The ongoing discourse between Kendrick Lamar and Drake has captivated the rap community in what some are calling an "unprecedented" beef. For those who have lost track of how this all unfolded, we've provided a timeline to get you back on track.
While the tension between Kendrick and Drake can be traced back to 2013, when Big Sean recruited Kendrick for "Control," the bad blood came to a boil in the last few weeks.
MARCH: Future & Metro Boomin drop "Like That" featuring Kendrick Lamar, who fires a few shots in both Drake and J. Cole's direction for their collaboration, "First-Person Shooter." He raps, "Motherfuck the big three, nigga, it’s just big me / Nigga, bum, what? I’m really like that / And your best work is a light pack / Nigga, Prince outlived Mike Jack’ / Nigga, bum, ‘for all your dogs gettin’ buried.”
APRIL: Drake returns fire with "Push Ups" and aims for Kendrick's jugular with lines like, "How the fuck you big steppin' with a size-seven men's on?/This the bark with the bite, nigga, what's up?/I know my picture on the wall when y'all cook up/Extortion baby, whole career, you been shook up/'Cause Top told you, "Drop and give me fifty," like some push-ups, huh/Your last one bricked, you really not on shit."
Drake doubles down with "Taylor Made Freestyle," which is promptly scrubbed from the internet after the Tupac Shakur Estate threatens to sue Drake over the use of a sample of 2Pac's voice generated by A.I. That was that.
APRIL 30: But as the bad blood continued to simmer, it wasn't long before Kendrick returned with "euphoria," a six-minute verbal assault that dismantled everything about Drake.
"It's always been about love and hate, now let me say I'm the biggest hater/I hate the way that you walk, the way that you talk, I hate the way that you dress/I hate the way that you sneak diss, if I catch flight, it's gon' be direct/We hate the bitches you fuck 'cause they confuse themself with real women/And notice, I said "we," it's not just me, I'm what the culture feelin'."
MAY 3: Kendrick dropped the surprise track "6:16 in LA" via Instagram. The single art included a photo of a Maybach glove laying on a table, as if to say "the gloves are off." (More on that later.) The song title was a play on Drake's history of naming his songs things like "5AM in Toronto" or "8AM in Charlotte."
The biggest takeaway was the notion Kendrick was being fed inside information from Drake's OVO camp.
"Are you finally ready to play have-you-ever? Let's see," he rapped. "Have you ever thought that OVO is workin' for me?/Fake bully, I hate bullies, you must be a terrible person/Everyone inside your team is whispering that you deserve it."
MAY 3: Hours later, Drake uploaded a video for "Family Matters," in which he admitted Kendrick crossed the line when he brought up his son, Adonis. So in retaliation, Drake inserted Kendrick's partner, Whitney, into the mix.
"Always rappin' like you 'bout to get the slaves freed," he rapped. "You just actin' like an activist, it's make-believe/Don't even go back to your hood and plant no money trees/Say you hate the girls I fuck, but what you really mean?/I been with Black and white and everything that's in between/You the Black messiah wifin' up a mixed queen/And hit vanilla cream to help out with your self-esteem."
MAY 3: In an unprecedented—and calculated—move, Kendrick Lamar dropped "meet the grahams," taking aim at Drake's entire family, including Adonis, his father Dennis Graham and mother Sandra Graham. At one point, he said Drake should "die."
"Sandra, sit down, what I'm about to say is heavy, now listen," he said. "Mm-mm, your son's a sick man with sick thoughts, I think n####s like him should die/Him and Weinstein should get fucked up in a cell for the rest they life/He hates Black women, hypersexualizes 'em with kinks of a nympho fetish/Grew facial hair because he understood bein' a beard just fit him better/He got sex offenders on ho-VO that he keep on a monthly allowance/A child should never be compromised and he keepin' his child around them/And we gotta raise our daughters knowin' there's predators like him lurkin'."
MAY 4: Kendrick Lamar wasn't done yet and popped up again with "Not Like Us" the following day. Produced by Mustard, the track begins with Kendrick whispering "I see dead people." The accompanying video includes a Google Earth image of Drake's Toronto mansion.
A bit more conservative than the "euphoria," "6:16 in LA" and "Meet The Grahams," the song ran about four minutes and found Kendrick rehashing some of his previous points. He doubled down on the rumor Drake is a pedophile.
MAY 5: While many considered "Not Like Us" the final nail in the coffin, Drake evidently felt differently. On Cinco de Mayo, he returned with "The Heart Part 6," a reference to Kendrick's long-running "The Heart" series.
In this one, Drake accused Kendrick of "spiraling." He then went on to question where he's getting the alleged "proof" he has a secret daughter. He then claimed the information Kendrick was being fed was actually all a ruse.
"We plotted for a week and then we fed you the information," Drake rapped. "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."
