The Kendrick Lamar and Drake beef began in 2013 when Kendrick released his verse on Big Sean's song "Control." In his verse, Kendrick called out several rappers, including Drake, and claimed that he was the "King of New York." Drake responded by calling Kendrick's verse "just a ploy for attention" in an interview with Billboard. In 2014, Kendrick released his album "To Pimp a Butterfly," which many saw as a direct response to Drake's criticism. The album featured several tracks that seemed to take aim at Drake, including "The Blacker the Berry" and "King Kunta." Drake responded with a few subliminal shots on his mixtape "If You're Reading This It's Too Late." The beef continued to simmer in 2015 when Kendrick released his verse on the remix of Jidenna's "Classic Man." In the verse, Kendrick rapped, "I'm the king of my city, I'm the king of my country, I'm the king of my continent." Many took this as a direct shot at Drake, who had called himself the "6 God" and the "King of Toronto." However, the beef seemed to fizzle out in 2016 when both Kendrick and Drake won big at the Grammy Awards. Kendrick won Best Rap Album for "To Pimp a Butterfly," while Drake won Best Rap/Sung Performance for "Hotline Bling." The two even hugged on stage, seemingly putting an end to their feud. Since then, there have been no major incidents between Kendrick and Drake, and both rappers have continued to release successful music. Timeline: The feud between Canadian rapper Drake and American rapper Kendrick Lamar has been ongoing since the early 2010s. Here’s a brief timeline of their relationship: 2011: Drake and Kendrick Lamar collaborated on Drake’s album "Take Care". 2012: Lamar was featured on Drake’s album “Good Kid, M.A.A.D City” and also accompanied Drake as an opening act on his 2012 Club Paradise Tour. 2013: Lamar dissed Drake and several other rappers on the song “Control” by Big Sean, later clarifying that his verse was intended to be seen as "friendly competition". 2010s - Early 2020s: Drake and Lamar both publicly dismissed speculations of a conflict between them. However, media outlets identified numerous potential disses by both parties. March 2024: The feud escalated after the release of “Like That” by Future, Metro Boomin, and Lamar. Lamar dissed J. Cole and Drake on “Like That” after J. Cole proposed on “First Person Shooter” that he, Drake, and Lamar were the “Big Three” of hip hop. April 2024: Drake released the songs “Push Ups” and “Taylor Made Freestyle”. “Taylor Made Freestyle” was later deleted from social media after Tupac Shakur’s estate threatened Drake with legal action for the use of AI-generated vocals resembling Shakur’s. April 30, 2024: Lamar released “Euphoria” and “6:16 in LA” on May 31. May 2024: Drake responded with “Family Matters”, accusing Lamar of being a domestic abuser and alleging that one of Lamar’s children was fathered by Dave Free. Lamar released “Meet the Grahams”, accusing Drake of sex trafficking, being a sexual predator, and fathering a secret child. June 2024: Critics have generally described Lamar as the winner of the feud.
