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Charlamagne the God has called Drake’s brand-new freestyle Fighting Irish “gay” and “corny,” during his January 7 appearance on the radio talk show, The Breakfast Club with co-hosts DJ Envy and Jess Hilarious.
“It do sound like Drake broke up with all his NBA beaus in his head. In his head. LeBron, DeMar DeRozan… I like when Drake raps. But why you sitting around writing heartbreak records?... You writing heartbreak records because you got your a*s kicked in a rap battle…” Charlamagne stated.
When DJ Envy opposed him and defended 6 God, Tha God added that nobody was saying Drake not to release music but rather:
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“Don’t sound gay about it when you’re doing it.”
These comments came in the wake of the online theory by Drizzy’s fans, critics, and music streamers alike that the track was allegedly an indirect dig at NBA star, LeBron James.
“The world fell in love with the gimmicks, even my brothers got tickets/ Seemed like they loved every minute/ Just know this sh*t is personal to us, and it wasn't just business,” the concerned lyrics read.
It appeared to be directed at the LA Lakers champion who seemingly took sides with Kendrick Lamar during his infamous 2024 rap battle with Drake, despite being the latter's friend for years. So far, neither Drake nor LeBron James has addressed the matter.
More about Drake’s latest freestyle, Fighting Irish, and its alleged reference to LeBron James
Drake’s latest freestyle Fighting Irish dropped as a surprise on January 3, 2025. It was originally released by its producer Conductor Williams as a VHS-style clip on YouTube as part of his “Signature Blends” series. However, it was soon taken down only to re-emerge a few hours later on Instagram in better quality, posted by Toronto-based photographer Cindy Jordi, who filmed the video.
While Drizzy has not name-dropped anyone in particular, the internet has largely theorized that the rap number was dedicated to LeBron James. For instance, in the first verse where 6 God rapped about “gimmicks” claiming they affected him personally, he was seemingly talking about James attending Kendrick Lamar’s Juneteenth concert.
The Pop Out: Ken & Friends concert which was held at Kia Forum in Inglewood, California, last summer, saw the NBA champ rapping K-Dot’s Drake diss track Not Like Us. Reportedly LeBron was even seen on video rapping the Compton rapper’s GNX single, Man at the Garden, at his own 40th birthday bash on December 30, 2024.
“‘Member we tradin’ watches? I gave you that Arabic dial, you gave me a numbered edition/ You would even check up on my son like a pediatrician/ Sure convinced the gang this s**t was rooted in love when it isn’t/ Show me how different we are, there’s blessings in juxtaposition,” 6 God further rapped in Fighting Irish.
This further fueled the speculation that Fighting Irish was targeted at LeBron James. Herein, Drake was seemingly referencing their past closeness, where they were pictured wearing wristwatches that they exchanged and his son got to hang around with the basketball icon. Elsewhere, the Toronto rapper rapped:
“I guess now you boys gotta abandon your summer tradition/ Cold shoulders I gave in the Hamptons, it come with the distance/ Figured we was always gon’ be close, like ovens and kitchens/ I was sadly mistaken, the loyalty wasn’t a given.”
Champagne Papi reportedly continued to reference LeBron, including missing out on their “summer tradition” of attending the OVO Fest and Caribbean carnival Caribana in the former’s hometown.
As for the “cold shoulders” expression, theories suggest that it referred to Drake seemingly ignoring James at Michael Rubin’s Fourth of July party in the Hamptons in 2024. However, it's unclear if James even attended the party.
As per Hip Hop DX's January 4 report, the title Fighting Irish was also an indirect reference to James’ St. Vincent-St. Mary High School basketball team’s nickname, “Irish.” In fact, Drake famously got the “Irish” high school jersey (Number 23) of LeBron inked on his left arm.
Reportedly, the power forward attempted to bury the hatchet with Drake after seemingly showing support for Kendrick Lamar last year. In August 2024, King James took to his Instagram and showed off his collab with Drake’s Nike Air Force Ones which had the words “Love you forever” emblazoned on them. LeBron had captioned the post using an infinity symbol emoji.
However, in the fall of 2024, Drake posted a mirror selfie of himself wearing a Cleveland Guardians jersey, with the text, “Summer League” written over it. Many perceived it as an indirect dig at the NBA star whose rivalry with the Cleveland team is well-known.
The basket player and the Canadian rapper have been longtime friends with the latter crediting him for supporting him early on in his career. For instance, in 2023, before his concert at the Crypto.com Arena in LA, Drake took to the stage alongside James and his son, Bronny. At the time, 6 God told the audience:
“I don’t know if you saw who walked me to the stage tonight, but the gentleman who walked me to the stage tonight is my brother — he goes by the name of LeBron James… And in 2009, when nobody believed in anything I had going on, that same guy showed up to a release party for a mixtape that was called So Far Gone.”
The hip-hop icon continued:
“He came all the way to Toronto, Canada to support me when I was trying to figure out how I would live my dreams. So tonight, however many years later, it’s an honor to be inside his building while we’re both still on this earth. I gotta do this building justice tonight.”
Besides commenting about Drizzy's record during The Breakfast Club’s recent episode, Charlamagne Tha God also went on record to say:
“Nobody told you to get them people tattooed on you, boy. Right?”
Meanwhile, DJ Envy suggested that Drizzy’s feeling of betrayal might be justified considering LeBron James was his “friend” with whom he spent “summers together” as well as significant time in Miami and Toronto, and they acted “close” and “cool.”
In contrast, Jess Hilarious said it almost felt like a “love letter” from 6 God where he’s accusing LeBron of “cheating” on him with K-Dot, adding it sounded “too much” as if they were “lovers.”
Meanwhile, apart from LeBron James, Drizzy’s latest freestyle has been alluded to others including Kendrick Lamar, DeMar DeRozan, J. Cole, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, and Universal Music Group, among others.
