If you don’t keep up with hip-hop news, you might be wondering what’s been happening between Drake, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, Future, Metro Boomin, Rick Ross — and, well, even Uma Thurman at this point.
They’re all connected in an ongoing war of lyrics, and while it’s likely been brewing for longer behind the scenes, things really made headlines when Kendrick Lamar, 36, joined Future and Metro Boomin in March for “Like That,” the trio’s latest No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.
In “Like That,” the Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper took aim at both Cole, 39, and Drake, 37, and things have been developing fast since.
To keep track of the back-and-forth between the rap heavyweights, here’s a comprehensive timeline of some of what’s been said in the studio (and at times, on Instagram) between Lamar, Drake — and just about everybody else — since the release of “Like That” (and a little before it).
Oct. 6, 2023: Drake and J. Cole release “First Person Shooter”
Lamar’s “Like That” verse may have sparked quite a few responses, but it only began as a response to J. Cole and Drake’s “First Person Shooter,” which was released in early October as part of the Canadian hitmaker’s latest album, For All the Dogs.
The song, which eventually hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, features Cole effectively comparing himself to both Drake and Lamar as the “big three.”
“Love when they argue the hardest MC,” he raps. “Is it K-Dot? Is it Aubrey? Or me?/We the big three like we started a league, but right now, I feel like Muhammad Ali.”
March 22, 2024: Kendrick Lamar, Future and Metro Boomin release “Like That”
Lamar was apparently not a fan of Cole’s “big three” comment, as five months later he addressed it with “Like That” — a song released as part of Metro Boomin and Future’s collaborative effort We Don’t Trust You.
In Lamar’s verse, which is sandwiched in the middle of the song, he declares “motherf— the big three,” adding “it’s just big me.”
Lamar also responded to “First Person Shooter” by adding: “f— sneak dissin’, first-person shooter, I hope they came with three switches.”
Beyond the “big three” takedown, Lamar’s verse also takes aim at Drake specifically, apparently comparing his adversary to Michael Jackson and himself to Prince — all while dissing Drake’s “best work.” In the same verse, he seemingly calls out Drake’s For All the Dogs album.
“What? I’m really like that/And your best work is a light pack/N—-, Prince outlived Mike Jack’/N—-, bum,” Lamar raps. “‘Fore all your dogs gettin’ buried/ That’s a K with all these nines, he gon’ see Pet Sematary.”
April 5, 2024: J. Cole releases “7 Minute Drill”
After “Like That” rose to the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100, J. Cole released his surprise album Might Delete Later in early April.
Included in the album was track “7 Minute Drill,” which took direct aim at Lamar, specifically calling his 2022 album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers “tragic” and implying that Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly album was boring.
“He still doin’ shows, but fell off like the Simpsons/ Your first s— was classic, your last s— was tragic/ Your second s— put n—– to sleep, but they gassed it/ Your third s— was massive and that was your prime/ I was trailing right behind and I just now hit mine/ Now I’m front of the line with a comfortable lead/ How ironic, soon as I got it, now he want somethin’ with me,” Cole rapped.
He later argued that the elusive Lamar was “averagin’ one hard verse like every 30 months or somethin’,” then rapping: “Four albums in 12 years, n—-, I can divide.”
April 7, 2024: J. Cole apologizes for “7 Minute Drill”
Two days after “7 Minute Drill” took the internet by storm, Cole walked back on his rhymes.
During an appearance at his Dreamville Festival in North Carolina, the Grammy winner told the crowd that dissing Lamar so publicly “disrupts my f—ing peace,” and that it didn’t “sit right with my spirit.” He noted that he “downplayed” Lamar’s catalog and “his greatness.”
“I felt so conflicted because I’m like, bro, I don’t really feel no way,” he said, according to video shot by fans in attendance.
“But the world wanna see blood… So I say all of that to say, in my spirit of trying to get this music out, I ain’t gonna lie to y’all, I moved in a way that I spiritually feel bad on. I try to like, jab my n—- back. I try to keep it friendly, but at the end of the day, when I listen to it and when it comes out and I see the talk, that s— don’t sit right with my spirit.”
Cole asked Lamar to forgive him “for the misstep.” The song was removed from streaming services just days later.
April 12, 2024: Future and Metro Boomin release another joint album, ‘We Really Don’t Trust You’
Just days after Cole backtracked on his Lamar diss, Future and Metro Boomin returned with a follow-up album stacked with features from the likes of The Weeknd, A$AP Rocky, and even Cole himself.
On track “All to Myself,” The Weeknd sings: “They could never diss my brothers, baby/When they got leaks in they operation/I thank God that I never signed my life away.” Complex and other outlets have since reported that the line appears to reference his past association with Drake.
As previously reported, on song “Show of Hands,” Rocky also appears use Rihanna’s “bad girl RiRi” moniker to allude to Drake still having feelings for her. It comes after fans believe Drake seeming took his own jab at Rocky on his For All the Dogs album in October.
“Call up Pluto, Metro, should’ve put me on the first one / N—-s swear they bitch the baddest, I just bagged the worst one/ N—-s in they feelings over women, what, you hurt or somethin’? / I smash before you birthed, son, Flacko hit it first, son,” Rocky raps.
April 13, 2024: Drake responds with alleged leaked diss track “Push Ups”
While Drake himself has not confirmed its legitimacy, a diss track which Rolling Stone reports is titled “Push Ups (Drop and Give Me 50),” leaked on social media on April 13. The song, initially believed to be AI by some fans on social media, was later premiered in CDQ by media personality DJ Akademiks.
In the song, in which multiple iterations have surfaced, Drizzy can be heard calling Lamar “pipsqueak,” arguing that he wears “size 7 mens” shoes, and apparently mocks his previous pop collaborations with Taylor Swift and Maroon 5.
“Maroon 5 need a verse you better make it witty/You only need a verse for the Swifties/Top say drop and give ‘em 50,” he raps, later comparing Lamar to other notable artists.
“You ain’t in no big three, SZA got you wiped down,” he adds. “Travis got you wiped down, Savage got you wiped down/Like your label, boy, you in the scope right now/And you gon’ feel the aftermath of what I write down.”
Fans believe the song takes aim at Future, Metro Boomin (“Metro, shut yo ho ass up and make some drums”), Rick Ross (“Every song that made it on the chart, he got from Drizzy”), and few others — with even more shots apparently thrown Lamar’s way. “I don’t care what Cole think, that Dot s— was weak as f—,” he raps.
A rep for Drake did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request to confirm the song’s validity.
April 13, 2024: Rick Ross immediately responds with “Champagne Moments”
Within hours, Ross responded to Drake with his own diss track — and a number of social media clap backs. The song “Champagne Moments” was first teased on DJ Akademik’s Twitch stream.
In the full song, Ross, 48, accuses the rapper of having “ghostwriters,” calls him a “white boy,” and claims mentor Lil Wayne “gave you the juice.” Ross also accuses Drake of getting plastic surgery to make his nose smaller, and claims he unfollowed him on social media in response to a slight at fellow rapper French Montana.
“I unfollowed you, n—-, ’cause you sent the motherf—ing cease-and-desist to French Montana, n—-,” Ross claims. “You sent the police, n—-, hatin’ on my dawg project/That wasn’t the same white boy that I seen, n—-, when we were makin’ them early records.”
April 14, 2024: Drake and Ross’ social media back and forth continues (ft. Uma Thurman)
In the aftermath of the pair’s latest (apparent) releases, Ross and Drake have exchanged plenty of words on Instagram and beyond. Since “Champagne Moments,” Ross has written on X (formerly Twitter): “If we keeping it gangster, when you see me you check me.”
Ross also encouraged him to “drop a response or tell the kids you don’t respond,” using the hashtag “#BBLDrizzy.”
Drake has shared a message of his own to Instagram, uploading an apparent text exchange with his mother, Sandi Graham, in which she playfully asked him about the alleged nose job, per Billboard. “I can’t believe you would get one without me … cuz you know I always wanted one,” she wrote. “Don’t tell me that you got tattoos without me and now this too?”
The Degrassi alum responded to the text: “I would have got us a 2 for 1 deal if I went ma… It’s coming from Rick Ross the guy I did songs with he’s gone loopy off the Mounjaro he hasn’t eaten in days and it’s turned him angry and racist he’s performing at proms for money it’s bad don’t worry we’ll handle it.”
In response to Drake’s Instagram Stories, Ross shared a video of his own, announcing that “BBL Drizzy called his mommy on me.”
“He shared their text messages between each other. Ah, cupcake Drake. Tell your momma you stayed out past your curfew, white boy,” he said, per Billboard.
“…But tell your momma… tell your old girl she a beautiful lady,” Ross added. “I told you that before and I meant that, but you tell your momma, white boy, you stayed out at the park too late and you can’t call her when you get in this s—. This s— too deep to call your momma, white boy.”
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And now, Thurman is somehow involved in the back and forth, too. After Drake’s alleged leaked diss hit social media over the weekend, the musician uploaded a still from Kill Bill to his Instagram Stories, where Thurman’s character could be seen surrounded by armed assailants — likely in reference to his several ongoing feuds.
The actress, 53, then posted her own photo of the Kill Bill jumpsuit in storage, asking Drake: “Need this?”
