In another devious move, the sample on Kendrick Lamar's second Drake diss, "6:16 in LA," features a connection to the Canadian rapper's family.
K Dot's surprise release of "6:16 In LA," his second diss track directed at Drake following "Euphoria" earlier this week, has fans unpacking the lyrics and the potential significance behind its title and cover art. As for the sample itself, it has a connection to Drake's father, Dennis Graham.
Al Green's "What a Wonderful Thing Love Is" is sampled on the Sounwave and Jack Antonoff-produced track. The credits for the song, as seen below, list Mabon Hodges as the guitar player on the original song. Otherwise known as Teenie Hodges, the late songwriter and guitarist is Drake's uncle. Back in 2013, Dennis Graham shared a photo of Drake and Hodges during the video shoot for "Worst Behavior."
Upon the release of "6:16 in LA," Al Green shared a link to "What a Wonderful Thing Love Is" with no further comment. It perhaps indicates that Green approves of the song, or he cleared the sample. "6:16 in LA" isn't on streaming services yet, but the tweet indicates that the diss record has gone down a lot better than "Taylor Made Freestyle" did with 2Pac's estate.
This isn't the first time Kendrick has alluded to Drake's family. On "Like That," the song that kickstarted the beef, Kendrick alluded to Michael Jackson and Prince's feud, which was aided by Drizzy continually comparing himself to MJ.
"Motherfuck the big three, n***a, it's just big me / N***a, bum, what? I'm really like that," Kendrick rapped in the track. "And your best work is a light pack / N***a, Prince outlived Mike Jack' / N***a, bum, 'fore all your dogs gettin' buried / That's a K with tall these nines, he go' see Pet Sematary / N***a, bum."
Drake's uncle Larry Graham, who was a vocalist and bassist and performed in both Sly and the Family Stone and Graham Central Station, worked with Prince multiple times. Before his death, Prince said he loved Kendrick's To Pimp a Butterfly. It should also be pointed out that the cover art for "6:16 in LA" features a black glove, which could be another reference to MJ. The closing line makes another reference to the King of Pop, too: "Before you figure that you're not alone, ask what Mike would do?"
