When asked, the two rappers have often expressed admiration for each other’s skills, but have seemed to take subtle digs in their verses over the years, always with a specious spirit of denial and competition, leading to a hip-hop cold war.
A week in nuclear energy development
Lamar’s first targeted response, “Euphoria,” was more than six minutes long and was posted last Tuesday morning. In three parts where the temperature rises during their build, he warns Drake not to proceed, insisting in a somewhat comical way that things are still amicable. “You know you are a master manipulator and a habitual liar,” Lamar said. “But don’t lie to me, and I won’t tell you the truth.”
He accused Drake, who was born and raised in Toronto of mixed race, of imitating black American traditions and subliminally insulting him. “I hate the way you walk, the way you talk, I hate the way you dress,” Lamar said. “I hate the way you secretly diss, if I catch a plane, just go.” He questions Drake’s status as a father: “Teach him morals, integrity, discipline/Listen, man, you’re all about this Nothing is known.”
Days later, Lamar debuted a song on Instagram titled “6:16 in LA,” referencing Drake’s “back-to-back” diss strategy from his 2015 feud with Meek Mill, as well as taking a page from Drake’s song title structure. Lamar chose to engage in psychological warfare over parts produced by Swift’s chief collaborator, Jack Antonoff, and suggested that he had a mole in Drake’s operation and was aware of his opponent’s opposition research .
“Fake bully, I hate bullies, you must be a horrible person,” he said. “Everyone on your team is whispering that you deserve this.”
That night, Drake’s “Family Affair” opened with his own personal reasons — “You mentioned my seed, now dealing with his dad/I gotta get bad, I gotta get bad” — before taking on Lamar’s Fatherhood and standing up as a man in excruciating detail. “They hired a crisis management team to clean up the fact that you beat up the Queen,” Drake raps. “The picture you paint is not what it seems/You are dead.”
