Drake Responds To Kendrick Lamar—But Not In The Way Fans Had Hoped

The rap community has been enthralled by “Euphoria,” Kendrick Lamar’s six-minute diss track aimed at Drake, since it dropped on Tuesday morning (April 30).

The song marked the latest development in the ongoing beef between the “big three”—Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole and Drake—which kicked off in March following the arrival of Future & Metro Boomin’s chart-topping single, “Like That” featuring K. Dot.

And while fans held their breath for Drake’s response, the OVO Sound co-founder was busy posting to his Instagram Stories. Several hours after the song dropped, Drake shared a clip from the film 10 Things I Hate About You that finds actress Julia Stiles reading a poem to several students in her English class.

The clip is a direct reference to Lamar’s lyrics from “Euphoria” in which he spits, “I hate the way that you walk, the way that you talk/I hate the way that you dress/I hate the way you sneak diss, if I catch flight, it’s gon’ be direct/We hate the b###### you f###, ’cause they confuse themselves with real women.”

He added a broken heart and wink emoji to the post.

This might be the most Drake thing Drake ever did Drake pic.twitter.com/4Adn2QR2K6

— Naima Cochrane (@naima) May 1, 2024

“Euphoria” begins slowly but builds into an unhinged, “foaming at the mouth” type of diss and Lamar seemingly growing angrier by the syllable.

“You movin’ just like a degenerate, heavy antic, it’s feelin’ distasteful,” he raps. “Why calculate you, not as calculated, I can even predict your angles/Fabricate stories on the family front, ’cause you heard Mr. Morale/A pathetic master manipulator, I can smell the tales on you now/You not a rap artist, you a scam artist with the hopes of being accepted/Tommy Hilfiger stood out, but nеver had been your collection.

“How I make music that еlectrify ’em, you make music that pacify ’em/I can double down on that line, but spare you this time, that’s random acts of kindness/Know you a master manipulator, and a b####, you a liar too/But don’t tell no lie ’bout me, and I won’t tell truths ’bout you.”

The track follows two of Drake’s songs, “Push Ups (Drop & Give Me 50)” and “Taylor Made Freestyle,” both of which include jabs at Lamar. Needless to say, fans are still holding on to hope that Drake will return fire once again, keeping the public discourse going. Until then, check out his Instagram Stories post above.