All of Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s diss tracks, ranked

Release date: May 5, 2024

Billboard Hot 100 peak: N/A

There’s a famous line from T.S. Eliot’s 1925 poem “The Hollow Men” that feels applicable here: “This is the way the world ends / Not with a bang but a whimper.”

If “Not Like Us” is a bang, “The Heart Part 6” is definitely a whimper. Drake’s final offering in his feud with Lamar is some of the most feeble, mortifying stuff he’s ever committed to tape. He attempts to deny accusations of pedophilia by insisting he’s “way too famous” to get away with it (because who’s ever heard of powerful men in Hollywood ducking years of slimy allegations?) and claims his team fed Lamar false information to use against him (“I thought about giving a fake name and a destination / But you so thirsty you not concerned with investigation”).

Of course, no one bought Drake’s defensive claim, because that strategy makes no sense. Why would you intentionally spread rumors about yourself? He also thought name-dropping Jeffrey Epstein unprompted was a good idea, somehow? What a mess. He would’ve been better off just bowing out quietly.

Release date: April 19, 2024

Billboard Hot 100 peak: N/A

Drake unveiled “Taylor Made Freestyle” shortly after “Push Ups,” hoping to land a one-two punch — a strategy that went over well during his 2015 beef with Meek Mill, chasing “Charged Up” with “Back to Back.” However, the rollout was muddied by Drake’s random, convoluted references.

In “Taylor Made Freestyle,” Drake shows respect to Taylor Swift, calling her “the biggest gangster in the music game right now,” yet a few days earlier, he poked fun at Lamar for collaborating with her. (“Maroon 5 need a verse, you better make it witty / Then we need a verse for the Swifties,” Drake raps in “Push Ups,” a nod to Lamar’s feature in Swift’s “Bad Blood” remix.)

Why is he even dragging America’s sweetheart into this? Sure, Swift mentioned Drake in her 2019 album “Lover,” so they’re probably on good terms, but on the other hand, Swift has worked with Lamar twice and as recently as 2023. I’m willing to bet she’d prefer to be excluded from this narrative.

But name-dropping Swift isn’t even the biggest faux pas Drake makes here. “Taylor Made Freestyle” includes AI-generated verses from Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg, a foolish move for several reasons.

One, Drake had previously criticized the use of AI in music, so now he looks like a hypocrite. Two, Shakur is a paragon of West Coast hip-hop, a community to which Lamar belongs, not Drake. Three, and most egregiously, Drake didn’t get permission to use Shakur’s likeness, triggering a cease-and-desist from Shakur’s estate that described “Taylor Made Freestyle” as a “blatant abuse” of the late rapper’s legacy. Yikes.

Release date: May 4, 2024

Billboard Hot 100 peak: No. 12

Lamar dropped “Meet the Grahams” just minutes after Drake had unleashed his best diss track yet, effectively quashing any momentum that his rival could’ve had. It did exactly what it was designed to do, returning the upper hand to Lamar — but at what cost?

Over six-plus minutes, Lamar addresses each member of Drake’s family, including his son, who was 6 years old at the time of the song’s release.

“Dear Adonis, I’m sorry that that man is your father, let me be honest / It takes a man to be a man, your dad is not responsive,” Lamar raps. “I look at him and wish your grandpa would’ve worn a condom / I’m sorry that you gotta grow up and then stand behind him.”

That’s a pretty grisly message to address to a child, but Lamar didn’t stop there. He belittles both of Drake’s parents for raising him poorly, even addressing Drake’s father as a “horrible fucking person,” adding, “The nerve of you, Dennis.” And just in case Lamar hadn’t made his feelings about their son clear, he declares, “I think n***** like him should die.”

Yet another verse is addressed to an anonymous baby girl, implying that Drake fathered a second child in secret. (Drake has strongly denied this and there’s no evidence it’s true.)

The final verse is addressed directly to Drake, aka Aubrey Graham, in which Lamar tries to justify everything he just said.

“Dear Aubrey, I know you probably thinking I wanted to crash your party / But truthfully, I don’t have a hating bone in my body,” Lamar raps. “This supposed to be a good exhibition within the game / But you fucked up the moment you called out my family’s name.”

Given the song’s title and premise, Lamar’s final point seems a little sanctimonious, no? “Meet the Grahams” is a deeply sinister, malevolent song that feels almost dirty to listen to. I rebuke it.

Release date: April 13, 2024

Billboard Hot 100 peak: No. 17

“Push Ups” was the first official shot fired by Drake, a direct reaction to Lamar’s verse in “Like That.”

The lyrics are fairly routine by rap-beef standards: Drake makes fun of Lamar for having small feet (“How the fuck you big steppin’ with a size-seven men’s on?”), criticizes J. Cole for backing down from the fight, and brags about his higher album sales (“Numbers-wise, I’m out of here, you not fuckin’ creepin’ up / Money-wise, I’m out of here, you not fuckin’ sneakin’ up”).

Overall, “Push Ups” is a solid diss track with a handful of zingers and a fun beat. It pales in comparison to much that came after, but we didn’t know that at the time.

Release date: May 3, 2024

Billboard Hot 100 peak: N/A

Lamar took a cue from Drake by releasing “Euphoria” and “6:16 in LA” in quick succession. In fact, he promised he would do just that in the former track: “‘Back To Back,’ I like that record / I’ma get back to that, for the record.”

Like “Euphoria,” which shares a title with the HBO teen drama that Drake executive produces, the title of “6:16 in LA” is a subtle insult, poking fun at a naming pattern in Drake’s discography (“5 Am in Toronto,” “6PM in New York,” “8am in Charlotte”).

Unlike its predecessor, however, “6:16 in LA” is brief and spooky rather than comprehensive and direct. The song was only made available on Lamar’s Instagram, and he spends most of it taunting Drake about the enemies in his own entourage — though he keeps his threats relatively veiled.

“Have you ever thought that OVO was workin’ for me? / Fake bully, I hate bullies, you must be a terrible person / Everyone inside your team is whispering that you deserve it,” Lamar raps.

Fans also believe Lamar’s lyric, “It was fun until you start to put money in the streets / Then lost money, ’cause they came back with no receipts,” implies that Drake tried to pay for dirt on Lamar.

Release date: May 3, 2024

Billboard Hot 100 peak: No. 7

Many fans and critics have described this feud as a total KO by Lamar, but to be fair, Drake didn’t go down without a fight. “Family Matters,” Drake’s penultimate swing, actually features some of his most impassioned and nimble rapping in years.

The seven-and-a-half-minute song is split into three parts, allowing Drake to run the gamut — taking shots at Lamar, of course, as well as Rick Ross, A$AP Rocky, and The Weeknd — while shifting gears between bemused and bloodthirsty.

The former mode works well for Drake, who’s been impossible to shake from the top of the charts for over a decade. It makes sense that his peers, especially those considered to be more “highbrow,” would want to knock him down a few pegs — and why Drake would assume that’s all this is about. I’m particularly fond of the line, “Ayy, Kendrick just opened his mouth / Someone go hand him a Grammy right now.” That’s legitimately funny.

The latter mode is riskier, but Drake makes sure to sell it. He takes aim at Lamar’s private parenting style (“Why you never hold your son and tell him, ‘Say cheese’ / We could have left the kids out of this, don’t blame me”), suggests that one of Lamar’s children was actually fathered by his business partner, Dave Free, and even floats the grisly claim that Lamar abused his fiancée, Whitney Alford. (To date, there are no allegations or reports of domestic violence against Lamar. For her part, Alford attempted to nullify the claim by making a cameo in the “Not Like Us” music video.)

Ultimately, “Family Matters” is a formidable diss track that could’ve posed a real threat had Drake been facing a lesser opponent.

However, Lamar dropped “Meet the Grahams” mere minutes later, followed closely by “Not Like Us,” all but knocking “Family Matters” off the scoreboard.

It’s also worth noting that, in just a few months, several lines in “Family Matters” aged quite poorly — especially after Drake took legal action against Spotify and Universal Music Group, seemingly as a last-ditch attempt to damage Lamar’s credibility and block “Not Like Us” from getting more spins. Uh, Drake, what happened to “a cease-and-desist is for hoes”?

Release date: April 30, 2024

Billboard Hot 100 peak: No. 3

Lamar laid low for nearly two weeks after Drake dropped “Push Ups” and “Taylor Made Freestyle,” leading some skeptics to count him out prematurely. Some fans said Lamar didn’t have the interest or audacity to commit to a full-blown rap beef, that his heart wasn’t in it. Oh, how wrong they were.

“Euphoria” appeared on YouTube without warning or promotion. It performed well on the Hot 100, but that felt incidental at this point — purely a testament to how many people had been waiting for Lamar’s response. As Lamar says himself in the song, this wasn’t about critics, gimmicks, or proving himself as the greatest. He was laser-focused on showing Drake just how audacious he could be.

Indeed, the damning six-minute track doubles as an itemized list of everything Lamar loathes about Drake.

“This ain’t been about 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,” he raps. “I hate the way that you walk, the way that you talk, I hate the way that you dress / I hate the way that you sneak diss, if I catch flight, it’s gon’ be direct.”

Lamar also calls Drake a “scam artist,” “master manipulator,” and “habitual liar.” He insinuates that Drake is a deadbeat dad, mocks the Canadian rapper for imitating Black American culture, and resurfaces old accusations that Drake relies on ghostwriters for his success.

Until “Euphoria,” this showdown presented as a territorial struggle, a tale as old as time — two hip-hop heavyweights fighting for the belt. I don’t think anyone knew just how much spite was festering in Lamar’s heart, and he was all too eager to let it spew.

Drake attempted to brush it all off as petty and childish, sharing a clip from the ’90s rom-com “10 Things I Hate About You” on his Instagram story. But Lamar was just getting warmed up.

Release date: May 4, 2024

Billboard Hot 100 peak: No. 1 for two weeks

Before this battle had truly begun, the strengths of each contender seemed clear: Lamar was the critical darling and cerebral wordsmith, while Drake was the dominant commercial juggernaut. He may have fallen out of favor with critics in recent years, but if there’s one thing Drake knows how to do, it’s make a hit song.

Lamar completely upended that assumption with “Not Like Us,” a musical killshot if one has ever existed.

The song compounds both Lamar’s classic talents (he somehow managed to include a full history lesson in between calling his foe a bitch and a colonizer) and Drake’s typical forte; it scored five Grammy nominations, including both song and record of the year, and topped the Hot 100 for two weeks. (In fact, Lamar had three No. 1 hits in 2024 alone, more than any other artist, while Drake had none.) By the time December rolled around, “Not Like Us” was being hailed as one of the year’s best songs. It made a vicious brawl sound like a celebration.

The following week, streams of Lamar’s back catalog had increased by 49%, per Billboard, while Drake’s streams were down 5%.

Who won?

After such a decisive victory, I’d be surprised if any rapper tried to go toe-to-toe with Lamar ever again. Next time, when a Pulitzer Prize winner describes himself as a “certified boogeyman,” believe him.