Why Are Drake and Kendrick Feuding? A Complete Timeline of the Rappers' Beef — Including the Diss Track That Scored Kendrick 5 Grammys

Mar. 15, 2025

Drake attends the “Top Boy” UK Premiere on September 04, 2019 in London ; Kendrick Lamar attends The 2023 Met Gala on May 01, 2023 in New York City.Photo:Karwai Tang/WireImage ; Arturo Holmes/MG23/Getty

Drake attends the “Top Boy” UK Premiere on September 04, 2019 in London ; Kendrick Lamar attends The 2023 Met Gala on May 01, 2023 in New York City.

Karwai Tang/WireImage ; Arturo Holmes/MG23/Getty

It has been nearly a year since two of hip-hop’s icons entered a feud to end all feuds — andDrakeandKendrick Lamararen’t done yet.

The “Not Like Us” rapper joinedFutureand Metro Boomin on the track “Like That,” in which he made his disdain for Drake and J. Cole’s insinuation that they were on the same level clear — and took his and Drake’s beef to the next level.

What followed was months of diss tracks back and forth until Lamar finally seemed to win the battle with the release of “Not Like Us,” in which he called Drake a pedophile and a “colonizer.” Reps for Drake did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment regarding Lamar’s allegations about him.

To keep track of the drama between the rap heavyweights, here’s a comprehensive timeline of some of what’s been said in the studio, on stage and, at times, on Instagram between Lamar, Drake — and just about everybody else — since the release of “Like That” (and a little before it).

Oct. 6, 2023: Drake and J. Cole release “First Person Shooter”

J. Cole (L) and Drake (R) perform during the Dreamville Festival at Dorothea Dix Park in April 2023.Astrida Valigorsky/WireImage

J. Cole (L) and Drake (R) perform during the Dreamville Festival at Dorothea Dix Park on April 02, 2023 in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Astrida Valigorsky/WireImage

Lamar’s “Like That” verse may have sparked quite a few responses, but it only began as a response to J. Cole and Drake’s “First Person Shooter,” which was released in early October as part of the Canadian hitmaker’s latest album,For All the Dogs.

The song, which eventually hit No. 1 on theBillboardHot 100, features Cole effectively comparing himself to both Drake and Lamar as the “big three.”

“Love when they argue the hardest MC,” he raps. “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.”

March 22, 2024: Kendrick Lamar, Future and Metro Boomin release “Like That”

Kendrick Lamar appears at the 2023 Met Gala.Arturo Holmes/MG23/Getty

Kendrick Lamar

Arturo Holmes/MG23/Getty

Lamar was apparently not a fan of Cole’s “big three” comment, as five months later he addressed it with “Like That” — a song released as part of Metro Boomin and Future’s collaborative effortWe Don’t Trust You.

In Lamar’s verse, which is sandwiched in the middle of the song, he declares “motherf— the big three,” adding “it’s just big me.”

Beyond the “big three” takedown, Lamar’s verse also takes aim at Drake specifically, apparently comparing his adversary toMichael Jacksonand himself toPrince— all while dissing Drake’s “best work.” In the same verse, he seemingly calls out Drake’sFor All the Dogsalbum.

“What? I’m really like that/And your best work is a light pack/N—-, Prince outlived Mike Jack'/N—-, bum,” Lamar raps. “‘Fore all your dogs gettin’ buried/ That’s a K with all these nines, he gon' see Pet Sematary.”

April 5, 2024: J. Cole releases “7 Minute Drill”

J Cole performs on the main stage during Day 2 of Wireless Festival in July 2022 in London, England.Joseph Okpako/WireImage

J Cole performs on the main stage during Day 2 of Wireless Festival 2022 on July 02, 2022 in London, England.

Joseph Okpako/WireImage

After “Like That” rose to the No. 1 spot on theBillboardHot 100, J. Cole releasedhis surprise albumMight Delete Laterin early April.

Included in the album was track “7 Minute Drill,” which took direct aim at Lamar, specifically calling his 2022 albumMr. Morale & The Big Steppers“tragic” and implying that Lamar’sTo Pimp a Butterflyalbum was boring.

“He still doin’ shows, but fell off like theSimpsons/ Your first s— was classic, your last s— was tragic/ Your second s— put n—– to sleep, but they gassed it/ Your third s— was massive and that was your prime/ I was trailing right behind and I just now hit mine/ Now I’m front of the line with a comfortable lead/ How ironic, soon as I got it, now he want somethin’ with me,” Cole rapped.

He later argued that the elusive Lamar was “averagin’ one hard verse like every 30 months or somethin’,” then raps: “Four albums in 12 years, n—-, I can divide.”

April 7, 2024: J. Cole apologizes for “7 Minute Drill”

J. Cole attends BALLY’s ‘Off the Grid’ New York premiere in August 2015 in New York City.Neilson Barnard/Getty

J. Cole attends BALLY’s ‘Off the Grid’ New York premiere on August 5, 2015 in New York City.

Neilson Barnard/Getty

During anappearance at his Dreamville Festivalin North Carolina, the Grammy winner told the crowd that dissing Lamar so publicly “disrupts my f—ing peace,” and that it didn’t “sit right with my spirit.” He noted that he “downplayed” Lamar’s catalog and “his greatness.”

“But the world wanna see blood… So I say all of that to say, in my spirit of trying to get this music out, I ain’t gonna lie to y’all, I moved in a way that I spiritually feel bad on. I try to like, jab my n—- back. I try to keep it friendly, but at the end of the day, when I listen to it and when it comes out and I see the talk, that s— don’t sit right with my spirit.”

Cole asked Lamar to forgive him “for the misstep." The song was removed from streaming services just days later.

April 12, 2024: Future and Metro Boomin release another joint album,We Really Don’t Trust You

Metro Boomin performs at the Sahara Tent during the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April 2023.Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Coachella

Metro Boomin performs at the Sahara Tent during the 2023 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival

Just days after Cole backtracked on his Lamar diss, Future and Metro Boomin returned with a follow-up album stacked with features from the likes ofThe Weeknd,A$AP Rocky, and even Cole himself.

As previously reported, on song “Show of Hands,” Rocky alsoappears to use Rihanna’s “bad girl RiRi” monikerto allude to Drake still having feelings for her. It comes after fans believe Drake seeming took his own jab at Rocky on hisFor All the Dogsalbum in October.

“Call up Pluto, Metro, should’ve put me on the first one / N—-s swear they bitch the baddest, I just bagged the worst one/ N—-s in they feelings over women, what, you hurt or somethin'? / I smash before you birthed, son, Flacko hit it first, son,” Rocky raps.

April 13, 2024: Drake responds with leaked diss track “Push Ups”

Drake

Prince Williams/Wireimage

In the song, which Drake officiallyposted to his YouTube accountand streaming services on April 19, Drizzy can be heard calling Lamar “pipsqueak,” arguing that he wears “size 7 mens” shoes, and mocks his previous pop collaborations withTaylor SwiftandMaroon 5.

“Maroon 5 need a verse you better make it witty/You only need a verse for the Swifties/Top say drop and give ‘em 50," he raps, later comparing Lamar to other notable artists.

“You ain’t in no big three,SZAgot you wiped down,” he adds. “Travisgot you wiped down,Savagegot you wiped down/Like your label, boy, you in the scope right now/And you gon' feel the aftermath of what I write down.”

Fans believe the song takes aim at Future, Metro Boomin (“Metro, shut yo ho ass up and make some drums”), Rick Ross (“Every song that made it on the chart, he got from Drizzy”), and few others — with even more shots apparently thrown Lamar’s way. “I don’t care what Cole think, that Dot s— was weak as f—,” he raps.

April 13, 2024: Rick Ross immediately responds with “Champagne Moments"

Rick Ross.Christopher Polk/BET/Getty

Rick Ross

Within hours, Ross responded to Drake with his own diss track — and a number of social media clap backs. The song “Champagne Moments” was first teased on DJ Akademik’s Twitch stream.

In the full song, Ross accuses the rapper of having “ghostwriters,” calls him a “white boy,” and claims mentorLil Wayne"gave you the juice." Ross also accuses Drake of getting plastic surgery to make his nose smaller, and claims he unfollowed him on social media in response to a slight at fellow rapperFrench Montana.

“I unfollowed you, n—-, ‘cause you sent the motherf—ing cease-and-desist to French Montana, n—-,” Ross claims. “You sent the police, n—-, hatin’ on my dawg project/That wasn’t the same white boy that I seen, n—-, when we were makin' them early records.”

April 14, 2024: Drake and Ross' social media back and forth continues (ft. Uma Thurman)

Rick Ross, Drake.Jerritt Clark/Getty; Leon Bennett/WireImage

Rick Ross, Drake

In the aftermath of the pair’s latest (apparent) releases, Ross and Drake have exchanged plenty of words on Instagram and beyond. Since “Champagne Moments,” Ross has written onX (formerly Twitter): “If we keeping it gangster, when you see me you check me.”

Ross also encouraged him to “drop a response or tell the kids you don’t respond,” using the hashtag “#BBLDrizzy.”

Drake has shared a message of his own to Instagram, uploading an apparent text exchange with his mother, Sandi Graham, in which she playfully asked him about the alleged nose job, perBillboard. “I can’t believe you would get one without me … cuz you know I always wanted one," she wrote. “Don’t tell me that you got tattoos without me and now this too?”

TheDegrassialum responded to the text: “I would have got us a 2 for 1 deal if I went ma… It’s coming from Rick Ross the guy I did songs with he’s gone loopy off the Mounjaro he hasn’t eaten in days and it’s turned him angry and racist he’s performing at proms for money it’s bad don’t worry we’ll handle it.”

In response to Drake’s Instagram Stories, Ross shared a video of his own, announcing that “BBL Drizzy called his mommy on me.”

The actress then posted her own photo of theKill Billjumpsuit in storage, asking Drake: “Need this?”

April 19, 2024: Drake calls Taylor Swift the “biggest gangster in music” in Lamar diss “Push Ups,” featuring AI Tupac and Snoop Dogg

Mike Marsland/WireImage; Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty; Arturo Holmes/MG23/Getty

Drake, Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar

Days later, Drake was back for more — andname-dropped Taylor Swift.

As the musician waited for Lamar to respond to his"Push Ups" diss track, he decided to release another song of his own aimed at the “Be Alright” rapper.

“Taylor Made Freestyle,” a second diss track directed at Lamar, also controversially features AI verses fromSnoop Doggand the lateTupac Shakur. In the song — released April 19 on Instagram and seemingly named after Swift — Drake throws more jabs at Lamar, while alluding to what he says is the reason Lamar hasn’t responded yet: Swift.

“But now we gotta wait a f—ing week ‘cause Taylor Swift is your new Top/And if you ‘bout to drop, she gotta approve/This girl really ‘bout to make you act like you not in a feud,” Drake raps, alluding to how long he’s waited for a response from Lamar. “She tailor-made your schedule with Ant, you out of the loop/Hate all you corporate industry puppets, I’m not in the mood.”

Swift released her album,The Tortured Poets Department, on the same day.

April 26, 2024: Drake removes “Taylor Made Freestyle” from Instagram after Tupac’s estate threatened lawsuit

Drake, Tupac Shakur.Karwai Tang/WireImage; Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty

Drake and Tupac

Karwai Tang/WireImage; Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty

Drake’s “Taylor Made Freestyle"is no longer available following a threat of legal actionfromTupac Shakur’s estate due to the song’s use of an AI-generated verse using the late rap icon’s voice.

After Drake shared the Lamar diss track to Instagram on April 19, Tupac’s estatetook issue with the use of his voice and issued a cease-and-desist letterdemanding the song be taken down. On April 26, Drake removed the song from social media.

“Taylor Made Freestyle” featured an AI verse portraying the “California Love” rapper as an ally of Lamar’s, encouraging the fellow West Coast musician to clap back at Drake.

April 30, 2024: Kendrick Lamar responds to Drake on full-length diss track “Euphoria”

Kendrick Lamar, winner of Video of the Year, Best Hip Hop, Best Cinematography, Best Direction, Best Art Direction, Best Visual Effects for ‘Humble’, poses in the press room during the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards

Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty

Over a month after his “Like That” verse set off the back-and-forth, Lamarofficially responded in his own 6-minute track, “Euphoria,” featuring several direct shots at Drake — and a shoutout to a small business that helped attract a few more customers.

In the song, Lamar refers to Drake as “a master manipulator and a habitual liar” and takes aim at his rap skills: “You not a rap artist, you a scam artist with the hopes of bеing accepted.”

Elsewhere in the song, Lamar claims that he makes music to “electrify” while Drake makes music to “pacify,” voices his dislike of Drake using the N-word and seemingly — and slyly — mentions Drake’s longtime ghostwriter allegations (“Ain’t 20 v. 1, it’s 1 v. 20”).

Lamar also references Drake’s 2018 feud withPusha-T, in whichPusha revealed that Drake was father to now 6-year-old Adonis.

May 3, 2024: Kendrick Lamar goes after Drake again with follow-up diss “6:16 in LA”

Kendrick Lamar performs in Madrid in June 2023.Ricardo Rubio/Europa Press via Getty

Kendrick Lamar

Ricardo Rubio/Europa Press via Getty

Within days, Lamar doubled-down on his Drake disses with a few new angles on track “6:16 in LA.”

Sharing the follow-up diss trackon Instagram, the title of Lamar’s “6:16 in LA” appeared to be a nod at Drake’s similarly titled timestamp songs ( “6PM in New York,” “8am in Charlotte”). And the song itself questions Drake’s inner-circle, as Lamar teases seemingly being in cahoots with members of Drake’s crew.

“Have you ever thought that OVO was working for me? / Fake bully, I hate bullies / You must be a terrible person,” Lamar spews on the track, referencing Drake’s record label. “Everyone inside your team is whispering that you deserve it / Can’t Toosie Slide up outta this one / It’s just gon’ resurface.”

At the end of the song, Lamar claims that Drake’s “lil’ memes are losing steam” and that the public “figured” him out.

May 3, 2024: Drake accuses Kendrick Lamar of domestic violence, his child not being biologically his and takes shots at A$AP Rocky, Rick Ross (and many more) on “Family Matters”

Drake performs in September 10, 2021 in London, England.Joseph Okpako/WireImage

Drake performing crystal palace London Wireless 09 10 21

Drake didn’t hold back with his first diss track of what marked an action-packed weekend of lyrical take-downs: “Family Matters.”

The song — complete with a music video where a van (similar to the one on the cover of the deluxe edition of Lamar’sGood Kid, M.A.A.D City) gets demolished — features Drake making multiple unsubstantiated claims about Lamar’s family life. Drake also unleashed another short song, where he flips their song “Buried Alive Interlude,” where he further mocked Lamar.

In “Family Matters,” Drizzy apparently accuses Lamar of domestic violence (“They hired a crisis management team to clean up the fact that you beat on your queen”), claims that one of Lamar’s children is not biologically his (“I heard that one of ‘em little kids might be Dave Free’s”) and calls Lamar a “make-believe” activist who he believes doesn’t “go back to your hood and plant no money trees.”

“A cease and desist is for h—, can’t listen to lies that come out of your mouth. You called the Tupac estate and begged ‘em to sue me and get that s— down,” Drake also raps, referring to his use of A.I. Tupac vocals earlier in the back-and-forth.

Elsewhere in the song, Drake addresses his other beef with Rick Ross, ASAP Rocky, The Weeknd and more. In it, he mocks The Weeknd singing to apparently diss him (“Can’t listen to that stick talk in falsetto”) and claims his music is “gettin’ played in all the spots where boys got a little more pride.”

A rep for Lamar did not immediately respond to request for comment regarding Drake’s allegations.

May 3, 2024: Kendrick Lamar immediately responds, accuses Drake of having a secret daughter, speaks directly to his son Adonis on ‘Meet the Grahams’

Kendrick Lamar in 2018.Kevin Winter/Getty

Recording artist Kendrick Lamar accepts Best Rap Album for ‘DAMN.’ onstage during the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Madison Square Garden on January 28, 2018 in New York City.

Kevin Winter/Getty

Lamar gave Drake little time to celebrate his new song May 3, as minutes after the release of “Family Matters,” Lamar dropped another diss track in “Meet the Grahams.”

As the song’s title implies, Lamar’s response track appeared to be a direct nod to Drake mentioning Lamar’s family, as the Compton rapper uses “Meet the Grahams” to speak directly to individual members of Drake’s family — including an alleged secret daughter.

The song’s cover art is a zoomed-out photo of the “6:16 in LA” cover, featuring several alleged personal items belonging to Drake (such as a bottle of Ozempic prescribed to the Canadian rapper), which would imply that Lamar has a mole in Drake’s camp.

“Meet the Grahams” itself addresses several members of the Graham family in individual verses — from Drake’s son Adonis to his parents Dennis and Sandy.

“Dear Adonis, I’m sorry that that man is your father, let me be honest/ It takes a man to be a man, your dad is not responsive,” Lamar raps to Drake’s 6-year-old child. “I look at him and wish your grandpa woulda wore a condom/I’m sorry that you gotta grow up and then stand behind him.”

Elsewhere in that first verse, Lamar offers to be a “mentor” to Drake’s son and accuses Drake of having cosmetic surgery (“Get some discipline, don’t cut them corners like your daddy did/ f— what Ozempic did/ Don’t pay to play with them Brazilians, get a gym membership”).

Lamar then sets his sights on Drake’s parent, and encourages other celebrities likeLeBron JamesandStephen Curryto “keep the family away” from Drake. He also accuses Drake of having sex offenders on a “monthly allowance” and claims to know a “secret” about “some weird s— goin’ on and some of these artists be here to police it.”

“Mm-mm, your son’s a sick man with sick thoughts, I think n—– like him should die,” Lamar raps. “Him and Weinstein should get f—ed up in a cell for the rest they life.”

Perhaps the most-discussed bombshell from Lamar’s “Meet the Grahams” is his verse dedicated to who he claims to be an 11-year-old daughter of Drake. Drakedenied having a daughteron his Instagram Stories soon after the song’s release,’ writing, “Nahhhh hold on can someone find my hidden daughter pls and send her to me these guys are in shambles” with laughter emojis.

At the end of the song, Lamar addressed Drake directly, claiming that he doesn’t “have a hatin’ bone in my body” and that Drake “f—ed up the moment you called out my family’s name.”

“You lied about your son, you lied about your daughter, huh/You lied about them other kids that’s out there hopin' that you come/You lied about the only artist that can offer you some help/F— a rap battle, this a long life battle with yourself,” Lamar concludes the song.

Reps for Drake did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment regarding Lamar’s allegations about him.

May 4, 2024: Kendrick Lamar accuses Drake of pedophilia, calls him a “colonizer” on “Not Like Us”

Kendrick Lamar, Drake.Samir Hussein/WireImage; David Dow/NBAE via Getty

Kendrick Lamar and Rapper Drake

Samir Hussein/WireImage; David Dow/NBAE via Getty

Continuing to diss Drake from all angles, Lamar then released his follow-up to “Meet the Grahams” less than a day later: “Not Like Us.” And while its subject matter is heavy, he went at Drake over some upbeat production from DJ Mustard and Sounwave this time around.

Opening with the line “I see dead people” (a nod toThe Sixth Senseagain), some of the biggest takeaways from the song include Lamar further making allegations about Drake and underage girls, encouraging “any bitch that talk to him and they in love” to “hide your little sister from him.”

“Why you trolling' like a bitch? Ain’t you tired? Tryna strike a chord and it’s probably A-Minor," he raps.

Lamar also says that Drake was intimate withLil Wayne’s girlfriend when he was in jail, before going directly at Drake’s OVO crew, including affiliate Baka Not Nice (who wasreportedly chargedin 2014 with forcing a woman into prostitution, charges that were dropped. He reportedlyplead guilty to assault).

“Baka got a weird case, why is he around?Certified Lover Boy? Certified pedophiles,” Kendrick raps in the song. The track also features a cover art of Drake’s Toronto home with red markers on it apparently symbolizing maps that mark registered sex offenders.

Later in the track, Lamar directly responds to one of Drake’s “Family Matters” lines that insisted Lamar was “rappin’ like you ’bout to get the slaves freed.” In response, Lamar says Drake “doubled down callin' us some slaves,” and accuses Drake of using the city of Atlanta to his advantage.

May 5, 2024: Drake says he set Kendrick Lamar up with fake information, claims he’s “way too famous” for pedophilia claims on “The Heart Part 6”

Drake appears at the Billboard Music Awards in May 2021.Christopher Polk/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty

Drake accepts Artist of the Decade with son Adonis on stage during the 2021 Billboard Music Awards held at the Microsoft Theater on May 23, 2021 in Los Angeles, California

Christopher Polk/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty

Drake wrapped up a weekend of back-and-forth diss tracks with “The Heart Part 6,” which features a title nodding to Lamar’s “The Heart” series of songs (Lamar’s last inclusion with said title was 2022’s “The Heart Part 5”).

Throughout the track, Drake refutes many of Lamar’s allegations about him, including the pedophilia claims, calling Lamar’s “Epstein angle” “the s— I expected.” Drake then makes direct reference to Lamar’sMr. Morale & The Big Stepperssong “Mother I Sober," connecting the pedophilia claims to Lamar being molested as a child.

“Wait a second, that’s that one record where you say you got molested/ Aw, f— me, I just made the whole connection,” Drake raps. “This about to get so depressing/ This is trauma from your own confessions/ This when your father leave you home alone with no protection so neglected/ That’s why these pedophile raps is s— you so obsessed with, it’s so excessive.”

As many fans have since noted, Drake may have misinterpreted Lamar’s song as Lamar did not reveal that he was molested in “Mother I Sober,” in which he rapped “Family ties, they accused my cousin/ ‘Did he touch you Kendrick?’/ Never lied, but no one believed me when I said ‘He didn’t.’”

Elsewhere in “The Heart Part 6,” Drake asserts that he’s “never been with no one underage but now I understand why this the angle that you really mess with.”

“If I was f—ing young girls, I promise I’d have been arrested/ I’m way too famous for this s— you just suggested,” Drake raps. “But that’s not the lesson, clearly there’s a deeper message/Deep cuts that never healed and now they got infected.”

Drake also claims in “The Heart Part 6” that he fed Lamar fake information — including the photo of medication used on his “Meet the Grahams” cover and stories about him having a daughter. “We plotted for a week and then we fed you the information/ A daughter that’s 11 years old, I bet he takes it," Drake raps. “We thought about giving a fake name or a destination/ But you so thirsty, you not concerned with investigation.”

Elsewhere in the song, Drake reiterates his claim that Lamar’s friend Dave Free is the father of one of his children, before using an outro to say that Lamar would be a “worthy competitor if I was really a predator and you weren’t f—in' lying to every blogger and editor.”

“The one before the last one, we finessed you into telling a story that doesn’t even exist,” Drake claims toward the end of the song. “And then, you go and drop the West Coast one to try and cover that up.”

June 4, 2024: Drake removes “The Heart Part 6” and “Family Matters” diss tracks from his Instagram page

ATLANTA, GA - DECEMBER 9: Drake performs onstage during “Lil Baby & Friends Birthday Celebration Concert” at State Farm Arena on December 9, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Prince Williams/Wireimage)

On June 4, roughly a month after Drake seemingly issued his final response to his beef with Lamar, eagle-eyed fans noticed the “Pipe Down” rapper removed his diss tracks “The Heart Part 6” and “Family Matters” from his Instagram page. However, the two songs still remain on hisYouTube channelandX page, where his initial diss, “Push Ups,” is also still posted.

It’s unclear if Drake is waiving the white flag to officially end his rift with Lamar (at least on wax), but it could be a sign that he’s ready to release non-beef-related music again. In acryptic Instagram Storiesposted in early May, the “Slime You Out” rap star teased, “Good times. Summer vibes up next,” alongside an illustration of a knight with a sword standing before an army.

June 5, 2024: Kendrick Lamar announces a rare one-night-only show in Los Angeles weeks after dissing Drake on No. 1 hit “Not Like Us”

Kendrick Lamar

June 19, 2024: Kendrick Lamar performs “Not Like Us” and other Drake diss tracks live for the first time during L.A. concert

Kendrick Lamar performs onstage during The Pop Out a Ken & Friends Presented by pgLang and Free Lunch at The Kia Forum on June 19, 2024 in Inglewood, California.

Timothy Norris/Getty Images for pgLang, Amazon Music, & Free Lunch

Lamar set a new precedent in his rap beef with Drake when he performed his club anthem diss “Not Like Us” not once, not twice, butfivetimes back-to-back during his L.A. Juneteenth concert. The star-studded event at the Kia Forum kicked off with a bevy of performances from West Coast artists likeTyler, the Creator,Roddy Ricch,Ty Dolla $ign,YGand more before Lamar took the stage to kick off an all-star set of old and newer hits.

Finally, toward the end of the epic show, Lamar launched into his searing “Not Like Us” diss for the first time live, running the song back repeatedly as the crowd — plus fellow artists, dancers, NBA stars (Russell WestbrookandDeMar DeRozan) and friends from historically feuding sections of South Los Angeles on stage — assisted him in chanting memorable Drake punchlines like, “Tryna strike a chord and it’s probably A-Minor.”

At one point during his set, Lamar asked the audience, “Y’all ain’t gonna let nobody disrespect the West Coast, huh? Oh y’all ain’t gonna let nobody mock or imitate our legends, huh?" This appeared to be a nod to Drake’s AI-assisted “Taylor Made Freestyle” track that used the voices of Snoop and Shakur.

The Compton native ended his one-night-only show dedicated to a night of Drake disses with a group photo, saying, “You ain’t never seen this many sections on one stage. Let the world see this. We need to show everything."

“This is unity,” he added. “Unity from all of sides of LA, East LA to West, Crips, Bloods, this makes me emotional.”

Nov. 22, 2024: Kendrick Lamar surprise releases new albumGNX, addresses previous Drake disses

Kendrick Lamar.pgLang

Kendrick Lamar

pgLang

After months of major career wins — including beingannounced as the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show performerin September and earningfive Grammy nominationsfor “Not Like Us” in November — Lamar continued his run on Nov. 22 with a surprise full-length album,GNX.

The project sees the rapper team up withSZA(“luther” and “gloria”), a string of West Coast collaborators and a few go-to producers like Mustard (“tv off”) and evenJack Antonoff, who is credited on several of the album’s 12 total tracks. While Lamar doesn’t name Drake directly on the LP, he does address a few other recent happenings in his orbit — fromLil Wayne’s disappointmentover his Super Bowl headlining slot to Snoop Dogg’s reposting of Drake’s “Taylor Made Freestyle” earlier in the year.

“Snoop posted ‘Taylor Made,’ I prayed it was the edibles/I couldn’t believe it, it was only right for me to let it go,” Lamar rapped.

Nov. 25, 2024: Drake’s company filed a petition against Universal Music Group for allegedly falsifying the success of “Not Like Us”

Drake performs onstage during “Lil Baby & Friends Birthday Celebration Concert”

UMG denied the allegations in a statement to PEOPLE.

Jan. 15, 2025: Drake sues his own record label for alleged defamation following “Not Like Us”

In another filing against UMG, Drakesued the record labelfor releasing and promoting “Not Like Us,” alleging that it was defamation against him.

UMG allegedly “approved, published, and launched a campaign to create a viral hit out of a rap track that falsely accuses Drake of being a pedophile and calls for violent retribution against him,” the filing stated.

The company responded in a statement shared with PEOPLE, denying the accusations that it intentionally tried to harm Drake’s career.

“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,” a spokesperson for UMG told PEOPLE in a statement.

Feb. 2, 2025: Kendrick Lamar wins five Grammy Awards for “Not Like Us”

Kendrick Lamar poses with the Record Of The Year, Best Rap Performance, Song Of The Year, Best Music Video, Best Rap Song awards in the press room during the 67th Annual Grammy Awards.FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty

Kendrick Lamar poses with the Record Of The Year, Best Rap Performance, Song Of The Year, Best Music Video, Best Rap Song awards in the press room during the 67th Annual Grammy Awards

FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty

Lamar took him five Grammys for the now infamous diss track, including two of the “Big 4” awards: Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

As he walked on stage, the room erupted as they sang along to the lyrics of the song, belting the “A-minor” part.

Feb. 3, 2025: Drake announces new music as his father says he pays no mind to the Grammys

Dennis Graham and Drake attend the 2017 Billboard Music Awards at T-Mobile Arena on May 21, 2017 in Las Vegas.Chris Polk/BBMA2017/Getty

LAS VEGAS, NV - MAY 21: Dennis Graham and Drake attend the 2017 Billboard Music Awards at T-Mobile Arena on May 21, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Polk/BBMA2017/Getty Images for DCP)

Though Lamar didn’t mention Drake in his acceptance speeches, the “Hotline Bling” rapper’s father, Dennis Graham,did make a comment about the wins.

“I don’t care nothing about that s—. That ain’t got nothing to do with me,” Graham said in aman-on-the-street interviewwhen asked about his take on Lamar’s wins. “All the best to him, man. I don’t do that bulls—.”

Drake also seemed to pay the wins no mind as he announced in anInstagrampost that he was releasing new music in a project titled “$OME $EXY $ONGS 4 U” alongside PartyNextDoor on Valentine’s Day.

source: people.com