Kendrick Lamars Drake Beef and what you need to know

On February 11, 2025By Littum

There is a lot to take in after Kendrick Lamar’s theatrical Super Bowl performance.

Compton, California, native and Pulitzer award-winning rapper Was the headline practitioner of the Super Bowl 59, with Special Guest Sza, and his performance included lots of references that some non-rap fans can be hard pressed to find out, including his feud from 2024 with Drake.

If you have missed what all that excitement is about, don’t worry, here’s a (relatively) quick overview of what happened, leading up to his performance and everything you need to know.

What is ‘not like us’?

“Not Like Us” was Lamar’s last song in the newly resurrected feud with Drake, bubbling up in March last year. Billboard # 1 hit won this year’s record and Song of the Year at the Grammy Awards earlier this month, only the second rap song with either honor in the show’s history.

‘Not like us’ texts that mean

Lamar apparently referred to previous accusations of care against Drake in Some of the texts on “Not like us.”

“Say, Drake, I hear you like (them) young. You shouldn’t ever go to cell blocks,” Raper lamar. “To anyone (girl) who talks to him, and they are in love, just make sure to hide your (small) sister from him.” And later: “Tryna strikes a chord, and it’s probably a minor.” He also referred to Drake and his friends, rapped, “Certified Lover Boy? Certified Pedophiles.”

Many fans attribute these lines to Drake, who received setbacks in 2018 after the “Stranger Things” star Millie Bobby Brown, then 14, revealed that she considered the rapper “a big friend and a big role model” despite their 17 -year -old age difference . Drake also faced Backlash in 2019 for a resurrected video, kissing and slipping a 17-year-old girl almost a decade before he was 23 years old.

Origins of Kendrick Lamar, Drake Feud

Drake and Lamar celebrate because of Years of subliminal comments Between the two via songs that date as far back as in 2013, in Lamar’s song “Control.”

Then on Drake and colleagues, J. Coles 2023 -track “First Person Shooter” rapped, Cole rapped that he, Drake and Lamar were “Big Three” of rap music. On rapper Future and Metro Boomin’s march -song “Like that” Lamar fired back and distanced himself from the trio (Rapping forgets “The Big Three … It’s just big me”) and apparently said with reference to Drake: “It’s time For him to prove that he is a problem.

Kendrick Lamar, Drake Rap Beef had 9 songs and wild accusations

The first two full songs in their feud came from Drake, I “Push ups“And” Taylor made freestyle “in April. Lamar replied with his track,”Euphoria,“A little over a week later and with” 6:16 in LA “in early May.

This was when things took a turn from pairs for the rap course for serious claims with real potential consequences.

Fourteen hours after “LA” followed Drake up with the track “Family matters“In a track that claimed that Lamar was physically abusing his partner Whitney Alford minutes after, Lamar made serious accusations of abuse, addiction and a hidden other child against Drake in”Meet Grahams. “Then on May 4, Lamar” did not release like us “with accusations of foster girls in which he called Drake and his employees” certified Pedophiles. “

While it is difficult to cook the exact reasoning for a decade long feud, Lamar has used “not like us” as a vehicle to attack Drake’s presence and status in the industry, which he has said is one of a “colonizer”- Someone who tries to ingrate themselves in black culture and try the size without really being of the culture.

Of all the songs in the feud, “Not Like us” jumped up on streaming and with fans, a hit song everywhere from advertising to parties. The feud between the rappers took over new life with the occasion of social media that felt Lamar came out victorious, as well as honors from Grammys and appeared in the Super Bowl.

Why kendrick lamar brought out sza out, Serena Williams at Super Bowl Halfime Show

SZA is a frequent partner of Lamar (they were previously on the same label) and they go on trips together. She is also Drake’s ex.

Fans learned that the singer and Drake briefly dated over a decade ago in Drake’s 2020 -song “Mr. right now.” SZA confirmed the relationship and clarified the year, which is important (and perhaps ironically, given the accusations against Drake) when she was 18 and he was about 23. The two would later cooperate on Drake’s 2023 record “Slim you out. “

Lamar also brought out another of Drake’s apparent exes, Serena Williams, a colleague Compton, California, native. Drake and Serena Williams were reportedly romantically involved around 2015. Drake first recently confirmed the relationshipAnd noticed that the connection was inspiration for his song in 2016 “Too Good.”

The Canadian rapper is no longer on good conditions with Williams. Drake called her husband, Alexis Ohanian, in his song from 2022 “Middle of the Ocean,” rapped that the Reddit founder was a “Groupie.” Ohanian responded to social mediaTaking the insult in step: “The reason I win is because I am relentless to be the absolute best to whatever I do – including being the best group for my wife & daughter.”

Kendrick defended Williams in “Not Like Us”, referring to the Los Angeles area, they are from “From Alondra down to central … Better not talk about Serena.”

Should Drake Sue Kendrick?

In the Super Bowl, Lamar referred to Drake’s lawsuit against his music distributor, Universal Music Group, about their promotion of “Not Like Us” and said “I want to play their favorite song but you know they love to sue.”

Although Lamar is heavily discussed is not part of the trial.

Drake accused UMG of “Corporate Greed” in their construction of the song. “Umg wants the public to believe this is a battle between rappers, but this trial is not placed against Kendrick Lamar,” wrote Drake’s legal team in a statement to USA Today last month. “This lawsuit reveals the human and business consequences for UMG’s increase in profits over security and well -being for its artists and shines a light on the manipulation of artists and the public for business benefits.”

Contribution: USA Today Entertainment -staff