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Last weekend, Kendrick Lamar played the biggest 13-minute gig in music when he headlined the Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show. It was a set for the history books, boasting guest appearances from SZA, Serena Williams and Samuel L. Jackson – who turned up dressed as Uncle Sam.
Ahead of the show, Lamar was expected to reach more than 120 million TV viewers tuning in to watch America’s most important sports event of the year – but one person who probably couldn’t be blamed if he didn’t want to join them was Drake. Not only was he playing the first of four massive gigs at Melbourne’s Rod Laver arena that same evening, but his decade-long rivalry with Kendrick has (to put it lightly) soured over the past year. We’ve had chart-topping diss tracks and the threat of legal action as the two rap heavyweights publicly wrestled for supremacy. Here’s a beginner’s guide to what went down – backed by some insightful ticket data on fan demand, supplied by viagogo.
2013: Kendrick lands the first blow
Kendrick Lamar and Drake started the 2010s as two of the most popular new rappers around, and they were willing to share the love. They collaborated on ‘Take Care’ cut ‘Buried Alive’ and ‘Poetic Justice’ from Lamar’s major label-debut ‘good kid, m.A.A.d city’ before Drake invited Lamar to support him on his ‘Club Paradise’ tour. It went on to become the highest grossing US tour of 2012.
However, the following year Big Sean released the braggadocious ‘Control’ with Lamar, which saw him champion himself, Jay-Z, Nas, Eminem and André 3000 as the greatest MCs of all time. “The rest of y’all… don’t get involved / I got love for you all but I’m tryna murder you,” rapped Lamar.
Drake tried to play things down (“I know good and well that Kendrick’s not murdering me, at all, in any platform,” he told Billboard), but the pair are rumoured to have spent the past decade exchanging secretive “sneak disses”. Things suddenly went very public last year…
March 2024: Kendrick heats things up on ‘Like That’.
Metro Boomin and Future released their joint album ‘We Don’t Trust You’ in March which featured Kendrick on breakout track ‘Like That’. Over a menacing beat, Lamar hit back at J. Cole’s claim on ‘First Person Shooter’ that the big three of rap were himself, Drake and Kendrick (“it’s just big me”) before mocking Drake comparing himself to Michael Jackson.
April 13: Drake does ‘Push Ups’
Cole originally clapped back at Lamar with ‘7 Minute Drill’ before removing the track, calling the beef “lame, goofy shit”. Drake wasn’t so forgiving though and a few weeks later, his track ‘Push Ups’ appeared online. The song claimed Kendrick wasn’t part of the big three, having been beaten out by SZA, Travis Scott and 21 Savage.
When Kendrick didn’t respond, Drake took to Instagram to taunt him (“he has nothing to drop”) and released ‘Taylor Made Freestyle’ – a diss track poking fun at Lamar’s working relationship with Swift. The song was eventually taken down when Tupac’s estate threatened to sue him over AI-generated verses from Snoop Dogg and Tupac but fans clearly couldn’t get enough as demand for Drake tickets increased by 160 per cent on viagogo.
April 30: Kendrick bites back with ‘Euphoria’
It may have taken a few weeks for Kendrick to come back on ‘Push Ups’ but he’d clearly been working on his revenge. The first diss track was the six-minute ‘Euphoria’ which took shots at Drake’s rap skills among other things.
May 3: The rap battle becomes a war
On May 3, Kung-Fu Kenny put out another scathing track called ‘6:16 In LA’ where he called Drake a “terrible person”. Hours later, Drake rebutted with ‘Family Matters’ – a seven and a half minute epic that made accusations about Kendrick and his relationship with partner Whitney Alford.
It took him just 20 minutes to respond with ‘Meet The Grahams’ and ‘Not Like Us’ – an upbeat roast track which saw the rapper doubling down on his accusations against Drake. It went on to top the Billboard Hot 100 and broke the Spotify record for the most streamed rap song in one day.
May 5: Drake tries to cool things down with ‘The Heart Part 6’
Lethargic diss track ‘The Heart Part 6’ reiterated everything that was previously said but Drake ended the song with lines such as “You know, at least your fans are gettin’ some raps out of you / I’m happy I could motivate you,” which sorta felt like the start of a truce.
June 19: Kendrick ‘s LA date helps him claim victory
With no more music from Drake, Kendrick hosted an unofficial victory parade in his hometown. Taking over the Kia Forum for a gig that was also livestreamed on Amazon Prime, he performed diss tracks ‘6:16 In LA’ and ‘Euphoria’ before Dr. Dre kickstarted the first of five blistering run-throughs of ‘Not Like Us’. Following the show, viagogo saw a 369 per cent increase in Kendrick’s searches from fans that day, wanting to witness one of the biggest rap showdowns in person.
November 8: The party keeps going
In September, Kendrick Lamar was confirmed to play the Super Bowl Halftime show and searches for his live shows spiked by 1,975 per cent on viagogo compared to the week before. On November 8, his Drake diss tracks earned seven Grammy nominations – including nods for Record and Song Of The Year. Two weeks later, he surprise-released new album ‘GNX’ and his viagogo page views increased again by 552 per cent.
November 25: Drake snaps back
Never one to take things lying down, Drake filed a series of lawsuits against Kendrick Lamar and their shared record label, Universal Music Group. He claimed the numbers for global megahit ‘Not Like Us’ were artificially inflated. UMG called the allegations “offensive and untrue.”
Days later, Drake announced his first Australian headline tour in eight years but the same day that pre-sale tickets went live, Kendrick Lamar announced a US headline tour with SZA. Despite Lamar’s attempt to steal the spotlight, the Canadian came out on top, as his fan demand spiked by 12,000 per cent compared to Lamar’s increase of 7,600 per cent.
February 2025: Kendrick looks invincible
‘Not Like Us’ reenters the UK Top 40 ahead of Kendrick’s Super Bowl appearance while the gig itself was a fiery, smart yet playful showcase of his ability to tell a commanding story. There were also more digs at Drake (including a new meme) followed by the news that his US stadium tour with SZA is coming to the UK and Europe this summer. Meanwhile Drake has teamed up with PARTYNEXTDOOR for new track ‘$exy $ongs 4 U’ which drops on Valentine’s Day. Let’s wait and see what happens next…