In just two weeks between April 19 and May 4, rap icons Drake and Kendrick Lamar have fired seven diss tracks at each other.
The latest of the tracks, "Not Like Us," arrived with an intriguing cover that has raised questions from some.
Kendrick Lamar & Drake's Diss Track Timeline Explained
The long-standing tensions between Kendrick Lamar and Drake began escalating in October 2023.
J. Cole rapped on his track "First Person Shooter" how he, Kendrick, and Drake make up the "big three" of modern hip-hop's greatest.
Kendrick did not take the comment well, and responded unfavorably on his March 2024 single with Metro Boomin and Future, "Like That," stating, "Motherf *** the big three, n***a, it’s just big me."
Drake wouldn't respond until Friday, April 19 with two diss tracks on the same day, "Push Ups" and "Taylor Made Freestyle."
Weeks later, DAMN rapper Kendrick fired back with "Euphoria" and "6:16 in LA" being released on Tuesday, April 30, and Friday, May 3, respectively.
Undeniably the fastest back-and-forth came once again on May 3 as Drake released "Family Matters" in response to Kendrick, only for him to release his follow-up track just twenty minutes later with "Meet the Grahams."
Even after those three tracks debuted the same day, Kendrick returned with more shots at Drake on Saturday, May 4 through "Not Like Us."
What Does Kendrick Lamar's 'Not Like Us' Cover Mean?
The cover art to Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us" - the latest in the To Pimp a Butterfly rapper's series of diss tracks against Drake - featured an image of a mansion with several red markers across it, sparking curiosity from fans.
The map depicts Drake's mansion in Toronto, Canada which he refers to as "The Embassy."
The 50,000-square-foot home was custom-built for Drake for a massive $100 million. It features an indoor pool, recording studio, and basketball court with a wardrobe spanning two floors and a bed weighing a literal ton.
The red markers across the Toronto mansion appear to resemble those found on maps marking the homes of registered sex offenders. With the markers, Kendrick appears to be labeling both Drake and those close to him as sexual predators.
Across "Not Like Us," Kendrick claims that Drake and those closest to him are pedophiles and sex offenders with bars like, "Say Drake, I hear you like ‘em young / You better not have to go to Cell Block One."
Drake's Sexual Allegations Explained
The most famous claims against Drake date back to his friendship with young Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown. The two met backstage at one of the rapper's Australian concerts in November 2017 when she was 13 and they began regularly texting, with Brown telling W magazine how she "[asks] his advice.”
The actress elaborated to Access Hollywood in 2018 how he texted her, "I miss you so much," which raised questions about the nature of Drake's friendship with the rising Netflix star, who at the time was just 14:
"We just texted each other the other day and he was like, ‘I miss you so much.’ I was like, ‘I miss you more!’ He’s coming to Atlanta so I’m definitely going to go and see him. I'm so excited. About boys, he helps me. He’s great, he’s wonderful. I love him."
The allegations were furthered in 2019 (via Daily Dot) after a forged screenshot began circulating of singer Billie Eilish posting, "18 tomorrow," with a comment below from Drake stating, "I've been waiting."
Drake and Billie Eilish had a well-documented friendship and texted regularly going back to when she was 17 years old. However, the singer has defended the rap sensation, telling E! how "everyone's so sensitive:"
"The internet is such a stupid-ass mess right now. Everybody's so sensitive. A grown man can't be a fan of an artist? There are so many people that the internet should be more worried about."
There were also reports of Drake going on a dinner date with then-18-year-old model Bella Harris in Washington D.C. However, Harris denied the claims of Instagram, stating she "did not dine in D.C. recently:"
“Coming off an amazing New York fashion week, I feel I need to set the record straight … I did not dine in DC recently. I was happily working & dining in NYC every day.”
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