Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s beef, explained

NEW ORLEANS — Drake vs Kendrick Lamar is the biggest beef in recent rap history. It’s a fight that’s gone miles beyond the usual lyrical martial artistry, though there has certainly been plenty of that. It has spurred multiple court actions and a stunning rebellion against their shared record label. It spawned a song that just won two of the big four Grammys and will almost certainly be performed at the Super Bowl this weekend.

It wasn’t always this way. They once were collaborators: On Drake’s 2011 track “Buried Alive Interlude,” on Lamar’s 2012 release “Poetic Justice,” and on A$AP Rocky’s “(Expletive) ’ Problems” that same year.

It didn’t last long. In 2013, the Pulitzer Prize winner Lamar was featured on Big Sean’s “Control,” in which he called out a slew of contemporary rappers including J. Cole, Meek Mill, A$AP Rocky, Big Sean himself and Drake.

“I got love for you all, but I’m trying to murder you,” he rapped. “Trying to make sure your core fans never heard of you.”

Drake responded in a Billboard cover story, saying “Kendrick’s not murdering me, at all, in any platform.” Lamar took another jab just afterward, at the 2013 BET Hip-Hop Awards.

The rappers launched occasional disses at each other in the following years. Drake beefed with other performers, most infamously Pusha T in 2018, where the latter rapper dropped “The Story of Adidon,” revealing Drake is a father.

In October 2023, J. Cole may have accidentally reignited the beef on “First Person Shooter” with Drake. He rapped “Love when they argue the hardest MC / Is it K-Dot? Is it Aubrey? Or me?” referencing Lamar and Drake’s birth name, Aubrey Graham.

Then, just over a year ago, it exploded exponentially. Here’s a timeline of the major developments. It should be noted that diss tracks between rappers often include exaggerated truths and unsubstantiated rumors for dramatic effect.

“The big three,” Lamar raps, calling back to J. Cole, “It’s just big me.”

He references Drake’s 2023 album “For All the Dogs,” and also compares himself to Prince and Drake to Michael Jackson: “Prince outlived Mike Jack.”

Drake’s response leaks. “You ain’t in no Big Three, SZA got you wiped down, Travis got you wiped down, Savage got you wiped down,” he raps. (SZA would later be announced as Lamar’s Super Bowl collaborator.)

Drake’s second diss track used artificial intelligence technology to include verses from Tupac and Snoop Dogg, two of Lamar’s influences. In his own verse, Drake accuses Lamar of delaying his response track because of the imminent release of Taylor Swift ‘s “The Tortured Poets Department.” (Lamar collaborated with Swift on “Bad Blood.”)

Tupac’s estate threatened to sue Drake in response, so he removed the song from his social channels.

This is where it gets more complicated. Lamar’s “Euphoria” hits like an opus, unleashing a slew of allegations against Drake. He comes after Drake’s skills as a rapper, use of AI, appearance, racial identity, and parenting.

“I got a son to raise, but I can see you know nothin’ ’bout that,” Lamar raps.

The title is a reference to the HBO series “Euphoria,” of which Drake is an executive producer.

In Lamar’s next diss, titled after a time and location like Drake is wont to do, Lamar targets the company Drizzy keeps. “Have you ever thought that OVO was working for me? / Fake bully, I hate bullies,” he raps, referencing Drake’s record label. “You must be a terrible person.”

According to Billboard, the song was produced by Sounwave and Jack Antonoff — the latter notably Swift’s longtime producer. It samples Al Green’s “What a Wonderful Thing Love Is,” on which one of Drake’s relatives played guitar.

Drake hits back with a music video and a nearly eight-minute response, in which he alleges abuse and infidelity in Lamar’s relationship with his fiancée.

Almost immediately afterward, Lamar addresses Drake’s son in “Meet the Grahams:” “I’m sorry that man is your father.” Lamar also addresses Drake’s parents, and “a baby girl,” alleging Drake has a secret daughter.

He also labels Drake a “predator,” without elaborating.

Lamar doubles down, releasing “Not Like Us,” produced by DJ Mustard.

“Say, Drake, I hear you like ’em young / You better not ever go to cell block one,” Lamar raps.

It would later reach stratospheric levels for a diss track.

Referencing Lamar’s “The Heart” series, Drake drops “The Heart Part 6.” In the song “Prove It,” Drake challenges Lamar’s allegations, doubles down on his own against him, and says that he does not have a secret daughter.

He sounds notably lethargic on the song — potentially taking a final bow with verses like, “You know, at least your fans are gettin’ some raps out of you / I’m happy I could motivate you.”

Lamar’s “Not Like Us” goes to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It will spend two weeks at the spot, 38 weeks on the chart, and end become the year’s No. 6 song. It would also do stratospheric streaming numbers, ending 2024 atop Apple Music’s global song chart.

Lamar takes a de facto victory lap with his Juneteenth “Pop Out” concert at the Forum in Los Angeles. He performs “Euphoria” and “6:16 in LA,” then is joined by Dr. Dre.

The two West Coast titans perform “Still D.R.E.” and “California Love” before Dre quiets the roaring crowd. He then delivers the “Sixth Sense” quote that opens “Not Like Us”: “I see dead people.”

A crowd of 17,000 including The Weeknd, LeBron James, Ayo Edebiri and Rick Ross rap along to every word. Lamar restarts it twice after the first verse and performs it four times in full.

Lamar is announced as the halftime headliner at the Feb. 9 Super Bowl at the Superdome in New Orleans. SZA is later announced as a guest performer, before the two tour together this spring.

Lamar is nominated for seven Grammys, all of them for Drake diss tracks. Two are for “Like That,” the Metro Boomin’ collaboration, and five are for “Not Like Us,” including nods for record of the year and song of the year.

After months of relative silence, Drake takes the fight to court, and takes the beef to another level. He alleges in a New York filing that Universal Music Group — the parent label for both him and Lamar — pumped up the popularity of “Not Like Us” on Spotify and other streaming services. The filing is a precursor to a potential lawsuit that demands the two companies preserve documents.

UMG calls the allegations in the filing “offensive and untrue.” Spotify did not publicly respond but has broadly denied assertions that its streaming figures are or can be inflated.

On the same day, Drake announces that he will tour Australia for the first time in eight years, starting on the day Lamar performs at the Super Bowl.

Drake strikes again, this time in a Texas court, where he aims at the radio play for “Not Like Us.” His filing, another lawsuit precursor, alleges UMG conspired with iHeartMedia, the biggest owner of radio stations in the U.S., to inflate plays and numbers for the track.

iHeartMedia did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press at the time, and did not immediately reply to a new request for a response.

Drake makes his major legal move, for which the previous ones were only openers: A defamation lawsuit against UMG, alleging it put out and promoted “Not Like Us” even though it promotes false pedophilia allegations against him and suggests listeners should resort to vigilante justice.

It blames the label and the song for attempted break-ins and the shooting of a security guard at Drake’s Toronto home, online hate and harassment and the devaluation of his brand.

The suit does not name Lamar as a defendant.

UMG responds that the allegations are not only untrue but illogical given their years of investment in Drake.

A week before his Super Bowl headlining gig, Lamar and “Not Like Us” have an epic night at the Grammy Awards. The track wins song of the year and record of the year and Lamar takes five.

He’s gracious and positive in victory, not mentioning Drake and saying “We’re gonna dedicate this one to the city” before shouting out Los Angeles area neighborhoods.