One of the biggest pop culture moments of 2024 was Drake and Kendrick Lamar's rap war that saw them exchange a total of eight diss tracks between March 26 and May 4. However, it appears Kendrick, 37, has had the last laugh after Not Like Us became the first ever 'beef song' to win a Grammy on Sunday, February 2, 2025. The track also earned Kendrick all five awards that he was nominated for, including Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Rap Song, and Best Music Video, at the ceremony in his hometown of Los Angeles.

The Pulitzer Prize-winner's success led fans on X/Twitter to declare Kendrick as the undisputed winner of the feud between him and Drake that began in 2013 and continues to this date. Drake, who didn't attend the ceremony last night, was mentioned numerous times on X/Twitter after Kendrick swept the Grammys - with one person praising the Compton native as an 'insane genius' for his lyrical abilities and no-holds-barred verses.

Released last May, the viral song Not Like Us saw Kendrick sensationally accuse Drake of being a 'certified pedophile' and pursuing minors. Drake, 38, denied the allegations in his rebuttal track The Heart Part 6, saying his was 'not a name you gon’ see on no sex offender list'. Not Like Us has, however, become a sensation, earning its rapper both critical and commercial acclaim as well as the slot at the 2025 Super Bowl Halftime Performance later this month.

Here, FEMAIL looks back at one of hip-hop's greatest rivalries that spawned the historic diss track - and saw former friends Drake and Kendrick fall out with each other over the course of several years:. Kendrick Lamar, 37, won the Grammy for Record of the Year with the Compton-born rapper picking up the prize for Not Like Us - the viral Drake diss track that was released last May. The Canadian and the Compton native started out amicable, collaborating on Drake's 2011 album Take Care, Kendrick's 2012 track Poetic Justice, and ASAP Rocky's 2013 track F***in' Problems.

Drake in a still from the music video of First Person Shooter that was released in October 2023 and is believed to have reignited his beef with Kendrick. The Canadian and the Compton native started out amicable, collaborating on Drake's 2011 album Take Care, Kendrick's 2012 track Poetic Justice, and ASAP Rocky's 2013 track F***in' Problems. The rap rivals even happily toured together in 2012 during Drake's $42.6 million-grossing, 65-date Club Paradise Tour.

The origins of the feud are written into Big Sean's 2013 song Control with a guest verse by Kendrick that didn't sit well with Drake, after he placed himself at the top of the hip-hop food chain. 'I'm usually homeboys with the same n****s I'm rhyming with / But this is hip-hop and them n****s should know what time it is / And that goes for Jermaine Cole, Big K.R.I.T., Wale, Pusha T, Meek Millz, ASAP Rocky, Drake.

'Big Sean, Jay Electron', Tyler, Mac Miller / I got love for you all, but I'm tryna murder you n****s / Tryna make sure your core fans never heard of you n****s / They don't wanna hear not one more noun or verb from you n****s.'. Drake addressed the verse on multiple occasions, with the Canadian singer questioning the longevity of Kendrick's career as well as the impact of his music. He told Pitchfork: '[Kendrick is giving people moments. But are you listening to it now, at this point in time?.

'Okay...It was real cool for a couple of weeks. [But] If I asked you, for example, how does that verse start?. The origins of the feud are written into Big Sean's 2013 song Control with a guest verse by Kendrick that didn't sit well with Drake, after he placed himself at the top of the hip-hop food chain. It appears that the feud between them was the result of differing attitudes towards wealth and fame, with Kendrick being fiercely tight-lipped about his private life while Drake is known for showing off his lavish lifestyle on Instagram.

In an interview with Billboard, Drake commented on being name-checked by Kendrick on Control: 'I didn't really have anything to say about it. 'It just sounded like an ambitious thought to me. That's all it was. I know good and well that Kendrick's not murdering me, at all, in any platform. So when that day presents itself, I guess we can revisit the topic.'. The same year, Kendrick was named GQ's Rapper of the Year and told Complex that while things were 'pretty cool' between him and Drake, 'I would be okay if we weren't' as it became clear their friendship had veered off course and hit a rocky patch.

Drake, however, appeared to take aim at Kendrick for his verse on Control when he said 'I'm the one you should worry about' in his 2013 hit The Language that was part of his third album Nothing Was the Same. He also dismissed Kendrick's alleged attitude towards wealth, rapping: 'N***as downplaying the money but that's what you do when the money down.'. During an episode of YouTube show What's the Dirt, host Matt noted that Drake describing himself as a 'motormouth' was 'clearly about Kendrick' known for his breathless delivery.