Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s epic feud timeline as they drop diss tracks-Danni Scott-Entertainment – Metro

Drake and Kendrick Lamar once worked together – now they’re throwing barbs (Picture: YouTube)

Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s rivalry hits boiling point as the pair both release new songs which appear to take shots at the other.

The diss tracks have been flying for years but with the superstars dropping music so close to each other, it’s no surprise fans are speculating over the feud.

Last month, Kendrick featured on Metro Boomin and Future’s Euphoria which appears to be a direct response to Drake’s 2023 song First Person Shooter.

In that track, J Cole directly mentioned ‘Aubrey’ — Drake’s real name — and compared him to ‘K-Dot’, which is a nickname for Kendrick.

Keeping things deliciously messy, the Like That rapper shared new song 6:16 in LA, which many have taken as a swipe at his rival’s penchant for timestamp titles.

Rubbing salt in the wound, the 36-year-old artist raps ‘Have you ever thought that OVO was workin’ for me?’ in reference to Drake’s label.

Drake has hit back at Lamar’s latest jabs (Picture: Chris Delmas / AFP)

He goes on to call out a ‘fake bully’ who ‘must be a terrible person’, seemingly a barb aimed at the 37-year-old hitmaker.

‘Everyone in your team is whispering that you deserve it,’ Kendrick continues, before adding they ‘can’t Toosie Slide out of this one.’

As the duo seem to come to blows, fans are waiting to see who comes out king — the legendary rapper or the chart topping singer.

When did the Kendrick Lamar and Drake feud start?

Things appeared to be going well in 2011 when a young upstart named Drizzy made his way into the music scene.

He found chart success with album Thank Me Later before proving to critics he wasn’t just a one hit wonder with follow up Take Care, featuring Kendrick.

On the Buried Alive Interlude, the HUMBLE rapper states: ‘So blame it on Mr. OVOXO/ The reason why I’m breathin’ all the vanity I know.’

The pair had originally been collaborators (Picture: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)

The relationship seemed to work well together as Kendrick returned as an opening act for Drake’s Club Paradise Tour, alongside A$AP Rocky.

They teamed up just once more in 2012 for Poetic Justice on K.Dot’s second album, scoring reasonable chart success in the US Billboard 100.

Unfortunately, things took a turn after the praise for Good Kid, M.A.A.D City and Kendrick turned on Drake as he featured on Big Sean’s Control.

He boldly let his ego fly and rapped: ‘I got love for you all, but I’m trying to murder you.’

The song then states he’s trying to make them so irrelevant that ‘core fans’ have never heard of them and ‘don’t want to hear not one more noun or verb.’

Kendrick started firing shots at Champagne Papi after initial success (Picture: Arturo Holmes/MG23/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue)

Drake was covering Billboard at the time of release and responded: ‘I didn’t really have anything to say about it. It just sounded like an ambitious thought to me. That’s all it was.

‘I know good and well that he‘s not murdering me, at all, in any platform. So when that day presents itself, I guess we can revisit the topic.’

Kendrick starts dropping diss tracks

It seemed his verse on Control was just a taster of what Lamar had planned as he dropped Shook Ones which called Drake out for being ‘fake’ once more.

Kendrick rapped: ‘Nothing’s been the same since they dropped ‘Control’/ And tucked a sensitive rapper back in his pajama clothes/ Ha ha joke’s on you, high-five… I’m bulletproof/ Your shoots never penetrates/ Pin the tail on the donkey, boy you been a fake.’

At this point the God’s Plan singer is being questioned relentlessly about his former collaborator as he tries to roll out his third album.

His track The Language fired back at Kendrick and all the drama, which was addressed during an interview for The Vibe.

Drake sighed: ‘What am I supposed to say? Nah, we’ll be buddy-buddy? Mind you, I never once said he’s a bad guy [or] I don’t like him.

‘I think he’s a f**king genius in his own right, but I also stood my ground as I should. And with that came another step, which then I have to realize I’m being baited and I’m not gonna fall.’

From this point onwards, the pair consistently took shots at one another over various diss tracks and jabs, fuelling each other’s lyrical take downs.

Like That and re-ignition

October 2023 saw a big rekindling of this messy spat as Drake and Cole released First Person Shooter, where the latter referenced this ongoing feud.

This awoke something in Lamar who hit back with Like That, alongside Metro Boomin and Future, in March 2024.

‘F**k sneak dissin’, first-person shooter/ I hope they came with three switches,’ K-Dot raps with a considerable amount of venom as he shoots his collaborators in the music video.

He goes on to demolish the ‘big three’ of the rap world — meaning himself, Drake, and Cole — as he states it’s ‘just big me’.

Referencing Drakes For All the Dogs album, for good measure he adds: ‘For all your dogs gettin’ buried/ That’s a K with all these nines, he gon’ see Pet Sematary.’

Drake had addressed the track while on stage in Florida for his tour as he said: ‘A lot of people asking me how I’m feeling. I’mma let you know how I’m feeling.

Kendrick released Like That and took shots at Drake (Picture: Samir Hussein/WireImage)

‘Listen, the way I’m feeling is the same way I want you to walk out of here feeling tonight about your f**king self. Because you know how I’m feeling? I got my f**king head up high, my back straight, 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.’

Things remained calm until last month when he then released his diss track Push Ups firing back at Kendrick.

Briefly his song ‘Taylor Made Freestyle’, taking aim at his rival’s decision to work with Taylor Swift as well as other popstars, appeared on socials.

The song was later taken down as Tupac’s estate threatened to sue over the usage of A.I. vocals to rap in the voices of Tupac and Snoop Dogg.

Family Matters and 6:16 in LA

Things really exploded after April’s spat as Lamar dropped a six minute diss track laying into his former collaborator.

Euphoria was a tirade of abuse hurled at Drake, questioning everything from his use of the n-word to his fashion sense and of course his hip-hop abilities.

Drake hit back with Family Matters after 6:16 in LA (Picture: Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)

Less than 72 hours later, 6:16 in LA dropped and took even more personal shots at the One Dance singer as he criticised OVO label and his prowess as a business man.

At this point Drake hit back with Family Matters, which included lyrics: ‘I’ve emptied the clip over friendlier jabs/ You mentioned my seed, now deal with his dad’

In more barbed lines, he added Kendrick was ‘beggin’ for attention’ and should just ‘say please’ before taking shots at his ‘make believe’ activism.

One particularly controversial line is aimed at Kendrick’s ‘wife’, meaning his fiancée Whitney Alford for being ‘a mixed queen’.

This appears to have been breaking point for the Pulitzer Prize winning musician who released Meet the Grahams mere hours after Drake.

There can be no denying the direct shots hurled at the Passionfruit rapper as his real name is Aubrey Graham.

Opening the song, Lamar raps: ‘Dear Adonis, I’m sorry that that man is your father, let me be honest/ It takes a man to be a man, your dad is not responsive/ I look at him and wish your grandpa woulda wore a condom/ I’m sorry that you gotta grow up and then stand behind him.’

Adonis is the name of Drake’s 6-year-old son who he shares with model Sophie Brussaux and confirmed the birth of on 2018’s Scorpion.

In the song Kendrick also claims that the four-time Grammy winner has a secret daughter as the third verse kicks off ‘Dear babygirl/ I’m sorry that your father not active inside your world.’

Drake hit back at claims about a secret daughter (Picture: Drake/Instagram)

Drake immediately denied this and shared a selfie to his Instagram Story captioned: ‘Nahhh hold on can someone find my hidden daughter pls and send her to me…these guys are in shambles.’

In the final verse, Kendrick raps directly to ‘Aubrey’ and makes jabs at gambling addiction and money problems.

He comments on Drake’s love life and claimed: ‘You a body shamer, you gon’ hide them baby mamas, ain’t ya?’

Closing, Kendrick lists everything he thinks his former collaborator has ‘lied’ about, including more secret children which Drake denies.

The pair have not directly addressed each other publicly but this explosion could force a peace treaty discussion soon between these hip-hop icons.

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