Drake and Kendrick Lamar's beef — from its beginnings to the Super Bowl — explained

Drake vs Kendrick Lamar is the biggest beef in recent rap history. It's a fight that's gone miles beyond the usual lyrical martial artistry, though there has certainly been plenty of that. It has spurred multiple court actions and a stunning rebellion against their shared record label. It spawned a song that just won two of the big four Grammys and will almost certainly be performed at the Super Bowl this weekend.

It wasn't always this way. They once were collaborators: On Drake's 2011 track “Buried Alive Interlude,” on Lamar's 2012 release “Poetic Justice,” and on A$AP Rocky’s “(Expletive) ’ Problems" that same year. It didn't last long. In 2013, the Pulitzer Prize winner Lamar was featured on Big Sean's “Control,” in which he called out a slew of contemporary rappers including J. Cole, Meek Mill, A$AP Rocky, Big Sean himself and Drake.

“I got love for you all, but I’m trying to murder you,” he rapped. “Trying to make sure your core fans never heard of you.”. Drake responded in a Billboard cover story, saying “Kendrick's not murdering me, at all, in any platform.” Lamar took another jab just afterward, at the 2013 BET Hip-Hop Awards. The rappers launched occasional disses at each other in the following years. Drake beefed with other performers, most infamously Pusha T in 2018, where the latter rapper dropped "The Story of Adidon,” revealing Drake is a father.

In October 2023, J. Cole may have accidentally reignited the beef on “First Person Shooter” with Drake. He rapped “Love when they argue the hardest MC / Is it K-Dot? Is it Aubrey? Or me?" referencing Lamar and Drake's birth name, Aubrey Graham. Then, just over a year ago, it exploded exponentially. Here's a timeline of the major developments. It should be noted that diss tracks between rappers often include exaggerated truths and unsubstantiated rumors for dramatic effect.

March 22: Lamar disses Drake on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That”. “The big three,” Lamar raps, calling back to J. Cole, “It’s just big me.”. He references Drake's 2023 album “For All the Dogs," and also compares himself to Prince and Drake to Michael Jackson: "Prince outlived Mike Jack.”. April 13: Drake's “Push Ups” leaks. Drake's response leaks. “You ain’t in no Big Three, SZA got you wiped down, Travis got you wiped down, Savage got you wiped down,” he raps. (SZA would later be announced as Lamar's Super Bowl collaborator.).

April 24: Drake responds with a second, AI-assisted diss track and pulls in Taylor Swift. Drake's second diss track used artificial intelligence technology to include verses from Tupac and Snoop Dogg, two of Lamar's influences. In his own verse, Drake accuses Lamar of delaying his response track because of the imminent release of Taylor Swift 's “The Tortured Poets Department.” (Lamar collaborated with Swift on “Bad Blood.”).

Tupac's estate threatened to sue Drake in response, so he removed the song from his social channels. April 30: Lamar hits back with a nearly six-and-a-half-minute track, “Euphoria”. This is where it gets more complicated. Lamar's “Euphoria” hits like an opus, unleashing a slew of allegations against Drake. He comes after Drake's skills as a rapper, use of AI, appearance, racial identity, and parenting.

“I got a son to raise, but I can see you know nothin’ ’bout that," Lamar raps. The title is a reference to the HBO series “Euphoria,” of which Drake is an executive producer. May 3: Lamar drops a follow-up, “6:16 in LA”. In Lamar's next diss, titled after a time and location like Drake is wont to do, Lamar targets the company Drizzy keeps. “Have you ever thought that OVO was working for me? / Fake bully, I hate bullies,” he raps, referencing Drake's record label. "You must be a terrible person.”.

According to Billboard, the song was produced by Sounwave and Jack Antonoff — the latter notably Swift's longtime producer. It samples Al Green’s “What a Wonderful Thing Love Is," on which one of Drake's relatives played guitar. May 3: Drake launches “Family Matters”. Drake hits back with a music video and a nearly eight-minute response, in which he alleges abuse and infidelity in Lamar's relationship with his fiancée.

May 4: Lamar responds with “Meet the Grahams”. Almost immediately afterward, Lamar addresses Drake's son in “Meet the Grahams:” “I'm sorry that man is your father.” Lamar also addresses Drake's parents, and “a baby girl,” alleging Drake has a secret daughter. He also labels Drake a “predator," without elaborating. May 4: Less than 24 hours later, Lamar drops “Not Like Us”. Lamar doubles down, releasing “Not Like Us," produced by DJ Mustard.

“Say, Drake, I hear you like ’em young / You better not ever go to cell block one,” Lamar raps. It would later reach stratospheric levels for a diss track. May 5: Drake softens his blows on “The Heart Part 6”. Referencing Lamar's “The Heart” series, Drake drops “The Heart Part 6.” In the song “Prove It," Drake challenges Lamar's allegations, doubles down on his own against him, and says that he does not have a secret daughter.