What Happened Between Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Rick Ross & Other Rappers? Exploring the Beef Amid Recent Disses

The hip-hop world has been making news recently because of the ongoing back-and-forth between the rappers Drake, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, Future, Metro Boomin, and Rick Ross, among others since October 2023. But, what made headlines is Kendrick Lamar joining Future and Metro Boomin in March for Like That, the trio's latest No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.

With Like That, Lamar took a dig at both Cole and Drake. So where did it all start? The ongoing disses trace back a few months before the release of Like That. 

J. Cole refers to him, Drake, and Kendrick Lamar as “big three” in First Person Shooter

In October 2023, Cole and Drake released First Person Shooter which is a part of Drake’s studio album For All the Dogs. In the song, which peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, Cole effectively refers to Drake and Kendrick Lamar as the "big three.” The lyrics of the song go as, "Love when they argue the hardest MC," he raps. "Is it K-Dot? Is it Aubrey? Or me?/We the big three like we started a league, but right now, I feel like Muhammad Ali."

Kendrick Lamar in collaboration with Metro Boomin and Future addressed it with Like That

In March this year, Lamar responded to Cole's "big three" remark with Like That, a song included on Metro Boomin and Future's joint album We Don't Trust You. Taking a dig at Cole’s remark, Lamar sings, “motherf*** the big three," adding "It's just big me.”

Responding to Cole’s song, the lyrics of Like That further read, “f*** sneak dissin', first-person shooter, I hope they came with three switches.” Adding to this, Lamar targetted Drake, seemingly drawing comparisons between himself and Prince and his opponent to Michael Jackson, simultaneously dissing Drake's "best work."

He also seems to refer to Drake's album For All the Dogs in the same stanza as Lamar raps, “What? I'm really like that/And your best work is a light pack/N****, Prince outlived Mike Jack'/N***, bum. For all your dogs gettin' buried/ That's a K with all these nines, he gon' see Pet Sematary.”