Beefs and rap battles have long been an integral part of Hip Hop culture. From its beginning, verbal confrontations have spawned from personal rivalries, competitive spirit, and differences in artistic styles and ideologies. The East Coast/West Coast rivalry, Ice Cube's back-and-forth with his former group N.W.A, and Nas and JAY-Z's competition-turned-personal feud are but a few examples of conflicts that have captivated audiences and shaped the landscape of the genre.
While some beefs fizzled out quickly, others escalated into full-blown feuds, leaving a lasting impact on all parties involved and the culture at large. Ultimately, it all served as both entertainment and a reflection of the competitive nature inherent in the art form.
As REVOLT previously reported, Drake and Kendrick Lamar provided Hip Hop with one of the craziest battles witnessed in some time. Sparked by Lamar's verse on Future and Metro Boomin's "Like That," the two heavyweights delivered progressively dark raps about each other and their loved ones, leaving many to debate the ramifications on social media. The dispute even caused several others, including Rick Ross, Kanye West, and ASAP Rocky, to jump into the fray.
What most don’t realize is the war on wax was merely the latest chapter in a conflict that began long ago. The timeline below breaks down all the pivotal moments that resulted in the viral beef.
November 2002: What Happened To That Boy
For his debut LP, Bryan “Birdman” Williams – then known primarily as Baby – enlisted The Neptunes to produce “What Happened To That Boy,” a hit single that featured Clipse, a Virginia duo signed to The Neptunes’ Star Trak imprint.
According to HOT 97’s Ebro Darden, the collaboration led to an issue between Cash Money Records and Star Trak over a rumored nonpayment to Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo. This was the beginning of Cash Money artist Drake and Pusha T’s inevitable discord.
December 2006/July 2007: Mr. Me Too
By this point, Cash Money darling Lil Wayne had become a major player within his generation of emcees. He’d also turned into quite the fashion maven, and – at that time – was largely known for his love of Japanese brand A Bathing Ape, or BAPE for short. He rocked the threads on magazine covers and in music videos, including the Benny Boom-directed clip for “Hustler Musik.”
Folks began to speculate whether or not Weezy was influenced by Clipse, who many claimed rocked BAPE first. This was further exacerbated by Clipse and Pharrell’s “Mr. Me Too,” an ode to unnamed copycats.
The New Orleans talent took offense, which led to his reaction in an interview with Complex. “I don’t see no f**kin’ Clipse. Come on, man,” Wayne stated. “Who the f**k is Pharrell? Do you really respect him? That n**ga wore BAPEs and y’all thought he was weird. I wore it and y’all thought it was hot.”
It didn’t take long for Pusha T to return fire in Laced Magazine. “You can’t kiss other men, you can’t ‘Wobble dee wobble dee,’ and you can’t bite styles,” he retorted. “You can’t bite everybody’s styles. You can’t try to rap like JAY-Z, dress like the Clipse, become a coke dealer after five albums, and now dress like Jim Jones. You can’t do all that and be a legend. You have to be a trendsetter, and he ain’t setting any trends.”
November 2011/February 2012: Buried Alive Interlude/Club Paradise Tour
Enter Young Money artist Drake, who quickly earned Hip Hop’s respect with his debut album, Thank Me Later, in 2010.
On his sophomore LP, 2011’s Take Care, Drake provided then-rising star Kendrick Lamar a placement on “Buried Alive Interlude,” which saw the Compton emcee telling a vivid story about their budding friendship. Diplomacy between the two would continue to blossom after Drizzy invited Lamar to be the opening act for the first leg of his “Club Paradise Tour” -- a North American run that also featured ASAP Rocky. “They told me take an R&B n**ga on the road, and I told 'em, ‘No,’ and drew for Kendrick and Rocky,” Drake rapped on “4PM In Calabasas.”
May 2012: Exodus 23:1
Early in his career as a recording artist, Drake gushed about his love for all things Star Trak during an appearance on MTV’s “When I Was 17.” He even revealed that he purchased a Pusha T-signed microphone.
Some time after that interview, the Toronto native – who was vocal about his allegiance to YMCMB – and Pusha T began to trade thinly veiled shots at each other on songs like “Dreams Money Can Buy” and “Don’t F**k With Me,” respectively. Drake would even speak on his peer’s perceived slight during a visit to Funkmaster Flex. “I’ve never had an issue with him,” the OVO frontman said. “So, if it was directed at me, just make it a little more direct next time.”
Those comments would lead to the scathing “Exodus 23:1,” Pusha’s dismantling of Drake and Cash Money on wax. “Contract all f**ked up, I guess that means you all f**ked up/ You signed to one n**ga that signed to another n**ga that's signed to three n**gas, now that's bad luck,” he rapped.
What would come from the hard-hitting cut was a cold war of sorts between the two. Both rappers delivered alleged subs on songs like Pusha T’s “Suicide” and Drake’s “Two Birds, One Stone.” Notably, Drake would also find himself in a war with Meek Mill, who exposed his Canadian counterpart’s alleged utilization of ghostwriter-artist Quentin Miller for several hit songs.
Interestingly enough, Lamar tweeted the below message a couple of months after “Exodus 23:1.”
August 2013: Control
By this point, Lamar reached higher levels of fame and success following the critically acclaimed good kid, m.A.A.d city. On what ended up as a Hall of Fame throwaway, Big Sean recruited Jay Electronica and the then-TDE signee for “Control.” Upon its release, fans were quickly enamored by Lamar’s friendly-but-competitive callout to peers.
“I'm usually homeboys with the same n**gas I'm rhymin' with, but this is Hip Hop, and them n**gas should know what time it is/ And that goes for Jermaine Cole, Big K.R.I.T., Wale, Pusha T, Meek Mill, ASAP Rocky, Drake/ Big Sean, Jay Electron', Tyler, Mac Miller, I got love for you all, but I'm tryna murder you n**gas...”
In response to Lamar’s verse, Drake gave a passive-aggressive quote to Elliott Wilson a month after the release of “Control.” “[Lamar] is giving people moments, but are you listening to it now, at this point in time?” he asked. “Okay... It was real cool for a couple weeks. If I asked you, for example, how does that verse start?”
October 2013: TDE’s BET Hip Hop Awards cypher
It’s never been confirmed if Kendrick Lamar’s contribution to TDE’s BET Hip Hop Awards cypher was aimed at Drake, specifically. Nonetheless, it fueled the flames between the two and set the stage for a fair share of subliminal bars down the line.
May 2018: Infrared/The Story of Adidon
The battle between Drake and Pusha T finally reached its boiling point with “Infrared,” the closing song on the latter artist’s DAYTONA LP. On the Ye-produced effort, Pusha addressed everything from issues with Birdman to Drake’s supposed work with Miller.
“The game's f**ked up, n**gas' beats is bangin', n**ga, your hooks did it, the lyric pennin' equal the Trumps winnin'/ The bigger question is how the Russians did it, it was written like Nas, but it came from Quentin...”
Drake didn’t even let the day end before responding with the equally impressive “Duppy Freestyle,” which was full of bars about Pusha, Ye, and Miller. “As for Q, man, I changed his life a couple times/ N**ga was at Kroger workin' double time, y'all actin' like he made The Boy when I was tryna help the guy,” he revealed.
Days later, Pusha dropped “The Story of Adidon,” a diss record that continues to reverberate throughout Hip Hop. The biggest takeaway from that track, which cleverly used the instrumental from JAY-Z's “The Story of O.J.,” was the flooring revelation of Drake’s son, Adonis, whom he hadn’t yet revealed to the world. J. Prince would later initiate “an O.G. call” to end the beef, putting any continuation from Drake on an indefinite hold.
October 2023: First Person Shooter
On his For All The Dogs album, Drake connected with J. Cole for the chart-topping single “First Person Shooter.” On the track, both rapped about Hip Hop’s GOAT discussion, with extra perspective from Cole. “Love when they argue the hardest MC, is it K. Dot? Is it Aubrey? Or me?/ We the big three like we started a league, but right now, I feel like Muhammad Ali,” the North Carolina star declared.
March 2024: Like That
On their WE DON’T TRUST YOU album, Future and Metro Boomin blessed the masses with a surprise appearance from Lamar, who used his verse to challenge both Drake and J. Cole following the success of “First Person Shooter.” “F**k sneak dissin', first person shooter, I hope they came with three switches,” K. Dot stated. “Motherf**k the big three, n**ga, it's just big me!”
Even more notable was the fact that WE DON’T TRUST YOU and its sequel, WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU, contained and led to additional Drake disses from The Weeknd, Rick Ross, and ASAP Rocky along with Future and Metro. Even Kanye West jumped in with a remix of “Like That” and a subsequent interview, where he spoke on “the elimination” of the Scorpion artist. Social media described it as the first stage of a rap civil war.
April 2024: 7 Minute Drill
As far as Lamar’s main targets were concerned, Cole was the first to respond with “7 Minute Drill,” a hard-hitting closing cut from Might Delete Later. “Your first s**t was classic, your last s**t was tragic, your second s**t put n**gas to sleep, but they gassed it/ Your third s**t was massive and that was your prime,” the Dreamville head honcho rapped.
Mere days later, Cole would take to the stage at his Dreamville Festival to not only apologize to Lamar for the diss, but also announce that he would be removing “7 Minute Drill” from streaming platforms as a sign of peace. Needless to say, the Hip Hop world was shocked.
April 2024: Push Ups and Taylor Made Freestyle
Shortly after Cole’s concession, Drake hit back with “Push Ups,” a well-received diss aimed at Lamar and his other surprise adversaries. “I could never be nobody No. 1 fan, your first No. 1, I had to put it in your hand,” Drizzy stated on wax.
On the same day that “Push Ups” landed on streaming platforms, the Toronto lyricist piled on with “Taylor Made Freestyle,” which received a polarizing response from fans and peers due to AI-generated appearances from Snoop Dogg and the late Tupac Shakur. Reportedly, Shakur’s estate eventually forced Drake to remove said freestyle from his Instagram account.
April/May 2024: euphoria and 6:16 In LA
At the very end of April, Lamar returned fire with “euphoria,” a six-minute attack on Drake’s character and career. “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,” K. Dot warned before delivering lines with references about Gunna, Sexyy Red, Lil’ Yachty, and Drake’s right-hand man Nessel “Chubbs” Beezer. He also mentioned the “Passionfruit” creator’s battle with Pusha T and comments made about Skateboard P on Travis Scott’s “MELTDOWN.”
“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 push a T/ You better off spinnin' again on him, you think about pushin' me, he's Terrence Thornton, I'm Terence Crawford, yeah, I'm whoopin' feet...”
Matching his opponent’s output, Lamar quickly doubled back with “6:16 In LA,” a song that questioned the loyalty of OVO members (among other things).
May 2024: Family Matters
For the next round, Drake unveiled “Family Matters,” a song that further devolved the beef into a mudslinging exhibition. The three-part release switched between trap, drill, and R&B vibes, all as the 6 God hinted at the possibility of infidelity and worse in Lamar’s relationship with longtime partner Whitney Alford. Rozay, Rocky, and The Weeknd also received plenty of shots on the seven-minute drop.
May 2024: meet the grahams and Not Like Us
To everyone’s shock, Lamar dropped “meet the grahams” less than an hour after “Family Matters” was released. On the Alchemist-produced cut, the Cali star spoke to Drake’s son, parents, and rumored daughter – a callback to Pusha’s “Adidon” bombshell -- in separate verses before directing his anger back to the main target. “This supposed to be a good exhibition within the game, but you f**ked up the moment you called out my family's name/ Why you had to stoop so low to discredit some decent people?” he questioned.
The following day, Lamar switched gears with “Not Like Us,” a club-ready offering that was produced by DJ Mustard. As the artwork made clear, the subject matter on the infectious cut was largely dedicated to allegations of Drake and his associates’ alleged inappropriate relationships with minors.
May 2024: BBL Drizzy
Shortly after “Not Like Us” went viral, Metro piggybacked on the song’s claims in a series of tweets. He then took things a step further by releasing a diss instrumental and inviting anyone to perform over it, effectively creating an endless stream of Drake insults.
“Now go make another song telling more lies ‘cause we both know you can’t tell everyone why I don’t f**k with you,” Metro wrote. “That wouldn’t be a good look [for you,] either. So, [I’ll] spare us both with that.”
May 2024: THE HEART PART 6
After receiving a barrage of lyrical missiles, Drake unveiled the cleverly titled “THE HEART PART 6,” which shot down a bulk of Lamar’s allegations on “meet the grahams” and “Not Like Us.” He also referenced the subject matter on Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers’ “Mother I Sober” cut as the reason behind what he claimed was his opponent’s obsession with “pedophile raps.”
The closing speech at the end of “THE HEART PART 6” sounded like it might’ve been Drake's final entry in his war with Lamar. “Just let me know when we're gettin' to the facts,” he said. “Everything in my s**t is facts. I'm waitin' on you to return the favor."