A Full Timeline of Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s Feud

Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s feud has turn out to be one of the storied rap beefs in historical past, however their relationship wasn’t at all times so fraught with stress.

Earlier than Lamar made his main label debut with 2012’s ​​Good Child, M.A.A.D Metropolis, the Compton native and Drake have been on good phrases. Lamar made a visitor look on Drake’s 2011 album, Take Care, and later opened for the Canadian rapper on his 2012 Membership Paradise tour. That very same yr, the duo contributed visitor verses to ASAP Rocky’s “F—in’ Issues,” and Drake appeared on Lamar’s monitor “Poetic Justice.”

Only one yr later, nevertheless, cracks of their skilled relationship began to indicate because the pair started taking pictures at one another of their music, beginning with Lamar’s verse on Large Sean’s “Management.” Within the decade-plus since, the drama has solely escalated — and there’s no signal that these two ever plan on burying the hatchet.

Maintain scrolling for a whole timeline of Drake and Lamar’s feud:

August 14, 2013

The drama kicked off when Lamar took intention at Drake — and each different common rapper of the period — in his verse on Large Sean’s “Management” with Jay Electronica. “I’m often homeboys with the identical n—-s I’m rhymin’ with / However that is hip-hop, and them n—-s ought to know what time it’s / And that goes for Jermaine Cole, Large Okay.R.I.T., Wale / Pusha T, Meek Millz, ASAP Rocky, Drake / Large Sean, Jay Electron’, Tyler, Mac Miller / I received love for you all, however I’m tryna homicide you n—-s / Tryna make sure that your core followers by no means heard of you n—-s / They don’t wanna hear not yet one more noun or verb from you n—-s.”

On the time, Drake mentioned he was unbothered by the track, telling Billboard he “received dinner and stored it shifting” after listening to the monitor. “I didn’t actually have something to say about it,” he added. “It simply appeared like an bold thought to me. That’s all it was. I do know good and effectively that Kendrick’s not murdering me, in any respect, in any platform. So when that day presents itself, I assume we are able to revisit the subject.”

September 24, 2013

Drake launched his third studio album, Nothing Was the Identical, which included a monitor referred to as “The Language” that some followers believed was a response to Lamar’s “Management” boasts. “I don’t know why they been lyin’ however your s— shouldn’t be that inspirin’ / Checking account assertion simply appear like I’m prepared for early retirement,” Drake rapped on the primary verse. “F— any n—- that’s speaking that shit simply to get a response.”

October 15, 2013

Throughout the BET Hip Hop Awards, Lamar seemingly snuck in a dig at Drake throughout his freestyle efficiency with the TDE cypher, rapping, “Yeah, and nothing been the identical since they dropped ‘Management’ / And tucked a delicate rapper again in his pajama garments.”

December 17, 2013

Drake hopped on a remix of Future’s monitor “S—” with Juicy J and hit again at Lamar, rapping, “I hear you discuss your metropolis such as you run that.” He additionally referenced Lamar mentioning him on “Management” with the strains, “And if a n—- say my title, he the recent s— / But when I say the n—- title, he nonetheless the recent s— / F—ed up, fortunate I don’t feed into the gossip.”

Days later, Vibe revealed a canopy story that includes Drake, during which he claimed that “The Language” was not a direct rebuttal to “Management.”

“I don’t ever wish to get into responses,” he mentioned when requested straight whether or not the monitor was a response to Lamar. “‘The Language’ is simply vitality. What it was impressed by, I’m certain that, and different issues. It’s simply me speaking my s—. I by no means as soon as felt the necessity to reply to that report. The sentiment he was placing forth is what he ought to have. In fact you wanna be one of the best. The place it grew to become a problem is that I used to be rolling out an album whereas that verse was nonetheless effervescent, so my album rollout grew to become about this factor. What am I alleged to say? ‘Nah, we’ll be buddy-buddy?’ Thoughts you, I by no means as soon as mentioned he’s a nasty man [or] I don’t like him. I believe he’s a f—ing genius in his personal proper, however I additionally stood my floor as I ought to.”

Drake famous that he hadn’t seen Lamar because the BET Hip Hop Awards, however he thought issues could be high-quality between them. “I’ve no unwell emotions towards that man,” he mentioned. “It’s identical to, it’s there for me if I wanna fall for it. I’m simply too sensible for that. … We haven’t seen one another [since the BET cypher], however I’m certain we’ll see one another and it’ll be cool. And if it’s not, then I assume that’s how our story unfolds.”

March 15, 2015

Lamar launched his third studio album, To Pimp a Butterfly, that includes the track “King Kunta.” One line specifically — “I can dig rapping, however a rapper with a ghost author? What the f— occurred?” — left followers questioning whether or not Lamar was acknowledging rumors that Drake doesn’t write his personal raps. (Lamar has by no means confirmed who that quip was about.)

June 26, 2015

The duo’s extra refined beef continued throughout Drake’s visitor look on The Recreation’s “100,” during which he seemingly took a shot at Lamar’s repute for socially aware lyrics. “I might have your entire followers / If I didn’t go pop and I stayed on some aware s—,” Drake boasted.

October 6, 2023

Whereas the pair traded a number of extra refined barbs after “King Kunta” and “100,” their feud didn’t actually kick off once more till 2023 when Drake launched his album For All of the Canine. On the monitor “First Individual Shooter,” J. Cole delivered the strains that seemingly impressed all of the back-and-forth that was but to come back: “Love after they argue the toughest MC / Is it Okay.Dot? Is it Aubrey? Or me? / We the massive three like we began a league, however proper now, I really feel like Muhammad Ali.” (Okay.Dot refers to Lamar’s authentic stage title, whereas Aubrey is Drake’s given first title.)

Drake, in the meantime, described himself as “massive because the Tremendous Bowl” — a reference he’d arguably come to remorse in a while.

March 22, 2024

5 months later, Lamar responded to Cole’s “massive three” strains on “Like That,” which appeared on Future and Metro Boomin’s album We Don’t Belief You. “Motherf— the massive three, n—-, it’s simply massive me,” he rapped.

Two days later, Drake seemingly responded to the dig on stage, telling a Florida crowd, “Lots of people ask me how I’m feeling. … I received my f—ing head up excessive, my again straight, I’m 10 f—ing toes down in Florida and anyplace else I am going. And I do know that it doesn’t matter what, it’s not a n—- on this Earth that might ever f— with me in my life!”

April 5, 2024

Cole launched a Lamar diss monitor referred to as “7 Minute Drill” on the mixtape Would possibly Delete Later, that includes pointed lyrics like, “Your first s— was traditional, your final s— was tragic.” Two days later, nevertheless, he issued a public apology, saying he “felt horrible” concerning the track, which he later faraway from streaming providers.

April 12, 2024

Future and Metro launched their collaborative album We Nonetheless Don’t Belief You, which included visitor appearances from ASAP Rocky and The Weeknd, each of whom followers believed insulted Drake on their respective tracks. On “Present of Arms,” ASAP appeared to take pictures at For All of the Canine not making a lot of a cultural impression, whereas The Weeknd appeared to specific reduction that he hadn’t signed with Drake’s label, OVO Sound.

April 13, 2024

The diss monitor warfare started in earnest with the leak of Drake’s “Push Ups,” which mocked Lamar’s peak and referred to as him a “pipsqueak.”

April 19, 2024

Days later, Drake adopted up with “Taylor Made Freestyle,” which took intention at Lamar’s connection to Taylor Swift (the pair collaborated on the “Dangerous Blood” remix in 2015). The track ended up making headlines for a special purpose, nevertheless: It included an AI-generated pattern of Tupac Shakur. Shakur’s property despatched Drake a cease-and-desist over the usage of the pattern, and Drake eliminated the monitor from streaming providers.

April 30, 2024

Lamar hit again with “Euphoria” — the primary of a number of diss tracks — as a nod to the HBO drama of the identical title (which Drake govt produces). The six-minute track noticed Lamar hurling insults like, “I hate the best way that you just stroll, the best way that you just speak, I hate the best way that you just gown / Stunned you needed that characteristic request / You realize that we received some shit to handle / I even hate while you say the phrase ‘n—-,’ however that’s simply me, I assume / Some s— simply cringeworthy, it ain’t even gotta be deep, I assume.”

Could 3, 2024

Days later, the pair have been at it once more, with Lamar dropping “6:16 in LA” and Drake releasing “Household Issues” in response. Lamar’s track claimed that there was a mole inside OVO sharing dust on Drake, whereas Drake accused Lamar of dishonest on his spouse, Whitney Alford.

Could 4, 2024

Lamar dropped two extra songs that the majority commentators agreed successfully ended the battle: “Meet the Grahams” and “Not Like Us.” Within the former monitor, Lamar alleged that Drake has a secret daughter he’s by no means publicly acknowledged, and within the latter he famously accused him of pedophilia.

Could 5, 2024

Drake denied the allegations in “Meet the Grahams” and “Not Like Us” with “The Coronary heart Half 6,” the title of which is a play on Lamar’s personal “The Coronary heart” sequence. In a single verse, Drake claimed that he baited Lamar into receiving pretend intel concerning the alleged secret daughter, rapping: “We plotted for per week after which we fed you the knowledge / A daughter that’s 11 years previous, I wager he takes it / We thought of giving a pretend title or a vacation spot / However you so thirsty, you not involved with investigation.”

Metro Boomin, in the meantime, launched the immediately viral “BBL Drizzy” pattern and supplied a prize to the one who delivered one of the best rap over the beat. (The track’s title and hook is a reference to Rick Ross’ joking that Drake had a Brazilian butt raise.)

Could 24, 2024

Drake contributed a visitor verse on Sexxy Purple’s “U My Every thing,” which included a pattern of “BBL Drizzy.”

June 19, 2024

At his Pop Out live performance on Juneteenth, Lamar carried out “Not Like Us” 5 consecutive instances. Notable attendees included NBA stars LeBron James, Russell Westbrook and James Harden in addition to actors Ayo Edebiri and LaKeith Stanfield.

July 4, 2024

Lamar launched the “Not Like Us” music video, which features a scene that exhibits him beating up an owl puppet. (The brand for Drake’s OVO model is an owl.)

September 8, 2024

The NFL introduced Lamar because the halftime present performer for Tremendous Bowl LIX, which means that he — not Drake — would formally be as “massive because the Tremendous Bowl.”

September 11, 2024

After a number of musicians criticized the NFL for not selecting Lil Wayne because the halftime headliner (the sport will happen in his hometown of New Orleans), Drake seemingly weighed in by sharing a number of photographs of Wayne through his Instagram Story.

October 1, 2024

Drake denied hypothesis that he despatched a cease-and-desist letter to Lamar about performing “Not Like Us” on the halftime present. “The rumors are fully false,” a rep for the rapper advised Us on the time.

November 22, 2024

Lamar shocked followers with the discharge of his sixth studio album, GNX, which options manufacturing by longtime Swift pal and collaborator Jack Antonoff. On the opening monitor “Wacced Out Murals,” he addressed the controversy surrounding his halftime present gig and hinted that he and Drake won’t ever kiss and make up: “I by no means peaced it up, that s— don’t sit effectively with me / Earlier than I take a truce, I’ll take ’em to hell with me.”

November 25, 2024

In a authorized grievance, Drake alleged that Lamar’s report label, Common Music Group (which can also be his personal report label), conspired to “artificially inflate” the recognition of “Not Like Us.” The submitting listed a number of strategies UMG allegedly used to popularize “Not Like Us,” together with hiring bots, paying influencers to spice up the track and charging Spotify diminished licensing charges in change for recommending the track to customers trying to find “unrelated songs and artists.” The doc additionally accused UMG of paying Apple to have Siri “purposely misdirect” customers to Lamar’s monitor.

UMG vehemently denied Drake’s claims in a press release, telling Billboard: “The suggestion that UMG would do something to undermine any of its artists is offensive and unfaithful. We make use of the best moral practices in our advertising and marketing and promotional campaigns. No quantity of contrived and absurd authorized arguments on this pre-action submission can masks the truth that followers select the music they wish to hear.”

November 26, 2024

Drake filed a second movement in opposition to UMG in Texas, accusing the label of allegedly utilizing payola to advertise “Not Like Us” with iHeartRadio. He additionally accused UMG of defamation, claiming they may have prevented the track’s launch due to its lyrics “falsely accusing him of being a intercourse offender.”

December 20, 2024

Spotify weighed in on the authorized motions filed in opposition to UMG, denying Drake’s claims that the streaming platform was concerned in falsely inflating the streaming numbers of “Not Like Us.”

“Spotify and UMG have by no means had any such association,” the corporate mentioned in a court docket submitting, noting that they’d additionally discovered no proof to assist claims of an alleged bot assault.

In response, Drake’s authorized group mentioned in a press release, “It isn’t shocking that Spotify is attempting to distance themselves from UMG’s allegedly manipulative practices to artificially inflate streaming numbers on behalf of certainly one of its different artists. If Spotify and UMG don’t have anything to cover then they need to be completely high-quality complying with this fundamental discovery request.”

January 3, 2025

Drake kicked off the brand new yr with one other freestyle addressing his feud with Lamar. In “Preventing Irish” — which was shared through YouTube by producer Conductor Williams and rapidly deleted — the Canadian rapper seemingly addressed buddies (like LeBron James) who attended Lamar’s Pop Out live performance in June 2024. “The world fell in love with the gimmicks, even my brothers received tickets / Appeared like they beloved each minute,” he rapped. “Simply know this s— is private to us, and it wasn’t simply enterprise.”

The Grammy winner additionally hinted at his authorized dispute with UMG within the line, “I’d hate to see the empire crumble on decide’s convictions.”

January 14, 2025

Drake formally withdrew his authorized petition accusing UMG of artificially inflating the recognition of “Not Like Us” utilizing bots and different strategies of promotion, per Billboard. The rapper’s firm Frozen Moments LLC mentioned it will voluntarily withdraw the motion “with out prices to any get together.”

A separate motion filed in Texas accusing UMG of defamation and payola stays pending.

January 15, 2025

Sooner or later after withdrawing his authentic authorized petition, Drake filed a federal lawsuit accusing UMG of defamation and harassment, claiming that the label “selected company greed over the security and well-being of its artists.” In an 81-page grievance, Drake’s attorneys alleged that Lamar’s security impressed quite a few break-in makes an attempt at his Toronto dwelling in addition to a taking pictures that left a safety guard injured.

UMG denied his allegations, telling Us in a press release: “Not solely are these claims unfaithful, however the notion that we’d search to hurt the repute of any artist — not to mention Drake — is illogical. We’ve invested massively in his music and our workers all over the world have labored tirelessly for a few years to assist him obtain historic business and private monetary success. All through his profession, Drake has deliberately and efficiently used UMG to distribute his music and poetry to interact in conventionally outrageous back-and-forth ‘rap battles’ to specific his emotions about different artists. He now seeks to weaponize the authorized course of to silence an artist’s artistic expression and to hunt damages from UMG for distributing that artist’s music.”

The assertion continued: “We’ve not and don’t interact in defamation — in opposition to any particular person. On the similar time, we’ll vigorously defend this litigation to guard our individuals and our repute, in addition to any artist who may straight or not directly turn out to be a frivolous litigation goal for having accomplished nothing greater than write a track.”

February 9, 2025

After weeks of hypothesis about whether or not Lamar would really carry out “Not Like Us” on the Tremendous Bowl, he did — and introduced out Drake’s rumored ex Serena Williams in the course of the track. As Lamar completed his halftime present set, the tennis icon danced on stage in a blue and white outfit. (Lamar and Williams are each natives of Compton, California.)

Drake and Williams have been romantically linked within the early 2010s. Whereas neither ever confirmed their relationship, Drake mentioned in 2024 that he wrote the track “Too Good” from his 2016 album, Views, about her. “It’s humorous as a result of once I make songs about girls, I additionally make songs for them,” he defined in behind-the-scenes video footage. “If I’m gonna discuss them, I’ll no less than do them the justice of creating them a track that they like. So, I do know Serena very effectively and I do know that she’ll hear it loud and clear, however she’ll additionally not hate me for it as a result of it’s lighthearted.”

February 14, 2025

Drake seemingly made a number of references to his feud with Lamar on his and PartyNextDoor’s album $ome $exy $ongs 4 U, launched days after the Tremendous Bowl. The track “Gimme a Hug,” for instance, included strains like, “F— a rap beef, I’m tryna get the get together lit” and “N—-s is hating the boy for certain, the ladies in love.”

On “Brian Metal,” Drake joked that he’s “vegan now” after an earlier line requested for “all the meat on the facet.”

March 17, 2025

UMG filed to dismiss Drake’s lawsuit in opposition to them, claiming in court docket paperwork that the rapper solely sued as a result of he “misplaced a rap battle that he provoked and during which he willingly participated.”

The submitting continued, “As a substitute of accepting the loss just like the unbothered rap artist he usually claims to be, he has sued his personal report label in a misguided try and salve his wounds. [Drake’s] Grievance is totally with out benefit and must be dismissed with prejudice.”

UMG went on to notice that Drake beforehand signed a petition criticizing “the development of prosecutors utilizing artists’ artistic expression in opposition to them” by decoding rap lyrics as truth. “Drake was proper then and is fallacious now,” they continued through the court docket submitting. “Grievance’s unjustified claims in opposition to UMG are not more than Drake’s try to save lots of face for his unsuccessful rap battle with Lamar.”

June 2, 2025

Pusha T, who beforehand engaged in his personal rap battle with Drake, claimed that Drake’s lawsuit negatively affected his personal relationship with report label Def Jam (whose mum or dad firm is UMG). In an interview with GQ, Pusha claimed Def Jam tried to get him to change a Lamar visitor characteristic on the brand new Clipse album within the aftermath of the “Not Like Us” drama.

“They needed me to ask Kendrick to censor his verse, which in fact I used to be by no means doing,” he alleged. “After which they needed me to take the report off.”

Pusha refused to take away Lamar’s verse or the monitor he seems on, and Def Jam determined to launch Clipse from their contract and dropped Pusha as a solo artist. The brand new Clipse album will now come out on Jay-Z’s Roc Nation label, Lamar verse included. Pusha, in the meantime, nonetheless has nothing good to say about Drake.

“I don’t fee him no extra,” he advised GQ. “The suing factor is greater than some rap s***. I simply don’t fee you. Rattling, it’s prefer it simply type of cheapens the artwork of it as soon as we gotta have actual questions on suing and litigation. Like, what? For this?”

July 5, 2025

Drake mirrored on the aftermath of his 2024 feud with Lamar on the monitor “What Did I Miss?” Within the track, Drake took pictures at each Lamar himself and different buddies and colleagues who seemingly sided with Lamar over Drake. “I don’t give a f*** when you love me, I don’t give a f*** when you like me / Askin’ me, ‘How did it really feel?’ Can’t say it didn’t shock me,” he started. Later within the track, he rapped, “It’s love for my brothers and dying to a traitor, let’s go / She may determine to say no to me now, however say yеs to me later, let’s go.”

The monitor additionally referenced Lamar’s Pop Out live performance the place he performed “Not Like Us” 5 instances in a row within the line, “I noticed bro went to Pop Out with them, however been d***-riding gang since ‘Headlines.’” It was not clear who the road was referring to, however some followers speculated that it was about LeBron James.

July 2025

The largest feud in hip-hop was revived as soon as once more throughout Drake’s headlining set on the Wi-fi Pageant in London on July 12. Followers captured footage of Drake seemingly acknowledging anti-Lamar chants from the gang throughout his efficiency.

When followers began chanting “F*** Kendrick” throughout a break between songs, Drake cracked a smile and requested for a drink to toast to his followers’ boisterous assist.

“Seize me a shot,” Drake requested, including: “I’ll drink to that!”

Moments earlier, Drake challenged any “artist” to come back up on stage to face him in the event that they thought they may prime his competition efficiency.

“You title one other artist who can do it, and we are able to convey them up right here. We will conflict proper now. No one [can],” Drake mentioned. “That’s what I’m right here for. I’m right here for ya’all tonight!”