Kendrick v Drake

In this article, Ava will be talking about the ultimate beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar.

Kendrick v Drake

By Ava McLean

Recently, there has been beef between Kendrick Lamar and Drake, also known as Aubrey Graham. Lamar is a 36-year-old American rapper and songwriter. Some of his known songs are “Poetic Justice”, “Swimming Pools”, and “Money Trees”. Drake is a 37-year-old Canadian rapper and singer. Some of his most popular songs are: “Gods Plan”, “One Dance”, and “Best I Ever Had”. In the past few weeks, both Drake and Lamar have made a series of diss tracks to each other. Let’s review.

Photo from: DigiWaxx

Lamar has dropped four diss tracks, the first one being called "Euphoria". This song basically dissects and insults Drake several times. In the song, Lamar raps, “Know you a master manipulator and habitual liar too,/But don't tell no lie about me and I won't tell truths 'bout you”. People on Tiktok have been going completely crazy over this line, because everyone knows that, after that set of lines, Kendrick has won. Hypebeast states, “Clocking in at six minutes long, the track arrives on the heels of Drake‘s recent diss tracks: “Push Ups'’ and “Taylor Made Freestyle”’. More lines that caught people's attention in “Euphoria” are: “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”, and “I got a son to raise, but I can see you don't know nothin' 'bout that''. Then he proceeds to end the dong with: “If you take it there, I'm takin' it further, Psst, that's somethin' you don't wanna do”, basically warning Drake that he will get his feelings hurt if he continues this rap battle.

Photo from: X

Drake's diss that originally started the beef is called, “Push-ups”. He sings, “And that.. song y'all got did not start the beef with us,/ This...been brewin' in a pot,/ now I'm heatin' up”. This lyric is clearly towards Lamar because he and Drake have had beef since 2014 stemming from Lamar’s song “Control”. In “Push-ups”, Drake also brings the producer Metro in and sings, ”Metro, shut... up and make some drums”. Metro then releases a beat dissing Drake because he isn’t going to take that disrespect. He then proceeds to release the craziest beat/song called “BBL Drizzy”, dissing Drake in return.

Lamar released another song called, “Meet the Grahams”. This diss track ripped Drake apart. It starts with Lamar singing, “Dear Adonis,/I’m sorry that that man is your father,/let me be honest”. This is especially insane because Lamar has now brought in his family. He also then says “Dear Sandra”, bringing in his mom, as well. This whole diss track is everything Drake has ever done wrong. RateYourMusic states, “This is genuinely an extremely hard-hitting song past just how brutal the lyrics are.” In this drama, Lamar brought up rumors that Drake has a secret daughter, and other possible secret children that he will not claim. In the song, he gives the daughter affirmations and tells her he doesn’t deserve her as a daughter. Another major lyric from this song is: “He’s a hitmaker, songwriter, superstar, right,/And a... deadbeat that should never say “More life”,/ Meet the Grahams”. Then, Lamar proceeds to say Drake messed up when he brought in family, he called out all of his problems and everything he has lied about. Lamar ends the song with: “this a long life battle with yourself”.

There were some secret disses hidden in “Meet The Grahams” and "Euphoria”, as well. At the start of “Euphoria” Lamar says, “eurt si em tuoba yas yeht gnihtyreve”. In reverse, the lyrics say, “Everything they say about me is true”. In “Meet the Grahams”, another clever hidden diss from Lamar says, "Tryna strike a chord and it's probably A-minorrrr." He is addressing the allegations that Drake is a predator toward minors, specifically Millie Bobby Brown. The best part is Lamar sings “A-minor” in the actual chord a-minor.

Photo from: Instagram

In Drake's "Family Matters", he starts off with: "Maybe in this song, you shouldn't start by saying... I said it, I know that you mad". This is pretty significant because, in Lamar's song "Euphoria", he ended his song with: "We don't wanna hear you say... no more". Obviously, Drake just said that to fire Lamar up. Drake then made "The Heart: Part 6", following Kendrick's, "The Heart: Part 5". In the song, he states, "We plotted for a week and then we fed you the information/A daughter that's 11 years old, I bet he takes it", claiming that he is the one who told Lamar that he had a daughter. In these lyrics, he is also claiming that Lamar eats up every piece of information he gets and will use it against Drake to win.

Photo from: RollingStone

Overall, the majority of the rap community says Lamar wins. According to BBC, “Some have said Lamar has forced Drake to up his lyrical game, while others have commended the duo for providing an all-time moment in rap history.” It is easy to say that both rappers went too far, involving family and rumor-- but once drama is started, there is no going back. Obviously, both rappers have forced each other to up their lyrical games, but it is ultimately undeniable who has come out on top, and that is Kendrick Lamar.

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