Kendrick Lamar Duckworth

Kendrick Lamar Duckworth and Aubrey Drake Graham (Drake) have a complicated history, and their back and forth dissing spans over a decade. The beef started when Future and Metro Boomin released “We Don’t Trust You” weeks ago, and Lamar-featuring song “Like That” included some not-so-subtle reference to Drake’s recent album and a blowing diss towards both Drake and J. Cole: “Motherf*ck the Big Three, it’s just Big Me.”

Soon after, Drake retaliated with “Push Ups” and later “Taylor Made Freestyle,” an A.I.-voice troll, taunting Lamar to respond. And respond he did. Beginning with “Euphoria,” Lamar hilariously annihilated Drake, who is a co-producer of the notorious HBO series. Even though Lamar was saving the big guns for later releases, he targets the Drake ghostwriter claims, cleverly flipping Drake’s “20 v. 1” to “1 v. 20” to call out Drake’s reliance on minions. Throughout the lyrics, Lamar also plays off of Drake plastic surgery allegations and Drake’s insecurity in his racial identity. Lamar perfectly combines creative, Genius interpretation-worthy lyrics with clear-cut insults like “I hate the way that you walk, the way that you talk.”

Going back-to-back with “6:16 in LA,” Lamar nods to Drake’s own timestamp-named tracks with vicious attacks on Drake’s reputation, far exceeding the caliber of “Euphoria.” Lamar plays off of theories that Drake’s own label, OVO, and his ghost writers are conspiring against him with: “Have you ever thought that OVO is workin’ for me?” and “If you were street-smart, then you woulda caught that your entourage is only to hustle you.”

After a weak “Family Matters” release by Drake, Lamar responded with yet another back-to-back duo: “Meet the Grahams” and “Not Like Us.” On “Meet the Grahams,” Kendrick shifts his tactics to addressing the whole Drake family, including his son Adonis, mother Sandi, father Dennis, an alleged “hidden” 11-year-old daughter and “Aubrey” himself. And then Kendrick pulled out the “no-return” sex offender implications, directly comparing Drake to Harvey Weinstein and outright calling him a “predator.” To “any woman that be playin’” Drake’s music, Lamar says, “Know that you’re playin’ your sister.”

Lamar was the clear lyrical winner before the rap beef even started. It’s genuinely mind blowing that anyone would choose to listen to Drake’s lyrics in the first place — the never-ending mumbling and mind-numbing word choice make his music objectively bad. If anything, Drake is more of a celebrity than an artist. Drake should’ve known better than inserting himself into a diss battle with one of the most talented lyricists — evidenced by Lamar’s 2018 Pulitizer prize — of the century.

But what really solidifies Lamar’s victory over Drake is the sheer gravity and execution of Lamar’s allegations against him. Of course, Lamar could be making false accusations. But receipts and documentation have never been a requirement in rap beef, and allegations are supposed to be taken with a grain of salt. The difference between Drake’s allegations and Lamar’s is that Lamar’s accusations have more basis in Drake’s past strange behavior, from his questionable friendships with underaged girls to dating barely legal girls, including then-18-year-old model Bella Harris in 2018.

Drake deserves credit for stepping up to someone with the lyrical caliber of Lamar, but it looks like this decision could prove fatal to Drake’s entire career. In the words of Lamar in “Meet the Grahams”: “F*ck a rap battle, this a long life battle with yourself.”