After Kendrick Lamar aimed at Drake and J. Cole on Metro Boomin and Future’s “Like That,” Drake has apparently fired back — although there’s been no official confirmation — with a diss track that surfaced on social media on Saturday (April 13).
Early in the day, a four-minute “leaked” song attributed to Drake hit social media, with some doubting its authenticity and speculating that it was an A.I.-created record. The original version sounded like an unmixed demo over an interpolation of Junior M.A.F.I.A.’s “Get Money,” while a high-quality version with a different beat emerged in the afternoon. To make matters more opaque, Power 105 claimed that the diss track was legitimate and debuted the official artwork showing Lamar doing push ups, though Drake’s team did not immediately confirm the track’s legitimacy when contacted by Variety.
After a long day of internet chatter, Drake seemingly confirmed the track’s legitimacy, posting a photo to Instagram of Uma Thurman as the Bride in “Kill Bill,” wielding a samurai sword while surrounded by a group of attackers. Not only Power 105 but its parent company iHeartRadio — the country’s largest radio network — have posted the song, which also supports its authenticity.
Drake’s song, apparently titled “Push Ups,” sees the rapper firing shots in all directions. He of course goes at Lamar straight out of the gate with a few jabs. “How the fuck you big steppin with a size 7 mens on?” he raps. “Your last one bricked, you really not on shit / They make excuses for you ’cause they hate to see me lit / Pull your contract ’cause we gotta see the split / Ain’t no way you doin’ splits bitch your pants might rip.”
He then continues by poking fun at Lamar’s guest appearances on mainstream pop songs, and suggests that Lamar’s former label, Top Dawg Entertainment, demanded half of his earnings. “Maroon 5 need a verse, you better make it witty / Then we need a verse for the Swifties / Top say drop, you better drop and give him 50 / Pipsqueak, pipe down / You ain’t in no big three, SZA got you wiped down, Travis got you wiped down, Savage got you wiped down / Like your label boy, you Interscope right now.”
He also appears to be taking a shot at Cole, who dropped his Lamar response record “7 Minute Drill” and then removed it from streaming after regretting its release. “Look, I could never be nobody number one fan / Your first number one, I had to put it in your hand,” he says, referring to “First Person Shooter,” his collaboration with Cole included on last year’s “For All the Dogs” that became Cole’s first song to top the Billboard Hot 100.
Later on the song, Drake brings Cole back up, rapping, “And that fuckin’ song y’all got is not starting beef with us / This shit brewin’ in a pot, now I’m heating up / I don’t care what Cole think, that Dot shit was weak as fuck.”
He puts longtime collaborator the Weeknd in the crosshairs as well, likely due to the singer’s appearance on Future and Metro Boomin’s latest album “We Still Don’t Trust You.” “Claim the 6 and boys ain’t even come from it / And when you boys got rich you had to run from it / Cash blowin’ Abel bread out here trickin’/ Shit we do for bitches, he doing for n—s.” Shortly after Drake’s song hit social media, the Weeknd posted a photo to his Instagram story depicting him eating popcorn and laughing.
And, for good measure, he lets off a bar at Metro Boomin, with whom he’s had a simmering beef over the past year: “Metro shut your ho ass up and make some drums, n—a.”
Rick Ross is yet another rapper to catch a stray on “Push Ups” after he appeared on “We Don’t Trust You” and unfollowed Drake on Instagram. “I might take your latest girl and cuff her like I’m Ricky,” raps Drake, referencing Ross’ history as a correctional officer. “Can’t believe he jumpin’ in, this n—a turnin’ fifty / Every song that made it on the chart, he got from Drizzy / Spend that lil’ check you got and stay up out my business / Worry ’bout whatever goin’ on with you and…” He trails off, with some speculating he’s referencing Diddy and his ongoing legal issues.
Ross was quick to head into the studio after Drake’s diss surfaced, releasing a song called “Champagne Moments” where he alleges that Drake got a nose job and stole his flow from Lil Wayne.
All of this kicked into full gear on March 25, when Lamar took aim at Drake and Cole in an uncredited verse on Metro Boomin and Future’s “Like That,” a track that appeared on the pair’s collaborative record “We Don’t Trust You.” Lamar’s verse was a clear response to “First Person Shooter,” in which Cole referred to himself, Drake and Lamar as “the big three”: “Love when they argue the hardest MC / Is it K. Dot? Is it Aubrey? Or me? / We the big three, like we started a league.”
Lamar responded in a tenacious verse that boldly drew the line between him and his fellow rappers. “Yeah get up with me, fuck sneak dissing / ‘First Person Shooter,’ I hope they came with three switches,” he rapped. “Motherfuck the big three, n—a, it’s just big me.”
Cole later responded in his diss track “7 Minute Drill,” included on his surprise album “Might Delete Later.” “I got a phone call, they say that somebody dissing / You want some attention, it come with extensions,” he rapped. “He still doing shows but fell off like ‘The Simpsons’ / Your first shit was classic, your last shit was tragic / Your second shit put n—s to sleep but they gassed it / Your third shit was massive and that was your prime / I was trailing right behind and I just now hit mine.”
Cole was met with mixed reactions after telling the audience at his Dreamville Festival that releasing the track was the “lamest shit I did in my fuckin’ life.” Although some praised Cole for squashing the beef, many mocked the rapper for folding to Lamar so quickly. Yesterday, he removed the track from streaming services.
