Kendrick Lamar’s explosive feud with Drake explained ahead of Super Bowl halftime show

Over the past year hip-hop heavyweights Kendrick Lamar and Drake have fired lyrics shots at each other, and all eyes are going to be on Kendricktonight as he is confirmed to perform one of the diss tracks while headlining the Super Bowl halftime show. Although the latest feud seems to be the most intense, the Swimming Pools rapper, 37, and the Take Care hitmaker – real name Aubrey Graham – their highly publicised beef dates back to 2013.

Before things turned sour, the musicians collaborated on each other’s records during the early stages of their careers but after some brutal exchanges through their individual tracks, it doesn’t look like we’ll see them cheering at an NBA game for the foreseeable future. Kendrick is set to headline the 80,000-capacity Caesar Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, with a very special performance.

And while we can guarantee Drake, 38, won’t be watching, millions will be sure to tune in to see the highly anticipated gig. In October 2023 rapper, J. Cole – real name Jermaine Lamarr Cole – collaborated with Drake on the rap song First Song Shooter and mentioned his name as one of the biggest rappers, which didn’t sit well with Kendrick. ‘Love when they argue the hardest MC / Is it K-Dot? Is it Aubrey? Or me? / We the big three like we started a league / But right now, I feel like Muhammad Ali,’ Cole rapped.

Shortly after (March 2024)  Kendrick featured on Future & Metro Boomin’s Like That and made it clear which rapper wasn’t part of the ‘big three.’. ‘F**k sneak dissin’, first-person shooter / I hope they came with three switches,’ he rapped, adding, ‘Motherf****k the big three / N***a, it’s just big me.’. The All the Stars hitmaker proceeded to throw shade at Drake’s For All the Dogs’ project, rapping:’ “For all your dogs gettin’ buried / That’s a K with all these nines, he gon’ see Pet Sematary.’.

Just when you thought Drake was done with the lyrical jibes… he wasn’t. Drake dropped his song Family Matters, where he accuses Kendrick of beating his fiancée, being unfaithful, and being a fake activist. ‘When you put your hands on your girl, is it self-defence cause she bigger than you?’ he rapped. ‘There’s nowhere to hide, there’s nowhere to hide, you know what I mean / They hired a crisis management team to clean up the fact that you beat on your queen / The picture you painted ain’t what it seem, you’re dead.’.

Kendrick dropped the diss tracks of all tracks Not Like Us in May 2024, which not only won one but two of the night’s most prestigious Grammy awards and five trophies in total. In the song, he accused Drake of being a ‘paedophile’ rapping: ‘Say, Drake, I hear you like ’em young / You better not ever go to cell block one / To any b***h that talk to him and they in love / Just make sure you hide your little sister from him.’.

‘Certified Lover Boy, certified paedophiles,’ he added while using Drake’s Toronto mansion as the album artwork. This January it was reported that Drake is suing UMG for spreading the ‘false and malicious narrative’ that he’s a paedophile. TMZ reported that the suit claims the song’s lyrics are filled with ‘inflammatory and shocking allegations’ and claims that UMG had an ulterior motive when it came to promoting Kendrick’s tune.

In the documents, Drake suggests that UMG profited from the devaluation of Drake’s brand as it would provide them with leverage when it came to future contract negotiations. According to the lawsuit, UMG also paid a third party to use bots to increase the song’s streams by at least 30million. A spokesperson for Universal Music Group told Metro: ‘Not only are these claims untrue, but the notion that we would seek to harm the reputation of any artist—let alone Drake—is illogical. We have invested massively in his music and our employees around the world have worked tirelessly for many years to help him achieve historic commercial and personal financial success.

Say, Drake, I hear you like ’em young. You better not ever go to cell block one. To any b***h that talk to him and they in love. Just make sure you hide your lil’ sister from him. They tell me Chubbs the only one that get your hand-me-downs. And Party at the party playin’ with his nose now. And Baka got a weird case, why is he around?. Certified Lover Boy? Certified paedophiles. ‘Throughout his career, Drake has intentionally and successfully used UMG to distribute his music and poetry to engage in conventionally outrageous back-and-forth “rap battles” to express his feelings about other artists.

‘He now seeks to weaponize the legal process to silence an artist’s creative expression and to seek damages from UMG for distributing that artist’s music. ‘We have not and do not engage in defamation—against any individual.  At the same time, we will vigorously defend this litigation to protect our people and our reputation, as well as any artist who might directly or indirectly become a frivolous litigation target for having done nothing more than write a song.’.