Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s feud has become one of the most storied rap beefs in history, but their relationship wasn’t always so fraught with tension.
Before Lamar made his major label debut with 2012’s Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, the Compton native and Drake were on good terms. Lamar made a guest appearance on Drake’s 2011 album, Take Care, and later opened for the Canadian rapper on his 2012 Club Paradise tour. That same year, the duo contributed guest verses to ASAP Rocky’s “F—in’ Problems,” and Drake appeared on Lamar’s track “Poetic Justice.”
Just one year later, however, cracks in their professional relationship started to show as the pair began taking shots at each other in their music, starting with Lamar’s verse on Big Sean’s “Control.” In the decade-plus since, the drama has only escalated — and there’s no sign that these two ever plan on burying the hatchet.
Keep scrolling for a complete timeline of Drake and Lamar’s feud:
August 14, 2013
The drama kicked off when Lamar took aim at Drake — and every other popular rapper of the era — in his verse on Big Sean’s “Control” with Jay Electronica. “I’m usually homeboys with the same n—-s I’m rhymin’ with / But this is hip-hop, and them n—-s should know what time it is / And that goes for Jermaine Cole, Big K.R.I.T., Wale / Pusha T, Meek Millz, ASAP Rocky, Drake / Big Sean, Jay Electron’, Tyler, Mac Miller / I got love for you all, but I’m tryna murder you n—-s / Tryna make sure your core fans never heard of you n—-s / They don’t wanna hear not one more noun or verb from you n—-s.”
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At the time, Drake said he was unbothered by the song, telling Billboard he “got dinner and kept it moving” after hearing the track. “I didn’t really have anything to say about it,” he added. “It just sounded like an ambitious thought to me. That’s all it was. I know good and well that Kendrick’s not murdering me, at all, in any platform. So when that day presents itself, I guess we can revisit the topic.”
September 24, 2013
Drake released his third studio album, Nothing Was the Same, which included a track called “The Language” that some fans believed was a response to Lamar’s “Control” boasts. “I don’t know why they been lyin’ but your s— is not that inspirin’ / Bank account statement just look like I’m ready for early retirement,” Drake rapped on the first verse. “F— any n—- that’s talking that shit just to get a reaction.”
October 15, 2013
During the BET Hip Hop Awards, Lamar seemingly snuck in a dig at Drake during his freestyle performance with the TDE cypher, rapping, “Yeah, and nothing been the same since they dropped ‘Control’ / And tucked a sensitive rapper back in his pajama clothes.”
December 17, 2013
Drake hopped on a remix of Future’s track “S—” with Juicy J and hit back at Lamar, rapping, “I hear you talk about your city like you run that.” He also referenced Lamar mentioning him on “Control” with the lines, “And if a n—- say my name, he the hot s— / But if I say the n—- name, he still the hot s— / F—ed up, lucky I don’t feed into the gossip.”
Days later, Vibe published a cover story featuring Drake, in which he claimed that “The Language” was not a direct rebuttal to “Control.”
“I don’t ever want to get into responses,” he said when asked directly whether the track was a response to Lamar. “‘The Language’ is just energy. What it was inspired by, I’m sure that, and other things. It’s just me talking my s—. I never once felt the need to respond to that record. The sentiment he was putting forth is what he should have. Of course you wanna be the best. Where it became an issue is that I was rolling out an album while that verse was still bubbling, so my album rollout became about this thing. What am I supposed to say? ‘Nah, we’ll be buddy-buddy?’ Mind you, I never once said he’s a bad guy [or] I don’t like him. I think he’s a f—ing genius in his own right, but I also stood my ground as I should.”
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Drake noted that he hadn’t seen Lamar since the BET Hip Hop Awards, but he thought things would be fine between them. “I have no ill feelings toward that guy,” he said. “It’s just like, it’s there for me if I wanna fall for it. I’m just too smart for that. … We haven’t seen each other [since the BET cypher], but I’m sure we’ll see each other and it’ll be cool. And if it’s not, then I guess that’s how our story unfolds.”
March 15, 2015
Lamar released his third studio album, To Pimp a Butterfly, featuring the song “King Kunta.” One line in particular — “I can dig rapping, but a rapper with a ghost writer? What the f— happened?” — left fans wondering whether Lamar was acknowledging rumors that Drake doesn’t write his own raps. (Lamar has never confirmed who that quip was about.)
June 26, 2015
The duo’s more subtle beef continued during Drake’s guest appearance on The Game’s “100,” in which he seemingly took a shot at Lamar’s reputation for socially conscious lyrics. “I would have all of your fans / If I didn’t go pop and I stayed on some conscious s—,” Drake boasted.
October 6, 2023
While the pair traded a few more subtle barbs after “King Kunta” and “100,” their feud didn’t really kick off again until 2023 when Drake released his album For All the Dogs. On the track “First Person Shooter,” J. Cole delivered the lines that seemingly inspired all the back-and-forth that was yet to come: “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.” (K.Dot refers to Lamar’s original stage name, while Aubrey is Drake’s given first name.)
Drake, meanwhile, described himself as “big as the Super Bowl” — a reference he’d arguably come to regret later on.
March 22, 2024
Five months later, Lamar responded to Cole’s “big three” lines on “Like That,” which appeared on Future and Metro Boomin’s album We Don’t Trust You. “Motherf— the big three, n—-, it’s just big me,” he rapped.
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Two days later, Drake seemingly responded to the dig on stage, telling a Florida crowd, “A lot of people ask me how I’m feeling. … I got my f—ing head up high, my back straight, I’m 10 f—ing toes down in Florida and anywhere else I go. And I know that no matter what, it’s not a n—- on this Earth that could ever f— with me in my life!”
April 5, 2024
Cole released a Lamar diss track called “7 Minute Drill” on the mixtape Might Delete Later, featuring pointed lyrics like, “Your first s— was classic, your last s— was tragic.” Two days later, however, he issued a public apology, saying he “felt terrible” about the song, which he later removed from streaming services.
April 12, 2024
Future and Metro released their collaborative album We Still Don’t Trust You, which included guest appearances from ASAP Rocky and The Weeknd, both of whom fans believed insulted Drake on their respective tracks. On “Show of Hands,” ASAP appeared to take shots at For All the Dogs not making much of a cultural impact, while The Weeknd seemed to express relief that he hadn’t signed with Drake’s label, OVO Sound.
April 13, 2024
The diss track war began in earnest with the leak of Drake’s “Push Ups,” which mocked Lamar’s height and called him a “pipsqueak.”
April 19, 2024
Days later, Drake followed up with “Taylor Made Freestyle,” which took aim at Lamar’s connection to Taylor Swift (the pair collaborated on the “Bad Blood” remix in 2015). The song ended up making headlines for a different reason, however: It incorporated an AI-generated sample of Tupac Shakur. Shakur’s estate sent Drake a cease-and-desist over the use of the sample, and Drake removed the track from streaming services.
April 30, 2024
Lamar hit back with “Euphoria” — the first of several diss tracks — as a nod to the HBO drama of the same name (which Drake executive produces). The six-minute song saw Lamar hurling insults like, “I hate the way that you walk, the way that you talk, I hate the way that you dress / Surprised you wanted that feature request / You know that we got some shit to address / I even hate when you say the word ‘n—-,’ but that’s just me, I guess / Some s— just cringeworthy, it ain’t even gotta be deep, I guess.”
May 3, 2024
Days later, the pair were at it again, with Lamar dropping “6:16 in LA” and Drake releasing “Family Matters” in response. Lamar’s song claimed that there was a mole within OVO sharing dirt on Drake, while Drake accused Lamar of cheating on his wife, Whitney Alford.
May 4, 2024
Lamar dropped two more songs that most commentators agreed effectively ended the battle: “Meet the Grahams” and “Not Like Us.” In the former track, Lamar alleged that Drake has a secret daughter he’s never publicly acknowledged, and in the latter he famously accused him of pedophilia.
May 5, 2024
Drake denied the allegations in “Meet the Grahams” and “Not Like Us” with “The Heart Part 6,” the title of which is a play on Lamar’s own “The Heart” series. In one verse, Drake claimed that he baited Lamar into receiving fake intel about the alleged secret daughter, rapping: “We plotted for a week and then we fed you the information / A daughter that’s 11 years old, I bet he takes it / We thought about giving a fake name or a destination / But you so thirsty, you not concerned with investigation.”
Metro Boomin, meanwhile, released the instantly viral “BBL Drizzy” sample and offered a prize to the person who delivered the best rap over the beat. (The song’s title and hook is a reference to Rick Ross’ joking that Drake had a Brazilian butt lift.)
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May 24, 2024
Drake contributed a guest verse on Sexxy Red’s “U My Everything,” which incorporated a sample of “BBL Drizzy.”
June 19, 2024
At his Pop Out concert on Juneteenth, Lamar performed “Not Like Us” five consecutive times. Notable attendees included NBA stars LeBron James, Russell Westbrook and James Harden as well as actors Ayo Edebiri and LaKeith Stanfield.
July 4, 2024
Lamar released the “Not Like Us” music video, which includes a scene that shows him beating up an owl puppet. (The logo for Drake’s OVO brand is an owl.)
September 8, 2024
The NFL announced Lamar as the halftime show performer for Super Bowl LIX, meaning that he — not Drake — would officially be as “big as the Super Bowl.”
September 11, 2024
After several musicians criticized the NFL for not choosing Lil Wayne as the halftime headliner (the game will take place in his hometown of New Orleans), Drake seemingly weighed in by sharing several photos of Wayne via his Instagram Story.
October 1, 2024
Drake denied speculation that he sent a cease-and-desist letter to Lamar about performing “Not Like Us” at the halftime show. “The rumors are completely false,” a rep for the rapper told Us at the time.
November 22, 2024
Lamar surprised fans with the release of his sixth studio album, GNX, which features production by longtime Swift pal and collaborator Jack Antonoff. On the opening track “Wacced Out Murals,” he addressed the controversy surrounding his halftime show gig and hinted that he and Drake will never kiss and make up: “I never peaced it up, that s— don’t sit well with me / Before I take a truce, I’ll take ’em to hell with me.”
November 25, 2024
In a legal complaint, Drake alleged that Lamar’s record label, Universal Music Group (which is also his own record label), conspired to “artificially inflate” the popularity of “Not Like Us.” The filing listed several methods UMG allegedly used to popularize “Not Like Us,” including hiring bots, paying influencers to boost the song and charging Spotify reduced licensing rates in exchange for recommending the song to users searching for “unrelated songs and artists.” The document also accused UMG of paying Apple to have Siri “purposely misdirect” users to Lamar’s track.
UMG vehemently denied Drake’s claims in a statement, telling Billboard: “The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue. We employ the highest ethical practices in our marketing and promotional campaigns. No amount of contrived and absurd legal arguments in this pre-action submission can mask the fact that fans choose the music they want to hear.”
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November 26, 2024
Drake filed a second motion against UMG, accusing the label of allegedly using payola to promote “Not Like Us” with iHeartRadio. He also accused UMG of defamation, claiming they could have prevented the song’s release because of its lyrics “falsely accusing him of being a sex offender.”
December 20, 2024
Spotify weighed in on the legal motions filed against UMG, denying Drake’s claims that the streaming platform was involved in falsely inflating the streaming numbers of “Not Like Us.”
“Spotify and UMG have never had any such arrangement,” the company said in a court filing, noting that they’d also found no evidence to support claims of an alleged bot attack.
In response, Drake’s legal team said in a statement, “It is not surprising that Spotify is trying to distance themselves from UMG’s allegedly manipulative practices to artificially inflate streaming numbers on behalf of one of its other artists. If Spotify and UMG have nothing to hide then they should be perfectly fine complying with this basic discovery request.”
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