Popular artists Kendrick Lamar and Drake have been in the spotlight of the media recently due to their back and forth diss tracks. The feud began in April and has now dragged out to May. Typically when artists have beef and make diss tracks, it is only a couple songs but Drake and Lamar in total have made nine songs of constant attacks and making lots of allegations towards each other.
The recent diss tracks have brought nostalgic vibes of the 90’s when rappers in the West and East coast had beef between the Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur. It has also brought people to appreciate rap culture and its roots.
Sophomore Safa Fakrudin said, “It’s interesting listening to two rappers I grew up with attacking each other.” Which is similar to the thoughts of others.
The song “Like That” by Future, Metro Boomin and Lamar was released on March 22, 2024. This song is what launched the biggest rap battle of the year. Lamar throws shade by making the bold claim that he is alone in the rap game and there are no big three—Lamar, J.Cole and Drake—there is only him and he is better than them.
Cole decided to drop “7 Minute Drill” on April 5, which was a response to “Like That” By Lamar, Metro Boomin and Future. “7 Minute Drill” was intended to be a diss towards Lamar, but Cole publicly apologized at the Dreamville Festival on April 7 saying that it felt disrespectful and it did not feel spiritually right to diss him. The song was later removed from streaming services on April 12.
Drake’s reply to “Like That” spiraled into a back to back song replies between him and Lamar. Drake released the songs “Push Ups” on April 13th and a few days after he dropped “Taylor Made Freestyle.” In May he released the songs “Family Matters” and “The Heart Part 6.” In these songs Drake makes fun of Lamar by saying that SZA, Travis Scott and 21 Savage are better than him, making fun of Lamar’s book and accusing him of having ghostwriters.
The song “Taylor Made Freestyle” caused some controversy due to the use of AI background vocals of the late rapper 2Pac and Snoop Dogg because Lamar mentioned they were inspiring artists to him. The team for 2Pac threatened a lawsuit, so the song was removed off of streaming platforms.
In response to those songs Lamar has released the songs “Euphoria,” “6:16 in LA” as well as “Meet The Grahams” and “Not Like Us.” In these songs Lamar claims that Drake’s team doesn’t like him and actually works for Lamar instead, calls Drake a bully and says that he is dealing with a lifelong battle with himself, claims that he uses ghostwriters, calls him a culture vulture as well as accusing him of serious allegations. To top it all off Lamar’s song “Not Like Us” set a new record for the most streamed song in a single day and breaking Drake’s record of most single day streams.
Junior Addison Gwin said, “I think Kendrick’s disses so far are way better than Drake’s.”
On May 11 Drake posted on his instagram story “Good times. Summer vibes up next.” indicating that he is done with the beef. It is unknown if either of the artists plan to release more diss tracks towards each other but as of 2024, Lamar and Drake have definitely had the biggest rap beef. As two already popular musicians, they have brought more attention to their careers through the media controversy.
