The ongoing feud between famed rappers Drake and Kendrick Lamar has reached an all-time fever pitch recently with the release of Lamar’s “Euphoria,” a jam-packed, six-minute long diss track aimed at the “God’s Plan” crooner.
Upon release on April 30, the Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper’s diss track topped the Spotify and Apple Music charts.
It’s the latest song in a series of back-and-forth diss tracks between the two and it’s a direct response to Drake’s recently deleted “Taylor Made Freestyle” track.
Trading bar for bar, fans are now debating which musician comes out on top in this latest round.
In the since-deleted track “Taylor Made Freestyle” earlier this month, the “Hotline Bling” star called Lamar a “coward” and came at the “Poetic Justice” rapper with AI-generated vocals from fellow West Coast musical icons Snoop Dogg and the late Tupac Shakur.
On the “Euphoria” track, the rapper labeled Drake as “a master manipulator and a habitual liar” and also took shots at his rapping ability: “You not a rap artist, you a scam artist with the hopes of bеing accepted.”
The “Humble” rapper went on to continuously shoot at the “One Dance” star and directly told his opponent how he feels about him.
“This ain’t been ‘bout critics, not about gimmicks, not about who the greatest / It’s always been about love and hate, now let me say I’m the biggest hater / 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,” the musician added.
If you’re confused as to where this all began and how things have escalated the way they did to now, the feud first sparked on Oct. 6, 2023, when Drake and fellow rapper J.Cole released a track called “First Person Shooter” in which J. Cole refers to himself, Drake, and Lamar as “the big three” of rap.
Fast forward to March 22, 2024, Lamar responded on his verse on Metro Boomin and Future’s song “Like That,” torching their idea of the “big three,” instead rapping: “It’s just big me.”
Some weeks later on April 5, J. Cole released his own diss track called “7 Minute Drill,” where “warning shots” were aimed at Lamar as he accused the rapper of seeking “attention.”
But just two days later on April 7, after releasing his own diss track, J. Cole bowed out from the feu, due to feeling pressured to respond because “the world wanna see blood.”
Days later, on April 13, Drake’s response to Lamar, “Push Ups,” was leaked online before its April 19 release and contained lyrics that poked fun at Lamar being shorter in height and for his mainstream collaborations with Taylor Swift. He also had not-so-friendly words for Rick Ross and The Weeknd.
Two days later on April 15, Ross entered the feud and responded to Drake with “Champagne Moments,” where he accused the “Passionfruit” artist of having multiple cosmetic procedures done, including a nose job and ab surgery, not to mention accusing the artist of using a ghostwriter.
Four days later on April 19, Drake dropped the “Taylor Made Freestyle” diss track with the assistance of the AI-generated voices of Snoop Dogg and Tupac to diss Lamar. Drake then tells Lamar “We waitin’ on you.”
Two days later on April 21, Kanye West jumped into the feud on a remix of “Like That” and took shots at Drake, excited to witness the “elimination of Drake.”
A couple of days later on April 30, we finally arrive at the release of “Euphoria,” where Lamar shined a spotlight on Drake’s biracial identity, the fact that he shouldn’t be able to say the n-word, his parenting skills in addition to questioning his authenticity as a rapper.
On May 1, Drake responded to Lamar’s diss by posting a clip from the 1999 movie “10 Things I Hate About You” on his Instagram Story, in which Julia Stile’s character Kat reads off all the reasons why she loathes Heath Ledger’s character Patrick. This reminds fans of Lamar’s lyrics in “Euphoria,” where he directly list all the reasons why he hates the “Spin Bout U” rapper.
Today, Lamar’s “Euphoria” climbed from No. 19 to No. 1 on Spotify.
Stories by EmilyAnn Jackman
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