When did Kendrick Lamar and Drake's beef start? Rival rappers collaborated on each other's records during early stages of their careers

Among the most prominent and enduring feuds in hip-hop history is the simmering tension between Kendrick Lamar and Drake, two titans of contemporary rap.

However, they collaborated in their early career stages, such as Poetic Justice, Buried Alive Interlude, and F**kin' Problems. Also, Kendrick Lamar, in his early interviews, called Drake a "genuine soul."

The tensions rose in 2013 when Lamar did a guest verse in Big Sean's single Control and called himself the "King of Rap," and took a dig at many artists, including Drake. The Canadian rapper then hit back with a track, The Language, jabbing at his work for not being impressive.

The latest development in this ongoing saga comes from Kendrick Lamar's diss track aimed at Drake, Euphoria, released on April 30, 2024.

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From collaboration to confrontation, exploring Kendrick Lamar and Drake's beef

Kendrick Lamar released a new track, Euphoria. (Image via Getty)

Both of these well-established rappers started their careers in the early 2000s. Their first collaboration came out in 2011 with Lamar's Buried Alive Interlude ft. Drake. Just one year later, in 2012, the duo collaborated again. Their last track together came out in 2013, F**kin' Problems, which featured 2 Chainz along with Drake.

As per The Independent, Lamar, in his early-stage interview, suggested that he and Drake "clicked immediately." Once, the Canadian rapper invited Lamar on his Club Paradise headline tour, reflecting the early stage of friendship.

In his initial interviews, Lamar revealed that Drake was the first person outside his immediate team to take in his debut album, Section 80. For his second album, Take Care, Drake invited Kendrick Lamar to be featured. Later, Lamar's second album, Good Kid, MAAD City, which was critically acclaimed, featured Drake.

Drake attends the LA Premiere Of HBO's "Euphoria" in 2019 (Image via Getty)

However, friendly competition gradually morphed into a complex dynamic characterized by veiled lyrical jabs and strategic positioning within the rap industry.

Lamar received universal recognition for Good Kid, MAAD City and Drake gave famous hits such as Started From The Bottom, Diamonds, and Hold On, We Are Going Home. Everything was smooth and quiet until 2013 when Kendrick Lamar gave a guest verse in Big Sean, an American Rapper, single Control.

In his guest segment, Lamar called himself the 'King of New York', traditionally considered the epicenter of hip-hop. He rapped —

"I'm Makaveli's offspring, I'm the King of New York. King of the Coast; one hand, I juggle 'em both. The juggernaut's all in your jugular, you take me for jokes. Live in the basement, church pews, and funeral faces."

Soon after Lamar's verse came out, Drake, in an interview with Hot 97, suggested that those words were "harsh" —

"Those were harsh words, right? It's like, you can't just say that and then see me and be like, Yeah man, pretending like nothing ever happened. That's not real, man."

However, the competitive nature of hip-hop culture fueled the fire. Drake then released his third album, Nothing Was the Same, in 2013, where in his track The Language he took a dig at Lamar rapping —

"F**k any nigga that's talkin' that shit just to get a reaction. F**k going platinum, I looked at my wrist and it's already platinum. I am the kid with the motor mouth. I am the one that you should worry about."

Relative peace was seen as the pair occasionally jabbed at each other but in veil lyrics until March 2024. Referring to the verse "Is it K-Dot? Is it Aubrey? Or me?/We the big three like we started a league" from the First Person Shooter by Drake and Cole released in 2023.

Lamar, in his verse segment in Like, That of album Future and Metro Boomin, released on March 22, 2024, rapped that it's just big "me" —

"Motherf**k the big three, it's just big me."

Lamar at 65th GRAMMY Awards (Image via Getty) 1asjkdhasjhdgashgdahsgdhas

On April 19, 2024, the Canadian singer and rapper released the first of two diss tracks, Push Ups, where he joked about Lamar's height and collaboration with Maroon 5 and Taylor Swift. Later that month, Drake dropped another diss track, Taylor Made Freestyle, where he poked fun at Kendrick Lamar for calling him a coward.

In response, on April 30, Lamar released a diss track titled after an HBO series, Euphoria, where Drake was an executive procedure.