The Unrelenting Beef of Hip-Hop: Drake Goes for the Kill (Bill)

This Drake article is part two of a multi-part article covering the massive hip-hop beef currently going on. You can read the first one on Feature First

Three weeks after Kendrick Lamar dropped a verse dissing Drake on Future & Metro Boomin’s “Like That”, Drake has finally responded in a leaked diss track. While there is no official title, it is unofficially called “Drop and Give Me Fifty”

Drake is in a beef with absolutely everyone and their mother. He, himself took the joke both referring to that in his track but also posting an Instagram story using a still from Tarantino’s Kill Bill of The Bride going one-on-twenty in a fight. This beef has grown quickly to include way more than just Kendrick Lamar, so the whole saga is more confusing than ever.

I’m here to help you understand some of the subtleties (and obvious) lines. Here’s a breakdown of who, and what each line refers to:

Future and Metro Boomin

I could never be nobody number-one fan

Your first number one, I had to put it in your hand

The opening line is aimed at Future. Drake and Future have a monumental history with each other but it seems their relationship has hit a tumultuous period. It’s unconfirmed why exactly they’re beefing but the rumor is that it’s over a girl. Future dissed him recently on his albums We Don’t Trust You and We Still Don’t Trust You both produced by Metro Boomin.

They’ve collaborated on over a dozen tracks including an entire album together What a Time to be Alive. Future’s first Billboard #1 was for “Way 2 Sexy”, a song he made with Drake in 2021. Drake is saying he gifted Future a lot of his major mainstream success.

You pussies can’t get booked outside America for nan’

I’m out in Tokyo because I’m big in Japan

I’m the hit maker y’all depend on

Backstage, in my city, it was friend zone

Drake, again insinuates that he’s given the guys dissing him a lot of their lines. This applies not only to Future, but also to Rick Ross who dissed him on We Don’t Trust You. He also claims that these guys might be big in America, but Drake is global while they’re merely local.

Metro, shut your ho ass up and make some drums, n****

Drake goes after Metro Boomin, the producer and collaborator of the two Future albums. The two have had a minor beef for some time now, but this is the first real shot on a track. Metro is known for his beats, specifically his use of trap drums so this is Drake’s version of telling him to “shut up and dribble”. 

Kendrick Lamar

How the fuck you big steppin’ with a size seven men’s on?

This the bark with the bite, n****, what’s up?

Later, Drake says something similar again reinforcing this line.

I’m at the top of the mountain, so you tight now

Just to have this talk with yo’ ass, I had to hike down

Kendrick is 5’5. Drake uses that to diss him saying he’s a small guy using his alleged shoe size. “Big Steppin” also refers to Kendrick’s latest album Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers.

In Drake’s eyes, Kendrick is stepping up to him to diss him in both stature and popularity hence “I’m at top of the mountain…I had to hike down”. Drake sees himself at the top. He has to come down for this to battle Kendrick.

Drake wants all the smoke when he says “bark with the bite” referring both to “Like That” where Kendrick used a lot of dog-related references to diss him but also to For All The Dogs.

Extortion baby, whole career you been shook up

‘Cause Top told you drop and give me fifty like some push-ups, huh

Pull your contract ’cause we gotta see the split

The way you doin’ splits, bitch, your pants might rip

Drake drops a bombshell claiming that Kendrick has been getting legally extorted by Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith, who signed Kendrick in 2005 for his label Top Dawg Entertainment. He claims that the label has been taking a whopping 50% of his earnings in his deal. The whole track is built around this aspect as he refers to these splits and fifty throughout the diss track.

You better do that motherfuckin’ show inside the bitty

Maroon 5 need a verse, you better make it witty

Then we need a verse for the Swifties”

Top say drop, you better drop and give ’em fifty

Kendrick has collaborated with both Maroon 5 and Taylor Swift in the past. In the context of the song, Drake is hinting at Top Dawg controlling Kendrick’s career. Top Dawg is making Kendrick make these songs with these massive pop stars at the time, and Kendrick has no say in the matter.

“Drop and give ’em fifty” is also in the military sense of a Sergeant telling his cadet to drop and give him fifty pushups. Top Dawg is the Sergeant controlling Kendrick’s every move, making him do whatever he pleases with his career while taking half his earnings.

You ain’t in no Big Three, SZA got you wiped down

Travis got you wiped down, Savage got you wiped down

Like your label, boy, you in the scope right now

And you gon’ feel the aftermath of what I write down

Drake makes the claim Kendrick isn’t even a part of the big three. He says Travis, SZA, and 21 Savage are all over him in terms of commercial success.

Kendrick is signed to both Interscope Records and Aftermath Entertainment. Drake uses these to wordplay that he’s in the scope of his gun and he’s gonna feel the damage from this diss track when he’s done

Big difference between Mike then and Mike now

What the fuck is this, a twenty-V-one, n****?

What’s a prince to a king? He a son, n****

This is a reference to Kendrick Lamar’s verse on “Like That” where he had the line “Prince outlived Mike Jack”. What’s a prince to a king (MJ was the king of pop), he’s the son. Drake is sonning Kendrick here using Kendrick’s own line against him.

Twenty-V-one refers to everyone dissing Drake on Metro, and Future’s two albums. Kendrick, Future, Metro Boomin, A$AP Rocky, The Weeknd, Rick Ross, Nav all had a part in dissing Drake.

I be with some bodyguards like Whitney

The Bodyguard starred legendary singer, Whitney Houston, this is not only a reference to that but Kendrick’s wife. Her name is Whitney, and the insinuation here is that she cheated on Kendrick with his bodyguard.

Kendrick brought up his bodyguard when he dissed Drake on “Like That” when he said, “Got 2TEEZ with me, I’m snatchin’ chains and burnin’ tattoos, it’s up”. Drake also got personal name-dropping Pusha T’s fiancé in his 2018 diss track “Duppy Freestyle” before getting lit up by him in “The Story of Adidon“

The Weeknd

Yeah, I’m the 6ix god, I’m the frontrunner

Y’all n**** manager was Chubbs lil’ blunt runner

Claim the 6ix, and you boys ain’t even come from it

And when you boys got rich, you had to run from it

Cash blowin’ Abel bread, out here trickin’ (Out here trickin’)

Shit we do for bitches he doin’ for n***** (What the fuck?)

This is dissing The Weeknd. The Weeknd and Drake have ties all the way back to their Toronto days as they both hail from the city. The Weeknd helped heavily on Drake’s album Take Care featuring on multiple tracks, and helped the project both sonically, and as a writer. The Weeknd almost signed to Drake’s label OVO back then, but went a different route. It was a part of his diss on Drizzy on the “All To Myself” on We Still Don’t Trust You:

They could never diss my brothers, baby (Future)

When they got leaks in they operation

I thank God that I never signed my life away

And we never do the big talk (No, no, no, no, no)

They shooters makin’ TikToks

Future ft. The Weeknd – All To Myself

Drake takes a similar approach going at Weeknd’s team. He claims Abel’s manager used to make blunts for Drake’s bodyguard Chubbs before he got with The Weeknd and that he’s also extorting and blowing Abel’s money buying expensive shit for men like Drake does with women. He also claims that The Weeknd and his team don’t represent Toronto like Drake does because most of them aren’t even from there but still claim it despite running away to chase money.

Hugs and kisses, man, don’t tell me ’bout no switches

XO is Weeknd’s label but XO XO also refers to hugs and kisses. It’s an oxymoron for The Weeknd to be talking about guns so much despite that being his label’s name is what Drake is getting at.

Rick Ross

I might take your latest girl and cuff her like I’m Ricky

Can’t believe he jumpin’ in, this n**** turnin’ fifty

Every song that made it on the chart, he got from Drizzy

Spend that lil’ check you got and stay up out my business

Worry ’bout whatever goin’ on with you and (Uh)

There seemed to be some sort of beef between Rick Ross and Drake as the former recorded himself vibing to Kendrick’s verse on “Like That”. Who would’ve known it was this?

Drake claims the success of Rick Ross as he’s given him numerous chart hits as a feature. He’s telling Rick Ross to stay out of it and just go spend the money Drake got him. The “you and (Uh)” seems to be referring to Diddy who’s in the news for some heinous crimes.

Rick Ross did record a diss track back quickly but that is another article for another day.

MISC

And that fuckin’ song y’all got did not start the beef with us

This shit been brewin’ in a pot, now I’m heatin’ up

I don’t care what Cole think, that Dot shit was weak as fuck

Drake says that this Kendrick beef has been ongoing for a long time now, and “Like That” wasn’t responsible for starting the beef, only for re-igniting it. Drake also doesn’t care for Cole’s response to Kendrick. He thinks Kendrick dissing him on a verse like that is wack. You can read all about the comprehensive history of this beef in part one of this post: Part 1

N**** calling Top to see if Top wanna peace it up

“Top, wanna peace it up? Top, wanna peace it up?”

Nah, pussy, now you on your own when you speakin’ up

You done rolled deep to this, it’s not fuckin’ deep enough

Beggin’ Kai Cenat, boy, you not fuckin’ beatin’ us

Numbers-wise, I’m out of here, you not fuckin’ creepin’ up

Money-wise, I’m out of here, you not fuckin’ sneakin’ up

Cornball, your show money merch-money fee to us

I’ma let you n***** work it out, because I seen enough

This ain’t even everything I know, don’t wake a demon up

This ain’t even everything I know, don’t wake the demon up

Drop and give me fifty, all you fuck n***** teamin’ up

This is Drake bragging about his numbers. He claims he wants the smoke from everyone that is teaming up against him. “This ain’t even everything I know, don’t wake the demon up” hints at Drake having more in the chamber ready for anyone who goes at him. He makes the claim that some of rappers he’s been dissing have been begging popular streamer, Kai Cenat to get on his stream to promote their music.

Outro

What?

What? Teamin’ up with all of y’all, fallin’ like some dominoes

Bros turnin’ hoes, dog, like I ain’t got enough of those

I can’t wait to see how far you n***** get to reachin’ now

This the closest thing you n***** gettin’ to a feature now

Backpedal gang ’cause a few of y’all been reachin’ out

Y’all drew the line, what the fuck we gotta speak about?

Get your fuckin’ head tapped, you n***** get to peekin’ out

You had a song for four years, drop that shit and shut your mouth

Drake goes back to talking about them teaming up. The biggest reveal here is Kendrick has been baiting Drake the whole time. Drake knows Kendrick has had a diss track for four years now, and he’s been baiting Drake to put it out. Drake knowingly takes the bait. Kendrick can finally respond.

Will Kendrick respond? Find out on the next episode of Feature First Z. Seriously though, all signs point to a response. When he makes that response, I will break that down.

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