Photo-Illustration: Vulture. Photos: Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images for Cash App, Marcelo Hernandez/Getty Images
The Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar rap battle continues to rage on, with Drake releasing “Family Matters” on Friday, May 3, which was quickly followed by Lamar putting out “meet the grahams” at midnight. Instead of waiting for a rebuttal, Lamar doubled down with “Not Like Us” on Saturday night.
May 4, 2024 (1 a.m.): Are Kendrick and Drake just gonna keep dissing each other every week for the rest of our lives or what? On Friday night, Drake dropped the seven-and-a-half-minute track “Family Matters,” in which he suggests that Kendrick’s son was actually fathered by Kendrick’s general manager, Dave Free. Drake also appeared to level allegations of domestic violence, rapping, “When you put your hands on your girl, is it self defense ‘cause she’s bigger than you?” There’s a lot more packed into the track, which is divided into three sections. For example, Drake accused K.Dot of “acting like an activist” and took shots at other artists including Rick Ross, The Weeknd, Future, A$AP Rocky, and Rihanna. But we barely got an hour to process those bars.
At midnight, Kendrick hit back with the six-and-a-half-minute track “meet the grahams.” He was also in the mood to bring up family, opening by telling Adonis he’s sorry Drake is his father. He went on to address Sandra and Dennis Graham — plus an alleged daughter of Drake’s who is at least 11 years old. (“nahhhh hold on can someone find my hidden daughter pls and send her to me …these guys are in shambles 🤣🤣🤣,” Drake later responded in an Instagram Story.) Kendrick also accused Drake of employing sex offenders at OVO. He called him a “predator,” “narcissist,” “misogynist,” and ultimately “a fuckin’ deadbeat that should never see more life.” With claims like that, it’s kinda hard to focus on the lyrics about Ozempic.
May 4, 2024 (9 p.m.): Not even 24 hours after releasing his last diss track, Lamar has released yet another song attacking Drake, titled “Not Like Us.” In it, he makes explosive accusations against Drake, with lyrics like, “Certified Lover Boy, certified pedophiles” and “Tryna strike a chord and it’s probably A-minor.”
