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“Don’t tell no lie 'bout me and I won’t tell truths 'bout you,” raps Kendrick Lamar.
After weeks of speculation, the moment has arrived, complete with the aforementioned line (and numerous others). In short, Kendrick Lamar is back and he’s feeling euphoric. Up top, listen to the six-minute song "euphoria," which has Kendrick repeatedly and directly calling out Drake.
The song starts off slow, with some calmly delivered reflections from Kendrick on watching someone’s “superpowers” be "neutralized." From there, the song picks up, ultimately exploding into a barrage of bars directed at Drake.
The 17-time Grammy winner also scoffs at "a Canadian n***a" making "Pac turn in his grave." As fans know, Drizzy’s "Taylor Made" diss used A.I.-enabled emulation to simulate the late 2Pac’s voice and was later threatened by 2Pac's estate. Drake has since removed "Taylor Made" from his social media accounts.
Three minutes in, Kendrick declares himself "the biggest hater" before laying out some of his Drake-focused targets of said hate, like so:
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
Kendrick then expands this hate to include "the bitches you fuck" who "confuse themselves with real women," with the pgLang co-founder stating that he’s not just speaking for himself, but is instead voicing "what the culture feeling."
At one point, Kendrick brings in a fatherhood-focused dig at Drake, whose son with Sophie Brussaux was a key point of the Pusha T beef in 2018.
Why would I call around trying to get dirt on n***as?
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
Kendrick also mentions J. Cole at one point, rapping: "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."
The rest of "euphoria" sees Kendrick asserting that Drake has no classics in his catalog, urging him to "tell [fans] where you get your abs from." Kendrick raps:
I like Drake with the melodies
I don't like Drake when he act tough
You gonna make a bring back Puff
Let me see if Chub's really crashed something
Yeah, my first one Like my last one
It's a classic
You don't have one
Let your core audience stomach that
Then tell them where your abs from
Kendrick also brings up Drake's bars on Travis Scott's "Meltdown" that were aimed at Pharrell last year.
I don't like you popping shit at Pharrell
For him, I inherent the beef
You fuck all that Pushin P, let me see you Pusha T
You better off spining again on him, when you think about pushing me
Kendrick cuts himself off at the end of the track, suggesting he has more in the tank, before declaring, "We don't wanna hear you say n***a no more." As for the reversed clip heard at the beginning of the track, the Dissect team swiftly uncovered that it originates from a Richard Pryor-starring scene from 1978's The Wiz.
"Everything they say about me's true!" Pryor's character says in the original clip.
"Euphoria," which is only on YouTube and not on streaming services as of this writing, follows Drake's "Push Ups" and the aforementioned (and ultimately removed) "Taylor Made" freestyle. The 2024 rap war has been an undeniably exciting time for fans and artists alike, with Complex's Jordan Rose recently ranking every diss song from the all-systems-go battle, Ye's Cole and Drake-mocking "Like That" remix among them.
