17 days after Drake’s “Push Ups” diss track leaked, Kendrick Lamar rose from the ashes to unleash “Euphoria.”
“Euphoria” — also the title, of course, of the hit HBO show where Drake serves as an executive producer — hit K. Dot’s YouTube channel early Tuesday (April 30) to send the rap world into a frenzy.
Lamar pulled no punches as he attempted to shred the 6 God. He kicks off the track with more of a spoken-word flow before turning the heat up over Cardo production to flame Drake throughout the six-minute-plus marathon.
The Drake and Kendrick war has been years-in-the-making. Their feud dates back to Lamar’s nuclear “Control” verse in 2013 and subliminally dissing Drake at the BET Hip-Hop Awards during his cypher later that same year.
Drake and J. Cole’s “First Person Shooter” inspired Kendrick Lamar to take aim at the Big As the What? Tour running mates in March when he dropped an atomic bomb with his assist on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That.” The We Don’t Trust You anthem topped the Hot 100 for three consecutive weeks.
J. Cole jabbed at Kendrick on his Might Delete Later diss “7 Minute Drill,” but ended up apologizing and bowing out of the battle days later while speaking to the crowd at his Dreamville Fest.
Cole’s decision cleared the way for Kendrick Lamar and Drake to finally face off. In the days between “Push Ups” and “Euphoria,” Drizzy has continued to taunt K. Dot with the release of his 2Pac and Snoop Dogg “Taylor Made” freestyle and rocking Compton Community College merch. However, Drake ended up removing the AI-assisted freestyle from social media last week, after Shakur’s estate issued a cease-and-desist letter demanding Drizzy take the song down within 24 hours.
The ball now bounces back to Drake’s court inside his Toronto mansion. Check out the best bars from “Euphoria” knocking Drake about his biracial identity, his record deal, the Pusha T feud, fatherhood and more.
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What’s Real Rap?
“How I make music that electrify ’em, you make music that pacify ’em.”
Kendrick comes at Drake’s artistry and dismisses the 6 God’s pop hits as fodder.
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Looking Funny in the Light
“The famous actor we once knew is looking paranoid, and now spiraling/ You moving just like a degenerate, heavy antic, it’s feeling distasteful.”
Kendrick is ashamed at how Drake has moved in the days since dropping “Push Ups” in the feud. This could be a reference to the AI-assisted “Taylor Made” freestyle, which Drake removed from social media following a cease-and-desist.
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Attacking Drake’s Biracial Identity
“How many more fairytale stories ’bout your life ’til we had enough/ How many more Black features ’til you finally feel that you Black enough/ I like Drake with the melodies, I don’t like Drake when he act tough.”
Lamar continues to jab at Drake’s biracial identity and even voices his disgust with him saying “n—a” while interpolating Kanye West’s “Get Em High” to close out “Euphoria.”
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Heavy Is the Head
“Yeah, Cole and Aubrey know I’m a selfish, n—a/ The crown is heavy, I’ll pray they my real friends, if not, I’m YNW Melly.”
Kendrick doubles down on his “Like That” claim that it’s “motherf–k the big three, n—a, it’s just big me” while name-dropping Cole and Drake. He references YNW Melly, who is facing double murder charges in the 2018 deaths of his friends.
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What Does Drake’s Young Money/Cash Money Record Deal Look Like?
“You was signed to a n—a that’s signed to a n—a that said he was signed to that n—a/ Try cease and desist on the ‘Like That’ record/ Oh, what? You ain’t like that record?”
After Drake built “Push Ups” around allegations about a 50/50 split in Kendrick’s deal with TDE, Lamar wonders about Drizzy’s deal that had him signed to Lil Wayne’s Young Money, which is under Birdman’s Cash Money Records.
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Ghostwriting Allegations Never Die
“Ain’t 20 v. 1, it’s 1 v 20 if I gotta smack n—as that write with you.”
Kendrick uses Drake’s “is this a 20-v-1, n—a?” lyric from “Push Ups” by reviving ghostwriting allegations against the OVO boss.
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Hating Drake
“I hate the way that you walk, the way that you talk/ I hate the way that you dress/ I hate the way that you sneak-dissing/ If I flight it’s gonna be direct.”
Make no mistake about it: no subliminal here as Kendrick voices his pure disdain for Drake’s existence.
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When Fatherhood Calls
“Y’all think all of my life is rap/ That’s h– s–t, I got a son to raise, but I can see you know nothing ’bout that.”
Kendrick disses Drake for how he’s raising his son, Adonis. This is also a callback to Pusha T’s scathing “The Story of Adidon,” which exposed that Drake had a kid in the first place.
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First-Person Shooter Mode
“Dementia must run in his family, but let it get shaky/ I park your son/ The very first time I shot me a drac’, the homie had told me that ‘Aim it this way’/ I didn’t point down enough, today/ I show you I learn from those mistakes.”
Kendrick misfired in the past but he’s ready to snipe Drake with a headshot in this round.
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Defending Pharrell & Bringing Up Drake’s Pusha T Loss
“I don’t like you poppin’ s–t at Pharrell/ For him, I inherit the beef/ Yeah, f–k all that pushin’ P, let me see you Pusha T/ You better off spinnin’ again on him, you think about pushin’ me?”
Kendrick to the rescue: He defends Pharrell from Drake’s jabs (See his verse on Travis Scott’s “Meltdown”) and reminds Drizzy about his loss in battle with Pusha T.
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Jabbing Drake for Having No Classic Albums & Fake Abs
“Yeah, my first one like my last one, it’s a classic, you don’t have one/ Let your core audience stomach that/ Didn’t tell ’em where you get your abs from.”
Lamar defends his discography after being needled about exactly that by Drake and J. Cole. In doing so, K. Dot also claims Drake has zero classic albums to his name.
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Comparing Drake to Sexyy Red
“When I see you stand by Sexyy Red, I believe you see two bad b—–s/ I believe you don’t like women, that’s real competition, you might pop a– with ’em.”
A funnier line in the feud comes with K. Dot comparing Drake to acting like Sexyy Red, collaborator on his For All the Dogs hit “Rich Baby Daddy.”
