Drake has been taunting Kendrick Lamar online, telling fans that the rapper “has nothing to drop” in response to his ‘Push Ups’ diss track.
On the 2023 single ‘First Person Shooter’, Drake compared himself to Michael Jackson as the two are now tied for the most Number One singles on the Billboard charts. Last month, Lamar took jabs at Drake on ‘Like That’ from Metro Boomin and Future’s first joint project, ‘We Don’t Trust You’ by likening himself to Prince – Jackson’s longtime rival. “Prince outlived Mike Jack’ N****, bum, ‘fore all your dogs gettin’ buried That’s a K with all these nines, he gon’ see Pet Sematary,” he rapped.
Last weekend (April 13), Drake seemingly replied on the diss track, ‘Push Ups (Drop And Give Me 50)’. “This the bark with the bite, nigga, what’s up? / How the fuck you been steppin’ with a size seven mens on?” he rapped, alluding to Lamar’s fifth studio album ‘Mr Morale & The Big Steppers’. The Californian has yet to drop a rebuttal to ‘Push Ups’.
Wading into the discussion, LA radio personality DJ Hed tweeted that “the Canadian ‘responded’ after over a decade of being dared to come outside”, referring to Drake.
“Still has yet to officially claim said ‘response.’ He’s now taunting Ant in attempts to garner a reaction. If you enjoy microwave meals that’s on you. We prefer cooked food on this side.”
Where we from you can’t false flag and be taken serious. Don’t wait for the song to “chart” to claim it once the numbers come out. Say it with your DSP 🤷🏾♂️ pic.twitter.com/iqKZnAiQOj
— DJHed (@DJHed) April 18, 2024
Drake THEN commented beneath a post by music blogger Akademiks about Hed’s tweets, telling fans to “use [him] as a ‘they have nothing to drop’ button”.
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Hed set the record straight, stating that “where we from, you can’t false flag and be taken serious” – inferring that Lamar is waiting for Drake himself to confirm the authenticity of ‘Push Ups’. He added: “Don’t wait for the song to ‘chart’ to claim it once the numbers come out. Say it with your DSP.”
He referred to Lamar’s manager Anthony Saleh as “Ant” in his initial tweet – someone else Drake has teased online. Throughout the week, Drake has been sharing photos of Saleh on his Instagram story, first uploading a zoomed-in selfie of the manager-to-the-stars with the caption: “Wonder is today the day”. Another saw Saleh standing in an OVO merchandise shop, which Drake captioned, “We getting to our bag or nah?”
Drake just posted a selfie of Kendrick Lamar's manager on Instagram "Anthony Saleh," with turtle emojis baiting Kendrick to drop his response 😮 pic.twitter.com/WAS4GIowM1
— SOUND (@itsavibe) April 16, 2024
Drake continues to apply pressure on Kendrick Lamar over diss song response delay pic.twitter.com/etv1juDsXE
— HipHopDX (@HipHopDX) April 18, 2024
Fans thought Lamar had responded to Drake when a song called ‘One Shot’ leaked online. The track turned out to be fake as TikTok rapper-producer SyTheRapper revealed he created it using A.I. “I shocked myself,” he said. “I thought people were going to be able to tell it was fake, but people did actually think it was real.”
However, Rick Ross has legitimately replied to ‘Push Ups’ with the equally venomous ‘Champagne Moments’. On the song, the Maybach Music Group CEO accused Drake of getting a nose job and sending a cease-and-desist to French Montana. The latter was later confirmed by their label owner, Gamma CEO Larry Jackson.
Before ‘Push Ups’ was leaked, Joe Budden revealed that Lamar and Drake’s ongoing rap battle could be “nuclear”.
“Whatever little rap-y shit you thought was going on, it’s not that and something’s coming,” he began. “I have it on good information that both sides went in the booth and came out. And what I’m hearing about both sides is that it’s nuclear. It’s up, up. I’m hearing this from people that can rap. So I wanna come in here and say that speculation time is over. Debate time is over.”