Kendrick Lamar has responded to Drake’s latest diss tracks with the new song “Euphoria.” Listen to the new song below.
Lamar re-escalated a long-simmering beef with Drake with some pointed lyrics on “Like That.” (The track also had some words for J. Cole, who responded with his own “7 Minute Drill,” but the North Carolina musician has since apologized for his diss song and pulled it from digital streaming platforms.) Drake went back at Lamar on “Push Ups” and “Taylor Made Freestyle.” The latter track used artificial intelligence to emulate vocals from 2Pac, which prompted a threatening response from the late rapper’s estate. As a result, Drake removed the song from his social media pages.
Kendrick Lamar’s “Euphoria” begins softly, and the rapper doesn’t address Drake directly until the final lines of his first verse: “Know you a master manipulator and habitual liar, too/But don’t tell no lie ’bout me, and I won’t tell truths ’bout you.”
The beat picks up and Lamar is sharper in his words against the Toronto artist. For instance, he plays on Drake’s name and the Draco Pistol when he raps, “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/Today, I show you I learned from those mistakes.” He also makes direct reference to “Taylor Made Freestyle” when he says, “Somebody had told me that you got a ring/On God, I’m ready to double the wage/I’d rather do that than let a Canadian n—a make ’Pac turn in his grave.”
Later, after mentioning J. Cole and Drake by name, Lamar brings up another major Drake nemesis, Pusha T, and questions Drake’s aptitude as a father—something Pusha T famously did on “The Story of Adidon.”
Longtime Lamar collaborator Jay Rock praised “Euphoria” on X, writing, “Now this ain’t no AI… see I know Kdot!! Euphoria.”
Terrence “Punch” Henderson, the president of Lamar’s former label home, Top Dawg Entertainment, posted simply, “Well.”
Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith, the founder and CEO of Top Dawg Entertainment, added on X, “We saw everybody that showed their hand. This the family. Dot still the King. TDE.”
Without acknowledging “Euphoria” explicitly, Kendrick Lamar’s “Like That” collaborator Metro Boomin posted on X, “Thank God for the day!” and, “😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂.”
Read Alphonse Pierre’s “A Power Ranking of Everyone in the Drake–Kendrick Lamar–Every Rapper Ever Battle Royale” on the Pitch.