Heard you dropped your latest s–t/ Funny how it just came and went,” Rocky raps.
“Rocky hit Sophie then proceeded to have kids with Rihanna. Drake absolutely despises him,” one fan tweeted.
Another chimed in: “I thought everyone knew that. he hit Sophie but Drake ended up getting her pregnant. while Rocky got Aubrey’s dream girl pregnant lmao.”
Rocky and Drake have had an icy relationship since the days of working together on “F–kin’ Problems” and touring over a decade ago. However, fans believed that Drizzy had smoke for RiRi and Rocky throughout For All The Dogs last year. (In the “Fear of Heights” intro, for example, Drake repeatedly says the word “Anti,” the title of Rihanna’s 2016 album. Another comes on “Another Late Night,” where Drake seems to have A$AP Rocky in his crosshairs. “I ain’t Pretty Flacko,” he rhymes in a nod to Rocky’s nickname, “B—h this s–t get really Rocky.”)
As for The Weeknd, the Canadian crooner makes appearances on multiple tracks. One of the early fan-favorites “All to Myself” is where speculation lies about Abel possibly digging at Drake while being thankful he never signed to OVO.
“As a former devout OVO XO til we Overdose girl, seeing The Weeknd diss Drake is kinda poking at a very tender string in my body,” a conflicted fan wrote to X.
Another claimed, “Ask your self what has Drake done for his own artist on OVO? He just a signed a female act, and I haven’t heard anything from her. All he got is Party that’s it. Bryson and The Weeknd made the best decisions in their entire life.”
“They could never diss my brothers, baby/ When they got leaks in they operation/ I thank God that I never signed my life away/ And we never do the big talk/ They shooters makin’ TikToks,” The Weeknd sings with the last part being a shot at Baka Not Nice, who has compiled a following on TikTok while serving as OVO’s muscle.
The Weeknd passed up on signing to OVO in the early 2010s to land with Republic Records in 2012, which has been a lucrative partnership where he also launched XO Records.
Listen to both tracks below.
With J. Cole bowing out, it’s left Kendrick Lamar and Drake in the ring, and the pair of hip-hop titans could be clashing soon. Joe Budden claimed on the Wednesday (April 10) episode of his eponymous podcast that Drizzy and K. Dot emerged from the studio with “nuclear” records that they’re gearing up to fire […]
It’s official — there’s no bad blood between Cardi B and Ice Spice, as confirmed by the two women in a sweet interaction on X Wednesday (April 3). The hip-hop stars effectively dispelled any rumors that there may be beef between them when the 24-year-old “Munch” rapper tweeted photos they took together at the 2024 […]
Drake has appeared to respond to Kendrick Lamar’s scathing disses from his assist on “Like That,” which landed on Future and Metro Boomin’s We Don’t Trust You collab album last week.
The 6 God took the stage as usual at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Fla., on Sunday night (March 24), but delivered a pugnacious message to the crowd seemingly addressing his rap peers and the feud before leaving.
“A lot of people ask me how I’m feeling. I’ma let you know I’m feeling. Listen, the same way I’m feeling is the same way I want you to walk out this building tonight,” he said before raising his voice further. “I got my f–king head up high, my back straight, I’m 10 f–king toes down in Florida and anywhere else I go. And I know that no matter what, it’s not a n—a on this earth that could ever f–k with me in my life!”
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Fans appeared to enjoy the rant from Drake, as he was met with resounding applause before the It’s All a Blur – Big As the What? show came to an end.
Drake officially addresses Kendrick Lamar on stage “I got my head held high, my back straight, I’m ten f**king toes down… and I know no matter what there’s not another n**ga that could ever f*ck with me on this Earth” pic.twitter.com/4xJZ1kX8uS— Grand/THE WIZRD🔮⁶𓅓 (@grandwizardcn) March 25, 2024
K. Dot previously put Drizzy and J. Cole on blast with his scintillating “Like That” verse, which in part came as a response to the notion of them being the Big Three in rap, as Cole rhymed about on his and Drake’s Billboard Hot 100-topping “First Person Shooter.”
“Yeah, get up with me, f–k sneak dissing/ ‘First Person Shooter,’ I hope they came with three switches,” Lamar raps before addressing the duo once again. “Think I won’t drop the location? I still got PTSD/ Motherf–k the Big Three, n—a, it’s just big me.”
Kendrick discards Cole and then aims his crosshairs at Drake while name-dropping his For All the Dogs album and then comparing the two to late music icons Prince and Michael Jackson on the We Don’t Trust You track: “N—a, bum, ‘fore all your dogs gettin’ buried/ That’s a K with all these nines, he gon’ see Pet Sematary.” (Drake tied MJ for Hot 100 No. 1 hits last year.)
The Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper also rhymes: “And your best work is a light pack/ N—a, Prince outlived Mike Jack.”
Drake and Kendrick Lamar have had an icy relationship since Kung Fu Kenny’s atomic verse on Big Sean’s “Control” in 2013. They collaborated a year prior for Kendrick’s “Poetic Justice” and haven’t teamed up since.
The 6 God heads to Birmingham, Ala., for a show on Wednesday (March 27), and then will head north for a few New York dates.
Don Omar and Daddy Yankee have put an end to their years-long feud and rivalry, and have made peace.
In separate posts on social media, the two reggaeton titans expressed appreciation for one another and acknowledged the significant role each has played in globalizing the genre. Don Omar was the first to share a lengthy post on Instagram on Tuesday (Dec. 12), just days after Yankee gave his farewell show in Puerto Rico after announcing his retirement and that he was dedicating his life to Christianity.
“Today we close the book that kept the best chapters of our controversial rivalry,” the “Dale Don Dale” singer wrote. “Thank you for your words and for listening to mine that came from the heart as well. I wish you the best for you and your family. Thank you for your competitiveness and admirable discipline but even more thank you for what you did for our music.”
He continued: “Thank you for collaborating and for competing because I did it with a titan. I keep the good memories, the laughs, the dreams together and the desire for a last round with such a great adversary. We will meet again soon because I owe you a hug and thank you in person. In the meantime, long live King Daddy.”
Most recently, Don Omar announced his return to the stage with an ambitious U.S. tour. Back to Reggaetón, produced by CMN, is set to kick off in March. Shortly after Don Omar shared the post to his more than nine million followers, Yankee also offered heartfelt words toward the artist, with whom he had on-and-off feuds throughout his decades-long career.
“William, thank you for giving us both the opportunity to speak to each other from the bottom of our hearts,” Yankee began. “Don Omar, you have also done great things for this genre and within the rivalry as you rightly say that divided us, today I feel calm to know that that is behind us, and we are an example that we may have differences but there will always be room for forgiveness. You have also been a great adversary and I will never cease to recognize all that you have also done for our movement.”
Yankee ended by saying he felt “calm and at peace” knowing that they were leaving behind the controversies that often pitted the two against each other. “I hope that our last round will be against the enemy of souls, battling together in the army of the Lord! I wait for you on this side! God bless you, your family and all your faithful followers.”
In 2016, the two sat down — for the first time ever — for a Mano a Mano panel at the Latin Music Week conference. While there was little interaction between the two, Don and Yankee were polite to each other and took turns answering questions from Billboard‘s Leila Cobo.
Despite the rivalry and all, the pair still collaborated with each other throughout the years. In 2003 they released “Gata Gangster” and “La Noche Está Buena” with Hector “El Father.” Two years later, they unleashed “Yo Soy de Aquí” and, in 2020, the “Hasta Abajo Remix.” In 2016, duo also went on a co-headlining tour together.
After the Swifties took over Twitter in a rage, the pop star finally tapped the mic to speak up. On her Instagram Story, Swift addressed the new videos but quickly turned the attention to the World Health Organization and Feeding America donation pages to aid coronavirus relief efforts.
“Instead of answering those who are asking how I feel about the video footage that leaked, proving that I was telling the truth the whole time about that call (you know, the one that was illegally recorded, that somebody edited and manipulated in order to frame me and put me, my family, and fans through hell for 4 years)… SWIPE UP to see what really matters,” she posted, linking out to Feeding America and World Health Organization.
Later that same night, Kim Kardashian West stepped in yet again, brewing the #KimKardashianIsOverParty storm. She crafted a long Twitter thread argument that tagged Swift’s account to directly call her out for choosing to “reignite an old exchange – that at this point in time feels very self-serving given the suffering millions of real victims are facing right now” regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.
“To be clear, the only issue I ever had around the situation was that Taylor lied through her publicist who stated that ‘Kanye never called to ask for permission…’ They clearly spoke so I let you all see that. Nobody ever denied the word ‘b—h’ was used without her permission,” Kardashian stated on social media before addressing what she considered to be the crux of the four-year-old controversy. “At the time when they spoke the song had not been fully written yet, but as everyone can see in the video, she manipulated the truth of their actual conversation in her statement when her team said she ‘declined and cautioned him about releasing a song with such a strong misogynistic message.’ The lie was never about the word b—h, It was always whether there was a call or not and the tone of the conversation.”
The reality TV star also denied claims that she edited her Snapchat footage from 2016 and defended her husband’s right to record his musical process as an artist.
I didn’t feel the need to comment a few days ago, and I’m actually really embarrassed and mortified to be doing it right now, but because she continues to speak on it, I feel I’m left without a choice but to respond because she is actually lying.— Kim Kardashian (@KimKardashian) March 24, 2020https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
To be clear, the only issue I ever had around the situation was that Taylor lied through her publicist who stated that “Kanye never called to ask for permission…” They clearly spoke so I let you all see that. Nobody ever denied the word “bitch” was used without her permission.— Kim Kardashian (@KimKardashian) March 24, 2020https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
At the time when they spoke the song had not been fully written yet, but as everyone can see in the video, she manipulated the truth of their actual conversation in her statement when her team said she— Kim Kardashian (@KimKardashian) March 24, 2020https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
“declined and cautioned him about releasing a song with such a strong misogynistic message.”The lie was never about the word bitch, It was always whether there was a call or not and the tone of the conversation.— Kim Kardashian (@KimKardashian) March 24, 2020https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Kanye has documented the making of all of his albums for his personal archive, however has never released any of it for public consumption & the call between the two of them would have remained private or would have gone in the trash had she not lied & forced me to defend him.— Kim Kardashian (@KimKardashian) March 24, 2020https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
After Kardashian provoked Swift’s publicist Tree Paine by saying the “Reputation” artist used her to lie by saying West never called to ask for permission, Paine published an “unedited original statement” that read, “Kanye did not call for approval, but to ask Taylor to release his single ‘Famous’ on her Twitter account. She declined and cautioned him about releasing a song with such a strong misogynistic message. Taylor was never made aware of the actual lyric, ‘I made that b—h famous.’”
Additionally, Kardashian’s younger sister Khloé Kardashian weighed in on the matter, praising her sister’s lawyer-like instincts. “I was about to go take my a– to sleep but then I just saw my sister post a couple tweets. Kimberly you betta!!!!!!!!!!!” she tweeted. “Kim is my f—ing lawyer for life!!!!!! My sister AND my lawyer.”
