Breaking Down The Hottest Rap Beef Of The Decade

2024 will definitely go down in history, if not for anything else, but because The biggest rap beef of the decade happened this year. Ignited by the release of producer Metro Boomin and rapper Future’s collaborative album, “We Don’t Trust You,” on March 22. What initially seemed like a musical collaboration soon spiraled into a feud involving some of hip-hop’s biggest names: Drake, J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, A$AP Rocky and Kanye West (Kinda!). The ensuing battle captivated fans as shots were fired in a public and entertaining war of words, with each artist asserting their own dominance. Initially, It was Drake against everyone; Rick Ross, Asap Rocky, Future, Metro Boomin, and Kanye West— until Kendrick Lamar proved to be the ultimate challenger.

The beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar has lasted for over a month, brought about eight diss tracks, a social media fan war, and a pile of allegations and accusations on infidelity, abuse, neglect, assault and pedophilia.

It’s a lot, so we are breaking it down.

The Origin

The roots of the Drake and Kendrick Lamar beef can be traced back several years, to a time when both artists were ascending to the top of the hip-hop scene. While they initially collaborated on projects like Drake’s album, “Take Care” and Lamar’s “Good Kid, M.A.A.D City,” tensions began to simmer beneath the surface. Lamar’s controversial verse on Big Sean’s “Control” in 2013, where he called out Drake and other rappers, marked one of the earliest signs of friction between the two.

However, it wasn’t until Drake’s track “First Person Shooter” from his album “For All the Dogs” last year that the conflict between the two rappers reignited. Featuring guest artist J. Cole, the song stirred the pot by dubbing Drake, Lamar, and Cole as the “big three,” a title that Lamar took exception to. The subsequent release of Lamar’s verse on Future’s “Like That” only added fuel to the fire, with Lamar dismissing the notion that he and Drake were equals in the rap game, by declaring, “Motherfuck the big three, Nigga, it’s just big me.” Cole’s response on “7-Minute Drill,” followed by a surprising apology, set a peculiar tone for the feud.

Breaking Down The Diss Tracks

Drake Fires Back: “Push Ups” and “Taylor Made Freestyle”

Drake wasted no time in responding to Lamar’s diss on “Like That,” releasing not one, but two tracks aimed squarely at his rival. In “Push Ups,” Drake mocked Lamar’s stature, accused him of being a slave to his label, and pandering to pop audiences, affirming, “You ain’t in no big 3. How the fuck you big-steppin’ with a size-seven men’s on? This ain’t even everything I know, Don’t wake the demon up.” Then 6 days later, there was the short-lived “Taylor Made Freestyle” which took a jab at Lamar’s alleged delay in responding to the beef, but was quickly taken down after legal issues arose regarding the unauthorised use of Tupac’s AI-generated vocals.

Lamar’s Retaliation: “Euphoria” and “6:16 in LA”

Lamar hit back with a vengeance, dropping “Euphoria” on Saturday, filled with cutting remarks and double entendres aimed at Drake’s character. He spends most of the 6-minute track poking holes in Drake’s public persona. Stating, “You are not a rap artist, you are a scam artist. How many more Black features ’til you finally feel that you’re Black enough?“ Among other digs, he questions the Canadian rapper’s proximity to Black American culture and his relationships with women, asserting, “I hate the way that you walk, the way that you talk, I hate the way that you dress. We hate the bitches you fuck ’cause they confuse themselves with real women.” A few days later, Lamar followed up with another track, “6:16 in LA,” claiming that Drake has a “leak” in his camp, He rapped, “A hundred niggas that you got on salary and twenty of ’em want you as a casualty, and one of them is actually next to you. Everyone inside your team is whispering that you deserve it“

The Escalation: “Family Matters” and “Meet the Grahams”

Drake raised the stakes on May 3rd with the eight-minute track, “Family Matters,” questioning the paternity of Lamar’s child and alleging misconduct in his personal life. He suggested that Lamar’s child was actually fathered by his manager, Dave Free, and honed in on Lamar’s relationship with his fiancée, Whitney Alford, alleging infidelity and abuse with lyrics like, “Your baby mama captions always screamin’, “Save me” You did her dirty all your life, you tryna make peace, I heard that one of ’em little kids might be Dave Free’s, When you put your hands on your girl, is it self-defense ’cause she’s bigger than you?”

Lamar responded a day after with, “Meet the Grahams,” launching unfounded allegations against Drake, particularly him having a hidden 11-year old daughter, and him being a terrible father, He also fired directly at Drake’s parents, with lines like, “Your son’s a sick man with sick thoughts, I think niggas like him should die. Him and Weinstein should get fucked up in a cell for the rest their life. He hates Black women, hypersexualizes ’em with kinks of a nympho fetish. You raised a horrible fuckin’ person, the nerve of you, Dennis. Fuck a rap battle, he should die so all of these women can live with a purpose.” The lyrics of the track sure sent social media wild and escalated the feud to new heights of animosity.

Lamar Doubles Down: “Not Like Us”

In a bold move, Not even 24 hours after releasing “Meet the Grahams,” Lamar had more to say with the brutal “Not Like Us.” In it, he makes even more explosive accusations against Drake with lyrics like, “Certified Lover Boy, Certified pedophiles, Say, Drake, I hear you like ’em young,” also accusing him of using other artists for street cred, he said, “You called Future when you didn’t see the club, Lil Baby help you get your lingo up, 21 gave you false street cred, Thug made you feel like you a slime in your head, Quavo said you can be from Northside (what?), 2Chainz say you good, but he lied, You run to Atlanta when you need a few dollars, No you not a colleague, you a f**kin’ colonizer.”

Another One: “The Heart Part 6”

Drake finally responded to Kendrick’s track… and then there was another one. “The Heart Part 6” is a play on Lamar’s “The Heart” series, which runs throughout his albums. “I don’t wanna fight with a woman beater, it feeds your nature.” Drake rapped, “And Whitney, you can hit me if you need a favour. And when I say I hit ya back, it’s a lot safer. You haven’t seen your kids in six months, the distance is wild. Dave leavin’ heart emojis underneath pics of your child.” He continued with more allegations of Kendrick’s manager fathering his child.

One of Drake’s concluding lines on the “The Heart Pt.6” was, “I don’t wanna diss you anymore, this really got me second-guessin” so we don’t know, if this marks the last diss track, but it sure ain’t the end of the feud, ’cause there’s been rumours of a shooting outside Drake’s home yesterday. But in actuality, the most shocking aspect of the feud is the level of collateral damage it has caused, with other artists getting caught in the crossfire. J. Cole, who initially entered the fray with his own diss track aimed at Lamar, quickly distanced himself from the conflict, admitting that his involvement was a mistake.

Artists like, The Weeknd and Asap Rocky have fired on with their own respective feuds with Drake, even producers like Metro Boomin have found themselves dragged into the drama, with Drake alleging that he influenced disagreements between himself and Future. The inclusion of AI-generated vocals from Tupac Shakur in one of Drake’s tracks also sparked controversy, leading to a cease-and-desist letter from Tupac’s estate, and a statement from Snoop Dogg.

Ultimately while this beef originally seemed like an energising experience for all the artists involved, Lamar’s accusations of pedophilia and other predatory behavior will presumably leave a strong stench on Drake’s public image, and Drake’s own allegations of abuse may do same to Lamar. However, history has proven that male rappers can still thrive despite the most sordid allegations, and We know that Drake has previously thrived in beefs — but we wonder if he could possibly win when the whole industry is against him?

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Written by Angel Joanne Okonkwo