Since Kendrick Lamar’s unexpected lines on the diss track “Like That” got released, calling out hip-hop stars Drake and J. Cole, people on social media platforms have been raving about whose side they are on. This is such a hot topic because until now most people listened to all three artists without picking a side. Now that the three diss tracks have been dropped on all three sides, my first round draft pick is J. Cole.

These artists have been tied to each other ever since Drake and J.Cole were starting to make names for themselves. For example, Drake released his second album “Take Care” which debuted at number one in the United States and Canada. Drake added Lamar on to the album and fought his own label to let Lamar go on tour with him, which put spotlight on Lamar’s talent. J. Cole released his album “Cole World” that same year, which debuted at number one within the first week. It’s safe to say that J. Cole recognized Lamar’s talent as well since he helped produce one of the songs on one of Lamar’s first hit albums ‘Section.80’. I was surprised to find out that Lamar dropped a diss track on J. Cole and Drake, considering they did a lot for him.

However, this so-called ‘beef’ has been going on for at least a decade now. In 2013, Lamar’s lines in the song “Control” with Big Sean threw shots at J. Cole and Drake, stating that he wants to essentially be better than them. Ever since then Drake and J. Cole had been going back and forth with Lamar, challenging each other. J. Cole and Drake’s most recent song “First Person Shooter” had many disses to Lamar. J. Cole’s Lines on the song stating “We the big three like we started a league, but right now, I feel like Muhammad Ali” talk about the big three and basically say that J. Cole is beating both Drake and Lamar in the hip-hop industry. Another line in the song explained that J. Cole was first place and Drake was second, leaving Lamar at third place. This was most likely why many lines in Lamar’s diss track “Like That” circle back to the big idea that J. Cole and Drake are allegedly not the greatest of all time.

It’s not just the song “Like That”– the whole album “WE DON’T TRUST YOU’’ by Future and Metro is basically a huge diss on Drake’s album “For All The Dogs”, since some of the song’s titles have similar themes but opposite meanings. For example, Drake’s track “Trust Issues” is similar to Metro Boomin’s and Future’s track “WE DON’T TRUST YOU”. It seems like J. Cole was only brought into this because of Lamar’s verses in the song “Like That”. Future, a hip-hop artist and Metro Boomin, an American record producer, both have their individual drama with Drake. Stars like The Weeknd, Travis Scott, Playboi Carti, and Rick Ross have verses in different songs included in the album. Many say this is to ‘pledge their allegiance’ to Metro since many of his albums and songs have done so well. What is taking the internet by storm is Lamar’s continuous strikes at J. Cole and Drake.

Fans describe Lamar’s diss track “Like That” as ‘hard hitting’ because of the continuous targeting in Lamar’s only part of the song. The line “Motherf— the big three… it’s just big me” clearly addresses the two hip hop artists J.Cole and Drake. Considering Lamar is a feature on the song, it doesn’t really get good until Lamar’s part since that is the only part really recited all over social media. I can also give a round of applause to Metro since the beat on the song as well as the sample from “Eazy-Duz-It” was actually really good. But ever since the song dropped, I feel like Lamar was really making the song about Cole and Drake instead of describing himself being the GOAT as well as all the accomplishments he has gained over the years. However, the verse is very catchy and gets straight to the point. Future’s verses in the songs were okay but I wouldn’t say they were his best; the lines seemed a bit repetitive and they sounded like mumbling. The beat was set up for a perfect slam dunk, but if you’re gonna make a diss track Future should have had better verses. Personally, the only part I would listen to is the beginning and Lamar’s part.

Soon after Metro and Future’s diss album dropped, including Lamar’s pulverizing verses, both Drake and J. Cole responded with their own disses. Drake responded with a track called “Push Ups”, directly addressing Lamar by saying that Lamar is not even in the “big three” and that hip artists SZA, Travis Scott, and 21 Savage have him “wiped down”. Drake also addresses Metro and Future as well with some vulgar verses. The song itself just sounds like one big argument with everything he has to say contained into one song. J. Cole also responded to Lamar with a diss called “7 Minute Drill”. Many don’t know whether to consider this a full diss track, and I agree with that statement since he’s not really throwing hard blows to Lamar. The song is actually not J. Cole’s best work, and moments after the song was released Cole announced an apology to Lamar. This is honestly is why I take Cole’s side. I believe music is only good when you feel the lyrics, and clearly Cole was uncomfortable since he made a public apology. He also should receive some respect for not entertaining the drama between all the artists. J. Coles’ song was later deleted. Keep in mind all of these artists are adults, and I think they should be setting better examples for the younger generations who listen to their music. However, artists like Metro and Future continued the disses by  responding with a second album called “WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU’.’    

Most recently, on April 30, 2024, Lamar released “Euphoria”, a six minute song throwing hard blows at Drake. I was a Drake fan but Lamar completely demolished him. Soon after, Drake responded with the song “Family Matters”, which dished out problems in Lamar’s home life. Hours later, Lamar doubled down and dropped “Meet the Grahams” and “Not Like Us”. I think Lamar was saving his big one because he definitely ran a marathon through Drake with these tracks. Both tracks address some incredibly serious, career-altering accusations against Drake. Some include scandals with Drake and Kim Kardashian, as well as Drake having a secret daughter and having inappropriate communication with minors. Drake dropped “The Heart Part 6” In response to all of Lamar’s accusations. Drake basically explained in the song that he and his team fed Lamar false information and that Lamar fell for the bait. He also explains that there is no proof against the accusations. Drake also leaked some serious personal information against Lamar as well. Not cool Drake, not cool. If Drake’s accusations turn out to be false information, this could be bad news for Lamar since Lamar’s statements are very serious. These responses were made within a week, the most recent tracks being back to back. Many say that all of this is just “talk” unless there are receipts. Personally, I used to like Drake and Lamar, but listening to their music feels wrong after some of these accusations. Despite the fact that I still think this is very immature, Lamar completely destroyed Drake in his disses. J. Cole made the best career move of his life because this is some serious stuff. It was recently reported that Drake’s house in Toronto reportedly had shots fired there. It’s safe to say that a “sista” is scared.

Metro Boomin has also gotten himself in some trouble as well. Boomin responded to Drake’s line “Metro shut your…. up and make some drums” in his song “Push Ups” with a beat called “BBL Drizzy.” Metro Boomin explained that whoever made the verse on the beat would get it for free. Additionally, posts on X, formerly called Twitter, of Boomin being inappropriate towards minors, have been posted all over social media. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

 I think the “WE DON’T TRUST YOU” album  is a reflection on each of the artists’ persona. The fact that Future and Boomin dedicated not only one album but two whole albums to a diss on Drake in my opinion is ridiculous. The whole idea behind the three artists’ feuds is because J. Cole and Drake made a statement calling themselves the “GOATS”. That’s when I started to think about two kindergartners arguing. However, some of the songs on the “WE DON’T TRUST YOU” album like ‘Type S—’ or ‘Cinderella’ both are really good songs, mostly because they are not clearly focusing on drama and the verses plus the beats make a dynamic mix.

All three artists’ diss tracks were somewhat good, although I think their past work tops them. Currently Lamar’s diss track “Like That” sits at 209 million streams, according to Spotify; Lamars’s diss track included a great beat and some great verses but that’s the only part that carried the song. The childish background behind the song doesn’t make it good. Like I said if you’re gonna diss someone, go the full ten miles, don’t just stop at Lamar’s part. Despite the fact that I do think that Lamar did end up going a full ten miles in his most recent diss tracks, I have only listened to “Like That” twice and I think it will stay that way. I give it a 2 out of 5 stars.