Kendrick Lamar Attacks Drake's Manhood and Authenticity as a Rap Star on the Diss Song 'Euphoria'

Kendrick Lamar/Shutterstock

Kendrick Lamar released the six-minute diss track "Euphoria" in response to the mounting tension between him and the highly popular rapper Drake. The Pulitzer Prize-award-winning rapper, who once collaborated with Drake, had a long list of insinuations and outright slights about the Canadian-born rapper.  

"Euphoria" comes after several lyrical taunts that Drake made about Kendrick, including his recent song, "Push Ups: Drop and Give Me 50," which spoke against Kendrick and his former label, Top Dawg Entertainment, and others. "Push Ups" continuously referenced Kendrick as a "pipsqueak" and made light of the California rapper's contractual agreement with the head of the Top Dawg Entertainment label, among other things.

Kendrick, also known as K-Dot, uses "Euphoria" to call Drake a "pathetic master manipulator" and a "habitual liar" who is "not a rap artist" but "a scam artist." He contends that he makes music "to electrify 'em," while Drake makes music "to pacify 'em." Lamar opened the song, stating, "Them super powers gettin' neutralized, I can only watch in silence." "The famous actor we once knew is lookin' paranoid and now spiralin." 

Lamar compares Drake to a degenerate, stating, "You're movin' just like a degenerate; every antic is feelin' distasteful." Despite his superstar status, Kendrick implies that Drake still has hopes of being "accepted." The Compton native warns the "Hotline Bling" singer not to tell "lies" about him so he doesn't have to speak "truths" about Drake. Lamar said he didn't want to make the late-great rapper Tupac Shakur turn in his grave as a result of the lyrical battle, "I'd rather do that than let a Canadian nigga make Pac turn in his grave." 

K-Dot, who was raised in the infamous crime-ridden and gang-infested Compton, California, insults Drake's authenticity as a rapper and his manhood. He stated, "I like Drake with the melodies, but I don't like Drake when he acts tough." He continued, "I'm knowin' they call you The Boy, but where is a man? 'Cause I ain't seen him yet."

K-Dot tells the Canadian rapper that he dislikes many aspects of his rap persona, "I hate the way that you walk, the way that you talk, I hate the way that you dress." The Compton poet even hints that perhaps Drake, who is biracial, doesn't feel like he's Black enough; he rapped, "How many more Black features 'til you finally feel that you're Black enough?"—Also warning him not to use the urban-slang "nigga" again in his music.

The former Top Dawg entertainment star reminds his new adversary that despite his popularity, he has no "classic" albums. In 2018, Kendrick won the Pulitzer Prize for his album Damn. His albums, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers and (good kid, m.A.A.d city), are also considered timeless classics.

"Euphoria" comes after J. Cole released the diss song "7 Minute Drill," about Lamar. J. Cole quickly decided to pull the track back after publicly apologizing to the Compton-born rapper. The two rappers reportedly made amends.

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