Feuds
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Move over, Drake and Kendrick Lamar: There’s another feud entering the fold in hip-hop. The Game took aim at Rick Ross with the fiery “Freeway’s Revenge” to ignite his beef with the MMG boss on Friday (May 10). Premiered by DJ Akademiks, Game forces his way into the conversation while all eyes on Drizzy and […]
The Contenders is a midweek column that looks at artists aiming for the top of the Billboard charts, and the strategies behind their efforts. Next week (for the upcoming Billboard Hot 100 dated May 18), the Kendrick Lamar-Drake beef that’s dominated pop culture for the past month sets its sights on also taking over the Billboard charts.
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See latest videos, charts and news
Kendrick Lamar, “Not Like Us” (pgLang/Interscope/ICLG): Though it arrived as the fourth diss track in Kendrick Lamar’s anti-Drake campaign – fifth if you count “Like That” — “Not Like Us” appears on its way to being the rapper’s biggest single since at least that initial Future and Metro Boomin collab, which topped the Hot 100 in its first three weeks on the chart in April. Since debuting on Saturday night (May 4), the Mustard-produced banger has simply swept through pop culture, being played on NBA on TNT broadcasts and as MLB walk-up music and inspiring mash-ups and club chants and general West Coast fan hysteria.
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The public response has been overwhelming enough that even with its late Saturday release – meaning it will only have a little over five days of consumption in its debut tracking week – “Not Like Us” should still be a strong contender for a No. 1 Hot 100 debut next week. The song shot to the top of essentially every relevant daily or real time chart (including Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Trending and iTunes) and is currently still gaining steam, with its eye-popping most recent Spotify U.S. total of over 6.8 million plays (for Tuesday, May 7) being its highest yet.
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Competition for the top spot will still be stiff in such a loaded period for new hits, including from other songs by Kendrick himself. But “Not Like Us” is outpacing the competition enough right now to likely be the frontrunner for next week’s chart – and regardless is certainly on pace to be one of the defining hits of this year, as well as one of the biggest songs of Lamar’s decade-plus hitmaking career.
Kendrick Lamar, “Euphoria” (pgLang/Interscope/ICLG): Before the arrival of “Not Like Us,” it still seemed like Lamar would have the inside track on the Hot 100 with the first shot from his recent attack wave, “Euphoria.” That track, a vicious six-minute assault on Drake’s character that also became a pop culture phenomenon upon its release two Tuesdays ago (April 30), managed to debut at No. 11 on this week’s Hot 100 (dated May 11) from just two and a half days of tracking.
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Following its first full week of release, “Euphoria” should also be a major contender for the top of the Hot 100, as it has been holding strong near the top of most daily DSP charts in the days since. (Both “Euphoria” and “Not Like Us” are just getting going on radio, each drawing a little over a million airplay impressions in the first four days of the tracking week, May 3-6, according to Luminate.) With “Not Like Us” lapping it basically across the board as the popular favorite from this back and forth, however, “Euphoria” might have missed its best shot at nabbing the No. 1 spot, and will likely have to settle for the silver or bronze on the chart next week.
Kendrick Lamar, “Meet the Grahams” (pgLang/Interscope/ICLG): Perhaps the nastiest of Lamar’s invectives against his rival, “Meet the Grahams” arrived on Friday night (May 3), a day before “Not Like Us.” The song doesn’t quite have the invigorating punchiness of “Euphoria” or the sheer club-readiness of “Us,” and so it hasn’t quite taken over the culture like those two certified hits. But its performance since arriving on all DSPs on Sunday (after a YouTube-only debut) has been notable enough – with the song currently ranking in the top 10 on both the Spotify and Apple Music updating charts, as well as on iTunes – that it should still be ticketed for a fairly high debut on next week’s Hot 100.
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There is of course a fourth Lamar song from song from the feud that was released the past weekend, in Friday morning’s “6:16 in L.A.” — but that song was an Instagram-only release, meaning its streams will not contribute to Billboard chart calculations, and it will not be eligible for the charts next week. However, “Like That” — the Future and Metro Boomin collab that kicked all of this off a month and a half ago — is also still hanging around the Hot 100’s top 10 (No. 8 this week, following its three-week reign), and is up in consumption following the brighter spotlight on the beef, so it will also certainly be in the mix for next week (if no longer a likely top-spot contender).
IN THE MIX
Drake, “Family Matters” (OVO/Republic): Don’t forget about the other guy in the beef! Though Drake is obviously trailing both in terms of public opinion and in overall streams/sales count in this back-and-forth – as well as in terms of total songs, with just two this past weekend to Lamar’s stunning four – his “Family Matters” is still on pace for a very high bow on the Hot 100, as the Friday night-released diss track is still ranking in the top 10 on both Spotify and Apple Music. (Sunday night’s follow-up “The Heart Part 6” has only been released on YouTube so far.)
Tommy Richman, “Million Dollar Baby” (ISO Supermacy/Pulse): You gotta feel for Tommy Richman a little: If not for the Kendrick-Drake showdown generating more drama and attention than the entirety of the NBA playoffs, he’d very likely be the biggest story in the music world right now. The little-before-known Virginia singer-rapper debuts at No. 2 on the Hot 100 this week with his runaway breakthrough hit “Million Dollar Baby,” and the song has only been rising on streaming and in airplay and sales in its second week of release. But unless interest in the beef (or at least Kendrick’s musical part in it) tails off mightily in the last couple days of the tracking week, Richman’s likely gonna have to wait at least one more week to climb that last spot and take over the Hot 100’s apex.
The Kendrick Lamar–Drake battle has found its way into the political world. President Joe Biden’s campaign team put together a video dissing Donald Trump on May 6, which was soundtracked by Lamar’s bristling “Euphoria.” The clip utilizes a slideshow that kicks off with Biden and VP Kamala Harris before moving into photos of Trump. While […]
One of the wildest weeks in hip-hop history is set to make a huge impact on next week’s Billboard charts (dated May 18) as several diss tracks from the ongoing Drake – Kendrick Lamar beef look prime to dot the Billboard Hot 100 and other charts.
The rappers’ feud dates back at least a decade, but the latest campaign ramped up in March with “Like That,” Lamar’s collaboration with Future and Metro Boomin, in which the Pulitzer Prize-winner’s verse contained alleged disses at Drake and J. Cole. Since then, Lamar, Drake, J. Cole and a heavyweight supporting roster – including The Weeknd, Rick Ross, Ye (formerly known as Kanye West), A$AP Rocky – have all been involved, either as targets or lobbing disses of their own.
While Cole bowed out and apologized after he released his “7 Minute Drill” rebuttal on April 5, Drake and Lamar have each released multiple tracks in just a few weeks, with personal attacks and serious allegations, including threats of violence and pedophilia within artists camps.
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Given the whirlwind of releases — some of which have been widely released on streaming services, others that were only available on social media and at least one that has been willingly removed from platforms — here’s a guide to how each track could factor onto the Hot 100.
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The Ones That Have Already Charted
“Like That” / “7 Minute Drill” / “Push Ups” / “Euphoria”
Four tracks have already appeared on the Hot 100, which includes streaming, radio airplay and sales data for its calculations. In chronological order, they are “Like That” (No. 1 for three weeks, beginning on the chart dated April 6), J. Cole’s “7 Minute Drill” (No. 7, April 20), Drake’s “Push Ups” (No. 17, May 11) and Lamar’s “Euphoria” (No. 11, May 11).
As J. Cole had “7 Minute Drill” pulled from streaming services and digital retailers one week after its release, the song has since fallen off the chart. Unless “7 Minute Drill” is once again made available to consumers, the only avenue for a Hot 100 return would be through radio airplay. But don’t expect it – “7 Minute Drill” has declined in radio play for the last two weeks, according to Luminate, before it was even able to make any Billboard radio chart.
In addition to continued availability on streaming services and digital retailers, “Like That,” “Push Ups” and “Euphoria” all sport an active radio presence. The foremost ranks at No. 4 on the latest R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart (dated May 11), the middle track rises 29-28 and while the lattermost does not appear on the chart, its 149,000 audience total, according to Luminate – in just three days of a seven-day, Friday-Thursday tracking week due to its Tuesday drop date – ranks just outside the 50-position cutoff, at 192,000 in audience for the week.
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The Ones That Could Chart Next
“Family Matters” / “Meet the Grahams” / “Not Like Us” / “The Heart Part 6”
The heaviest barrage is likely to come on next week’s Hot 100 (dated May 18), with five songs released between Drake and Lamar since May 2, the start of the current Hot 100 tracking week.
Of the five, three – Drake’s “Family Matters” and Lamar’s “Meet the Grahams” and “Not Like Us” – are widely available across streaming serves and digital retailers, setting them up for the chance at huge consumption figures that would translate into strong Hot 100 arrivals. All three, though, will have shortened periods in the Friday-Thursday tracking window after they were released mid-week: “Family Matters” and “Meet the Grahams” both arrived on Saturday, May 3, while “Not Like Us” premiered on Sunday, May 4.
Despite the handicap, however, they seem to be making up ground — quickly. Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” for example, was the No. 1 streamed song in the U.S. on Spotify on Monday, May 6, (6.59 million clicks) and Tuesday, May 7, (6.81 million), clearing each day’s second-place title — his own “Euphoria” on Monday and Tommy Richman’s “Million Dollar Baby” on Tuesday — by more than 2 million plays.
Returning to the two remaining tracks released during the current tracking week, one — Drake’s “The Heart Part 6,” released on Sunday, May 4 — notably remains available only through YouTube.
As for the final track …
The Outliers
“6:16 in LA” / “Taylor Made Freestyle” / “Buried Alive Interlude, Pt. 2”
Lamar’s “6:16 in LA,” which arrived on Saturday, May 3, was released solely through the Compton rapper’s Instagram page. As it was not made available on streaming services or digital retailers that contribute to Billboard’s charts (and has received no registered radio play), it has no chance of appearing on the Hot 100 without an official release.
But all’s fair. Two more Drake tracks released in the beef — the “Taylor Made Freestyle” and “Buried Alive Interlude, Pt. 2” — were likewise social media exclusives, and, by the same token, would need an official release to streamers and digital stores or substantial radio activity for a Hot 100 debut. The former, notably, is unlikely to gain any traction after its use of artificial intelligence vocals imitating Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg prompted Shakur’s estate to threaten a lawsuit, and the song was removed the next day. The latter, meanwhile, appeared on an Instagram story and looks to only have been a teaser for “Family Matters.”
The top 10 of the Hot 100 dated May 18 is scheduled to be announced on Billboard’s website on Monday, May 13, with the full chart revealed on Tuesday, May 14.
Taylor Swift‘s famous feud with Scooter Braun is getting the documentary treatment. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Discovery+ announced Tuesday (May 7) that its series Vs will spend its next season – titled Taylor Swift vs Scooter Braun: Bad Blood — exploring how it all went down, from the mogul’s acquisition of the pop star’s masters to the 14-time Grammy winner’s “Taylor’s Version” re-recording projects and every fiery blogpost in between.
In an effort to represent both parties’ sides equally, the two-part series will reportedly feature legal experts and journalists, as well as people close to Swift and Braun. It’ll examine the roles of gender dynamics, fandom influence and artist rights while dissecting the SB Projects founder’s $300 million purchase of the “Karma” singer’s catalog from Big Machine Records’ Scott Borchetta in 2019, as well as Swift’s allegations that Borchetta blocked her own attempts at acquiring the rights to her first six albums.
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Swift also claimed at the time that she was not informed of Braun’s acquisition before it happened — which Borchetta denied — writing in a Tumblr blogpost that she’d only learned of the news “as it was announced to the world.” “All I could think about was the incessant, manipulative bullying I’ve received at his hands for years,” she’d added of Braun. “This is my worst case scenario. This is what happens when you sign a deal at fifteen to someone for whom the term ‘loyalty’ is clearly just a contractual concept.”
Premiering in June, Taylor Swift vs Scooter Braun: Bad Blood follows previous installments that focused on Kim Kardashian’s divorce from Ye — formerly Kanye West — in 2021, and Johnny Depp’s defamation trial against Amber Heard in 2022.
“Taylor Swift’s dispute with Scooter Braun over the ownership of her music exploded into the mainstream, taking contract law from board room to social media and into public interest,” Charlotte Reid, vp of commissioning, networks & streaming at WBD U.K. & Ireland, said in a statement. “It’s a high-profile, high-interest story that opened debate on fandom and dominated headlines, one which will resonate with our viewers.”
In the five years since the initial fallout of Swift and Braun’s conflict, the musician has turned in four of her six planned re-records, with Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and Red (Taylor’s Version) both debuting atop the Billboard 200 in 2021, and Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) and 1989 (Taylor’s Version) entering at No. 1 in 2023. The rollout of the re-records has gone hand-in-hand with Swift’s ongoing Eras Tour, which recently launched the star to billionaire status.
“I spent 10 years of my life trying rigorously to purchase my masters outright and was then denied that opportunity, and I just don’t want that to happen to another artist if I can help it,” she told Billboard in 2019. “I do want my music to live on. I do want it to be in movies, I do want it to be in commercials. But I only want that if I own it.”
While Drake has been sparring with Kendrick Lamar in the spicy feud sweeping the rap world, the 6 God has had smoke for Metro Boomin as well. It’s unclear exactly what sparked the beef between Drizzy and the producer, but after Drake sniped Metro on “Push Ups,” he came after him again on “Family Matters” over the weekend.
On the fiery diss track that arrived May 3, Drake used Boomin’s government name — Leland Wayne — with the OVO boss also insinuating that he had been intimate with Metro’s girl. (“Leland Wayne, he a f–king lame, so I know he had to be an influence”).
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“The drum thing was laughable so I let it slide but what we not gon do is spread lies and have my loved ones involved nobody ever hit my girl n—a we grew up together she’s a real woman and not even in the industry but I guess #youwouldntknownunboutdatttt,” Metro responded on X Sunday (May 5).
“Now go make another song telling more lies cause we both know you can’t tell everyone why I don’t f–k wit u,” he continued in a second tweet. “that wouldn’t be a good look either for u so imma spare us both wit that.”
That was only the tip of the iceberg for Metro, who referred to Drake as a “colonizer” of hip-hop while attaching photos from Pusha T’s “The Story of Adidon” artwork featuring Drizzy in blackface. He went on to jab Drake about “pushing 40” having his nails painted, and more.
The St. Louis native also claimed that Drake attempted to block “Like That” from being serviced to radio, and attached an allegedly leaked email from label attorneys that went viral on X.
“I’m lame but the first week after #LikeThat you tried to block it at radio,” he tweeted. “I been sitting on this email for a month now but was just sparing you oh u aint #LikeThat record???”
Metro then upped the ante by hosting a “BBL Drizzy Beat Giveaway,” having fans rap over a beat mocking Drake’s alleged cosmetic surgery. The prize? The 30-year-old’s going to give the best freestyle a free beat. “I know a n—a with lipo scars not tryna call me lame,” he wrote.
“You just cheffed a beat about my a–?” Drake asked in response on Instagram to Metro’s giveaway.
The 6 God made the latest entry in the Drake-Kendrick Lamar feud as of press time on Sunday night (May 5) with the defensive “The Heart Part 6.” Drizzy cleared the air on pedophile allegations and sniped at Kendrick’s relationship with fiancée Whitney Alford.
Metro wasn’t impressed, as he tweeted out a Chris Paul meme Sunday night, mocking how even with Drake’s newest diss record, he’s still down a ton of points in the Kendrick battle.
Read some of Metro Boomin’s reactions to Drake below:
now go make another song telling more lies cause we both know you can’t tell everyone why I don’t fuck wit u that wouldn’t be a good look either for u so imma spare us both wit that— Metro Boomin (@MetroBoomin) May 5, 2024
the drum thing was laughable so I let it slide but what we not gon do is spread lies and have my loved ones involved nobody ever hit my girl nigga we grew up together 😂😂😭😭she’s a real woman and not even in the industry but I guess #youwouldntknownunboutdatttt— Metro Boomin (@MetroBoomin) May 5, 2024
Drake and Kendrick Lamar have spent the first weeks of spring 2024 waging one of the biggest music wars in recent memory against one another, dropping diss tracks with little time in between. And suffice to say, the content of the songs has been shocking. With lyrics containing everything from below-the-belt jabs about one another’s […]
One might say Kendrick Lamar’s “6:16 in LA” is “Taylor Made.” A rep for Jack Antonoff confirmed to Billboard that the Bleachers frontman and frequent Taylor Swift collaborator worked on K. Dot’s latest Drake diss track.
Antonoff co-produced the seething “6:16 in LA” alongside Lamar’s in-house beat maestro Sounwave. (Variety was first to report that Antonoff co-produced the track.) The rapper uploaded the Al Green-sampling diss taking aim at the 6 God to his Instagram account on Friday morning (May 3).
In the track, Kendrick continued his psycho-analyzation of Drake while accusing OVO of having leaks in its camp. “Have you ever thought that OVO was working for me?/ Fake bully, I hate bullies/ You must be a terrible person/ Everyone inside your team is whispering that you deserve it/ Can’t Toosie Slide up out of this one, it’s just gon’ resurface,” he raps.
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Lamar continued to hammer home allegations of betrayal behind Drake’s back while spewing: “100 n—as that you got on salary/ and 20 of them want you as a casualty/ and one of them is actually/ is next to you / and two of them is practically tied to your lifestyle.”
Kendrick shared the track on social media with the cover art featuring a black Maybach glove. Fans began to speculate the meaning behind “6:16,” and some brought upon theories of June 16 being 2Pac’s birthday. Drake used AI-assisted Pac vocals in his “Taylor Made” freestyle, which he deleted from social media following a cease-and-desist from the late rapper’s estate.
Others pointed to June 16 being Father’s Day in Canada this year, while producer 9th Wonder reminded fans via X that HBO’s Euphoria debuted on that day in 2019. Drake served as an executive producer on the show, which also doubled as the title of Kendrick’s first diss targeting Drizzy earlier this week.
“6:16 in LA” arrives three days after K. Dot dropped his scathing “Euphoria” diss, and the 6 God is yet to officially respond.
However, Drake appeared to react to “Euphoria” by posting a clip from the 1999 rom-com 10 Things I Hate About You on Instagram, and hinted at his retort while leaving the stage after a surprise appearance at Nicki Minaj’s Toronto stop on the Pink Friday 2 World Tour on April 30. “You know what time it is — you know what I have to do,” he cryptically said at the time.
Antonoff’s work on “6:16” comes as a surprise, and serves as his first collaboration with Kendrick Lamar. Earlier this month, he helmed Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department as the primary producer; the record-breaking album arrived on April 19.
Listen to “6:16 in LA” below.
After a scorching round one display from Kendrick Lamar earlier this week with “Euphoria,” the pgLang stalwart is doubling down and taking a page out of Drake’s book by going “Back-to-Back” with his latest diss track, “6:16 in LA.” Released early Friday morning (May 3), Lamar charges Drake with a barrage of attacks about having […]
Grab the popcorn, because Kendrick Lamar has returned. K. Dot emerged to unleash the eviscerating “Euphoria,” taking aim at Drake on Tuesday (April 30).
The Compton artist’s Drake diss hit his YouTube channel early in the day and looks to land a knockout punch, with “Euphoria” — Drake is an executive producer of the HBO show of the same name — serving as his official response to Drizzy’s “Push Ups.”
Drake comes under fire as Lamar refers to him as a “degenerate,” “scam artist” and more, with Kendrick utilizing more of a spoken-word flow before horns come in to turn the intensity up a few notches after the first-minute warm-up.
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Next, Kendrick turns his focus to Drake and his 2018 battle with Pusha T, during which King Push revealed that the 6 God had a son, Adonis, on “The Story of Adidon.”
“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/ I don’t like you poppin s–t at Pharrell, for him I’ll inherit the beef/ F–k all that pushin p, let me see you Pusha T, you better off spinning again on him you think about pushing me/ He’s Terrence Thorton I’m Terence Crawford I’m whooping feet,” he raps.
There’s no love lost between Lamar and Drake, with their long-simmering feud dating back more than a decade. K. Dot lets it be known this isn’t about competition, but there’s a genuine hatred for Drake.
“I hate the way that you walk, the way that you talk/ I hate the way that you dress/ I hate the way that you sneak dissing/ If I flight it’s gonna be direct/ We hate the b—-s you f–k because they confuse themselves with real women,” Lamar spews.
He isn’t even close to done by this point, as he brings up hating Drake’s mob boss persona, claims the OVO boss doesn’t have a classic record in his discography and questions the legitimacy of his six-pack abs.
“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,” Dot continues to fire.
Drake’s “Push Ups” largely centered around him accusing Lamar of having to give away 50 percent of his earnings as part of his deal with Top Dawg Entertainment.
Kendrick turns the tables in “Euphoria,” wondering about Drizzy’s deal in which he was signed to Lil Wayne’s Young Money, which lived under Birdman’s Cash Money Records and Universal Music Group.
He even alleges that Drake’s team served up a cease and desist over the Billboard Hot 100-topping “Like That,” which essentially lit the fuse of the feud earlier this year.
“You was signed to a n—a that’s signed to a n—a that said he was signed to that n—a/ Try cease and desist on the ‘Like That’ record/ Oh, what? You ain’t like that record,” he contests.
Lastly, Kendrick attacks Drake’s biracial identity and voices his disgust with him using n—a in his lyrics. “I even hate when you say the word ‘N—a,’ but that’s just me,” he raps before closing out the track. “We don’t want to hear you say n—a no more.”
“Euphoria” arrives 17 days after Drake’s “Push Ups” was leaked before he brought the diss record to streaming on April 19. (The track debuted at No. 19 on this week’s Hot 100.)
Listen to Kendrick Lamar’s “Euphoria” response below.
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