In recent months, the music industry has found itself in turmoil centered around popular artists Drake and Kendrick Lamar. Although the two were once on good terms with each other, they now dislike each other.

The feud started on March 22, 2024 with the release of the song “Like That,” a collaboration between artists Metro Boomin, Future and Lamar. During Lamar’s verse, he refers to himself as the king of the rap world, stating, “it’s just big me.” Part of its implication was that Drake and J. Cole, another popular artist, were not on his level. J. Cole responded to this weeks later on April 5, 2024 with the song “7 Minute Drill.” In the song, J. Cole accused Lamar of seeking attention, and criticized many aspects of Lamar as an artist. This included his relevancy, with J. Cole saying “If he wasn’t dissin’, then we wouldn’t be discussin’ him.” J. Cole’s involvement in the feud was short-lived; he backed down two days later stating he was too pressured to respond further. 

On April 12,  Future and Metro Boomin released an album titled “We still don’t trust you,” in which they as well as A$AP Rocky and The Weeknd have songs criticizing Drake. On April 19, Drake officially responded with the song “Push Ups,” coming at Lamar’s shorter stature amongst other things. The song is not solely focused on Lamar, as it throws insults at numerous other artists like Future, Metro Boomin, A$AP Rocky, Rick Ross and The Weeknd. Rick Ross also responded similarly with the song “Champagne Moments,” alleging that Drake had undergone multiple cosmetic surgeries, including rhinoplasty. He also accused Drake of using ghostwriters, an accusation Drake has consistently denied. 

On April 21, Kanye West joined the clash with a remix of “Like That.” In the song, Kanye West shamed Drake’s music and his record deal with Universal Music Group. Kanye also stated that he and his collaborators were “energized” for what they coined the “elimination of Drake.” The next week, on April 30, Lamar put out a new song called “Euphoria,” a six-minute long track which lambasts on Drake’s mixed race identity, as well as denouncing his authenticity as a rapper. As of May 17, “Euphoria” No. 7 on the daily U.S. Spotify chart. 

On May 3, Lamar posted a new song titled “6:16 in LA” to his Instagram account. Lamar called out Drake for being materialistic, and that he had inside information on Drake’s label OVO. One of Lamar’s lines went: “Have you ever thought that OVO was working for me?” The same day, Drake released the song “Family Matters” questioning the true father of Lamar’s child. Drake also attacks aforementioned artists including Metro Boomin, whom Drake referred to by his real name, calling him “lame.” However, less than an hour later, Lamar responded with “Meet the Grahams,” arguably the most aggressive track released in the past several months. In it, Lamar apologized to Drake’s son for having him as a father. Lamar then goes on to claim without evidence that Drake takes Ozempic, and used photos of medication with Drake’s legal name, Audrey Drake Graham, on it, as the cover art for the song (though the images have not been verified as legitimate). On top of this, he also accused Drake of being a narcissist and misogynist.

Less than 24 hours later, on May 4, Lamar doubled down on the allegations against Drake, accusing him of pedophilia.“Certified Lover Boy? Certified pedophiles,” Lamar rapped in his single,“Not Like Us”. The most recent update was on May 6, with Drake releasing “The Heart Part 6.” He denied many of Lamar’s allegations, also saying that he purposely fed Lamar false information to test if he would fall for it. He further suggested that Lamar improve his fact-checking skills. The beef between Lamar and Drake continues with no end in sight, the allegations made against each other are getting more severe with every new song; only time will tell who comes out on top.