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Lyrical Chess: The Battle of Drake vs KDot
Today's episode explores the heated rivalry between Drake and Kendrick Lamar.
• The origins of the Drake and Kendrick feud
• Kendrick's bold lyricism on "Control" as a catalyst
• The impact of ghostwriting accusations on Drake's reputation
• 2023 tensions and Kendrick's absence from First Person Shooter
• Analysis of Kendrick’s Super Bowl performance and its significance
• The implications of Drake's lawsuit against Universal Music Group
Welcome, welcome in to the Third Down Conversation, your place for sports and entertainment. I am D Turnip Seed and on today's episode, they not like us. Drake and Kendrick. How did we get here? Who won the battle? What are my thoughts on the Super Bowl performance? Well, I'm gonna jump into all that. As you know, I keep it real, I keep it authentic and I'm always in context. But I'm also Team Drake. Let's jump in, let's jump in.
Speaker 1:So how did we get to kendrick calling drake a pedophile? How did not like us become the crescendo of the super bowl? Well, the story all begins back in 2012. Back in 2012, drake goes on tour. It was called the club paradise tour and for some reason, drake really wanted to take kendrick on tour with him. Now his management team wanted other artists, but but Drake felt like Kendrick was super talented. He had just had Kendrick on his Take Care album in 2011 and was like nah, kendrick is going on tour and, by all accounts, the tour goes great. People are exposed to Kendrick in person for the first time and Kendrick kind of blows up a little bit. We're gonna fast forward to the next year, 2013. Kendrick jumps on Big Sean's song Control and on this song Kendrick goes at all the up-and-coming artists Drake, j Cole, even Big Sean himself. Who's? I mean, that's his song and Kendrick takes shots at him Bold move, by the way, bold move. Here's a little snippet of what Kendrick said on that song.
Speaker 2:Please excuse the explicit language murder you niggas. Trying to make sure your court fans never heard of you niggas. They don't want to hear not one more noun or verb from you niggas. What is competition?
Speaker 1:so, as you can see, kendrick is coming in, guns are blazing, aiming at all the up-and-comers, all the new guys or, as triple x calls them, the freshman class, and drake didn't like this very much, and can you blame him? I mean, the previous year I took you on tour. I let people see who you are, I let people see just how talented you are, and this is how you return the favor. Here's a few words from Drake on how he felt about what Kendrick said on control after.
Speaker 3:Kendrick said on control After Kendrick's thing you wouldn't. I noticed you didn't really get into that too much. I just like I don't know, it just wasn't real. To me it's like I saw him after that and it was just like love. So it's like, was that real or was that just like for the people you know?
Speaker 2:what. I mean, I think it's a sparring kind of sport, yeah, but at the same time it's like you know, then let it be real.
Speaker 3:Then you know, I mean, because those were harsh words, Right. So it's like don't just you can't just say that and then see me and be like, yeah, man, what's up, Pretending like nothing ever happened. That's not real, that's not to me, that's not like the nature of battling.
Speaker 1:I mean, there's passion behind it, there's anger behind you know and I personally enjoy making like great music and bodies of work over, like being the talk of Twitter for like five days Now. As you see, drake is very, very bothered. He views it as fake.
Speaker 1:Kendrick just wants to seek attention you know, get Twitter buzzing, but, to Kendrick's credit, he's only coming from a competition standpoint. He wants to compete, even though what he said was pretty aggressive, but it's about competition for kendrick. However, drake, on the other hand and this is where people start to call Drake sensitive he doesn't take it that way. He's very offended, to say the least. He's bothered by what Kendrick said. That same year, drake drops an album Called Nothing Was the Same. He has a song on that album called the Language. Many fans speculated that a lot of the verses in that song were about Kendrick, but no verse sticks out more than the very first verse of that song where Drake raps. Kendrick is known as an inspirational rapper. He wants to uplift the culture. So it's clear that that line right there, oh yeah, bang, bang, those are shots at Kendrick. Kendrick then responds to Drake in a song called King Kunta and in that song Kendrick raps. I can dig rapping, but a rapper with a ghost writer what the F happened?
Speaker 1:Now Drake, at this moment in time, is being accused of having ghostwriters write his raps. The claim originally came from Meek Mill. Meek Mill and Drake and Meek Mill get into a bit of a back and forth and sidebar. I'm a Drake fan and everything, but it is odd that so many people beef with this guy. Meek Mill, p Diddy, pusha T, kendrick, like so many different people, got a problem with Drake. It's a little weird. It's a little weird. It's a little weird. It's a little weird. It's a little weird. Like something's off. Either he is like some sort of bad guy or this is some next level hate, but anyway, anyway, back to the story. So Meek Mill calls out Drake for having ghost writers. Kendrick alludes to Drake having ghostwriters by that rap, and a ghostwriter is someone who writes content on the behalf of someone else without receiving official credit. Now to defend Drake, just a little bit.
Speaker 1:Ghostwriting didn't start with Drake. Several artists have been accused of having ghostwriters and hip-hop is frowned upon because it's all about being authentic and lyrical skill. So in hip-hop it's a no-no. But again, several rappers have been accused of using ghostwriters and some have even admitted to using Ghostwriters. Kanye West admitted that Drake wrote some of his raps. Jay-z wrote one of Dr Dre's most famous songs Still Dre, which is odd because Dre and Kendrick are like tight. But he's accusing Drake of having Ghostwriters, but Dre used Ghostwriters anyway. Maybe that's just me. Maybe that's just me.
Speaker 1:This whole ghostwriting thing did not start with Drake, even though most people would want you to believe that. Oh, drake started this. Drake even addressed this in his song 7AM on Brought a Path, where he raps letting me take the wrath of that Casper the ghost ass, while y'all finding the loopholes. He's letting you know in that rhyme, in that rap, it's not just me that is collaborating with other artists now. Do I think drake uses ghost writers? I don't. I don't believe Drake allows someone to write raps for him and then he just raps what they write. I do think he collaborates. I also think that on Drake's timestamp records, that's all him. No collaboration, pen to paper that's all Drake. Records such as 7 am on bridal path, 5 am in Toronto I think that's all Drake. Now Drake and Kendrick continue to have these subliminal wars, rapping about each other, but they won't say each other names. But all that came to an end in 2023. Say each other names, but all that came to an end in 2023. I hope you guys enjoyed that first segment and if you haven't had a chance, go ahead and hit that like button. Go ahead and hit that subscribe button and a five-star review will sure help a brother out. Remember. Shows will drop every tuesday and follow me on socials at the third down conversation. Now let's continue the show and jump into segment number two.
Speaker 1:In 2023, drake drops an album called For All the Dogs. On that album, he had a song with J Cole called First Person Shooter. It's been reported that Kendrick Lamar was supposed to be on this song and Kendrick, drake and J Cole were supposed to be this big three. There's conflicting reports out there that says that Kendrick declined the invitation to be on the song or Kendrick accepted and Drake didn't wait for Kendrick to send his verse. I don't know which one is true. Again conflicting reports. Kendrick wasn't on the song. J Cole and Drake make the song and it's very popular top 100 on the billboard charts. That album was released in October of 2023. A song by Metro Boomin' and Future Comes out in 2024, a few months later, called Like that.
Speaker 1:While Kendrick did not mention Drake by name, he took direct shots at Drake, specifically when he raps F the Big 3, it's just big me. Up until that point, there hadn't been a shot so direct at the other. Again, it's been all subliminals up until that point, but when Kendrick goes and raps what he raps, it's game time. The ref has thrown the ball in the air. Kendrick won the tip and made the first three-pointer. So now, at this point, kendrick has essentially called Drake out and says there's no big three, I'm the top dog.
Speaker 1:Drake being ego-driven as most artists in his position are, he responds with a song called push-ups. This song is really mocking Kendrick's height and a video where Kendrick unexplicably is doing push-ups and stuff in like a parking lot or like a backyard. I don't know why he's doing that, but Drake is attacking him from that angle your height and talking about, um, his record deal as far as the splits, because he feels like his manager is getting over on him. Once drake responds, kendrick is now on the clock in hip-hop. You got like a couple of days to a week to respond, but Kendrick took his precious time. Like he took his time.
Speaker 1:Push-ups was released on April 13th. Kendrick didn't respond until like April 30th, so he took his time. But Drake drops push-ups on the 13th and then he drops another song on the 19th called Taylor Made Freestyle, and he used some AI to sound like Tupac and Snoop Dogg you know West Coast legends Egg and Kendrick on to respond. He also went to Instagram and he's just like drop something, drop, drop, drop, like it's. It's continuous for Drake.
Speaker 1:All the trolling that Drake was doing, I think, was his downfall, because then Kendrick releases Euphoria on the 30th of April and in this song, euphoria well, kendrick just pretty much tells Drake he hates him the way he walks, the way he talks, claims Drake is being well tougher than what he actually is and says is it the brakes? Like he attacks his whole persona and I got to admit he attacks it. Well, he really brings into question who Drake thinks he is versus who he actually is. So on April 3rd, kendrick drops again, and this time the song is called 616 in LA. Now, remember how I mentioned that Drake likes to do timestamp records. As you can see, kendrick has copied that, where he is again attacking Drake's authenticity. He truly believes Drake is a fraud. He's a fake tough guy and at this point most people in the rap game were looking at Drake kind of sideways, because again, you've been pushing him to drop.
Speaker 1:Roy, what's your response? Well, drake brings Family Matters late on May 3rd and on Family Matters, drake snaps. He really taps into his lyrical bag and aims at Kendrick's fiance. They've been engaged since 2015. So Drake really attacks him from a standpoint of how moral are you? Why aren't y'all married? Yet he takes it a step further by saying Kendrick's general manager is the father of one of his kids. Now, in my opinion, that's too far. I just like that's too far. He goes even farther in the song, saying that his fiance is always posting things that scream save me. So drake is really hitting him from a family angle, because kendrick is all about, you know, mr morale, mr moral, his family being a father, being a well, I guess, kind of like a husband, but that's Kendrick whole thing, just being this uplifting guy.
Speaker 1:While Kendrick's angle with Drake is more so about how he won't grow up, how he won't mature, how he won't be there for his son. And Kendrick alludes to that in his song in response to Family Matters called Meet the Grams, and Kendrick releases this song five minutes after Drake drops Family Matters. So essentially, kendrick stomps all over Family Matters with another release. So people heard Drake's response and then Kendrick was back with a response like it wasn't even 30 minutes and Kendrick had already responded. And in the song called Meet the Grams, kendrick alludes to Drake having a hidden child. Now, this is important because when Drake and Pusha T were in a rap battle, pusha T won that battle because he exposed Drake for having a hidden child. The only difference is when Pusha T did it it was true, but when Kendrick did it it wasn't true, but it dominated the conversation. So at that point you kind of give the nod to Kendrick, because when it comes to rap battles, it's the court of public opinion, ain't no referees, ain't no scoreboard.
Speaker 1:So Meet the Grams dropped late, late On May 3rd, and then On May 4th Kendrick releases Not Like Us. He drops again and Not Like Us. It was drops again and Not Like Us. It was a man, it was a banger, it was a bop. I didn't like it. It was hard for me to, you know, vibe to a song calling a guy a pedophile. But look again, public perception, public opinion, they loved it. He had created a bop. Beat Drake at his own game.
Speaker 1:If you guys are enjoying the show, please remember to like, subscribe and follow. Guys are enjoying the show. Please remember to like, subscribe and follow. If there's a certain topic you want me to talk about, drop it in the comments. Remember, this podcast can be found on all podcast platforms, as well as twitter, instagram and youtube at the third down conversation. Now let's finish the show. Instagram and YouTube at the Third Down Conversation. Now let's finish the show From a lyrical standpoint.
Speaker 1:Drake was hanging with him and for me that was surprising, because Kendrick is viewed as this lyrical mastermind His nickname is the boogeyman, like that's how good he is on the, on the, as an emcee. But Drake was there Every step of the way, from just like rapping. Drake was there with him, but Kendrick had a better strategy. Did kendrick win? Sure, but he won because of his strategy. Drake is like drop, drop, drop, drop, and kendrick's over there just stockpiling sauce. He's just he, just you getting his war chest ready. So when Drake did drop something, he was ready and could instantly respond.
Speaker 1:In my opinion, drake took Kendrick too lightly. He underestimated him and not like us became a smash hit. I mean a smash hit. Everybody's screaming A minor, everybody looking at him sideways and as a Drake fan, I couldn't even defend him. He beat him. Next thing, you know, kendrick is getting offered to perform at the Super Bowl. The song gets all kind of Grammy nominations. So at the Grammys, not Like Us wins 5 awards 5 awards, which is insane for a diss song.
Speaker 1:But if I'm Drake, what happened at the Grammys that night? That would have bothered me more than anything, because when Kendrick went up to receive his awards, they would play the song and usually they would play like the hook. No, they played like a verse and that verse was the a minor verse, and you got people in the stands that are, you know, fans. But you have your contemporaries, people that are in the industry with you taylor, swift, beyonce, they down there vibing to it, dancing to it, and if I'm Drake, that would have hurt me. Well, that's painful. That was a reflection of what the industry thinks of you. In my opinion, a lot of people want to point to what happened at the Super Bowl. That had to be expected. If I'm Drake, you had to know that he was going to perform the song you had to know that everyone in the crowd was going to sing A minor.
Speaker 1:So that should have been expected. But what happened to the Grammys? In my opinion, that was the unexpected right there, because now you can see how you help Beyonce write songs, how Lucien Grange, who runs Universal Music Group he's high-fiving Dr Dre. You can see it all in plain sight. Nobody's hiding anymore. No one is being fake anymore. So now you know. Just as a human being, you got to adjust accordingly. So I would have been way more upset about that than what happened at the Super Bowl. And since I brought up Super Bowl, let's move towards the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1:Let's first start with the Drake angle of Kendrick's performance. I truly believe that Kendrick gave Drake way too much attention. I mean, he played a euphoria and not like us at the Super Bowl. I think Kendrick should have made it more about him. You know, forget Drake From a hip hop standpoint. He would have caught some judgment behind not performing a song and people would have felt like, oh, that's weak, he ain't do the song. But just as an artist, kendrick doesn't need Drake to have a good performance. Kendrick doesn't strike me as a guy that does what the people want him to do. He normally does his own thing, marches on beat. That's what people love about him. So I feel like he gave Drake way too much attention in that performance.
Speaker 1:Now, as far as Kendrick's performance as a whole, it's received mixed reviews. Some people loved it and called it black excellence and highlighted how somewhat of an attack on the government and some people hated it felt like it was the wrong place for a message. And for me, as soon as I saw Samuel L Jackson dressed up as Uncle Sam, oh, I knew it was about to go over my head like I had just finished with midterm and I was like, yeah, this is about to be a think piece and my thinking cap is not with me, so I'm about to miss three-fourths of this. I wouldn't necessarily call it black excellence because there were some points where it showed not the best side of the culture. When you think about, you know the bloods, the crips, the crib walking, but there were some elements in the performance that show a good side of the culture, talking about coming together. Thing that I really had to understand was that this is Kendrick's perspective, this is how he sees America and I think in that lane I gotta respect that, whether I agree with it or not, that's his perspective. As Americans, we have to do a better job of respecting how someone feels or how they see things. You know it's okay to agree to disagree, so, whether you liked it or not, maybe it wasn't for you, maybe it was for you, but that's his perspective.
Speaker 1:Now Kendrick performing Not Like Us at the Super Bowl is more alarming because Drake has now filed a lawsuit. Now, this lawsuit was filed before the Super Bowl, but I think when Kendrick actually performed a song on a national stage, it highlights the lawsuit even more. And in this lawsuit, drake is claiming defamation of character, also claiming that Universal Music Group, or UMG, is purposely trying to destroy his value. Now Drake is catching a lot of heat about this lawsuit because a lot of people want to say it's not hip-hop and it's not a rap. Battle goes down, things get said, the public decides who wins and usually that's it. However, drake is trying to get a new deal and UMG, well, they're trying to shortchange him. And this is very, very similar to sports, and I like using sports comparisons because sports, in my opinion, is a microcosm of society. So just imagine you go out there and you're playing football or basketball. You're in a contract year and you don't perform as well as you are capable of, and the organization comes back to you and say we're going to give you this, while you feel like now I deserve more than that.
Speaker 1:This whole thing with Drake and UMG is very similar to that using Not Like Us and really promoting it to the point where it's devaluing who he is as an artist to where now they can give him not the best deal possible. And if Drake truly feels that way, I don't blame him for the lawsuit. I also don't blame people for saying that it's weak and that it's not hip hop, because it's not. It comes across as a sore loser because he's not suing Kendrick, he's only suing UMG, so why not sue Kendrick as well? If? If it's about defamation of character? This plot thickens because Drake just released a new collab album with the party next door called some sexy songs for you, and the album is um projected not to do as well as drake normally would do. So could this be more to a point what drake is saying? Could he use this to help bolster his argument in court as far as a lawsuit? Maybe? All I know is it's a pretty good album for an R&B album. Yes, I'm a Drake guy. Kendrick won the battle. Kendrick had a better strategy.
Speaker 1:But one thing we can't say is Kendrick doesn't make better music than Drake. Drake music is just better. Drake get accused of not making music that moves you from a soul standpoint. It's just not true. His most popular songs are kind of surface level, but he's got those deep ones too. They're just in the form of love songs or songs that are talking about some of his shortcomings. And you know we can like both. We don't have to dislike Kendrick to like Drake and we don't have to dislike Drake to like Kendrick. Both are good artists, they're just different. It's like comparing LeBron to MJ. You can't do that because they're just different players. Lebron is closer to magic, kobe is closer to MJ as far as comparison. But these are just my thoughts.
Speaker 1:I still can't believe Kendrick performed that song at the Super Bowl. I figured he would, but I don't know. I guess I thought maybe he wouldn't. But if I'm Drake, yo man, drop it, leave it alone, let it go. Brother. Get back to making that good music. Get back to making that good music. Get back to making that music that fans like myself want to hear. This has been the third down conversation. I'm d turnip seed. Jesus loves you and I'm out. Peace, thanks for watching.
