The Case For
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
After J. Cole entered and then publicly stepped away from the ongoing “Battle of the Big 3” last weekend, all eyes have turned to Drake for his response to Kendrick Lamar’s pot-stirring “Like That” verse from March. With Drake rumored to finally be weighing in with a new song on Friday — the same release day as We Still Don’t Trust You, sequel to the album that originally unleashed “Like That” on the world — the beef between the two rap legends seems to be coming to a head. Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop writer Michael Saponara and deputy ed. director Damien Scott present the cases for each rapper to be considered the fight’s favorite.
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Why Drake Will Win
“As long as there’s competition, there will never be peace. Everyone wants to be the one,” reads a Kurupt quote that was plastered backstage to fuel Drake at every stop of his It’s All A Blur – Big as the What? Tour with J. Cole.
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It’s clear only one of the co-headlining rappers on the trek took that proverb to heart. With J. Cole bowing out of the bout, Drake and Kendrick Lamar appear to be headed for a blockbuster war that’s been over a decade in the making.
While most have been afraid of stepping into the ring with hip-hop’s boogeyman hailing from Compton, Drake is the way more battle-tested rapper – a part of the rap repertoire that gives him the upper hand to defeat K. Dot in the main event.
The 6 God has sparred with a range of adversaries over the years. Whether he was scorching Common on “Stay Schemin,” knocking out Diddy with “4PM in Calabasas” or most notably putting Meek Mill in the ground for good on “Back to Back,” Drake has proven to be a formidable opponent amid his massive commercial success and pop crossover capabilities.
“Man, we wrote the book on calculated thinking,” Drake reminded listeners while taking a Meek Mill victory lap on More Life’s “Lose You” in 2018.
For those who have doubts and may have forgotten, press play on “Back to Back” again. The hit record was ubiquitous in nightclubs for the summer of 2015 and reached No. 21 on the Hot 100, while also serving as a definitive knockout punch and crushing blow to Meek Mill’s legacy that still sizzles to this day. Drake is the rare breed of a rapper who can craft a scathing diss track that damages another artist’s career trajectory and doubles as a song of the summer contender.
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There’s no doubt Kendrick and Drake are going to exchange potent lyrical haymakers, but when it comes to bringing the commercial appeal to a solo diss record – advantage: Drake. The OVO camp should be working overtime attempting to dig up dirt on the elusive K. Dot, and if the feud gets messy and spills onto social media, that’s a playground Drake will fare well in too, since Drizzy’s as petty as they come.
Drake will always be a super calculated artist so it will be interesting to see if he focuses on strictly flaming Kendrick or raises the stakes by bringing his “Like That” hosts Future and Metro Boomin into the line of fire. That strategic decision would separate him from the pack, while redesigning the rap food chain and have collaborators in the industry forced to choose allegiances with a line in the sand dividing hip-hop’s elite. Drake is rumored to be dropping on Friday (April 12) which is the same day Future and Metro Boomin’s We Still Don’t Trust You is slated to arrive. The bold move would put him in direct competition with the Atlanta duo, where he could put a halt to their momentum and even top them on the charts.
With Kendrick mainly aiming at Drake on “Like That” to revive their long-simmering feud, which dates back to Lamar’s atomic “Control” verse, the stage is set for the OVO honcho to erase the stench that still lingers from the 2018 Pusha T feud which gave him the only loss on his otherwise unblemished résumé. Drake backed down from that beef, following Pusha’s “Story of Adidon” exposing his child Adonis, at the advice of Rap-A-Lot co-founder and consigliere J. Prince – who claimed his response would have “hurt families.”
Drake holding his own in a Kendrick battle would go a long way to making up for that legacy-tarnishing moment. And reining supreme over K. Dot, with Drake holding up the figurative championship belt in the battle of the “Big Three,” would give even the biggest OVO haters no choice but to bend the knee to the 6 God. — MICHAEL SAPONARA
Why Kendrick Lamar Will Win
Let’s get this concession out of the way: The only true battle-tested rapper in this entire ordeal is Drake. He’s the only one who has gone past sneak dissing and slick one-off verses, and made songs with the intention of causing career-ending damage. The highlight is, of course, 2015’s “Back to Back,” the song that sincerely made everyone relitigate a once-ascendent Meek Mill’s place in rap’s pantheon.
That said: Kendrick’s got this.
Yes, the well-worn joke is that Kenny appears like the Boogie Man and drops a verse that sends the game into a tizzy only to disappear again until he’s ready to drop his next project. That’s not untrue. But, to wit: What other rapper not named Shawn Carter could drop a verse every few years that makes every rap fan stop what they’re doing and pay attention? And, yes, fine — Kendrick has yet to really dig in for a full-on battle, though, if we’re being fair that’s more to do with his opponents than him. Regardless, if there’s any rapper working today who should get the benefit of the doubt in this regard it’s Kendrick Lamar Duckworth. Here’s why.
To borrow a quote from the late astronomer Carl Sagan, the “absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence.” Put another way, just because we’ve yet to see Kendrick take a rapper’s head off for a full song doesn’t mean Compton’s favorite son is incapable of doing so. If anything, the warning shot he sent to Cole and Drake proves that he’s been ready and willing to dismember a rapper.
While “f–k the Big 3, n—a, it’s just big me” is the bar from Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That” that caught everyone’s attention, there are a bunch more on that verse that let it be known Kendrick is able to get it going. Bars like, “I’ll crash out, like ‘F–k rap,’ diss Melle Mel if I had to,” or, my personal favorite, “I hope them sentiments symbolic, my temperament’s bipolar, I choose violence.” Take your pick. Whichever door you choose ends up at the same place: Kendrick is ready.
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The last time we saw Kendrick this animated in song going at a rapper was back on 2017’s “The Heart Part 4,” when it’s believed he sent a bunch of shots at Big Sean who he was reportedly beefing with since 2013’s “Control” fiasco. (And, yes, all the shots being subliminals is a knock on Kendrick.)
“My fans can’t wait for me to son ya punk-ass/ And crush ya whole lil’ s–t/ I’ll Big Pun ya punk-ass, you a scared lil’ b—h/ Tiptoein’ around my name, n—a, you lame/ And when I get at you, homie/ Don’t you just tell me you was just playin’.”
The second half of the song was so scathing that Big Sean reportedly called TDE’s Top Dawg and asked him if Kendrick was talking about him. That lead to Top putting Sean and Kendrick together for a private conversation that resulted in Sean saying, “the respect is mutual.”
That wasn’t an apology, but the two never even got into a proper battle, with Big Sean saying they peaced things up after Nipsey Hussle was murdered in 2019. That was all probably for the best — because in 2023, an alternate version of Kendrick’s song “ELEMENT.” from DAMN. leaked, and it featured the following lines directed squarely at the Detroit rapper.
“Big Sean keep sneak dissin,’ I let it slide/ I think his false confidence got him inspired/ I can’t make them respect you, baby, it’s not my job/ You finally famous for who you date, not how you rhyme (boy).” He kept going, “Cute-ass raps, get your puberty up/ Then make you a classic album before you come at us/ Drake and Meek Mill beef might got you gassed up/ But I’m a whole ‘nother beast, I really f—k you up.”
Sean, when asked, said the song was “ain’t no diss” and kept it moving. The track also mentioned Jay Electronica and French Montana, both of whom opted to just let it slide.
That’s just what happens when Kendrick goes at rappers: They get quiet or start making excuses or just completely opt out altogether. There’s a reason for that — most, if not all, rappers know that Kendrick is, as he says on the Future and Metro track, “really like that.” He’s been able to disrupt the game multiple times with verses aimed at numerous targets, imagine what happens when he focuses his pen on one opponent. It’s silly to believe the results would be less devastating.
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But that’s all offense: Let’s talk defense. We already saw Cole take aim at Kendrick’s catalog and general lack of productivity. What will Drake focus on? Other than “I helped you break into the game” — which he’s not wrong about — what else can Drake really say about Kendrick? He’s a critically acclaimed, award-winning rapper who has been adored by hip-hop culture for well over a decade. After being utterly discountenanced by Pusha T with “The Story of Adion,” Drake surely learned a lesson or two: one likely being that to really land a big blow in 2024, you need to spring a surprise on unsuspecting fans and rappers. Joe Budden says Drake has a nuke. Perhaps he’s learned something we don’t know. But even then, it depends the validity and quality of the dirt. As we saw on his last album, Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, Kendrick’s been pretty forthcoming with his failings.
We’re a long way from, “You underestimated greatly, the most No. 1s ever, how long did it really take me?” Kendrick doesn’t underestimate Drake. And the talk of chart success is seemingly null and void after his pre-emptive “Prince outlived Mike Jack” bar.
But, we’ll see. The excitement is in the suspense. As Kenny said, “Let’s get it, bro.” — DAMIEN SCOTT
The hip-hop world has been in flames since the Friday (Mar. 22) release of Future & Metro Boomin’s “Like That,” featuring an incendiary Kendrick Lamar verse taking thinly veiled shots at “First Person Shooter” co-stars J. Cole and Drake. Rap traditionalists are unsurprisingly clamoring for a response record from both MCs — but which of the two has the most to gain by jumping into the fray, or the most to lose by staying out of it?
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Below, two Billboard Hip-Hop writers present the case for each artist being the one who most needs to get in the game ASAP.
WHY DRAKE MOST NEEDS TO RESPOND
When Drake graced the cover of Billboard in August 2013 ahead of his acclaimed Nothing Was the Same album, he brushed off Kendrick Lamar’s genre-shaking “Control” verse, referring to the atomic bomb Lamar dropped on rap as an “ambitious thought.”
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“That’s all it was,” he said dismissively. “I know good and well that Kendrick’s not murdering me, at all, in any platform. So when that day presents itself, I guess we can revisit the topic.”
Just over a decade later, that day has presented itself. Lamar has dropped the gloves and scorched Drizzy and J. Cole, with a scathing verse aiming at his supposed “Big Three” running mates on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That” (“Think I won’t drop the location? I still got PTSD/ Motherf–k the Big Three, n—a, it’s just big me”), which had hip-hop in a tizzy over the weekend.
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Actually, it extended well beyond the rap world: debates about the simmering feud between Drake, Kendrick and Cole extended far outside the genre, with even the likes of ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith spitting bars from Eminem’s final 8 Mile battle on his show while discussing the potential clash of the “Big Three.”
Drake has scoffed in the past at disses from rappers whom he didn’t deem worthy of his time. Some he’d address with subliminal jabs when he felt suitable, on his terms, while others beneath him on the food chain never even got half an OVO bar. It’s an opportunity he’s earned, as one of hip-hop’s titans with a battle-tested past where he’s repeatedly proven to be a formidable opponent – including battles with Joe Budden, Diddy and most notably Meek Mill in 2015, when he ethered the Philly rapper with “Back to Back” and put the ghostwriting claims to rest. After most battles, Drizzy has emerged stronger from his battle scars.
However, there’s always going to be a stain on Drake’s decorated resume that no record amount of Hot 100 hits could remove when it comes to his 2018 feud with Pusha T. Drizzy backed down following Pusha’s scintillating “Story of Adidon” exposing his child, Adonis, at the advice of Rap-A-Lot co-founder and consigliere J. Prince – who claimed his response would have “hurt families.”
This isn’t a situation Drake can rightly shrug off as beneath him, though. While Kendrick Lamar only stands at 5’5”, the West Coast legend sees eye-to-eye with the 6 God – one of his few true peers in rap, with comparable levels of commercial appeal, critical acclaim and years in the game.
With all that Drake has accomplished in his Hall-of-Fame career, it’s rare for an artist of his caliber to have an opportunity to elevate their legacy and wipe away some of the years-old stench leftover from the botched Pusha T feud that OVO detractors still bring up to this day.
Rising to Lamar’s challenge — and potentially emerging victorious — could wash out the bad taste Drake opting out of that beef left in fans’ mouths a half-decade ago.
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The “Poetic Justice” collaborators have been entrenched in a Cold War of digs since “Control” and K. Dot’s BET Hip-Hop Awards cypher dissing the “sensitive” Toronto star months later. Drake has jabbed back on records like Future’s “Sh!t” remix and “The Language,” but they’ve never met head-on for a collision on the throne.
Showing out in such a showdown could have a profound effect on Drake’s legacy. To spell it out in sports terms Drake would appreciate, longtime New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady didn’t cement his GOAT case until completing the 28-3 comeback at Super Bowl LI in 2017 against the Atlanta Falcons. Similarly, many already labeled LeBron James as the best player of the 21st century, but pulling off the improbable 3-1 comeback against the 73-win Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals launched his legacy into the same stratosphere as Michael Jordan.
Both were undoubtedly seminal moments in the careers of those all-time legends, and took place well over a decade after they entered the league. A line could be drawn to Drake possibly getting the best of Lamar in this rap version of the ultimate game.
While “Like That” is a response to Cole and Drake’s “First Person Shooter,” it’s Drake that most of Dot’s smoke is specifically directed at. After dismantling the “Big Three” argument, Kendrick takes aim at Drake with a For All the Dogs reference, and snarlingly compares their relationship to iconic rivals Michael Jackson and Prince: “And your best work is a light pack/ N—a, Prince outlived Mike Jack’/ N—a, bum/ ‘Fore all your dogs gettin’ buried/ That’s a K with all these nines, he gon’ see Pet Sematary.”
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With Kendrick and Drake’s icy relationship taking shots at one another dating back to 2013’s “Control,” it’s imperative for the 6 God to step up and be first in line rather than J. Cole, who has had an admirable relationship with Lamar from a distance over the years. There’s been way less friction between the Dreamville boss and Compton native, as they were even rumored to be working on a joint project at one point.
All that said, Drake could end up falling back and avoiding the fray, maybe addressing K. Dot down the line with a series of jabs after he goes on hiatus following his Big As the What? Tour wrapping next month. He’s already allegedly liked a comment saying he’s not taking K. Dot’s threats “seriously,” and is still posting selfies to his IG Story in an unbothered fashion.
Not all hope is lost for a quicker response, though, as Drizzy appeared to respond to Lamar’s threats sweeping the rap world with a chest-puffed rant during a recent tour date. “I’m 10 f–king toes down in Florida or anywhere else I go – and I know that no matter what, there’s not a n—a on this earth that could ever f–k with me in my life,” Drake confidently told a Florida crowd while on stage over the weekend.
In a genre with a dwindling number of A-list stars, the Drake-Kendrick Lamar tussle gives rap a rare monocultural moment, and a chance for the 6 God to etch another chapter in the hip-hop history books. The ball’s bouncing inside Drake’s home court – but will he put a shot up or leave the gym and retreat to the wine cellar of his Toronto estate? — MICHAEL SAPONARA
WHY COLE MOST NEEDS TO RESPOND
Let’s keep it all the way honest: It’s scary hours. The rap civil war is upon us, and the best man to spar with Kung Fu Kenny is his one-time brother-in-arms, Jermaine Lamarr Cole.
This part of rap is largely unfamiliar territory for Cole: though he’s had words for 6ix9ine, Lil Pump, and the Soundcloud generation, he’s never engaged in true one-on-one combat, making this potential battle with Kendrick Lamar an even more important one. Rather than let Drake stand ten toes down and attempt to get the pinfall on K. Dot, Cole needs to tag in, earn the W to get out of the shadows of both men, and show why he’s indeed not the two or the three when speaking on this rap hierarchy.
In truth, there hasn’t been a time in Cole’s career when he was undoubtedly “the one.” When Cole entered the fray in the late 2000s, fans immediately pitted him against Drake because both were spry and capable lyricists with booming potential to push the genre forward. Going into it, Drake had the leg up after his seismic mixtape So Far Gone rocketed him to the moon in 2009. The following year, he instantly became the go-to guy with debut album Thank Me Later, netting close to 500,000 units sold during its opening week.
Cole’s road to success was more arduous, as he struggled to put together a favorable single to please radio and his boom-bap audience. “Who Dat” failed to catch traction, and though “Work Out” became his first breakout hit, peaking at No. 13 on the Hot 100, skepticism surfaced because Cole had to dumb down its lyrics a little and rely on a borrowed Paula Abdul hook and Ye sample for radio approval. He later admitted to his missteps on the 2013 Born Sinner standout song “Let Nas Down” when he revealed Nas’ displeasure over the record. Still, Cole notched his first No. 1 album and mostly evaded further criticism until the mainstream arrival of Kendrick Lamar.
Cole and Kendrick’s friendship goes back to the days before the Compton rapper was signed. “Before my album was even out, before he even had a deal, I was making sure to stamp him,” Cole told Elliott Wilson during his CRWN interview in 2014. “Kendrick was one I saw right away and said, ‘This kid is special.’” Cole even entertained the idea of wanting to sign Kendrick to Dreamville. That’s how real the brotherhood was.
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Lamar’s ascension into Rap God status wasn’t an overnight success. Like Cole, he played the long game, releasing mixtapes and EPs. While Section 80 was lauded in the underground as a classic, it wasn’t until his 2012 major label debut, good kid, m.A.A.d city, that he was dubbed as a generational talent. By then, Lamar also received an extended Drake co-sign, as he worked with the 6 God on Take Care for his “Buried Alive Interlude,” opened up for him during his Club Paradise tour, and collaborated on “Poetic Justice.”
Kendrick’s career crescendoed from there with classic album after classic album, spanning from good kid, m.A.A.d city to To Pimp a Butterfly, to his game-changing opus, 2017’s DAMN. Suddenly, most conversations about the best MC weren’t between Drake and Cole anymore. The narrative shifted to Drizzy and Kenny, with Cole sliding to third. Despite his superstar growth, Kendrick and Cole remained allies, with rumbles of a collaborative album brewing after they freestyled on each other’s tracks in 2016.
During this time, Kendrick and Drake have sent shots at each other for title contention – most notably Kendrick’s “Control” verse and his BET Cypher freestyle in 2013 – while again, Cole quietly chipped away with No. 1 album after No. 1 album. The Cole and Kendrick joint album never happened, with the two’s lone team-up on record remaining their Born Sinner collab “Chaining Day.” And then, last year, Cole and Drake — who were once pitted against each other at the early stages of their careers – unleashed their For All the Dogs Hot 100-topper “First Person Shooter.” They would up the ante by teaming up again for Drake’s indelible gem “Evil Ways” on his Scary Hours Edition of Dogs and later going on tour together, where the love fest was inescapable.
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Was this a case of sour grapes for Kendrick? Of course. His old buddy is siding with the opps. So because of his allegiance to Drake, Dot brought the Uzi out on Cole and had no issues hosing him down. Now, even though Cole shouted Kendrick out on “First Person Shooter,” rhyming “Love when they argue the hardest MC Is it K-Dot? Is it Aubrey? Or me?” – realistically, in Kendrick’s mind, he consistently lapped Cole. And for quite some time, Cole believed it too, rapping on “Heavens EP” about how “They threw the bronze at me/ Behind Drake and Dot, yeah, them n—as is superstars to me/ Maybe deep down, I’m afraid of my luminosity.” But those words pierce harder when heard aloud from Cole’s competition. Kendrick essentially said it’s never been us; it’s always been me against me.
Cole, who has cemented himself as one of the best feature artists of all time after constructing two hellacious runs in 2018 and 2023 – even being named Complex’s Rapper of the Year for ’23 without releasing any new music of his own – boasted about being on top of his game. If you’re feeling that froggy, then Cole, you have to leap – and do it over the biggest amphibian in the pond? If you’re tired of being the little bro, being told you’re not top-10 all-time material, a win against Lamar at your lyrical peak could shift your story considerably. The narrative wouldn’t be about you being the third-best; it’d be about the quiet giant who chose violence and defeated the Boogey Man when no one else could.
All the rap greats have beefed at one time or another. A heavyweight battle between Cole and Kendrick would be must-watch material and could alter Cole’s all-time ranking. For many, he’s currently just outside that all-time top 10. Having a memorable feud and outlasting Kendrick could change his trajectory because he already has the stats of an all-world performer. Now, as the underdog, if he could slay the beast and be the last man standing, then he could finally be the No. 1 we all knew he was capable of being. — CARL LAMARRE
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