There’s been a lot of misinformation and revisionist history when it comes to this from both fan bases. So let’s get straight
Prelude: Take care dropped with buried alive November 15, 2011. October 22, 2012 Good kid Mac city with Poetic Justice February 2012 Drake took Kendrick on club parade tour. Poetic justice video February 22, 2013.
1. Kendrick drops control Aug. 14, 2013
2. Drake responded in billboard
Drake: Kendrick Lamar Is ‘Not Murdering Me, At All, In Any Platform’ (Exclusive)
Kendrick’s diss while gracing the cover of Billboard that same month, telling the publication: “I didn’t really have anything to say about it. It just sounded like an ambitious thought to me. That’s all it was. I know good and well that [Lamar] ‘s not murdering me, at all, in any platform. So when that day presents itself, I guess we can revisit the topic.”)
3. Drake did another interview
4. Drake does Elliot Wilson
During a 2013 interview for Elliott Wilson's CRWN series, Drake called Kendrick "the underdog who's extremely hungry," saying that his "Control" verse was "real cool for a couple of weeks." But Drake made it a point to say that he's giving people moments instead of long-lasting material. He then dropped this.
"I know that verse had no malice behind it, because I saw him five days later at the VMAs and it was all love. He didn’t come on there in some wild, ‘I’m in New York, fukk everybody, don’t look at me.’ It was one of those things, I almost wished he had come in there on that shyt, because I kind of lost a little respect for the sentiment of the verse. If it’s ‘really fukk everybody’ then it needs to be ‘fukk everybody.’ It can’t be halfway for the sake of the people."
Drake later said that when it comes to competition, he's "more worried about consistency, bodies of work."
5. Kendrick drops BET freestyle
6. Drake responded on the language
7. Drake shot back again on shyt Remix
8. Drakes does interview
VIBE Winter 2014 Cover Story: Drake
Drake was asked specifically about whether "The Language" was a sub at Kendrick's "Control" verse. Drake said he didn't "want to get into responses," and called "The Language" "just energy." While he said Kendrick's verse was more about MCs wanting to be the best, he opened up about why "The Language" would've been perceived a certain type of way.
"Where it became an issue is that I was rolling out an album while that verse was still bubbling, so my album rollout became about this thing. What am I supposed to say? Nah, we’ll be buddy-buddy? Mind you, I never once said he’s a bad guy [or] I don’t like him. I think he’s a fukking genius in his own right, but I also stood my ground as I should. And with that came another step, which then I have to realize I’m being baited and I’m not gonna fall. Jordan doesn’t have to play pickup to prove that he could play ball, no offense. But I’m not gonna give you the chance to shake me necessarily, ’cause I feel great. There’s no real issue."
9. Drake calls Kendrick a "king" during OVO Fest
With news regarding a Drake/Kendrick beef going cold in 2014, it was dope to see J. Cole bring Drake out during his set, and Drake end his time saying, "Shout out my nikka Kendrick Lamar." The praise didn't stop there: "Kendrick was on my album, we went on tour...that's one of the hardest nikkas alive. He should be standing right [here]. There’s a lot of kings in this shyt, so shoutout to Kendrick and shoutout my brother J. Cole."
10. Kendrick dissed Drake after he tried giving olive brand
“I tell 'em all to hail king Kendrick, resurrecting my vengeance
Been dissecting your motor mouth till I break down the engine”
He also mentioned that those lines weren't a "warning shot," and that he'd "rather die alone" so he's "endin' our friendship." Awkward.
11. Kendrick sends shots again
“I can dig rapping/ But a rapper with a ghost writer? What the f–k happened?”
12. Drake diss on 100
I would have all of your fans/ If I didn’t go pop and I stayed on some conscious s–t.”
13. Kendrick disses again on Compton
Who'da thunk that Kendrick, on Dr. Dre's album Compton, would've borrowed Drake's "Energy" to throw a quick shot at the Boy? Take these lines from "Darkside/Gone":
But still I got enemies giving me energy, I don't wanna fight now
Subliminally sent to me all of this hate, I thought I was holding the mic down
Then, on "Deep Water," Kendrick dug the burial plot for Drake:
They liable to bury him, they nominated six to carry him
They worry him to death, but he's no vegetarian
The beef is on his breath, inheriting the drama better than
A great white, nikka this is life in my aquarium
14. Drake 4 PM in Calabasas
While not a shot at Kendrick, Drake did take some time out on "4PM" to reflect on the Club Paradise Tour, saying he "drew for" Kendrick and Rocky when he was told to "take an R&B nikka on the road" because he "tried to make the right choices with the world watching." One could twist this as Drake trying to boss up and be on some paternal shyt, but again, with all of the claps back and forth between these two, and who Drake was actually calling out on "4PM," K-Dot likely didn't lose sleep over this one.
15. June 15, 2016 (destroyed interview)
Let former NFL player Marcellus Wiley tell it, there was in fact a beef between the two, and he had a front row seat. "All I know is there was a beef," Wiley said, "and all I know is I was witness to when the beef would have ignited to proportions we have not seen since Ja Rule/50, maybe even Ice Cube/N.W.A. Like it went there. But that was destroyed from everyone’s property. That was destroyed, that interview, that moment was destroyed. That’s all I’m gonna say. But I was there and I heard the shots fired."
Wiley never did say who the two artists were, but Drake was at ESPN studios around the time Big Sean dropped "Control." Whatever the case may be, Wiley said the rapper's publicist made sure that this interview never went public. Who knows what could've went down if a) this was in fact Drake going in on Kendrick and b) the world got to hear the interview....
16. Kendrick the heart pt 4 (March 23, 2017)
Kendrick was going in on Drake, too, especially since the song was released shortly after More Life dropped. Was Kendrick's "One, two, three, four, five/I am the greatest rapper alive" a shot at Drake's "I know I said top five, but I'm top two/And I'm not two and I got one" from "Gyalchester?" Or was "You jumped sides on me, now you 'bout to meet Westbrook" an answer to Drake's "Weston Road Flows"? Could all of that paper crumpling be a nod to Drake's ghostwriter accusations?
18. J Cole and Drake (supposedly)
18. Kendrick shoots back
19. Drake responds
OG Push ups leaked
Official leaked then released to streaming
20. 4-20-24 Drake drops again
21. Kendrick Lamar officially responds (4/30/2024)
22. Kendrick Lamar drops 6:16 in LA
23. Drake releases Family Matter and Buried Alive Interlude at 5/4/2024
24. Kendrick Lamar releases graham family one hour later
25. kendrick lamar drops not like us 5/4/2024
Prelude: Take care dropped with buried alive November 15, 2011. October 22, 2012 Good kid Mac city with Poetic Justice February 2012 Drake took Kendrick on club parade tour. Poetic justice video February 22, 2013.
1. Kendrick drops control Aug. 14, 2013
2. Drake responded in billboard
Drake: Kendrick Lamar Is ‘Not Murdering Me, At All, In Any Platform’ (Exclusive)
Kendrick’s diss while gracing the cover of Billboard that same month, telling the publication: “I didn’t really have anything to say about it. It just sounded like an ambitious thought to me. That’s all it was. I know good and well that [Lamar] ‘s not murdering me, at all, in any platform. So when that day presents itself, I guess we can revisit the topic.”)
3. Drake did another interview
4. Drake does Elliot Wilson
During a 2013 interview for Elliott Wilson's CRWN series, Drake called Kendrick "the underdog who's extremely hungry," saying that his "Control" verse was "real cool for a couple of weeks." But Drake made it a point to say that he's giving people moments instead of long-lasting material. He then dropped this.
"I know that verse had no malice behind it, because I saw him five days later at the VMAs and it was all love. He didn’t come on there in some wild, ‘I’m in New York, fukk everybody, don’t look at me.’ It was one of those things, I almost wished he had come in there on that shyt, because I kind of lost a little respect for the sentiment of the verse. If it’s ‘really fukk everybody’ then it needs to be ‘fukk everybody.’ It can’t be halfway for the sake of the people."
Drake later said that when it comes to competition, he's "more worried about consistency, bodies of work."
5. Kendrick drops BET freestyle
6. Drake responded on the language
7. Drake shot back again on shyt Remix
8. Drakes does interview
VIBE Winter 2014 Cover Story: Drake
Drake was asked specifically about whether "The Language" was a sub at Kendrick's "Control" verse. Drake said he didn't "want to get into responses," and called "The Language" "just energy." While he said Kendrick's verse was more about MCs wanting to be the best, he opened up about why "The Language" would've been perceived a certain type of way.
"Where it became an issue is that I was rolling out an album while that verse was still bubbling, so my album rollout became about this thing. What am I supposed to say? Nah, we’ll be buddy-buddy? Mind you, I never once said he’s a bad guy [or] I don’t like him. I think he’s a fukking genius in his own right, but I also stood my ground as I should. And with that came another step, which then I have to realize I’m being baited and I’m not gonna fall. Jordan doesn’t have to play pickup to prove that he could play ball, no offense. But I’m not gonna give you the chance to shake me necessarily, ’cause I feel great. There’s no real issue."
9. Drake calls Kendrick a "king" during OVO Fest
With news regarding a Drake/Kendrick beef going cold in 2014, it was dope to see J. Cole bring Drake out during his set, and Drake end his time saying, "Shout out my nikka Kendrick Lamar." The praise didn't stop there: "Kendrick was on my album, we went on tour...that's one of the hardest nikkas alive. He should be standing right [here]. There’s a lot of kings in this shyt, so shoutout to Kendrick and shoutout my brother J. Cole."
10. Kendrick dissed Drake after he tried giving olive brand
“I tell 'em all to hail king Kendrick, resurrecting my vengeance
Been dissecting your motor mouth till I break down the engine”
He also mentioned that those lines weren't a "warning shot," and that he'd "rather die alone" so he's "endin' our friendship." Awkward.
11. Kendrick sends shots again
“I can dig rapping/ But a rapper with a ghost writer? What the f–k happened?”
12. Drake diss on 100
I would have all of your fans/ If I didn’t go pop and I stayed on some conscious s–t.”
13. Kendrick disses again on Compton
Who'da thunk that Kendrick, on Dr. Dre's album Compton, would've borrowed Drake's "Energy" to throw a quick shot at the Boy? Take these lines from "Darkside/Gone":
But still I got enemies giving me energy, I don't wanna fight now
Subliminally sent to me all of this hate, I thought I was holding the mic down
Then, on "Deep Water," Kendrick dug the burial plot for Drake:
They liable to bury him, they nominated six to carry him
They worry him to death, but he's no vegetarian
The beef is on his breath, inheriting the drama better than
A great white, nikka this is life in my aquarium
14. Drake 4 PM in Calabasas
While not a shot at Kendrick, Drake did take some time out on "4PM" to reflect on the Club Paradise Tour, saying he "drew for" Kendrick and Rocky when he was told to "take an R&B nikka on the road" because he "tried to make the right choices with the world watching." One could twist this as Drake trying to boss up and be on some paternal shyt, but again, with all of the claps back and forth between these two, and who Drake was actually calling out on "4PM," K-Dot likely didn't lose sleep over this one.
15. June 15, 2016 (destroyed interview)
Let former NFL player Marcellus Wiley tell it, there was in fact a beef between the two, and he had a front row seat. "All I know is there was a beef," Wiley said, "and all I know is I was witness to when the beef would have ignited to proportions we have not seen since Ja Rule/50, maybe even Ice Cube/N.W.A. Like it went there. But that was destroyed from everyone’s property. That was destroyed, that interview, that moment was destroyed. That’s all I’m gonna say. But I was there and I heard the shots fired."
Wiley never did say who the two artists were, but Drake was at ESPN studios around the time Big Sean dropped "Control." Whatever the case may be, Wiley said the rapper's publicist made sure that this interview never went public. Who knows what could've went down if a) this was in fact Drake going in on Kendrick and b) the world got to hear the interview....
16. Kendrick the heart pt 4 (March 23, 2017)
Kendrick was going in on Drake, too, especially since the song was released shortly after More Life dropped. Was Kendrick's "One, two, three, four, five/I am the greatest rapper alive" a shot at Drake's "I know I said top five, but I'm top two/And I'm not two and I got one" from "Gyalchester?" Or was "You jumped sides on me, now you 'bout to meet Westbrook" an answer to Drake's "Weston Road Flows"? Could all of that paper crumpling be a nod to Drake's ghostwriter accusations?
18. J Cole and Drake (supposedly)
18. Kendrick shoots back
19. Drake responds
OG Push ups leaked
Official leaked then released to streaming
20. 4-20-24 Drake drops again
21. Kendrick Lamar officially responds (4/30/2024)
22. Kendrick Lamar drops 6:16 in LA
23. Drake releases Family Matter and Buried Alive Interlude at 5/4/2024
24. Kendrick Lamar releases graham family one hour later
25. kendrick lamar drops not like us 5/4/2024
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