'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Kendrick Lamar and Drake are two rap icons who shook the entertainment industry and pop culture as a whole with their legendary feud. This feud has resulted in chart-topping and record-breaking tracks as each artist has used lyrics to score points against the other.
Trending
Before the diss tracks started rolling out, Kendrick Lamar and Drake had collaborated on different occasions. In 2011, Lamar was featured on Drake’s Buried Alive Interlude track from his album Take Care.
Drake returned the favor in 2012 by featuring on Lamar’s Poetic Justice track from the Good Kid, M.A.A.D City album. The history of the discord between the Grammy-winning rappers has been traced back to the early 2010s.
Hip-hop fans and outlets have long speculated on sneak diss verses embedded in different songs before the full-blown diss tracks were released in 2024.
Drake and Kendrick Lamar's achievements, popular songs, and the timeline of their feud.
Drake's career highlights and popular songs.
Aubrey Drake Graham, professionally known as Drake, released his debut mixtape, Room for Improvement in 2006. He has since been credited as a pioneer of integrating R&B into hip-hop.
His first three albums, Thank Me Later, Take Care, and Nothing Was the Same, released in 2010, 2011, and 2013, respectively, debuted atop the Billboard 200.
His sixth album, Certified Lover Boy, released in 2021, set a record for most top-ten songs from one album. Drake has the most-certified digital singles by RIAA and shares a record with Michael Jackson as the male solo artist with the most number-one hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
The Canadian rapper has the most top-ten debuts and singles. He was named Artist of the Decade at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards and Spotify’s most streamed artist of the 2010s.
Drake’s Take Care album was ranked number 95 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Drake has won four Grammy Awards and has been nominated 47 times.
Drake’s most streamed song on Spotify is One Dance with over 3 billion streams. Other popular songs of his include God’s Plan, Passionfruit, In My Feelings, and Hotline Bling.
Kendrick Lamar's career highlights and popular songs
Kendrick Lamar Duckworth is regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time. The 37-year-old rose to prominence with the release of his second album, Good Kid, M.A.A.D City.
The American rapper’s fourth studio album, Damn, received the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music and became the first album outside of the classical and jazz genres to win the prestigious award.
The rapper’s albums Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, To Pimp a Butterfly, and Damn were voted among Rolling Stone’s 500 greatest albums of all time in 2020 and also featured in the magazine’s 200 greatest hip hop albums of all time in 2023.
Lamar’s hit track, Alright, was named by Spotify as the greatest hip-hop song of the streaming era. Lamar holds the 13 Grammy awards, the third-highest amongst rappers.
At the 65th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony, the Compton-born rapper became the first artist to secure four consecutive nominations for Album of the Year with lead studio albums.
In honor of hip-hop’s 50th anniversary in 2023, Vibe and Billboard compiled a list of the 50 Greatest Rappers of all Time in which Lamar ranked number two after Jay Z.
Kendrick Lamar’s most popular song on Spotify is HUMBLE with over two billion streams. Other popular tracks from the rapper include All The Stars with SZA, Money Trees, and LOVE FEAT ZACARI.
Drake and Kendrick Lamar feud timeline
Drake and Lamar’s relationship began on friendly terms until August 2013 when the latter appeared on Big Sean’s Control and threw shades at Drake and other rappers. Lamar later clarified that his verse was meant to depict friendly competition and he “had love” for them but was only trying to “murder them” rap-wise.
In an interview with Billboard published in August 2013, Drake dismissed rumors of any feud between him and Lamar and said:
"It just sounded like an ambitious thought to me. That's all it was. I know good and well that [Lamar]'s not murdering me, at all, in any platform."
In September of that year, in an interview with Elliot Wilson, the Canadian rapper further maintained that he and Lamar were cool as they met at the VMAs and were friendly.
After a series of speculations stemming from supposed diss verses in Drake’s The Language and Lamar’s verse in Pay For It, Lamar appeared on The Breakfast Club in November 2014 and defused the situation by saying:
"It wasn't no issue from the jump. I think people talk about beef... it's just a whole 'nother dynamic. I can't see myself going bar for bar with Drake. We're two different types of artists."
From 2015 to 2022, despite claims from both parties that there wasn’t any bad blood between them, media outlets and fans continued to identify subtle jabs buried within lyrics of Drake’s If You’re Reading This, It’s Too Late, Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly, and Father Time in 2022.
The feud escalated in 2023 after J. Cole’s verse on First Person Shooter suggested that he, Drake, and Lamar were the top three rappers in modern hip-hop. Lamar seemed to disagree with that notion and said in a verse on the March 2024 track, Like That:
"Motherf**k the big three, ni**a, it's just big me,”
JCole reciprocated with a diss track titled 7 Minute Drill which featured the lines:
"I got a phone call, they say that somebody dissing / You want some attention, it come with extensions / He still doing shows but fell off like ‘The Simpsons.’”
J. Cole later apologized to Lamar during his concert in Raleigh, N.C., saying the responses to the song didn’t "sit right with his spirit."
Drake later released Push Ups in April 2024 in which he dissed Lamar’s height and implied that other artists like 21 Savage, Travis Scott, and SZA were better than the Alright crooner.
Drake also released Taylor Made Freestyle on the same day as Push Ups which targeted Lamar using AI voice imitations of 2Pac Shakur and Snoop Dogg. The track was later condemned by 2Pac’s estate and was subsequently taken down.
Kendrick Lamar retaliated with Euphoria in which he threw shade at the Canadian rapper’s parenting skills.
Following the release of Drake’s Family Matters in May 2024, where he accused Lamar of domestic violence and infidelity, Lamar released Meet The Grahams.
In the track, Kendrick Lamar labels Drake’s associates as s*x offenders and alleges that Drake has a secret child.
Kendrick also released Not Like Us in May 2024, which many believe to be the winning track in the feud. In Not Like Us, Kendrick Lamar calls Drake and his close friends p*dophiles.
Not Like Us broke streaming records, becoming the most streamed diss track on Spotify. It also peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for two non-consecutive weeks.
Drake responded in the same month with The Heart Part 6 and denied allegations of p*dophilia and grooming whilst also asking Kendrick Lamar to prove his claims.
Heated diss tracks notwithstanding, Drake and Kendrick Lamar have contributed significantly to the growth of modern rap and have multiple records and awards under their belts.
Kendrick Lamar is set to headline the Super Bowl halftime show in New Orleans in 2025. Following the rapper's announcement Drake was rumored to have sent him a cease and desist letter to stop him from performing Not Like Us at the event. These allegations have been denied by Drake's representative.
