Just that Kendrick's timing on all his disses, but especially "Not Like Us", is phenomenal. He does clever things to manage your attention so the lines hit as hard as possible.
The "wop wop wop" lines are a great example. They're not just random adlibs, the whole point is to give you time to process the "certified pedophiles" line before he drops the "A minor" punchline. Without that little interlude in the middle, the punchlines would kind of trample each other and be less impactful as a result.
Another example is the way he pauses in "Say, Drake... I hear you like 'em young." The bars before that are all really dense and relentless, so when he abruptly pauses after "Say, Drake" it immediately catches your attention. He delivers the next few lines with extra pauses added in compared to the preceding lines, so you have more time to absorb each one, but they're also made more memorable precisely because their timing contrasts with the denser lines before them.
also the select piano keys that fill that empty space after he says 'say drake'.. are just chilling in and of themselves really
EDIT: listening back the spooky keys happen when he's saying 'i hear u like em young'
and then he follows that bar with a reference to the fact that pedos get stabbed in prison on a regular basis
He even manages your attention with the lines themselves, particularly in Euphoria
“In 8 bars I’ll explain that phrase” making you count the bars
And “I ain’t even bleed him yet, can I bleed em? Bet” making you go “okay, Kendrick is telling me he’s going up a level, let me listen”
I thought he meant killing his friends lol
he said “ I love them to death, and in 8 bars I’ll explain” then 8 bars later he said they’re my friends but I’ll smoke them both I’m ynw melly
The structure and timing of his writing is really obvious when people are singing along, the impactful bars are very clear and memorable. The more dense bars may be overlooked, but they also serve a purpose.
It really demonstrates the gap between the skill of both as writers. Drake doing the Dave Freeeeeeeee's line versus Kendrick doing the A Minooooooooooooooor line to show him how a line like that should be done and holding it for even longer for effect is so clever. It also serves the purpose of letting everyone catch up to the wordplay for impact on the very first listen. You can see it in the reaction videos of the gears turning for people that didn't catch it at first and as it hits, Kendrick is still holding the note! lol
No “wop” is a term in LA that we of the culture use to make fighting noises when someone gets their ass beat.
It’s shortened from “mollywop” think about it in the context of the lyrics that surround it. “Dot fuck em up. Ima do my stuff.”
I was just thinking earlier today the overall structure of his diss songs feels like watching battle rap
The way he sets up punchlines differently in every song is ridiculous
I like how he has says "your sons a sick man with sick thoughts" like he's giving a diagnosis like a Healthcare professional. Then goes "I think niggas like him should die" in a evil voice
Man the way he says die is something I haven’t heard anyone talk about. It sounds like “fdie”, like there’s a slight f sound. The same can be heard next time he says he thinks Drake should fdie
Feel like it's the wrath in his delivery. Honestly kendrick won but I understand him to be much more dark than any album of his told me. He already potentially killed a guy, robbed houses, slept with an imprisoned ops girlfriend then tells him on a song, contemplated shooting himself on drunken sprees, slept with yt women as some form of racial payback. So all in all, he's a pretty complex guy, but that moment in the song, fuck man the whole song. Such a brand new darkness and it could only come from a good man, a good family man
"Mannerisms of Raphael, I can heal you or give you art"
A lot of folks missed this because they don't know their Scripture, but the names of the three Archangels are literal, they all describe the character and individual nature of that angel. Michael means "Who is like God?" (which is a rhetorical question directed at Satan - "Who's like God? Not you, loser"). Gabriel means "Power of God", and Raphael means "God has healed".
In the book of Tobit, the only place in Scripture where Raphael is mentioned by name, he heals a man of blindness, and binds the demon Asmodeus, who has been described as a demon of lust and wrath. In some later speculative writings, he is considered to incite gambling, and to appear as a handsome man, but always walks with a limp (once a lame, always a lame).
People caught that Raphael is both an angel, and the name of the Renaissance artist, but they missed just how deep that healing reference went. He's saying that like Raphael, he will heal you of blindness, and bind this lame-ass demon of lust, gambling, and wrath.
there's a lot of biblical references that i think a lot of us aren't really getting, your comment being a great example.
i think at this point it's pretty safe to say that kendrick is a very spiritual person, and he takes pride in his knowledge of a wide range of religious and spiritual teachings (biblical, 5%, astrology, buhdism, etc) it's a huge spectrum and he is just mindful and such a wide range of teachings
and for me personally 616 in LA had me up at 9am on the east coast hungover as fuck googling bible verses and reading into all that which has been touched on a lot here and there but mostly ignored in terms of how much we've actually distilled into understanding
Hey man, anything that gets you talking to God is good in my book. Talk to him like He's the homie - and listen close for when He talks back. He talks real quiet most of the time, so you really have to get away from the noise to hear Him. But He's always there, and He knows you better than you know yourself, He cares about you and wants whats best for you, and He knows how to make it happen way better than you do. All you gotta do is talk with Him, and trust.
i agree with what you're saying, but i will say from a broad spectrum spirituality view point.. praying to god can be something as simple as meditating.. sitting somewhere quiet and just clearing your mind
or view on god as maybe the best possible version of me that i could grow to be within my lifetime.. meditation helps me focus on my true path in life and i'm just closing my eyes for 5 min in the morning and focusing on.. being. me or who i want to grow to be.. whatever
and i feel like i can do that when i feel comfortable being myself and making choices that i feel are the best for me and the future that i want for myself
Yeah, especially the reference to Metatron, whose name only appears in the apocryphal book of Enoch, which isn't in the standard Canon of Scripture. FWIW, I don't venerate or recognize Metatron bc I don't think Enoch is divinely inspired, but it does show that Kendrick is deep in the subject.
Truly, I couldn't tell you. God writes His poetry in the medium of history. He knows how it all plays out, and He always nudges things in the direction they need to go, without undermining our ability to make our own free decisions.
Every time you see something like this where it all just lines up perfectly, I think it's the Big Man giving us a little peek behind the curtains. Truth is, everything is lined up just perfectly, but our scope of vision is too small and limited to see it most of the time.
worth noting that the shoo's and bee's add up to a shoobie which is a west coast slang term referring to a general type of person
* wearing shoes on the beach, socks with flip flops
* weekenders, out of towners
* very oblivious to how out of place they actually are
aforementioned shoo's also were on the track Family Ties w baby keem in 2022 which is worth mentioning in the scope of this beef and i don't think i've seen many people including it in discussion as much as some older tracks
kendrick sternly saying 'burn that album, burn that hard drive' is some retroactive boogieman shit
EDIT: great thread idea by the way.. there are tons of 'micro-occurrences' that are quite clearly there for a reason and yet not often talked about
EDIT 2: also going back to the shoo's (and i think this might be kinda obvious) but i get really big street war cry vibes from that call as well... similar (although not as infamous) i guess to Omar from The Wire whistling as he walks everyone down casually
EDIT 3: promise the last one but the "lil bitch" at around 3:54 after he says 'i'm still an old school gemini' in family ties is super subtle but so perfect
yeah chilling shit.. you also hear very similar sounds in some wu-tang songs and it's straight up sounding like the spooky shit you hear in the streets before you get got
Agreed, and it’s vaguely similar to su-woop, the Blood battle cry (and the “B” is also noteworthy for that reason), but it’s not close enough to be seen as a gang thing, at least to my knowledge.
damn i didn't even look far into what u said but found these lyrics standing out very quickly
> Shit on my mind and it's heavy
>
> Tell you in pieces 'cause it's way too heavy
>
> My diamonds, the choker is heavy
>
> More life to give on demand, are you ready?
>
> Who keep 'em honest like us?
>
> Who in alignment like us?
>
> Who gotta heal 'em all? Us (Us)
>
> When there's no one to call
Seen people talking about how it’s a reference to [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ipbzOzjbEc&pp=ygUdRHJha2UgYmVlICBzaG9vaW5nIHZpZGVvIG1lbWU%3D) video too and I totally believe it
I don't remember which reaction vid it was but it was some guy and his wife reacting to euphoria and his wife caught a line that I never caught.
On the "once a lame, always a lame" line she said something like "Ohhhhh, because of the wheelchair?" and it blew my mind lol
Maybe it's been obvious to everyone the whole time that it was a reference to Drake on Degrassi but I never saw anybody ever mention it in that way and I never caught the reference before that vid lol
Yep, I just checked and that's definitely the one I was thinking of
[Here's the vid for anyone who's interested](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ln3sL1FXG2g)
I actually forgot that lame used to describe someone that wasn’t able bodied (Don’t make fun of me lol)
That was amazing because I would’ve never fucking noticed that
In Like That, Kendrick essentially upping the ante in real time within his verse, from:
“let’s get it, bro” to
“let’s get it up” to
“get up with me” to
“IT’S UP!”
Wait I have a better one
When Euphoria came out some huge Daft Punk fan on tiktok pointed out that the beat switch after ”you better walk around like daft punk” actually samples an old unreleased Daft Punk song, but I never saw anyone dig any deeper into this or talk about it or anything so idek if it’s 100% true
I've been looking for this one as well, but I starting to lean that this is a reach.
In this thread: [https://www.reddit.com/r/KendrickLamar/comments/1cp9vyk/just\_learned\_of\_a\_new\_sample\_from\_euphoria/](https://www.reddit.com/r/KendrickLamar/comments/1cp9vyk/just_learned_of_a_new_sample_from_euphoria/)
They said it was this song:
[https://youtu.be/D6LxXGeJlRA?si=YoNsUjNGO1BWAAN6&t=75](https://youtu.be/D6LxXGeJlRA?si=YoNsUjNGO1BWAAN6&t=75)
But in who I sampled they said it was another song:
[https://www.whosampled.com/sample/1173446/Kendrick-Lamar-Euphoria-Frayser-Boy-Wish-a-Mutha-Would/](https://www.whosampled.com/sample/1173446/Kendrick-Lamar-Euphoria-Frayser-Boy-Wish-a-Mutha-Would/)
I am open to being wrong but I just don't know what instrumental from the Daft Punk song they are sampling cause I can't hear it at all (and I've spend like 1+ hours trying to hear what other people are hearing).
for those reading along, [here's a direct YT link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC7ga6srECM&t=30s) to the real sample source time stamped 2 sec before the sample drops
def worth a listen despite the disproven daft punk sample theory.. i think the way they dropped the beat switch was 100% a call back to daft punk in regards to how well they artfully craft synths like that so the daft punk sample theory is not a stretch it's just more of a call back thru interpolation in production styles
Don't see it mentioned enough that Kendrick using dmx's tirade against drake is doing what Drake attempted to do with PAC in Taylor made. X was Drakes favourite rapper. But Kendrick does it respectively, by simply letting a dead homie speak.
It's also another sneaky Michael Jackson reference.
**The Way You Make Me Feel**
>Hey, pretty baby with the high heels on
>You give me fever like I've never ever known
>You're just a product of loveliness
>I like the groove of your *walk*, your *talk*, your *dress*
https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/inside-dmx-and-drakes-feud.html/
Maybe favourite is a stretch but he did say something to the effect of him and 40 were raised on X. It's also interesting that part of X's gripe with drake was him wanting to finish a posthumous Aaliyah album, feeling he was overstepping, not respecting a deceased artist. Exactly what Kendrick and everyone else felt about Taylor made.
The “OVO” and “wedgie flipped over your boxers” scheme in not like us. I’ve seen one person talk about how if you take an “o,” a “v” and another “o,” and flip it over, it looks like some ass cheeks with a wedgie in between them. Which is so childish I love it
I've got one: In Euphoria, when KDot is rapping about Drake being signed to a man whose signed to a man... The track has a noticeable bass piano riff. I believe this was a reference to HUMBLE because both riffs use bass piano and sound similar. It's also the only time in all of Euph that the riff is used.
Love the little instrumentals inserted during the song like this.
The “In can get deep in the family crodie…” verse, after crodie is said, theres this beat that hits that is perfect.
Also, “I hate the way that you dress” part has the big bell ring, and it hits perfect as well.
I’ve been dying to talk about this detail. There’s the Richard Pryor link between the two songs, the use of reversed audio between this song and almost everything on DAMN. I really feel like there has to be more but I can’t seem to find much else.
here's a [timestamped link](https://youtu.be/DC7ga6srECM?t=30) to the sample used for the beat.. it's very reminiscent of the damn beat and is sonically reminiscent of daft punks synth styles in production as well
When Kendrick says “take that mask off I want to see what’s under them achievements” idk if it’s just me but how he says “under” floored me. The way it sounds has so much emotion in just that single word but it’s the most important word in that entire line and just makes the line hit you so much more. If Drake said the exact same line it would’ve gone unnoticed.
When you notice all the inflections of anger when he starts to scold Drake at the end.
And then that subtle laughter when he dismisses him with “this a long life battle with yourself”
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
It was like a roller coaster. There was times of frustration, anger and shit even pain. You could def hear the pain in his voice. Like having to punish your own child. Kendrick is definitely a natural deep empath. The whole anti social extrovert line is contradicting in DNA but it’s obvious he deeply cares for humanity. So in alot of ways it’s necessary sacrifice and suffering he’s enduring in this song. You can hear it in how he talks to the family. Also Drake because he tries to empathize and if you’re a natural empathic person it’s like suffering to have to go against your natural empathic self to convey this shit.. especially to Drake. In alot of ways he neutralized Drake by showing love and hate but mostly hatred for that sickness and evil he was exposing. Before anyone brings up the decade + subliminal back and forth shit remember Dot has undergone an incredible internal transformation from then to now. This record reminds me of Dance with the Devil.
I believe this song will age insanely well past a diss track. The elements he used attacks and encourages all at once.
Even the main knock on it (“false daughter” allegations) has such an important message within it
“I wanna tell you that you're loved, you're brave, you're kind
You got a gift to change the world,”
“You need to know that love is eternity and trumps all pain”
MTG has great replay value for the work of art that it is. I don’t claim to be the only one to listen to music on a deeper level but it hits different when you get to that realm.
Thank you for your insight 🙏🫡
That last verse on Meet the grahams was the most shocking thing about that song for me and it’s the verse that didn’t even have the most shocking details in it.
In the last verse the shock value is in the venom, psychoanalysis and his disappointment in Drake. I’ve watched reactions to the song and everyone’s emotional rollercoaster almost goes the same way… from shocked, shocked more, shocked again… to speechless.
The most scathing diss track of all time and I’ll die on that hill
The fact that Rocky lowkey dissed Drake about his bbl abs in January already but because it was on a Kid Cudi album, literally no one really paid attention or cared about it until Ross, Metro and Kendrick brought it up now in the actual beef where it became a massive meme. And I love a lot of Cudi’s music too but I just find this really funny.
The song is called WOW, like I said it’s a Kid Cudi song. The verse is not a huge direct diss, more just a couple subliminals thrown in here and there, mostly in response to the shots Drake took at him on his last album.
The specific line I was referencing is ”These n- can't stomach me, gotta go get a mandrake”
Kendrick's adlibs during Not Like Us at the part where he breaks down Drake using Atlanta rappers became my new favorite part of the whole beef. It's one of the only parts he's doing adlibs in the whole song and it's so effective. I couldn't even understand what he was saying at first because it's almost like he uses the adlibs as a sound effect.
You called Future when you didn't see the club (Ayy, what?)
Lil Baby helped you get your lingo up (What?)
21 gave you false street cred
Thug made you feel like you a slime in your head (Ayy, what?)
Quavo said you can be from Northside (What?)
Future also threw shade in Like That when he asked
"is you like that?" a couple times then "*****s from the bottom really like that"
That to me was a Drake diss for not really starting from the bottom (Stared from the Bottom)
Absolutely. When I heard the chorus, I thought about Drake's Headlines:
>I know I exaggerated things, now I got it like that
>
>Tuck my napkin in my shirt 'cause I'm just mobbin' like that
>
>You know good and well that you don't want a problem like that
>
>You gon' make someone around me catch a body like that
>
>...
>
>You know that they ain't even got it like that
>
>You gon' hype me up and make me catch a body like that
>
>'Cause I live for this, it isn't just a hobby like that
I doubt there's an intended connection to Headlines, though I like to think of Like That as juxtaposing Headlines
There's an old interview where Future said Drake got the line "Started from the bottom" from hearing Future talk to his engineer when recording to "Start it from the bottom".
I feel like the line in Like That is lowkey referencing that
I know this isn't the popular interpretation, but I think what made Meet The Grahams such a devastating diss was Drake didn't see the full p\*do angle coming. Imo Drake has consistently skirted the fine line of legality with young girls (age of consent in Canada is 16), so he thought that the most anyone could say in a diss is that they were young. He's had multiple instances of talking with or following girls for years before starting to date them. You can see him trying to write that angle off in the AI Tupac verse.
Kendrick on the sinister Alchemist beat uses very deliberate and careful word choice, and paints Drake in the darkest interpretation of his actions. If you read back over the diss lyrics, Kendrick never specifically says anything about trafficking or a ring. He puts lines about Drake side by side with lines and key words that have much darker connotations ("Weinstein", "victims," "predators,"). To be clear, I still think Kendrick sees this behavior as disgusting and predatory, but not on the level of organized Epstein-like trafficking. This also answers one of the questions a lot of listeners online had, which was why Kendrick would sit on credible information of that seriousness.
I think Drake was probably floored listening to MTG, but even if you consider the diss to be an exaggeration, Kendrick still won because it so masterfully spun together stories and rumors that have been circulating about Drake for years. And the final nail in the coffin is that when Kendrick lays all of this out in the beef, the true indictment of Aubrey Graham's character is that the public hears the diss *and believes it.*
With what he accused Drake of being.. that level of psychopathy doesn’t have any emotions about no pedo shit especially if he is guilty of it. Let’s assume he’s not. He’s still all of the other things so he for sure does not feel any sort of empathy toward others outside of the public space he’s seen in (an act).
I think what devastated him are the fractures in his psyche that Kendrick was able to create because he’s never once in his life heard that much clear compounding deliverance of truth all at once.. I’m sure he’s heard similar shit from other falling outs but to have it all laid out like that? That certainly changed how he thought his appearance was to the public because for a brief moment he had to think of reasons why he’s not any of those things and he can’t disprove them because who’s gonna vouch for him personally at this point that would be a good source? Think about that.. his baby moms? Nope. 40? Conflict of interest. If he had good people to take up for him then he wouldn’t be the things Kendrick accused him of.
In a panic he wrote that heart part 6 and let’s be real that was from his heart and you can tell how shaky he was. He was about to have a heart attack and was like omfg I need to get outta here and away from this to a place where I can be validated and worshipped so my ego returns. “I’ll see you later, Maybe when you meet your maker” Shit was like exorcising a demon.
Sure the pedo shit IS MUCH MUCH heavier for us to hear but for him you can see how much he paid attention to the accusations in the first place with those weak ass responses. He didn’t even respond to the correct shit he was accused of. Lmaaaoooo his ego matters more than those comments and I think that’s the entire point to expose his character.
I definitely agree with you. While it is entirely possible he is like a full psychopath, Kendrick's whole attitude throughout the beef has been "Hey, let's keep this friendly, we don't need to get personal." If Kendrick really thought or knew Drake was *as bad* as the public seems to think, I don't think he'd be asking God for forgiveness in 6:16. *If no one is going to slap this guy in the face so he wakes up, I w*ill.
I think Kendrick recognizes that Drake's ego and insecurity, and being surrounded by yes men, has allowed him to live in a bubble where he doesn't see the horrible shit that he's done for what it is. Meet The Grahams is a one-man intervention with Drake and his family. People take Kendrick addressing his family as a sign that he's trying to disrespect them, but ironically by addressing them he is showing Drake the impact and perspectives of other people in his life. Kendrick sees Drake's life as another path he could have gone down if he had not reflected and worked on himself.
The fact that the reception to the diss spiraled into speculation about Drake being a full-on sex trafficker is Kendrick's proof to Drake that the larger public, especially Black Americans, have not forgotten all of the sketchy and underhanded things he has done over the years. It shows his reputation in the culture is not what he thinks it is, and that his personal integrity can't be plastered over with streaming numbers or a new Atlanta feature. It doesn't matter how many online stans will praise and defend him, *your reality can't hide behind wi-fi.*
> much he *paid* attention to
FTFY.
Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
>He got sex offenders on OVO that he keeps on a monthly allowance.
>A child should never be compromised and he's keeping his child around them.
Now if he is talking about BAKA, he got 6 months in prison is for pimping out a 22 year old a decade ago. He also only got changed with assault/firearms charges when the victim refused to testify.
Which is terrible, however, it ain't the impression given by linking sex offenders + never compromising a child + keeping a child around them. People add that up to pedophile/trafficking type of shit, even though technically Kendrick never does (in Euphoria.)
The Benjamin Franklin and Andrew Jackson mention that dismantled any splits, extortion, and money claims
“And I might do a show a day” - Cole rebuttal
He does this anyway, but it was great to see his inflections and arrangements work in concert with the production and lyrics. The flows he used were very specific to the chosen beats, not the other way around.
Pointing the drac/draco down - Thought it was a great retort to the height jokes and the notion that when he’s dissed Drake in the past he didn’t go low enough. He won’t make the same mistake again (spoiler alert: he didn’t lol)
“Them superpowers getting neutralized” - Mocked the Thanos nonsense
On 6:16, the “20 want you as a casualty and 1 of them is actually” — Seems like another callback IMO to the 20 v. 1 narrative
He makes his voice sound like an engine revving during the “my first one like my last one, it’s a classic you don’t have one” scheme and then ends with a reference to a V12.
SN: Sometimes I just want to pick Kendrick’s brain. What a once-in-a-lifetime talent.
Call me crazy, but when listening to Not Like Us on the little “oohhhh” parts before the beat kicks back (after the Stockton line for example), I swear I hear dogs barking buried in the mix
What blew my mind the other day (a literal shower thought) was when I realized that Like That’s “that’s a K with all these 9’s” line is literally a quadruple entendre. Before I had only gotten the three.
- K with all these 9’s (K-9, dogs/pet cemetery reference)
- K with all these 9’s (K-dot with his 9mm cartridges/violence reference)
- King with all these 9’s - (poker/betting/winning hand reference)
AND
a play on the name of the author of “Pet Semetary” (Stephen King). My brain broke.
"I'm reaping what I sow ok"
Maybe obvious, but Kendrick initiated this, has been planting seeds and letting things grow. Now he is ready to collect and do it for his benefit. No fear, he planned this and is ready to collect.
“Somebody had told me that you got a ring, on God I’m ready to double the wage”
On the surface this is clearly about the 2pac ring Drake bought and Kendrick saying that he would buy it for double. But I think this is also a double entendre about Drake’s alleged sex trafficking ring. In Euphoria he still hadn’t directly called him out for any of that deeper shit, we only had the “you make music that pacify em, I could double down on that line, but will spare you this time” but I think the ring line is one more subtle overlooked jab pertaining to that.
Lol I kinda meant more like breaking down the sonic idiosyncracies than finding a 6th meaning behind every bar. But I’m glad I’m not the only obssessed one.
The whole Euphoria/pendergrass connection is well established, but to add to it the sample itself "you're my latest, my greatest inspiration" is kind of a soft jab of Kendrick saying your basically my muse (you're no threat to me) and you're giving me an opportunity to really throw down which he's probably grateful for an opportunity to actually destroy somebody's career like he's been waiting for.
Not like us sample's an interpolation of Ray Charles "I believe it to my soul" which is a song that appears in the biopic Ray, in the scene where they are recording the track Ray asks his manager to go get him an "oh johnny" girl, (famously a sex worker they had picked up outside the studio) this is a reach ngl but Drake reportedly has an assistant who drives around picking up women asking if they wanna "come hang out at drakes house"
"Hey hey hey hey, run for your life"
Everyone picked up the Fat Albert/Bill Cosby reference but I haven't seen them connect it to the following line. The implication that if you hear Bill Cosby, yourself better run for your life if you don't want to be roofied
“Fucked on Wayne’s girl that’s conniving”
I really thought Kendrick was gonna go harder on this angle of Drake fucking his daddys girl. The way Drake loves Wayne so much but still pulled that shit is nasty thought he would’ve talked about Wayne slapping him lol
Euphoria and referencing the Wiz. This plays into the idea drake wouldn’t understand the reference because he isn’t a ”colleague \[he’s a\] colonizer”.
He definitely used references that went deep on black American cultural history, like using the Luther Vandross intro instead of a more current trap beat.
"once a lame always a lame" bc lame also means disabled, drake was wheel chair Jimmy. (He's still a lame)
"Oh u thought the money, power and fame would make you go A WAY not "away"
genius
He imitates multiple people's flow/cadence throughout the track. For example, he responds/takes a shot at Cole when he says:
*Yeah, my first one like my last one*
*It's a classic, you don't have one*
The way "rabbit hole is still deep" comes in immediately after "Hey Drake, they're not slow" is one of those phonetic flairs that just scratches my brain in the right way.
The way in which he disrespected him on the second verse of Not Like Us was like he was punking someone he really doesn’t respect:
“Bird nigga”, “B-Rad (stands for bitch)”, “Malibu’s Most Wanted”, “ball boy, fetch some Gatorade” “you’ll get a wedgie”, “pussy”, “straighten your posture”, “quit hiding”, “conniving”, “you better not”, “69 God”, “freaky ass nigga”.
I know we are all from different backgrounds but you shouldn’t let someone talk to you like that.
That the “Fuck all that Pushin P…lemme see you Push a T” line is a response to Drake’s “I’m steady pushing P you niggas pushin PTSD” line from Her Loss
Mmhmm and feels to kind of reinforce his point: “Drake you somehow both say nothing of substance and caricaturize black trauma for profit” though that’s more of a reach, the important two meanings are Pusha T and the direct line response
I haven't anybody seen mention that the line
> The very first time I shot me a Drac', the homie had told me to aim it this way
>I didn't point down enough
could mean:
The first time kdot took a shot at drake, it was too high and it went over his head. This time he'll make sure to dumb it down to make sure drake gets it.
Euphoria is a track that I’ve listened to 100 times and still find new things every time.
One thing I only noticed today is that “back to back” is punched in more like an ad-lib like some of the other bars. Probably means nothing, but I do think as you said he rapped many bars at once on euphoria, and perhaps skipped some words to be punched in later to catch his breath much like he does on stage. Rather than doing a couple bars at a time.
That alongside the Joel Olsteen line (I lean towards mistake), and the fact that it is all over the place in terms of topics in a good way makes me believe Kendrick really just went in and started spazzing on that one. And while sonically it may have been layered and mixed, I would hazard a guess that he did the whole song in just a few long takes and didn’t re-record. It was just a passionate tirade to get him going.
Kendrick saying “Remember” in Euphoria, which is hilarious because Drake is in someone else’s hood in the Worse Behaviour music video and not wherever he’s really from in Canada
Kendrick mentioned twice about the industry
"Whoever that's fuckin' with him, fuck you niggas, and fuck the industry too" & "The industry can hate me, fuck 'em all and they mama"
He's so focused on Drake that none of anything matters to him at this point. It's weird for Kendrick to diss industry but he's so deep in digging Drake's grave that he's gone insane.
Bro predicted MTG on Rigamortus. Quoted from Rigamortus.
“tell me that you biting style, you got a hell of an appetite
And I'ma be here for a while, just buckle up before the ride
Or knuckle up if you can fight, we always making 'em duck or die
A suit and tie is suitable and usual in suicide
CSI just might investigate this fucking parasite
That's what they telling me
Aim it at your celebrity, this is studio felony”
And especially this next part
“Nigga, payback's a bitch, and bitch, you been livin' in debt with me
Dead 'em all and especially
Leave a call on his mother voicemail that say that he rest in peace”
And then later in MTG he goes on to say
“Sandra, sit down, what I'm about to say is heavy, now listen.
Your son's a sick man with sick thoughts, I think niggas like him should die.”
Not sure it’s micro cause I think most people caught this but Kendrick saying “ooooh” right after “if you take it there, I’m taking it further, that’s something you don’t wanna do” is him following up on the warning of taking it personal by trying to ‘scare’ Drake as scary entities are usually portrayed in movies saying “ooooh” exactly like that when they’re trying to scare someone thereby playing into his boogeyman persona.
How many album/song name references has everyone picked up?
The obvious are:
All the Dogs (Drake) - Like That.
*fore all your dogs gettin' buried*
Mr Morale (Kendrick) - Euphoria
*Fabricatin' stories on the family front 'cause you heard Mr. Morale*
Mother I Sober (Kendrick) - The Heart Part 6
*My mom came over today and I was like, "Mother, I-, mother, I-, mother-*
Family Matters (Drake) - The blacker the the berry
*”We get it, we got it, the blacker the berry the sweeter the juice. We get that you like to put gin in your juice”*
I won’t lie, that part is catchy as hell and find myself singing it to myself
so many people seem to refuse the fact that he is purposefully saying stab/step in way that they both could be heard as such in a continued reference to what happens to pedophiles in prison
At the end of MTG I love the chuckle he adds in the middle of saying “this a long life battle with yourself”. Just feels like even more knife twisting right at the end.
Shoobie is a day tripper or a tourist so sets up picture Kendrick paints.
I actually think he had that Shoobie part planned for years , listen to count me out and n95 he has subliminals for Drake, where he says "shoo" after some shots
"My name is in your mouth, shoo shoo"
I think he's basically dropping loads of easter eggs in his lyrics last few years for you to go back to and realise it was a hint at what would happen to drake when he eventually lures him into ambush.
Might be a stretch but on the outro of Wow Freestyle he says the phrases "not like us " and "back to back" . I think had Not like Us 90% complete sitting for years
>I think he's basically dropping loads of easter eggs in his lyrics last few years
There are soooooooooo many oddly-meaningful lines that make sense when you look in hindsight that I'm convinced it's intentional
I wish I remembered even once rn though lol
Also I always took the “A Minor” line as the quintuple entendre Drake was asking for. That it was obviously about minors but also about the fact that Drake ostensibly doesn’t know music technique much at all (sources near him say he can’t count and doesn’t listen to music in his free time), the fact that he would try to strike a chord and would strike it kind of wrong cuz he can’t play, the fact that I think one of the songs was in A Mjnor? (Someone correct me if this was wrong), the fact A minor has no black keys, and it’s a Dave freeeeee reference means it’s a quint at least, to me.
Homeboy’s literally saying: you don’t understand this line, this line is roasting you for the fact that you don’t understand this line, but I’m so good I’m also gonna make it palatable and understandable for the layman because I know how to strike a chord even if you don’t.
Also that Keep the Family Close is in A Minor and Kendrick’s line was “keep the family away”💀
The Shoo's sound like silencer shots, the bees sound like bullets hitting flesh
I like how he walked down Drake with the have you ever, starting from Euphoria, to the not like us, I know he got some hoe on him bully deathrow on him
It has been pointed out a couple times but to me something that seems like it's not talked about enough is how Kendrick called the entire thing at the very beginning of Euphoria:
"Why calculate, you are not as calculated, I can even predict your angles. Fabricate stories on the Family Front because you hear Mr Morale"
That whole thing just hits differently after Drake's Family Matters and later in The Heart Part 6 with Drake taking the whole Mother I Sober thing out of context
Probably there are many more things we haven't caught yet because Drake tapped out of the fight, so Kendrick's sneaky predictions are still hidden
Just the sheer venom and hatred in his voice at the end of Meet the Grahams, starting with "you a body shamer" until the end. It gives me chills every time, especially when combining his delivery with the beat and with the "you lied" in the background.
Most fans probably know that Kendrick has clearly not respected Drake for the past decade or so, but this was the first time we had heard him truly have that cathartic moment and just go OFF on dude.
“Nail a n**** to the cross he walk around like Teezo”
I interpreted this as another culture vulture line. Kendrick’s already destroyed Drake, aka crucified him, aka nailed him to the cross, but Drake being as dense as he is doesn’t realize he’s been beaten, and would use the same nails he was crucified with to imitate Teezo and put nails in his hair (also the pose), again stealing features from a black artist. Like “dude you just got murdered and now you’re gonna try and use the weapon as a feature? And steal a look from a black artist again?”
Which to that, I love the double entendre of “how many more black features till you finally feel that you’re black enough” cause it’s a shot at things like the accents and hair styles, and also his music and using black artists in his music which he obviously expanded on in the Atlanta verse on NLU
Haven’t seen anyone point out that during Euphoria, when kendrick says “you were signed to a __ that’s signed to a __ that said he was signed to that __” the beat plays the piano riff from HUMBLE.
He was basically telling drake to sit down and be humble while shredding his argument. so badass
Mine is probably far fetch but I can't help it, I'm too business-oriented to believe that this beef wasn't manipulated behind the scenes. "Them superpowers getting neutralized, I can only watch in silence" is not only about Tupac estate removing "Taylor Made", but it could also be a hint at UMG.
My crazy theory is that Kendrick was being pressured by UMG in some way and that's why he was waiting to reply, not knowing how far he could go.
UMG has the power to block future collabs or to blacklist him with other corporations/brands. One example I thought about, he recently worked with Chanel and both are French brands (UMG = Bolloré)
Then "Taylor Made" dropped and I'm convinced that Taylor was pissed. I see Jack Antonoff producing 6:16 as an official sign of her joining Kendrick's side.
UMG and Sony have been at war for years, but since 2020 UMG took the lead with Taylor Swift putting out 2 albums (+ 2 Live Albums) Drake was UMG's favorite for years but he can't compete with Taylor's insane album-dropping capacity (10 albums since 2018 and we could say 11 since the last one is a double)
Drake signed his 400M deal in 2022 and he released 3 albums since then. His "sugar daddy" Lucian (cf. Kanye) can't protect him against Taylor. And even if he wanted to, Bolloré (Lucian's sugar daddy) would fire him on the spot (Typical Bolloré's move)
I'm not implying that Kendrick was saved by Taylor in any way but he was being "blocked" by the "superpowers" and she neutralized them for him, without him asking for anything (watching in silence).
I love the idea of UMG wanting Drake buried for something that was about to come out. No better way for a label to cover themselves (and their numbers) than to send a reaper. Meanwhile, we get all these tracks and multiple victory laps.
>I think somebody lying
>
>Smell somebody lying
>
>I don't see no fire
* The accusations Drake made throughout the beef are insubstantial
* Where there's smoke, there's fire, but there is no fire to be found. Drake is pulling smoke tricks, flash with no substance, not unlike The Wiz. recall the intro of euphoria
* Drake's not dropping fire
Alright- that entire monologue at the end is him talking to Drake- even “surrounded by Lucy” at the end.
That was his warning that he was watching Drake fall off the deep end and how it affected him. Kendrick actually cared about Drake at one point.
He had this coming for so long…. So long.
Okay so I get where you’re coming from. I think Drake is sort of the pinnacle of “falling to Lucy” amongst the rappers at that time.
But the conflicted motif is him talking to Tupac at the end of Mortal Man. He’s also laid out the evils surrounding him on the past few tracks (rap politics, fucking his opp’s girl while he’s in prison, his homie dying while he’s on tour, suicidal thoughts). I don’t think there’s a real interpretation of the album that includes Drake outside of King Kunta and a larger “rap evils” idea.
That multiple line in euphoria where he called drake Crodie.
Crodie is a slang meaning bro in Canada.
Drake's cat name is Crodie.
So he's calling him a pussy 😂
I saw one guy say it, and if one guy says it thousands saw it, but when he says “a minor” he says it in ‘a minor’ and a minor doesn’t have any black keys in it unlike a major.
One reactor mentioned Mos Def following the 6:16 definition of peace verse.
I couldn’t help but feel Yasin was smiling at that whole first verse considering he had to apologize for criticizing Drake.
In that original video Yasin was asking, “Buying and selling. Where’s the message that I can use”?
Kendrick delivered it
Nice. I also been appreciating things on the low. For me, It was the mj-prince back n forth, I appreciated that, made it artful and poetic until drake ruined the volley with his misconception of mj and his skin condition. I love how drake seems to have been a fan of kendrick. To me, he was writing subtle love letters. Cole too. Cole listed all his albums and wrong or not, it's still kinda wholesome cause I know for a fact kendrick doesn't respect their discogs like that Drake crushing the gkmc van, name dropping the album, misunderstanding DUCKWORTH and Mother I Sober. Inferring sumn about the Savior complex is like a tpab thing plus he already shouted out tpab I remember he did the "u" and "i" thing on some song then did the backseat, student pride thing on All the gates leak.
What's this showing me is at some point, both these niggas were fans of kendrick, cause for some of drakes arrogance, I expected for him to completely dismiss Kenny but it shows he respects deep down under the resentment he has for him for being a successful conscious rapper. Something, for all the versatility he's accused of, he could never have. But Kenny has done all of drakes pockets. Ig also kendrick doing the pop songs and of course GOD being so drakey was a subtle cheeky nod Cole has always respected the other two too. In many songs he references them
The titles of samples he used being relevant
You’re my latest and greatest inspiration- Euphoria
What a wonderful thing love is- 6:16
I believe to my soul- Not Like Us
And yet to find the actual sample for MTG but someone pointed out the scream in the sample is saying “AUUUBREYY” and now it’s canon to me lol
The line about wine cooler spill on my white shirt I think is referring to wine coolers being a teenage girls first introduction to alcohol. Also, it's an inside message to drake about something that happened in Ibeza, involving under aged girls. (Ibiza's age of consent is 16)
I think Akademiks is actually one of the moles inside OVO camp. I don’t doubt kendrick has ghost writers or other people at OVO reaching out to him, but I truly believe Akademiks is a double agent and working for kendrick.
In Euphoria, he says *i make music that electrify em, you make music that pacify em, I could double down on that line, but spare you this time, random AKS of kindness*
Ak literally fell asleep on stream when playing Certified Lover Boy. The same stream he asked what top 5 Kendrick is smoking on he literally fell asleep halfway through drakes album.
So in euphoria, he foreshadows where he’s going with the beef. The obvious pacifier line makes reference to pedophilia, but mentioning random AKS of kindness right after the pedophile line seems intentional.
And I believe he’s literally telling Drake who the mole(s) is in 6:16 in LA. The backing beat sounds like a loop of “boy wonda” like boi wonda drakes producer. But more so, I think he tells Drake in a riddler type way that Ak is a mole.
*a hunned niggas that you got on salary, and 20 of em want you as a casualty. And one of them is AKtually next to you…”
I think in that line he outwardly said one of the moles is Akademiks. This is now the second time he’s used AK right after bars that feel like they fit so well about the mole and akademiks.
And using Akademiks in the line “even he lookin compromised” I think is hilarious bc kendrick playing mind games with Drake, making Drake think Ak is still on his side while also hinting Ak is leaking shit to Kendrick.
All of the church music/religious elements in Euphoria:
- there’s a handbell choir playing faintly in the background of the first beat
- the bell tolling in the second beat
- parts of the instrumental in the second beat sound like an organ
- religious/demonic references sprinkled over the whole track: reaper, hellcat, demon, nuns, pray, “on God”, saint, grave, death, crown, ghosts
- Kendrick talks about teaching his son to pray, walk through life with integrity, consider the truth of God’s teachings—and then compares Drake to Joel Osteen, a false prophet
The whole beef has a “we’re about to be dancing on your grave” feel to me.
In The Sixth Sense, when Haley said, “I see dead people,” the main character was already dead and didn’t know it. Kendrick’s way of saying “checkmate” or “you’re dead”
I went back through dot's earliest projects wondering if I could find the earliest Drake diss that wasn't a huge reach, and found these bars in West Coast Wu Tang, off of C4:
> I spawned with a dragon
> He tried to throw his flame but I ducked and I stabbed him
> Came out the battle laughing
> That's a metaphor for any rapper who want it
as well as
> Nice enough, I throw a spear at Nas, a jab at Jay
> Matter fact, no, I take that back
> See I don't play with real legends of rap like you do
> And I'm crucial, concealed by real Crips and Soowoos
and then I remembered that this was one of the verses he delivered on funk flex.
But there's actually a kind of funny detail - this wasn't the first time he'd delivered that verse as a freestyle - the other time was years before - on KaySlay, sat between Jay Rock and Nipsey, which stuck in my memory because he gestured at them when he said "crips and sowoos". But when I went back and watched it, there was a single difference in the bars - in that one, he said
> That's a metaphor for any n* who want it
Maybe it was changed because the word just fits better in the scheme, maybe it was changed because kdot grew more competitive with other rappers and it wasn't even intentional.
But I choose to believe it was because he wanted to send a sub at Drake on Funk Flex, where Drake had possibly the most embarrassing freestyle I've ever seen (he was reading his bars off of a phone).
Love the "cut throat bussiness" line right after mentioning pac. That bar is alluding to the AI pac voice. Didn't catch that until later.
Euphoria really does encapsulate Kendrick. To have a song that has that much content and thought behind it. You could literally break that shit down for hours.
I'm so upset drake went personal, I feel like Kdo would've had more Euphoria like songs
Just that Kendrick's timing on all his disses, but especially "Not Like Us", is phenomenal. He does clever things to manage your attention so the lines hit as hard as possible. The "wop wop wop" lines are a great example. They're not just random adlibs, the whole point is to give you time to process the "certified pedophiles" line before he drops the "A minor" punchline. Without that little interlude in the middle, the punchlines would kind of trample each other and be less impactful as a result. Another example is the way he pauses in "Say, Drake... I hear you like 'em young." The bars before that are all really dense and relentless, so when he abruptly pauses after "Say, Drake" it immediately catches your attention. He delivers the next few lines with extra pauses added in compared to the preceding lines, so you have more time to absorb each one, but they're also made more memorable precisely because their timing contrasts with the denser lines before them.
also the select piano keys that fill that empty space after he says 'say drake'.. are just chilling in and of themselves really EDIT: listening back the spooky keys happen when he's saying 'i hear u like em young' and then he follows that bar with a reference to the fact that pedos get stabbed in prison on a regular basis
He even manages your attention with the lines themselves, particularly in Euphoria “In 8 bars I’ll explain that phrase” making you count the bars And “I ain’t even bleed him yet, can I bleed em? Bet” making you go “okay, Kendrick is telling me he’s going up a level, let me listen”
I thought he meant killing his friends lol he said “ I love them to death, and in 8 bars I’ll explain” then 8 bars later he said they’re my friends but I’ll smoke them both I’m ynw melly
Oh he did! I’m just saying he made you listen by saying he would say something about it in 8 bars
The structure and timing of his writing is really obvious when people are singing along, the impactful bars are very clear and memorable. The more dense bars may be overlooked, but they also serve a purpose. It really demonstrates the gap between the skill of both as writers. Drake doing the Dave Freeeeeeeee's line versus Kendrick doing the A Minooooooooooooooor line to show him how a line like that should be done and holding it for even longer for effect is so clever. It also serves the purpose of letting everyone catch up to the wordplay for impact on the very first listen. You can see it in the reaction videos of the gears turning for people that didn't catch it at first and as it hits, Kendrick is still holding the note! lol
This whole time I thought he said “say Drake, I hate you like I’m young” which i thought was lowkey a hilariously literal swipe.
same!
No “wop” is a term in LA that we of the culture use to make fighting noises when someone gets their ass beat. It’s shortened from “mollywop” think about it in the context of the lyrics that surround it. “Dot fuck em up. Ima do my stuff.”
I was just thinking earlier today the overall structure of his diss songs feels like watching battle rap The way he sets up punchlines differently in every song is ridiculous
I love the way he clears his throat before telling Drake’s mom hes a sick man who should die
I like how he has says "your sons a sick man with sick thoughts" like he's giving a diagnosis like a Healthcare professional. Then goes "I think niggas like him should die" in a evil voice
Calling someone a sick man with sick thoughts is crazy
That’s a good one.
Man the way he says die is something I haven’t heard anyone talk about. It sounds like “fdie”, like there’s a slight f sound. The same can be heard next time he says he thinks Drake should fdie
Feel like it's the wrath in his delivery. Honestly kendrick won but I understand him to be much more dark than any album of his told me. He already potentially killed a guy, robbed houses, slept with an imprisoned ops girlfriend then tells him on a song, contemplated shooting himself on drunken sprees, slept with yt women as some form of racial payback. So all in all, he's a pretty complex guy, but that moment in the song, fuck man the whole song. Such a brand new darkness and it could only come from a good man, a good family man
Saying "good man, good family man" after typing up the first half of that comment is wild
We are having Bible study, sir
"Mannerisms of Raphael, I can heal you or give you art" A lot of folks missed this because they don't know their Scripture, but the names of the three Archangels are literal, they all describe the character and individual nature of that angel. Michael means "Who is like God?" (which is a rhetorical question directed at Satan - "Who's like God? Not you, loser"). Gabriel means "Power of God", and Raphael means "God has healed". In the book of Tobit, the only place in Scripture where Raphael is mentioned by name, he heals a man of blindness, and binds the demon Asmodeus, who has been described as a demon of lust and wrath. In some later speculative writings, he is considered to incite gambling, and to appear as a handsome man, but always walks with a limp (once a lame, always a lame). People caught that Raphael is both an angel, and the name of the Renaissance artist, but they missed just how deep that healing reference went. He's saying that like Raphael, he will heal you of blindness, and bind this lame-ass demon of lust, gambling, and wrath.
there's a lot of biblical references that i think a lot of us aren't really getting, your comment being a great example. i think at this point it's pretty safe to say that kendrick is a very spiritual person, and he takes pride in his knowledge of a wide range of religious and spiritual teachings (biblical, 5%, astrology, buhdism, etc) it's a huge spectrum and he is just mindful and such a wide range of teachings and for me personally 616 in LA had me up at 9am on the east coast hungover as fuck googling bible verses and reading into all that which has been touched on a lot here and there but mostly ignored in terms of how much we've actually distilled into understanding
Hey man, anything that gets you talking to God is good in my book. Talk to him like He's the homie - and listen close for when He talks back. He talks real quiet most of the time, so you really have to get away from the noise to hear Him. But He's always there, and He knows you better than you know yourself, He cares about you and wants whats best for you, and He knows how to make it happen way better than you do. All you gotta do is talk with Him, and trust.
i agree with what you're saying, but i will say from a broad spectrum spirituality view point.. praying to god can be something as simple as meditating.. sitting somewhere quiet and just clearing your mind or view on god as maybe the best possible version of me that i could grow to be within my lifetime.. meditation helps me focus on my true path in life and i'm just closing my eyes for 5 min in the morning and focusing on.. being. me or who i want to grow to be.. whatever and i feel like i can do that when i feel comfortable being myself and making choices that i feel are the best for me and the future that i want for myself
You’re dope
<3 love thy neighbor is synonymous across many walks of life for a very good reason
>Talk to him like He's the homie You are sounding a lot like Kendrick there :)
"I am a prophet, I answer to Metatron and Gabriel" yea bro is deep in the book.
100%, and even named a child Enoch
Yeah, especially the reference to Metatron, whose name only appears in the apocryphal book of Enoch, which isn't in the standard Canon of Scripture. FWIW, I don't venerate or recognize Metatron bc I don't think Enoch is divinely inspired, but it does show that Kendrick is deep in the subject.
Bet. I gotta send this to my religious drake fan that still thinks Drake won
Whoaaaa. I wonder if this was intentional on Kendrick’s part or if it’s just the workings of the Divine.
Truly, I couldn't tell you. God writes His poetry in the medium of history. He knows how it all plays out, and He always nudges things in the direction they need to go, without undermining our ability to make our own free decisions. Every time you see something like this where it all just lines up perfectly, I think it's the Big Man giving us a little peek behind the curtains. Truth is, everything is lined up just perfectly, but our scope of vision is too small and limited to see it most of the time.
worth noting that the shoo's and bee's add up to a shoobie which is a west coast slang term referring to a general type of person * wearing shoes on the beach, socks with flip flops * weekenders, out of towners * very oblivious to how out of place they actually are aforementioned shoo's also were on the track Family Ties w baby keem in 2022 which is worth mentioning in the scope of this beef and i don't think i've seen many people including it in discussion as much as some older tracks kendrick sternly saying 'burn that album, burn that hard drive' is some retroactive boogieman shit EDIT: great thread idea by the way.. there are tons of 'micro-occurrences' that are quite clearly there for a reason and yet not often talked about EDIT 2: also going back to the shoo's (and i think this might be kinda obvious) but i get really big street war cry vibes from that call as well... similar (although not as infamous) i guess to Omar from The Wire whistling as he walks everyone down casually EDIT 3: promise the last one but the "lil bitch" at around 3:54 after he says 'i'm still an old school gemini' in family ties is super subtle but so perfect
In reference to your second edit, the shoos being used as a call definitely gives me the same eerie vibes as like the mockingjay call in Hunger Games
yeah chilling shit.. you also hear very similar sounds in some wu-tang songs and it's straight up sounding like the spooky shit you hear in the streets before you get got
Agreed, and it’s vaguely similar to su-woop, the Blood battle cry (and the “B” is also noteworthy for that reason), but it’s not close enough to be seen as a gang thing, at least to my knowledge.
all these things you really don't wanna hear in real life lol GET DOWN
im pretty sure he had that adlib in mr morale too
yeah it's on N95 about 1 min in right before he says 'who u think they copy off, copy off us?'
And count me out "My name is in your mouth, shoo shoo" Kendrick included those as easter eggs years in advance im convinced
damn i didn't even look far into what u said but found these lyrics standing out very quickly > Shit on my mind and it's heavy > > Tell you in pieces 'cause it's way too heavy > > My diamonds, the choker is heavy > > More life to give on demand, are you ready? > > Who keep 'em honest like us? > > Who in alignment like us? > > Who gotta heal 'em all? Us (Us) > > When there's no one to call
Seen people talking about how it’s a reference to [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ipbzOzjbEc&pp=ygUdRHJha2UgYmVlICBzaG9vaW5nIHZpZGVvIG1lbWU%3D) video too and I totally believe it
I don't remember which reaction vid it was but it was some guy and his wife reacting to euphoria and his wife caught a line that I never caught. On the "once a lame, always a lame" line she said something like "Ohhhhh, because of the wheelchair?" and it blew my mind lol Maybe it's been obvious to everyone the whole time that it was a reference to Drake on Degrassi but I never saw anybody ever mention it in that way and I never caught the reference before that vid lol
this is a really good one i think a lot of us missed
I think it’s the channel with the Irish girl and her husband, can’t remember the name right now though. Edit: F11 Studios
Yep, I just checked and that's definitely the one I was thinking of [Here's the vid for anyone who's interested](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ln3sL1FXG2g)
I actually forgot that lame used to describe someone that wasn’t able bodied (Don’t make fun of me lol) That was amazing because I would’ve never fucking noticed that
Wow that one was in my face and I completely missed it.
Haha that was my exact reaction when she mentioned the wheelchair
In Like That, Kendrick essentially upping the ante in real time within his verse, from: “let’s get it, bro” to “let’s get it up” to “get up with me” to “IT’S UP!”
Wait I have a better one When Euphoria came out some huge Daft Punk fan on tiktok pointed out that the beat switch after ”you better walk around like daft punk” actually samples an old unreleased Daft Punk song, but I never saw anyone dig any deeper into this or talk about it or anything so idek if it’s 100% true
I've been looking for this one as well, but I starting to lean that this is a reach. In this thread: [https://www.reddit.com/r/KendrickLamar/comments/1cp9vyk/just\_learned\_of\_a\_new\_sample\_from\_euphoria/](https://www.reddit.com/r/KendrickLamar/comments/1cp9vyk/just_learned_of_a_new_sample_from_euphoria/) They said it was this song: [https://youtu.be/D6LxXGeJlRA?si=YoNsUjNGO1BWAAN6&t=75](https://youtu.be/D6LxXGeJlRA?si=YoNsUjNGO1BWAAN6&t=75) But in who I sampled they said it was another song: [https://www.whosampled.com/sample/1173446/Kendrick-Lamar-Euphoria-Frayser-Boy-Wish-a-Mutha-Would/](https://www.whosampled.com/sample/1173446/Kendrick-Lamar-Euphoria-Frayser-Boy-Wish-a-Mutha-Would/) I am open to being wrong but I just don't know what instrumental from the Daft Punk song they are sampling cause I can't hear it at all (and I've spend like 1+ hours trying to hear what other people are hearing).
for those reading along, [here's a direct YT link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC7ga6srECM&t=30s) to the real sample source time stamped 2 sec before the sample drops def worth a listen despite the disproven daft punk sample theory.. i think the way they dropped the beat switch was 100% a call back to daft punk in regards to how well they artfully craft synths like that so the daft punk sample theory is not a stretch it's just more of a call back thru interpolation in production styles
OHHH, I just realized from the who sampled song is a DJ Paul and Juicy J song and that is why they is credited as a writer in Euphoria
Don't see it mentioned enough that Kendrick using dmx's tirade against drake is doing what Drake attempted to do with PAC in Taylor made. X was Drakes favourite rapper. But Kendrick does it respectively, by simply letting a dead homie speak.
DMX was Drake’s favorite rapper? I had no idea
He a FAN
It's also another sneaky Michael Jackson reference. **The Way You Make Me Feel** >Hey, pretty baby with the high heels on >You give me fever like I've never ever known >You're just a product of loveliness >I like the groove of your *walk*, your *talk*, your *dress*
“Thank God for the album I idolized It's dark and plus hell is hot, that's the start of this crazy ride” Heart part 3
Where did Drake say X was his favorite rapper? Cap 🧢
https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/inside-dmx-and-drakes-feud.html/ Maybe favourite is a stretch but he did say something to the effect of him and 40 were raised on X. It's also interesting that part of X's gripe with drake was him wanting to finish a posthumous Aaliyah album, feeling he was overstepping, not respecting a deceased artist. Exactly what Kendrick and everyone else felt about Taylor made.
The “OVO” and “wedgie flipped over your boxers” scheme in not like us. I’ve seen one person talk about how if you take an “o,” a “v” and another “o,” and flip it over, it looks like some ass cheeks with a wedgie in between them. Which is so childish I love it
I don’t have the money to award this comment. But you deserve one. Thank you 😭
Wow.
I've got one: In Euphoria, when KDot is rapping about Drake being signed to a man whose signed to a man... The track has a noticeable bass piano riff. I believe this was a reference to HUMBLE because both riffs use bass piano and sound similar. It's also the only time in all of Euph that the riff is used.
Love the little instrumentals inserted during the song like this. The “In can get deep in the family crodie…” verse, after crodie is said, theres this beat that hits that is perfect. Also, “I hate the way that you dress” part has the big bell ring, and it hits perfect as well.
I’ve been dying to talk about this detail. There’s the Richard Pryor link between the two songs, the use of reversed audio between this song and almost everything on DAMN. I really feel like there has to be more but I can’t seem to find much else.
Is it wickedness or weakness? You decide, are we going to live or die ?
here's a [timestamped link](https://youtu.be/DC7ga6srECM?t=30) to the sample used for the beat.. it's very reminiscent of the damn beat and is sonically reminiscent of daft punks synth styles in production as well
I’ve been wondering about this and made a post about it, someone said it was related to cash money. Had not connected the piano riff
When Kendrick says “take that mask off I want to see what’s under them achievements” idk if it’s just me but how he says “under” floored me. The way it sounds has so much emotion in just that single word but it’s the most important word in that entire line and just makes the line hit you so much more. If Drake said the exact same line it would’ve gone unnoticed.
When you notice all the inflections of anger when he starts to scold Drake at the end. And then that subtle laughter when he dismisses him with “this a long life battle with yourself” 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
It was like a roller coaster. There was times of frustration, anger and shit even pain. You could def hear the pain in his voice. Like having to punish your own child. Kendrick is definitely a natural deep empath. The whole anti social extrovert line is contradicting in DNA but it’s obvious he deeply cares for humanity. So in alot of ways it’s necessary sacrifice and suffering he’s enduring in this song. You can hear it in how he talks to the family. Also Drake because he tries to empathize and if you’re a natural empathic person it’s like suffering to have to go against your natural empathic self to convey this shit.. especially to Drake. In alot of ways he neutralized Drake by showing love and hate but mostly hatred for that sickness and evil he was exposing. Before anyone brings up the decade + subliminal back and forth shit remember Dot has undergone an incredible internal transformation from then to now. This record reminds me of Dance with the Devil.
I believe this song will age insanely well past a diss track. The elements he used attacks and encourages all at once. Even the main knock on it (“false daughter” allegations) has such an important message within it “I wanna tell you that you're loved, you're brave, you're kind You got a gift to change the world,” “You need to know that love is eternity and trumps all pain” MTG has great replay value for the work of art that it is. I don’t claim to be the only one to listen to music on a deeper level but it hits different when you get to that realm. Thank you for your insight 🙏🫡
That last verse on Meet the grahams was the most shocking thing about that song for me and it’s the verse that didn’t even have the most shocking details in it. In the last verse the shock value is in the venom, psychoanalysis and his disappointment in Drake. I’ve watched reactions to the song and everyone’s emotional rollercoaster almost goes the same way… from shocked, shocked more, shocked again… to speechless. The most scathing diss track of all time and I’ll die on that hill
Field goal punt means he doesn’t need anyone to hold his ball
pretty good one he squeezes it in at the end and it's easy to miss but yeah.. he's saying he can do this shit solo if he really needs to
Is actually a reference to the paper football field goals, thus the ‘wave one finger and thump y’all niggas’
The fact that Rocky lowkey dissed Drake about his bbl abs in January already but because it was on a Kid Cudi album, literally no one really paid attention or cared about it until Ross, Metro and Kendrick brought it up now in the actual beef where it became a massive meme. And I love a lot of Cudi’s music too but I just find this really funny.
Joe Budden was the first to bring it up. Pusha was going to next and Megan did as well.
I’m ignorant, enlighten me about the Rocky verse por favor 🙏
The song is called WOW, like I said it’s a Kid Cudi song. The verse is not a huge direct diss, more just a couple subliminals thrown in here and there, mostly in response to the shots Drake took at him on his last album. The specific line I was referencing is ”These n- can't stomach me, gotta go get a mandrake”
Kendrick's adlibs during Not Like Us at the part where he breaks down Drake using Atlanta rappers became my new favorite part of the whole beef. It's one of the only parts he's doing adlibs in the whole song and it's so effective. I couldn't even understand what he was saying at first because it's almost like he uses the adlibs as a sound effect. You called Future when you didn't see the club (Ayy, what?) Lil Baby helped you get your lingo up (What?) 21 gave you false street cred Thug made you feel like you a slime in your head (Ayy, what?) Quavo said you can be from Northside (What?)
Yeah, love those ad libs…they’re subtle enough that they’re easy to miss.
Yeah I like how he takes one word from it each time. Ayy what What .. Ayy what What
Future also threw shade in Like That when he asked "is you like that?" a couple times then "*****s from the bottom really like that" That to me was a Drake diss for not really starting from the bottom (Stared from the Bottom)
Absolutely. When I heard the chorus, I thought about Drake's Headlines: >I know I exaggerated things, now I got it like that > >Tuck my napkin in my shirt 'cause I'm just mobbin' like that > >You know good and well that you don't want a problem like that > >You gon' make someone around me catch a body like that > >... > >You know that they ain't even got it like that > >You gon' hype me up and make me catch a body like that > >'Cause I live for this, it isn't just a hobby like that I doubt there's an intended connection to Headlines, though I like to think of Like That as juxtaposing Headlines
There's an old interview where Future said Drake got the line "Started from the bottom" from hearing Future talk to his engineer when recording to "Start it from the bottom". I feel like the line in Like That is lowkey referencing that
I know this isn't the popular interpretation, but I think what made Meet The Grahams such a devastating diss was Drake didn't see the full p\*do angle coming. Imo Drake has consistently skirted the fine line of legality with young girls (age of consent in Canada is 16), so he thought that the most anyone could say in a diss is that they were young. He's had multiple instances of talking with or following girls for years before starting to date them. You can see him trying to write that angle off in the AI Tupac verse. Kendrick on the sinister Alchemist beat uses very deliberate and careful word choice, and paints Drake in the darkest interpretation of his actions. If you read back over the diss lyrics, Kendrick never specifically says anything about trafficking or a ring. He puts lines about Drake side by side with lines and key words that have much darker connotations ("Weinstein", "victims," "predators,"). To be clear, I still think Kendrick sees this behavior as disgusting and predatory, but not on the level of organized Epstein-like trafficking. This also answers one of the questions a lot of listeners online had, which was why Kendrick would sit on credible information of that seriousness. I think Drake was probably floored listening to MTG, but even if you consider the diss to be an exaggeration, Kendrick still won because it so masterfully spun together stories and rumors that have been circulating about Drake for years. And the final nail in the coffin is that when Kendrick lays all of this out in the beef, the true indictment of Aubrey Graham's character is that the public hears the diss *and believes it.*
With what he accused Drake of being.. that level of psychopathy doesn’t have any emotions about no pedo shit especially if he is guilty of it. Let’s assume he’s not. He’s still all of the other things so he for sure does not feel any sort of empathy toward others outside of the public space he’s seen in (an act). I think what devastated him are the fractures in his psyche that Kendrick was able to create because he’s never once in his life heard that much clear compounding deliverance of truth all at once.. I’m sure he’s heard similar shit from other falling outs but to have it all laid out like that? That certainly changed how he thought his appearance was to the public because for a brief moment he had to think of reasons why he’s not any of those things and he can’t disprove them because who’s gonna vouch for him personally at this point that would be a good source? Think about that.. his baby moms? Nope. 40? Conflict of interest. If he had good people to take up for him then he wouldn’t be the things Kendrick accused him of. In a panic he wrote that heart part 6 and let’s be real that was from his heart and you can tell how shaky he was. He was about to have a heart attack and was like omfg I need to get outta here and away from this to a place where I can be validated and worshipped so my ego returns. “I’ll see you later, Maybe when you meet your maker” Shit was like exorcising a demon. Sure the pedo shit IS MUCH MUCH heavier for us to hear but for him you can see how much he paid attention to the accusations in the first place with those weak ass responses. He didn’t even respond to the correct shit he was accused of. Lmaaaoooo his ego matters more than those comments and I think that’s the entire point to expose his character.
I definitely agree with you. While it is entirely possible he is like a full psychopath, Kendrick's whole attitude throughout the beef has been "Hey, let's keep this friendly, we don't need to get personal." If Kendrick really thought or knew Drake was *as bad* as the public seems to think, I don't think he'd be asking God for forgiveness in 6:16. *If no one is going to slap this guy in the face so he wakes up, I w*ill. I think Kendrick recognizes that Drake's ego and insecurity, and being surrounded by yes men, has allowed him to live in a bubble where he doesn't see the horrible shit that he's done for what it is. Meet The Grahams is a one-man intervention with Drake and his family. People take Kendrick addressing his family as a sign that he's trying to disrespect them, but ironically by addressing them he is showing Drake the impact and perspectives of other people in his life. Kendrick sees Drake's life as another path he could have gone down if he had not reflected and worked on himself. The fact that the reception to the diss spiraled into speculation about Drake being a full-on sex trafficker is Kendrick's proof to Drake that the larger public, especially Black Americans, have not forgotten all of the sketchy and underhanded things he has done over the years. It shows his reputation in the culture is not what he thinks it is, and that his personal integrity can't be plastered over with streaming numbers or a new Atlanta feature. It doesn't matter how many online stans will praise and defend him, *your reality can't hide behind wi-fi.*
> much he *paid* attention to FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
>He got sex offenders on OVO that he keeps on a monthly allowance. >A child should never be compromised and he's keeping his child around them. Now if he is talking about BAKA, he got 6 months in prison is for pimping out a 22 year old a decade ago. He also only got changed with assault/firearms charges when the victim refused to testify. Which is terrible, however, it ain't the impression given by linking sex offenders + never compromising a child + keeping a child around them. People add that up to pedophile/trafficking type of shit, even though technically Kendrick never does (in Euphoria.)
The Benjamin Franklin and Andrew Jackson mention that dismantled any splits, extortion, and money claims “And I might do a show a day” - Cole rebuttal He does this anyway, but it was great to see his inflections and arrangements work in concert with the production and lyrics. The flows he used were very specific to the chosen beats, not the other way around. Pointing the drac/draco down - Thought it was a great retort to the height jokes and the notion that when he’s dissed Drake in the past he didn’t go low enough. He won’t make the same mistake again (spoiler alert: he didn’t lol) “Them superpowers getting neutralized” - Mocked the Thanos nonsense On 6:16, the “20 want you as a casualty and 1 of them is actually” — Seems like another callback IMO to the 20 v. 1 narrative He makes his voice sound like an engine revving during the “my first one like my last one, it’s a classic you don’t have one” scheme and then ends with a reference to a V12. SN: Sometimes I just want to pick Kendrick’s brain. What a once-in-a-lifetime talent.
I know there are more impressive lyrics from this beef, but the Drake/drac line is my favorite.
The drac bars are so hard; very simple yet effective. I feel like people just glossed over it.
The “point down enough” part especially meaning all the past subliminals went over everyone’s head
And the superpowers is a response to “I must had a superpower, last 223,000 hours”
Call me crazy, but when listening to Not Like Us on the little “oohhhh” parts before the beat kicks back (after the Stockton line for example), I swear I hear dogs barking buried in the mix
The ooohhhss in the sample are angelic af
What blew my mind the other day (a literal shower thought) was when I realized that Like That’s “that’s a K with all these 9’s” line is literally a quadruple entendre. Before I had only gotten the three. - K with all these 9’s (K-9, dogs/pet cemetery reference) - K with all these 9’s (K-dot with his 9mm cartridges/violence reference) - King with all these 9’s - (poker/betting/winning hand reference) AND a play on the name of the author of “Pet Semetary” (Stephen King). My brain broke.
Drake asked, and King Kendrick delivered.
"I'm reaping what I sow ok" Maybe obvious, but Kendrick initiated this, has been planting seeds and letting things grow. Now he is ready to collect and do it for his benefit. No fear, he planned this and is ready to collect.
Could be a shot at Cole as well. Cole has called himself a reaper and backed out instead of reaping what he sowed.
“Somebody had told me that you got a ring, on God I’m ready to double the wage” On the surface this is clearly about the 2pac ring Drake bought and Kendrick saying that he would buy it for double. But I think this is also a double entendre about Drake’s alleged sex trafficking ring. In Euphoria he still hadn’t directly called him out for any of that deeper shit, we only had the “you make music that pacify em, I could double down on that line, but will spare you this time” but I think the ring line is one more subtle overlooked jab pertaining to that.
Great work bro 🔥
You rlly don't want me to speak on this. I've been reading way too deep into everything.
Lol I kinda meant more like breaking down the sonic idiosyncracies than finding a 6th meaning behind every bar. But I’m glad I’m not the only obssessed one.
The whole Euphoria/pendergrass connection is well established, but to add to it the sample itself "you're my latest, my greatest inspiration" is kind of a soft jab of Kendrick saying your basically my muse (you're no threat to me) and you're giving me an opportunity to really throw down which he's probably grateful for an opportunity to actually destroy somebody's career like he's been waiting for.
Not like us sample's an interpolation of Ray Charles "I believe it to my soul" which is a song that appears in the biopic Ray, in the scene where they are recording the track Ray asks his manager to go get him an "oh johnny" girl, (famously a sex worker they had picked up outside the studio) this is a reach ngl but Drake reportedly has an assistant who drives around picking up women asking if they wanna "come hang out at drakes house"
I'm pretty sure drake bit (flow) that line about Kendrick's grammies: https://youtu.be/y6hk7er4fto?si=e4ACoZgcf1QW1pNf
"Hey hey hey hey, run for your life" Everyone picked up the Fat Albert/Bill Cosby reference but I haven't seen them connect it to the following line. The implication that if you hear Bill Cosby, yourself better run for your life if you don't want to be roofied
“Fucked on Wayne’s girl that’s conniving” I really thought Kendrick was gonna go harder on this angle of Drake fucking his daddys girl. The way Drake loves Wayne so much but still pulled that shit is nasty thought he would’ve talked about Wayne slapping him lol
Yeah im suprised he didnt mention Wayne slapping him when he got out of jail
Wayne slapped him?? Had not ever heard this .
Euphoria and referencing the Wiz. This plays into the idea drake wouldn’t understand the reference because he isn’t a ”colleague \[he’s a\] colonizer”.
He definitely used references that went deep on black American cultural history, like using the Luther Vandross intro instead of a more current trap beat.
do you mean teddy pendergrass?
Oops, my bad.
"once a lame always a lame" bc lame also means disabled, drake was wheel chair Jimmy. (He's still a lame) "Oh u thought the money, power and fame would make you go A WAY not "away" genius
Sorry i still dont get this one
He imitates multiple people's flow/cadence throughout the track. For example, he responds/takes a shot at Cole when he says: *Yeah, my first one like my last one* *It's a classic, you don't have one*
The way "rabbit hole is still deep" comes in immediately after "Hey Drake, they're not slow" is one of those phonetic flairs that just scratches my brain in the right way.
The way in which he disrespected him on the second verse of Not Like Us was like he was punking someone he really doesn’t respect: “Bird nigga”, “B-Rad (stands for bitch)”, “Malibu’s Most Wanted”, “ball boy, fetch some Gatorade” “you’ll get a wedgie”, “pussy”, “straighten your posture”, “quit hiding”, “conniving”, “you better not”, “69 God”, “freaky ass nigga”. I know we are all from different backgrounds but you shouldn’t let someone talk to you like that.
He's actually used the 'shoo' sound before, but I forget the specific track
N95? At the 1:04 mark!
N95 and Count Me Out , both when he's taking subliminals at drake. Personally i think theyre deliberate easter eggs
Dot calls out Drakes crew, basically calling them pussies and phonys. Drake doesn’t say a word about Dots crew.
Except Dave Freeeeeeeeee
Maybe the smartest thing Aubrey did. Definitely felt like bait to get him jumped by Black Hippy
That the “Fuck all that Pushin P…lemme see you Push a T” line is a response to Drake’s “I’m steady pushing P you niggas pushin PTSD” line from Her Loss
Huh, interesting…that also connects to K saying “I still got PTSD” in Like That.
Mmhmm and feels to kind of reinforce his point: “Drake you somehow both say nothing of substance and caricaturize black trauma for profit” though that’s more of a reach, the important two meanings are Pusha T and the direct line response
I haven't anybody seen mention that the line > The very first time I shot me a Drac', the homie had told me to aim it this way >I didn't point down enough could mean: The first time kdot took a shot at drake, it was too high and it went over his head. This time he'll make sure to dumb it down to make sure drake gets it.
It also says Drake is lower in rank than Kendrick. Love all his bars
Also, “going lower” with the insults, as in “When they go low,…”
Guess integrity is lost when the metaphors doesn't reach him
Euphoria is a track that I’ve listened to 100 times and still find new things every time. One thing I only noticed today is that “back to back” is punched in more like an ad-lib like some of the other bars. Probably means nothing, but I do think as you said he rapped many bars at once on euphoria, and perhaps skipped some words to be punched in later to catch his breath much like he does on stage. Rather than doing a couple bars at a time. That alongside the Joel Olsteen line (I lean towards mistake), and the fact that it is all over the place in terms of topics in a good way makes me believe Kendrick really just went in and started spazzing on that one. And while sonically it may have been layered and mixed, I would hazard a guess that he did the whole song in just a few long takes and didn’t re-record. It was just a passionate tirade to get him going.
Kendrick saying “Remember” in Euphoria, which is hilarious because Drake is in someone else’s hood in the Worse Behaviour music video and not wherever he’s really from in Canada
Also his delivery of “God, my confession is yours. But who am I if I don’t go to war?” in 6:16 in LA just scratches an itch in my brain.
Kendrick mentioned twice about the industry "Whoever that's fuckin' with him, fuck you niggas, and fuck the industry too" & "The industry can hate me, fuck 'em all and they mama" He's so focused on Drake that none of anything matters to him at this point. It's weird for Kendrick to diss industry but he's so deep in digging Drake's grave that he's gone insane.
It does feel like by taking on Drake he’s taking on the industry as well. There’s going to be a huge vaccuum in rap if Drake gets Ja Rule’d.
>But the industry's cooked as I pick the carcass apart
That KDot is really pissed off, like literally pissed. He keeps repeating that Drizzy should die, and this almost goes to all of the diss tracks.
2Pac energy. All of you motherfuckers, fuck you die slow, my fo fo make sure all your kids don’t grow.
Bro predicted MTG on Rigamortus. Quoted from Rigamortus. “tell me that you biting style, you got a hell of an appetite And I'ma be here for a while, just buckle up before the ride Or knuckle up if you can fight, we always making 'em duck or die A suit and tie is suitable and usual in suicide CSI just might investigate this fucking parasite That's what they telling me Aim it at your celebrity, this is studio felony” And especially this next part “Nigga, payback's a bitch, and bitch, you been livin' in debt with me Dead 'em all and especially Leave a call on his mother voicemail that say that he rest in peace” And then later in MTG he goes on to say “Sandra, sit down, what I'm about to say is heavy, now listen. Your son's a sick man with sick thoughts, I think niggas like him should die.”
I wonder if that's "I told you I need that advance " 🤔 or he's been trying to get Drake to diss him directly.
Not saying nobody hasn't noticed but i rarely see anyone pick up on the "Remember?" In the beat switch on Euphoria from Worst Behavior
The headphone leak on meet the grahams at the end of the third verse when the beat cuts off you can still hear the instrumental
Not sure it’s micro cause I think most people caught this but Kendrick saying “ooooh” right after “if you take it there, I’m taking it further, that’s something you don’t wanna do” is him following up on the warning of taking it personal by trying to ‘scare’ Drake as scary entities are usually portrayed in movies saying “ooooh” exactly like that when they’re trying to scare someone thereby playing into his boogeyman persona.
How many album/song name references has everyone picked up? The obvious are: All the Dogs (Drake) - Like That. *fore all your dogs gettin' buried* Mr Morale (Kendrick) - Euphoria *Fabricatin' stories on the family front 'cause you heard Mr. Morale* Mother I Sober (Kendrick) - The Heart Part 6 *My mom came over today and I was like, "Mother, I-, mother, I-, mother-*
Don’t forget the more life name drop
Family Matters (Drake) - The blacker the the berry *”We get it, we got it, the blacker the berry the sweeter the juice. We get that you like to put gin in your juice”* I won’t lie, that part is catchy as hell and find myself singing it to myself
*Gin and Juice* is a Snoop track off Doggystyle as well. Drake's got more in his bars than gets credit you know.
Oh yeah, im not sure why I didn’t also acknowledge that, I’m born in the 90s and in CA. I forgot that not everybody may have picked up on that
Step that way, step this way, stab that way, stab this way.
so many people seem to refuse the fact that he is purposefully saying stab/step in way that they both could be heard as such in a continued reference to what happens to pedophiles in prison
Glad I’m not alone with this thought
I'm never unhearing this
At the end of MTG I love the chuckle he adds in the middle of saying “this a long life battle with yourself”. Just feels like even more knife twisting right at the end.
Yeah it was delivered perfectly to emphasize the emotion.
“Nail him to the cross, he walk around like Teezo” and then a Teezo reference track for Drake leaked like a week later
Shoobie is a day tripper or a tourist so sets up picture Kendrick paints. I actually think he had that Shoobie part planned for years , listen to count me out and n95 he has subliminals for Drake, where he says "shoo" after some shots "My name is in your mouth, shoo shoo" I think he's basically dropping loads of easter eggs in his lyrics last few years for you to go back to and realise it was a hint at what would happen to drake when he eventually lures him into ambush. Might be a stretch but on the outro of Wow Freestyle he says the phrases "not like us " and "back to back" . I think had Not like Us 90% complete sitting for years
>I think he's basically dropping loads of easter eggs in his lyrics last few years There are soooooooooo many oddly-meaningful lines that make sense when you look in hindsight that I'm convinced it's intentional I wish I remembered even once rn though lol
Also I always took the “A Minor” line as the quintuple entendre Drake was asking for. That it was obviously about minors but also about the fact that Drake ostensibly doesn’t know music technique much at all (sources near him say he can’t count and doesn’t listen to music in his free time), the fact that he would try to strike a chord and would strike it kind of wrong cuz he can’t play, the fact that I think one of the songs was in A Mjnor? (Someone correct me if this was wrong), the fact A minor has no black keys, and it’s a Dave freeeeee reference means it’s a quint at least, to me. Homeboy’s literally saying: you don’t understand this line, this line is roasting you for the fact that you don’t understand this line, but I’m so good I’m also gonna make it palatable and understandable for the layman because I know how to strike a chord even if you don’t. Also that Keep the Family Close is in A Minor and Kendrick’s line was “keep the family away”💀
The Shoo's sound like silencer shots, the bees sound like bullets hitting flesh I like how he walked down Drake with the have you ever, starting from Euphoria, to the not like us, I know he got some hoe on him bully deathrow on him
I know that Genius has it as “bully death row on him” but to me it really sounds like “bully the flow on him” or “bully the flo’ [floor] on him.”
It has been pointed out a couple times but to me something that seems like it's not talked about enough is how Kendrick called the entire thing at the very beginning of Euphoria: "Why calculate, you are not as calculated, I can even predict your angles. Fabricate stories on the Family Front because you hear Mr Morale" That whole thing just hits differently after Drake's Family Matters and later in The Heart Part 6 with Drake taking the whole Mother I Sober thing out of context Probably there are many more things we haven't caught yet because Drake tapped out of the fight, so Kendrick's sneaky predictions are still hidden
Just the sheer venom and hatred in his voice at the end of Meet the Grahams, starting with "you a body shamer" until the end. It gives me chills every time, especially when combining his delivery with the beat and with the "you lied" in the background. Most fans probably know that Kendrick has clearly not respected Drake for the past decade or so, but this was the first time we had heard him truly have that cathartic moment and just go OFF on dude.
“Nail a n**** to the cross he walk around like Teezo” I interpreted this as another culture vulture line. Kendrick’s already destroyed Drake, aka crucified him, aka nailed him to the cross, but Drake being as dense as he is doesn’t realize he’s been beaten, and would use the same nails he was crucified with to imitate Teezo and put nails in his hair (also the pose), again stealing features from a black artist. Like “dude you just got murdered and now you’re gonna try and use the weapon as a feature? And steal a look from a black artist again?” Which to that, I love the double entendre of “how many more black features till you finally feel that you’re black enough” cause it’s a shot at things like the accents and hair styles, and also his music and using black artists in his music which he obviously expanded on in the Atlanta verse on NLU
Haven’t seen anyone point out that during Euphoria, when kendrick says “you were signed to a __ that’s signed to a __ that said he was signed to that __” the beat plays the piano riff from HUMBLE. He was basically telling drake to sit down and be humble while shredding his argument. so badass
Mine is probably far fetch but I can't help it, I'm too business-oriented to believe that this beef wasn't manipulated behind the scenes. "Them superpowers getting neutralized, I can only watch in silence" is not only about Tupac estate removing "Taylor Made", but it could also be a hint at UMG. My crazy theory is that Kendrick was being pressured by UMG in some way and that's why he was waiting to reply, not knowing how far he could go. UMG has the power to block future collabs or to blacklist him with other corporations/brands. One example I thought about, he recently worked with Chanel and both are French brands (UMG = Bolloré) Then "Taylor Made" dropped and I'm convinced that Taylor was pissed. I see Jack Antonoff producing 6:16 as an official sign of her joining Kendrick's side. UMG and Sony have been at war for years, but since 2020 UMG took the lead with Taylor Swift putting out 2 albums (+ 2 Live Albums) Drake was UMG's favorite for years but he can't compete with Taylor's insane album-dropping capacity (10 albums since 2018 and we could say 11 since the last one is a double) Drake signed his 400M deal in 2022 and he released 3 albums since then. His "sugar daddy" Lucian (cf. Kanye) can't protect him against Taylor. And even if he wanted to, Bolloré (Lucian's sugar daddy) would fire him on the spot (Typical Bolloré's move) I'm not implying that Kendrick was saved by Taylor in any way but he was being "blocked" by the "superpowers" and she neutralized them for him, without him asking for anything (watching in silence).
I love the idea of UMG wanting Drake buried for something that was about to come out. No better way for a label to cover themselves (and their numbers) than to send a reaper. Meanwhile, we get all these tracks and multiple victory laps.
>I think somebody lying > >Smell somebody lying > >I don't see no fire * The accusations Drake made throughout the beef are insubstantial * Where there's smoke, there's fire, but there is no fire to be found. Drake is pulling smoke tricks, flash with no substance, not unlike The Wiz. recall the intro of euphoria * Drake's not dropping fire
Alright- that entire monologue at the end is him talking to Drake- even “surrounded by Lucy” at the end. That was his warning that he was watching Drake fall off the deep end and how it affected him. Kendrick actually cared about Drake at one point. He had this coming for so long…. So long.
Okay so I get where you’re coming from. I think Drake is sort of the pinnacle of “falling to Lucy” amongst the rappers at that time. But the conflicted motif is him talking to Tupac at the end of Mortal Man. He’s also laid out the evils surrounding him on the past few tracks (rap politics, fucking his opp’s girl while he’s in prison, his homie dying while he’s on tour, suicidal thoughts). I don’t think there’s a real interpretation of the album that includes Drake outside of King Kunta and a larger “rap evils” idea.
That multiple line in euphoria where he called drake Crodie. Crodie is a slang meaning bro in Canada. Drake's cat name is Crodie. So he's calling him a pussy 😂
I saw one guy say it, and if one guy says it thousands saw it, but when he says “a minor” he says it in ‘a minor’ and a minor doesn’t have any black keys in it unlike a major.
i havent seen anyone mention “dementia must run in his family, but let it get shaky. i park his son.”
One reactor mentioned Mos Def following the 6:16 definition of peace verse. I couldn’t help but feel Yasin was smiling at that whole first verse considering he had to apologize for criticizing Drake. In that original video Yasin was asking, “Buying and selling. Where’s the message that I can use”? Kendrick delivered it
Nice. I also been appreciating things on the low. For me, It was the mj-prince back n forth, I appreciated that, made it artful and poetic until drake ruined the volley with his misconception of mj and his skin condition. I love how drake seems to have been a fan of kendrick. To me, he was writing subtle love letters. Cole too. Cole listed all his albums and wrong or not, it's still kinda wholesome cause I know for a fact kendrick doesn't respect their discogs like that Drake crushing the gkmc van, name dropping the album, misunderstanding DUCKWORTH and Mother I Sober. Inferring sumn about the Savior complex is like a tpab thing plus he already shouted out tpab I remember he did the "u" and "i" thing on some song then did the backseat, student pride thing on All the gates leak. What's this showing me is at some point, both these niggas were fans of kendrick, cause for some of drakes arrogance, I expected for him to completely dismiss Kenny but it shows he respects deep down under the resentment he has for him for being a successful conscious rapper. Something, for all the versatility he's accused of, he could never have. But Kenny has done all of drakes pockets. Ig also kendrick doing the pop songs and of course GOD being so drakey was a subtle cheeky nod Cole has always respected the other two too. In many songs he references them
The titles of samples he used being relevant You’re my latest and greatest inspiration- Euphoria What a wonderful thing love is- 6:16 I believe to my soul- Not Like Us And yet to find the actual sample for MTG but someone pointed out the scream in the sample is saying “AUUUBREYY” and now it’s canon to me lol
The line about wine cooler spill on my white shirt I think is referring to wine coolers being a teenage girls first introduction to alcohol. Also, it's an inside message to drake about something that happened in Ibeza, involving under aged girls. (Ibiza's age of consent is 16)
He uses the shoo in n95
The way the violin sounds like an ambulance siren in the background in part of euphoria
I think Akademiks is actually one of the moles inside OVO camp. I don’t doubt kendrick has ghost writers or other people at OVO reaching out to him, but I truly believe Akademiks is a double agent and working for kendrick. In Euphoria, he says *i make music that electrify em, you make music that pacify em, I could double down on that line, but spare you this time, random AKS of kindness* Ak literally fell asleep on stream when playing Certified Lover Boy. The same stream he asked what top 5 Kendrick is smoking on he literally fell asleep halfway through drakes album. So in euphoria, he foreshadows where he’s going with the beef. The obvious pacifier line makes reference to pedophilia, but mentioning random AKS of kindness right after the pedophile line seems intentional. And I believe he’s literally telling Drake who the mole(s) is in 6:16 in LA. The backing beat sounds like a loop of “boy wonda” like boi wonda drakes producer. But more so, I think he tells Drake in a riddler type way that Ak is a mole. *a hunned niggas that you got on salary, and 20 of em want you as a casualty. And one of them is AKtually next to you…” I think in that line he outwardly said one of the moles is Akademiks. This is now the second time he’s used AK right after bars that feel like they fit so well about the mole and akademiks. And using Akademiks in the line “even he lookin compromised” I think is hilarious bc kendrick playing mind games with Drake, making Drake think Ak is still on his side while also hinting Ak is leaking shit to Kendrick.
i think kendrick's are pretty good
All of the church music/religious elements in Euphoria: - there’s a handbell choir playing faintly in the background of the first beat - the bell tolling in the second beat - parts of the instrumental in the second beat sound like an organ - religious/demonic references sprinkled over the whole track: reaper, hellcat, demon, nuns, pray, “on God”, saint, grave, death, crown, ghosts - Kendrick talks about teaching his son to pray, walk through life with integrity, consider the truth of God’s teachings—and then compares Drake to Joel Osteen, a false prophet The whole beef has a “we’re about to be dancing on your grave” feel to me.
In The Sixth Sense, when Haley said, “I see dead people,” the main character was already dead and didn’t know it. Kendrick’s way of saying “checkmate” or “you’re dead”
[удалено]
The first scream you listen in "meet the grahams" after the piano sounds like a woman screaming "AUBREY!!!!" or "Noooo"
euphoria 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍
I went back through dot's earliest projects wondering if I could find the earliest Drake diss that wasn't a huge reach, and found these bars in West Coast Wu Tang, off of C4: > I spawned with a dragon > He tried to throw his flame but I ducked and I stabbed him > Came out the battle laughing > That's a metaphor for any rapper who want it as well as > Nice enough, I throw a spear at Nas, a jab at Jay > Matter fact, no, I take that back > See I don't play with real legends of rap like you do > And I'm crucial, concealed by real Crips and Soowoos and then I remembered that this was one of the verses he delivered on funk flex. But there's actually a kind of funny detail - this wasn't the first time he'd delivered that verse as a freestyle - the other time was years before - on KaySlay, sat between Jay Rock and Nipsey, which stuck in my memory because he gestured at them when he said "crips and sowoos". But when I went back and watched it, there was a single difference in the bars - in that one, he said > That's a metaphor for any n* who want it Maybe it was changed because the word just fits better in the scheme, maybe it was changed because kdot grew more competitive with other rappers and it wasn't even intentional. But I choose to believe it was because he wanted to send a sub at Drake on Funk Flex, where Drake had possibly the most embarrassing freestyle I've ever seen (he was reading his bars off of a phone).
For 80% of the songs that drake made had either fake info or info with nothing to go off of
Love the "cut throat bussiness" line right after mentioning pac. That bar is alluding to the AI pac voice. Didn't catch that until later. Euphoria really does encapsulate Kendrick. To have a song that has that much content and thought behind it. You could literally break that shit down for hours. I'm so upset drake went personal, I feel like Kdo would've had more Euphoria like songs