Two weeks after Drake officially released his “Push Ups,” Kendrick Lamar has officially struck back, and it’s full of disrespectful bars.
Titled “Euphoria,” seemingly a nod to Drake’s role as a producer on the HBO TV series about teenagers, the track sees Kendrick take it there for one of the most scathing diss tracks this side of “Ether.” Over the course of a six minutes, Kendrick unloads on Drake’s racial identity, perceived misogyny, ghostwriting rumors, a forgotten fade with a morally questionable icon, and just about any other perceived Drizzy flaw that’s ever crossed your timeline. With his twitchy inflections and bursts of clever wordplay, you could call it a masterclass in rap theater. You could also just say it’s pure bars. I’ll say it’s an exercise in world-class hating.
These aren’t just funny quips designed for Instagram captions. This is a scabrous repudiation—a denunciation of Drake’s identity as a pop culture figure and as a man. It’s the type of extended diatribe that might make Pusha-T consider writing a “Story of Adidon 2” just to feel warm again.
Today, we break down the most disrespectful bars from the track...
“You gon' make a nigga bring back Puff, let me see if Chubbs really crash somethin’”
Once upon a time, in a land not so far away (Miami), Drake *allegedly* caught the fade from Diddy for using the “0 to 100” instrumental when Diddy already called dibs. Clearly, Kendrick wasn’t about to let us forget. When it comes to beef, being truthful isn’t as important as being plausible and entertaining. Given recent, more troubling accusations against the Bad Boy founder, plus the fact that Drake posted an image of himself in a shoulder sling after the alleged incident, this one is both.
“Yeah, my first one like my last one, it's a classic, you don't have one/ Let your core audience stomach that/ Didn't tell 'em where you get your abs from”
Sure, plastic surgery jokes are low-hanging fruit, but Kendrick gets extra savagery points for combining it with a workout metaphor and a nod to one of Drake’s other frequently discussed flaws: the perceived lack of a classic album.
“Why would I try to call around and try to get dirt on you? You think my life is rap? That’s ho shit. I got a son to raise. But I can see you don’t know nothin’ ‘bout that”
The truth is, we have no idea whether Drake was really “hiding” his son Adonis when Pusha-T released “The Story of Adidon.” Drake never owed us a formal introduction to his son, who never signed up for celebrity. But Push perpetuated that message so skillfully, it stuck, and Kendrick goes right back to the well here. It’s a low, disingenuous blow fit for a bloodthirsty cage match with no referees, just bad vibes.
“Don't speak on the family, crodie/ It can get deep in the family, crodie/ Talk about me and my family, crodie? Someone go bleed in your family, crodie”
Kendrick blends tongue-in-cheek taunts with a warning, using regional Canadian gang slang to mock Drake’s alleged mob ties while simultaneously dismissing them. Throw in a casual death threat, and the disrespect jumps to over 9,000.
“I hurt your feelings? You don't wanna work with me more? Okay, there’s three GOATs left, and I see two of them kissin' and huggin' on stage”
On its face, this is a dismissive way for Kendrick to voice his disgust with Drake and Cole’s joint tour. But when you consider that J. Cole already bowed out of the beef, this jab feels even crazier; Cole left the arena only for Kendrick to drag him back into the ring so he could body slam him in front of the whole world. Cole might be done with the Kendrick beef, but apparently it’s not done with him.
“Yeah, Cole and Aubrey know I'm a selfish nigga/ The crown is heavy, huh/ I pray they my real friends, if not, I'm YNW Melly”
Kendrick’s disrespect ricochets off his rap adversaries onto YNW Melly, an artist on trial for allegedly murdering his own friends and making it appear as a driveby shooting committed by other rivals. It’s a macabre comparison, to say the least.
“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”
While his delivery is playful, Kendrick channels Big DMX Energy with his levels of disrespect with this barb, letting Drake know the deal plain and simple: I just don’t like you. Might as well have told him, “fuck you, and have a nice day,” too.
“How many more Black features 'til you finally feel that you Black enough/ I like Drake with the melodies, I don't like Drake when he act tough”
Ever since Pusha-T posted images of Drake using blackface, every Drizzy diss has involved a minor crash course on racial politics. Kendrick dives into that once again while brushing aside Drizzy’s supposed street bonafides, drenching it all in the earnest disappointment of a real gangster telling a poser, “It’s okay to be yourself, lil’ homie.”
“When I see you stand by Sexyy Red, I believe you see two bad bitches/ I believe you don't like women, that's real competition, you might pop ass with 'em”
Between the random Megan Thee Stallion subliminals and perpetual duck face selfies, Kendrick might have a point here.
“You know that we got some shit to address/ I even hate when you say the word ‘nigga,’ but that's just me, I guess/ Some shit just cringeworthy, it ain’t even gotta be deep, I guess”
Touching on biracial dynamics again, Kendrick suggests it’s not even worth diving into a thinkpiece on n-word logistics: “It ain’t even gotta be deep, I guess.” Like a lot of people, he just thinks some of Drake’s antics are kinda cringe. It’s a petty way of saying, “Yeah, whatever, you just kinda suck, lil bro.”
“Ain't 20-v-one, it's one-v-20 if I gotta smack niggas that write with you”
After reference track leaks and the Quentin Miller saga of yesteryear, Drake (right or wrong) isn’t beating those ghostwriting allegations any time soon. Here, Kendrick cleverly flips Drake’s self-mythologizing quip about being in a “20 v. one” rap battle to poke fun at the rumors, but also threaten to smack the shit out of all his ghostwriters.
“I don't like you poppin' shit, that shit at Pharrell, I inherit the beef/ Yeah, fuck all that pushin P, let me see you Push a T”
Admittedly, Drake is pretty incredible at talking a good game, but the fact remains that he hasn’t outwardly attacked Pusha-T on record since the Virginia rapper scorched him alive on “The Story of Adidon” six years ago. Instead, Drizzy’s taken more shots at artists like Pharrellon Travis Scott’s “Meltdown.” In no uncertain terms, Kendrick once again says the loud part louder as he accuses Drizzy of ducking the fade.
“We don't wanna hear you say 'nigga' no more. Stop”
Kendrick interpolating a ’Ye lyric from “Get Em High” to put down Drake’s Blackness might just become the Drake haters’ version of, “Metro shut your hoe ass up and make some drums nigga.” In other words, Drake might be hearing this line yelled back at him for years to come.
