While Drake hasn't issued a response to Kendrick Lamar's "euphoria" just yet, Kendrick is already back with something new for OVO and company.
As fans will note, this marks the fulfillment of a tease Kendrick laid out on his previous Drake diss, which saw him rapping that he liked Drake's 2015 cut "Back to Back," itself a back-to-back diss aimed at Meek Mill. In "euphoria," Kendrick vowed to "get back to that, for the record." And by Friday, mere three days removed from the surprise "euphoria" drop, Kendrick had done exactly that.
Below, hear the IG-unveiled "6:16 in LA," the title of which is clearly having more than a bit of fun with Drizzy's timestamp series.
At one point, Kendrick asks, "Have you ever thought that OVO was working for me?" before expressing hatred for "bullies" and asserting that Drake "must be a terrible person," like so:
Have you ever thought that OVO was working for me?
Fake bully, I hate bullies, you must be a terrible person
Everyone inside your team is whispering that you deserve it
Can't Toosie Slide up outta this one, it's just gon' resurface
Kendrick circles back to Drake's inner circle later on, alleging that a fifth of the people on his payroll want Drake "as a casualty." Kendrick further alleges that "one of them is actually next to you," though it’s not immediately clear who, exactly, he’s referencing here.
If you were street smart, then you woulda caught that your entourage is only to hustle you
A hundred n***as that you got on salary, and twenty of 'em want you as a casualty
And one of them is actually next to you
And two of them is practically tired of your lifestyle, just don't got the audacity to tell you
But let me tell you some game, 'cause I can see you my lil' homie
You playin' dirty with propaganda, it blow up on ya
You're playin' nerdy with Zack Bia and Twitter bots
But your reality can't hide behind Wi-Fi
Your lil memes is losing steam, they figured you out
The forced opinions is not convincin', y'all need a new route
Akademiks, a consistent presence in the great rap war of 2024 who recently argued that Drake had the upper hand post-"euphoria," catches a stray, with Kendrick positing that the streamer and recent Mar-a-Lago guest has been "looking compromised" as of late.
The 6 God’s For All the Dogs again gets a nod too ("Every dog gotta have his day, now live in your purpose"), as does Kendrick’s self-admitted "boring life" in pursuit of peace. That peace, however, can be put on pause "if the world is ready to see you bleed."
When wheeling "6:16 in LA" out to the public on Friday, Kendrick paired the track with an image of a glove, signaling, of course, that the gloves are off in his back-and-forth against Drake. But there’s more to this choice of image than just that, as the glove in question prominently features the Maybach logo, not to mention it could most certainly be another Michael Jackson reference. On "Like That," Kendrick reminded Drake that "Prince outlived Mike Jack."
The late King of Pop also gets a mention in the closing line of Kendrick's latest:
Before you figure that you're not alone
Ask what Mike would do
The title, in keeping with Drake’s timestamp series, pretty closely aligns with what time the song first hit IG on Friday. However, it’s potentially worth noting that 6/16—as in, June 16—is also Father’s Day, not to mention 2Pac's birthday. As for the sample, Kendrick appears to have sampled Al Green.
