Aubrey Drake Graham

It’s important to recognize that Drake wasn’t the one who ignited the beef — that one goes to Lamar who had the first diss with “Motherf*ck the Big Three, it’s just Big Me” in his feature on Metro Boomin and Future’s “Not Like Us” album. That doesn’t necessarily mean that Drake was attacked unprovoked, but it does add some important context — Lamar had time to prepare for an attack while Drake had little time to prepare a defense to defend his honor.

Yet, “Push Ups,” Drake’s first release after “Not Like Us,” was still an impressive counter to mounting pressure after Lamar’s diss, especially considering the time crunch. Unlike Lamar’s allegations towards Drake in his releases, most of Drake’s in “Push Ups” can be easily verified. For example, Drake’s “Numbers-wise, I’m out of here; Money-wise, I’m out of here” can be verified with a Google search — Drake has over 300 Billboard top 100, Lamar has under 80; Lamar’s net worth is also estimated to be over $100 million less than Drake’s. Drake ends “Push Ups” with a not-so-subtle warning to Lamar that he would be wise to take seriously: “don’t wake the demon up.”

After Lamar’s back-to-back releases of “euphoria” and “6:16 in LA,” Drake retaliated with “Family Matters,” a “trilogy” of essentially three different songs in one. A risky move, Drake takes on defending himself from Lamar’s shots — calling out false allegations with “You better have some paperwork or that sh*t fake tea” — while simultaneously taking on Metro Boomin, Rick Ross, The Weeknd and A$AP Rocky. 

Drake really takes off the gloves in this one, blatantly alleging that Dave Free, longtime friend and creative partner of Lamar, is the secret father to one of Lamar’s children. Later on in the track, Drake even accuses Lamar of hitting his wife and high school sweetheart, Whitney Alford. 

Lamar responded with another back to back, one in which he claims Drake has a secret 11-year-old daughter. Even Drake fans must admit that Lamar’s “Meet the Grahams” was a diabolic diss, yet the caliber of the song is completely tarnished after Drake revealed that his team planted the incriminating information Lamar used to attack Drake, including the bit about the secret daughter. In “The Heart Part 6,” Drake’s most recent diss, he unveils that “We plotted for a week, and then we fed you the information.”

The truth is this debate is not as one-sided as the media makes it out to be. It’s certainly true that Lamar’s lyrics exceed almost anything written by Drake. But lyricism is only part of what makes music worth listening to. Drake’s stage presence, commercial success and his overall influence on the industry has Lamar beat. Really, we should be acknowledging the immense talent of each of these artists and appreciate the masterpieces each of them is contributing to the industry