Kendrick Lamar Finally Responded To Drake Today, And Went Scorched Earth On HIs Diss Track "Euphoria"
Variety - In the ongoing war between hip-hop titans, Kendrick Lamar has released “Euphoria,” a response record that comes in the wake of Drake’s “Push Ups” and “Taylor Made Freestyle.”
On the track, Lamar lays out a series of bars that addresses much of the fallout from his verse on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That,” a track that set off a series of diss responses from Drake, J. Cole and Rick Ross. It largely squares on Drake, and he begins with a verse over a languid beat.
On the six-minute “Euphoria,” he goes after Drake for using AI on “Taylor Made Freestyle” to manipulate Tupac Shakur’s vocals. “Somebody had told that you got a ring, on God, I’m ready to double the wage / I rather do that than let a Canadian n—a make Pac turn in his grave.”
He sums up his thesis roughly halfway through the cut. “This ain’t been ’bout critics, not about gimmicks, not about who the greatest / It’s always been about love and hate, now let me say I’m the biggest hater / I hate the way that you walk, the way that you talk /I hate the way that you dress I hate the way you sneak diss, if I catch flight, it’s gon’ be direct.”
So after a month of sitting on his hands, Kendrick Lamar has finally dropped a rebuttal to Drake's two disses, which he aptly titled "Euphoria".
What starts off kind of slow, with a Richard Pryor clip from the movie The Wiz played in reverse,
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quickly turns into a lyrical barrage, finding Kendrick going nuclear on Drake, calling him out for anything and everything you can imagine.
Knocks on being Canadian and making Tupac roll in his grave? Check
"a Canadian na" making "Pac turn in his grave."
(Kendrick revisited the controversial use of a Tupac voice AI by Drake, which had the rap legend's estate up in arms. He points to this as further proof of what he sees as Drake's lack of respect for the hip-hop's true icons.)
Knock on banging young hoes? Check
"the bitches you fuck confuse themselves with real women"
Claiming he's gay and likes to pop, lock, and drop it? Check.
Being a deadbeat dad? Check
Why would I call around trying to get dirt on nas?
Y'all thinking my life is rap? That's ho shit
I got a son to raise but I can see you don’t know nothing 'bout that
Boys from The Hood reference? Check
I hate the way that you walk, the way that you talk
I hate the way that you dress
Knocking Drake for "having 20 ghost writers"? Check.
Taking aim at J. Cole once again? Check
Cole and Aubrey know I'm a selfish guy, the crown is heavy/I pray they my real friends, if not, I'm YNW Melly
Reminding the world that DMX didn't like Drake? Check.
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Telling half black- half Jewish Drake to stop saying the N word? Check
We don't wanna hear you say n***a no more
Claiming, once again, that Lil Yachty is responsible for manufacturing all of Drake's style, raps, and swag? Check.
Lamar lyrically paints Drake not so much as a peer in the rap game but more akin to a con artist in the music scene. His zingers are pointed and personal, touching on Drake's early days as a TV actor and even swiping at his music style, suggesting Drake's tunes are more about soothing fans than energizing them.
Lamar's lyrics in "Euphoria" suggest that he's not just fighting battles in the studio, he's waging war on what he sees as inauthenticity in hip-hop.
Kendrick also mentions that Drake sent him a request for a featured verse, followed by a cease-and-desist letter attempting to block "Like That" (his track with Future on Metro Boomin's album) from being released. If true, a really bizarre and pussy move.
This entire thing has been one giant soap-opera from the beginning. This latest episode you've really gotta respect Kendrick saying he really doesn't have a reason to hate Drake, then going on a fucking tirade rattling off body shot after body shot for 6+ minutes is pretty hilarious.
Even if you're not the biggest fan of Drake, you've got to kind of feel bad for the guy. All he was doing was minding his own business, putting on an amazing tour with J. Cole, encouraging people to live their best lives, when from out of nowhere the skies parted and some of the best rappers in the game, lead by Kendrick, began raining hellfire and brimstone on him.
Now he's got it coming from all directions.
Something tells me Drake hasn't been sitting around waiting for this response from Kendick being lazy and that he's already got something on deck that he has to make minor adjustments and tweaks to that we will be hearing shortly.
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p.s. - And of course, Rick Ross, who was just waiting in the wings, was quick to chime in, sending a message for Drake not to bother responding.