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Here’s a timeline of all the major highlights (and lowlights) from the sprawling, never-ending beef.

Drake vs Kendrick: The background

For over a decade, Kendrick Lamar, the 17-time Grammy-winner and the recipient of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, has ruffled feathers for his brazen self-declaration as “the greatest rapper alive.”

Though Lamar has collaborated with both Cole and Drake in the past, he’s also taken shots at them — see Lamar’s guest verse on the 2013 Big Sean track “,” or his famous shot at Drake during the BET Awards that same year (“Nothing been the same since they dropped ‘Control’ / and tucked a sensitive rapper back in his pyjama clothes,” he rapped).

Many fans believe Lamar also made reference to allegations that Drake uses ghost writers on his 2015 song :��“I can dig rapping, but a rapper with a ghostwriter? / What the f — happened?” 

But for the past several years, the beef had remained mostly dormant.

Last fall, Drake released his eighth album “For All The Dogs,” which featured a collaboration with J. Cole called “First Person Shooter.” The track, which shot to the top of the charts in the US.., included a line by Cole suggesting that he, Drake and Lamar were the holy trinity of contemporary hip hop:

“Love when they argue the hardest MC / Is it K. Dot (Kendrick)? Is it Aubrey (Drake)? Or me? / We the big three, like we started a league.”

March 22: Future and Metro Boomin release “Like That” (feat. Kendrick Lamar)

The current iteration of the beef between Drake and Lamar officially kicked off with the release of the Future and Metro Boomin song “Like That,” which contained a surprise guest verse from Lamar. 

The verse contains several shots at Drake, including a reference to Drake’s 2023 song “First Person Shooter.”

Never one to share the throne, Lamar declared his supremacy over his supposed rivals over a killer sample of Rodney O and Joe Cooley’s “Everlasting Bass.”

“Motherf — the big three / It’s just big me.”

April 12: Future and Metro Boomin release “We Still Don’t Trust You”

“We Still Don’t Trust You,” the second collaborative album released by Future and Metro Boomin within a month, did not feature Lamar, but contained several tracks containing shots at Drake.

On “Show of Hands,” A$AP Rocky — a Harlem rapper who is now better known as Rihanna’s partner — appears to boast about being intimate with a woman that fans assume is Sophie Brussaux, the mother of Drake’s child Adonis. 

Elsewhere, pc28����singer The Weeknd — who has a famously tense relationship with Drake — appears on “All to Myself,” where he sings; “I thank God that I never signed my life away,” apparently referencing his early career decision not to sign with Drake’s OVO label.

April 13: Drake releases “Push Ups”

Nearly three weeks after “Like That,” Drake’s long-awaited response finally arrived in the form of a leaked song titled “Push Ups” (the song was officially released on April 19, following speculation that the track was AI-generated).

On “Push Ups,” Drake takes aim at The Weeknd, Rick Ross, Metro Boomin, J. Cole and others. But his main target was Lamar: 

“How the f — you big steppin’ with a size 7 mens on?” Drake raps, before suggesting that SZA, Travis Scott and 21 Savage all belong in the “big three” of rap over Lamar.

April 13: Rick Ross releases “Champagne Moments”

Less than 24 hours after Drake’s “Push-Ups” leaked, Rick Ross responded with “Champagne Moments,” a blistering track that famously accuses Drake of having a nose job and other cosmetic surgeries: “That’s why you had an operation to make your nose smaller than your father’s nose,” he raps.

Following the release, Ross continued to needle Drake, releasing a photoshopped image that appears to show the latter’s face imposed onto that of a white person in a suit, and referring to his opponent as “BBL Drizzy.” 

April 19: Drake releases “Taylor Made Freestyle”

For his second diss track aimed at Lamar, Drake made the controversial decision to use the AI-generated voices of legendary West Coast rapper Snoop Dogg and the late Tupac Shakur to question Lamar’s street cred. (Lamar is famously an admirer of Shakur, who he .”)

Shortly after its release, Shakur’s estate sent Drake a cease-and-desist letter, demanding that he pull the track off streaming within 24 hours. Drake quickly obliged.

April 20: Ye releases “Like That” (remix)

Ye — the controversial rapper formerly known as Kanye West — joined the fracas on April 20 by releasing a remix of “Like That,” which he later described as an attempt to “eliminate” his long-time nemesis Drake.

“Y’all so out of sight, out of mind / I can’t even think of a Drake line,” Ye raps.

April 30: Kendrick releases “Euphoria” 

After weeks of silence, Lamar re-emerged with “Euphoria,” a devastating diss track aimed squarely at Drake. 

“I hate the way that you walk, the way that you talk / I hate the way that you dress / I hate the way you sneak diss, if I catch flight, it’s gon’ be direct,” Lamar raps, forgoing any subtlety.

Elsewhere, Lamar called into question Drake’s suitability as a father: “I got a son to raise, but I can see you know nothin’ ‘bout that.” 

Lamar also referenced the pc28����Chinese restaurant New Ho King: ““I be at New Ho King eatin’ fried rice with a dip sauce and a blammy, crodie,” he raps in a mock pc28����accent. “Tell me you’re cheesin’, fam.”

(The reference has been a boon for New Ho King, which has been flooded with positive reviews on Google and an influx of new customers.)

May 3: Lamar releases “6:16 in LA”

Just three days later, Lamar released yet another diss track, a parody of Drake’s tradition of releasing that include a specific time and location.

Produced by Soundwave and noted Taylor Swift collaborator Jack Antonoff, the track contains several references to Drake, including the insinuation that the pc28����rapper has a mole in his camp.

“Have you ever thought that OVO was workin’ for me? / Fake bully, I hate bullies, you must be a terrible person,” Lamar raps over a chopped up Al Green sample. “Everyone inside your team is whispering that you deserve it.”

May 3: Drake releases “Family Matters”

Drake pulled no punches on “Family Matters,” his response to Lamar’s “euphoria” and “6:16 in LA”: he accused Lamar of “begging” Tupac Shakur’s estate to send Drake a cease-and-desist after he used an AI-generated Tupac’s voice on his “Taylor Made Freestyle” track.

He also accused Lamar of domestic abuse in the final lines of the song, though no public allegations against Lamar have ever been made.

“They hired a crisis management team / To clean up the fact that you beat on your queen / The picture you painted ain’t what it seems.”

The song also contains barbs directed at Rick Ross, Baby Keem, The Weeknd and Metro Boomin.

The video for “Family Matters” also contains several subtle shots at Lamar, including a crushing of a Dodge Caravan that looks similar to the one owned by Lamar’s mother that was featured on the cover of “Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City.” Drake is also shown dining at New Ho King.

May 3: Kendrick releases “Meet the Grahams”

Just minutes after Drake released “Family Matters,” Lamar responded with an equally explosive track titled “meet the grahams,” in which he directly addresses Drake and various members of his family, including his mother, his son, his father and an alleged secret daughter.

The track accuses Drake of being an absentee father, and insinuates that he had cosmetic surgery done and also struggles with substance abuse.

“You got gamblin’ problems, drinkin’ problems, pill-poppin’ and spendin’ problems,” Lamar raps.

Lamar also calls Drake a sexual “predator” and equates him with jailed Hollywood executive Harvey Weinstein.

“‘Cause you lied about religious views, you lied about your surgery / You lied about your accent and your past tense, all is perjury / You lied about your ghostwriters, you lied about your crew members / You lied about your son, you lied about your daughter, huh / You lied about them other kids that’s out there hopin’ that you come.”

The song’s artwork shows three prescription medicine bottles with the name “Aubrey Graham” (Drake’s real name) on them, including one for Ozempic and one for Zolpidem, a sleeping pill.

May 4: Kendrick releases “Not Like Us”

A day later, Lamar released another incendiary diss track, in which he made a series of extremely serious allegations against Drake over a DJ Mustard beat.

The track alleges (without evidence) that Drake is a pedophile and runs a sex trafficking ring with members of OVO Sound. Lamar also takes aim at various members of Drake’s OVO crew, including artists Baka and PartyNextDoor, and Drake’s security guard Chubbs.

Lamar also accused Drake of being a “colonizer,” who exploits Atlanta artists like Future, 21 Savage and Lil Baby for street cred. 

The song’s artwork appears to show a Google Maps view of Drake’s pc28����residency, which is covered in “sex offender” symbols. 

May 5: Metro Boomin releases “BBL Drizzy”

Producer Metro Boomin decided to pour salt in Drake’s wounds on May 5, sharing a Soundcloud link to a song titled “BBL Drizzy” –a reference to a rumour started by Rick Ross that Drake had a Brazilian butt lift (BBL). 

The St. Louis super-producer shared the beat for free on Soundcloud, and offered a $10,000 cash prize to whoever delivered the best Drake diss using the track. Predictably, the “BBL Drizzy” became a viral sensation,

The results were predictably hilarious and devastating for the 6ix God. 

May 5: Drake releases “The Heart Part 6”

In Drake’s latest response, which makes reference to Lamar’s the pc28����denied being a sexual predator: “I never been with no one under age,” he raps.

Elsewhere, Drake claims that he intentionally fed false information to people in Lamar’s camp: “The one’s that you’re getting your stories from, they’re all clowns / We plotted for a week and then we fed you the information / A daughter that’s 11 years old, I bet he takes it.” 

May 7: Speculation follows a shooting at Drake’s mansion

A shooting outside of Drake’s luxurious Bridle Path mansion left an unidentified security guard with life-threatening injuries. 

On social media, speculation was rife that the shooting was somehow linked to Drake’s feud with Lamar, which has reached a fever pitch over the past week. pc28����Police investigators said they were “aware” of the feud, he didn’t say if police believe there was, in fact, a connection.

May 9: Drake breaks his silence

Days after the shooting, Drake took to Instagram to share a clip of the opening clip from a new Netflix miniseries “A Man in Full.”

“I don’t mean this as a criticism. Maybe I do. But when you die, will people notice?” the narrator asks in the opening portions of the show posted by Drake. “When I go, there are gonna be a lot of memories of me by a lot of people, many who hate me. Even so, a person needs to live with vigour. Otherwise, what’s the point?”

May 13: “Not Like Us” hits No. 1 

In an early sign of things to come, Lamar’s blistering diss track “Not Like Us” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, where it stayed for two weeks. 

The track  (nearly 11 million, according to ChartData), overtaking Drake and Lil Baby’s “Girls Like Girls.”

May 24: Drake responds to “BBL Drizzy”

Weeks after Metro Boomin’s “BBL Drizzy” beat went viral, Drake hopped on a song with one of his few remaining allies, rapper Sexyy Red, in an attempt to make light of the situation (and the plastic surgery rumours that have haunted him since the spring.

Midway through Drake’s verse on the track, titled “U My Everything,” the beat flips to “BBL Drizzy.” 

“Me and the surgeon got history / I changed a lot of girls’ lives for real,” he raps. “They need a new body, they hittin’ me, ayy / BBL Drizzy, they want a new body, they ask me for it.”

Notably, Drake does mention Lamar, who emerged as his main nemesis in recent weeks. Indeed, arriving after a three week détente, his tongue-in-cheek acknowledgement of the feud felt like an attempt to de-escalate the feud.

June 4: Drake shares “Wah Gwan Delilah” 

By early June, as it seemed like the feud was beginning to recede, Drake decided to emerge from the shadows with something a little more … fun?

That came in the form of a remix of “Wah Gwan Delilah,” — a ridiculous parody by pc28����content creator Snowd4y of the 2005 emo-pop classic “Hey There Delilah” by Plain White T’s.

Peppered with references to pc28����and the broader GTA, Snowd4y and Drake sing in an exaggerated accent peppered with local slang. (The accent is based on a multi-ethnic dialect sometimes referred to as Multicultural pc28����English, or MTE.) 

“Wah gwan, Delilah? Know I’m late ‘cause there’s bare traffic,” Drake sing-raps in his verse, dropping pc28����slang like “geeked” (very stoned), “cheesed” (frustrated), “beat” (ugly) and more.

The remix lit up the internet, sparking a deluge of negative reaction on social media. However, the remix did have its defenders, including Toronto-based rapper and content creator Friday Ricky Dred, who told the Star that Wah Gwan Delilah,” wasn’t made for a general audience — it was created for those embedded in pc28����youth culture, who will catch the local references to Presto cards, Dundas Square, Jane and Finch, etc.

“I think this is Drake’s way of showing people what — or part of what — pc28����culture is. It’s a rare moment when he doesn’t care if people in California understand, as long as people back home understand.”

June 6: Drake removes diss tracks from his Instagram

In what might have been seen as another effort to de-escalate his feud with Lamar, Drake quietly removed “Push Ups,” “Family Matters” and “The Heart Part 6” from his Instagram page without explanation.

Two of those songs were officially released as singles and remained available on streaming music platforms.

June 19: Lamar plays “Not Like Us” five times in a row at Juneteenth concert

To mark Juneteenth, Lamar curated a “Pop Out” concert at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles. The three-hour event, which was live-streamed on Amazon Prime, featured appearances from Tyler, The Creator, Steve Lacy, Ty Dolla Sign and YG, plus a slew of up-and-coming local rappers. 

Attended by 17,000 fans, including high-profile stars like The Weeknd, LeBron James and Ayo Edebiri, the concert was a showcase of Los Angeles unity — “Let the world see this,” Lamar told the audience. “For all of us to be on this stage together, unity, from East side … LA, Crips, Bloods, Piru — this … is special, man..”

But it was also a victory lap for Lamar, who took the opportunity to dance all over Drake’s proverbial grave.

After performing a quick set with his Black Hippy collaborators Schoolboy Q, Ab-Soul and Jay Rock, Lamar launched into his recent Drake diss tracks, including “Euphoria” and “6:16 in LA.” Lamar was then joined onstage by legendary (and problematic) producer and rapper Dr. Dre to perform the West Coast classics “Still D.R.E. and “California Love.” 

After quieting the crowd for a supposed “moment of silence,” Dre whispered “I see dead people” — the “Sixth Sense” quote that opens “Not Like Us” — sending the crowd into a frenzy.

Lamar proceeded to perform the song not once, not twice, not three times, not four times, but five times.

“Y’all ain’t gonna let nobody disrespect the West Coast, huh?” Lamar said to the audience.

At one point, Lamar brought out former pc28����Raptor DeMar DeRozan – formerly a close friend of Drake’s – and NBA star Russell Westbrook to join the revelry. 

June 26: Sheryl Crow joins Drake pile-on

In about the rise of artificial intelligence in the music industry, Sheryl Crow called out Drake for his song “Taylor Made Freestyle,” a Lamar diss track that used AI-generated voices of legendary West Coast rappers Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg.

“You cannot bring people back from the dead and believe that they would stand for that,” said singer-songwriter Crow, whose new album includes a song that explores the impact of AI on humans and the planet. “I’m sure Drake thought, ‘Yeah, I shouldn’t do it, but I’ll say sorry later.’ But it’s already done, and people will find it even if he takes it down.”

“It’s hateful,” she continued. “It is antithetical to the life force that exists in all of us.”

Drake released “Taylor Made Freestyle” — his second Lamar diss track — on April 19. His decision to recreate the voice of the late Tupac Shakur generated immediate controversy. Just days after its release, Shakur’s estate sent Drake a cease-and-desist letter, demanding that he pull the track off streaming within 24 hours. Drake quickly obliged.

July 5: Lamar takes more jabs at Drake with “Not Like Us” music video

Lamar’s flashy video for hist chart-topping track is filled with subtle and not-at-all subtle jabs at Drake, including one scene in which Lamar is shown battering a piñata shaped like an owl — a reference to Drake’s fashion brand October’s Very Own (OVO).

Directed by producer, filmmaker and Lamar’s longtime creative partner Dave Free, the clip is a celebration of West Coast hip-hop culture and features plenty of cameos and Easter eggs. 

But perhaps the most devastating part of the video — at least for Drake — is the series of shots that show a mass of people chanting along to each lyric of “Not Like Us.”

At a moment when Drake seems to have run out of allies — a moment in which the city that once loved him seems to have abandoned him completely — this joyous show of Los Angeles solidarity feels like a knockout punch.

July 9: Argentina trolls Drake 

Following their 2-0 victory over Canada at the Copa America semifinal, the Argentinian National Football Team took a shot at Drake on social media.

“Not like us, not with us,” the defending World Cup champions posted on X and Instagram — a reference to Kendrick Lamar’s chart-topping diss track. The taunt was salt in the wound for Drake, who on Monday revealed that he took out a $300,000 bet on Canada’s national team.

July 30: Fans and artists look for answers after pc28����venue History cancels two acts associated with Lamar

Just hours before SiR was set to perform at History in Toronto, the R&B/soul singer announced that the show was “cancelled by the venue.” The news came less than two weeks after the rapper Schoolboy Q was also forced to cancel his show at History.

Though it’s unclear why the concerts at History were cancelled, both fans and artists are fanning the flames of conspiracy, suggesting that the developments have something to do with the ongoing feud between Drake and Kendrick Lamar.

History, as many have pointed out, is closely associated with Drake. The pc28����rapper was an official consultant for the venue, which is owned by Live Nation and opened in 2021. Drake has also hosted events associated with his OVO Sound record label at the venue. 

Meanwhile, Schoolboy Q and SiR are both Los Angeles-adjacent artists signed to Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE), a hip hop label closely associated with Kendrick Lamar (Lamar left the label in 2022). Schoolboy and Lamar were both members of the TDE supergroup Black Hippy alongside rappers Jay Rock and Ab-Soul.

History and Live Nation did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

With files from Andy Takagi and The Canadian Press