After shaking the industry with his feature on “Like That,” Kendrick Lamar is back with an explosive follow-up. The Compton emcee took sharp aim at Drake on his latest single, “euphoria,” today (April 30).
The song opened with Lamar calmly reflecting on witnessing someone’s “superpowers” being neutralized, setting the stage for a six-minute lyrical assault. “The famous actor we once knew is lookin’ paranoid, now it’s spiraling/ You movin’ just like a degenerate, heavy antic; it’s feelin’ distasteful,” he rapped.
“I pray they my real friends; if not, I’m YNW Melly/ I don’t like you poppin’ s**t, that s**t for real, I inherit the beef/ Yeah, f**k all that pushin’ P, let me see you push a T,” Lamar spat later in the track. “You better off spinnin’ again on him; you think about pushin’ me?/ He’s Terrance Torn, I’m Terrance Crawford, yeah, I’m whoppin’ feet.”
He continued, “This ain’t been ’bout critics, not about gimmicks, not about who the greatest/ It’s always been about love and hate; now let me say I’m the biggest hater.” Elsewhere in the record, the “i” hitmaker made nods to Gunna, Sexyy Red, Lil Yachty, and Tupac Shakur, among others. Check out the new release below.
“euphoria” is part of an ongoing exchange of disses involving other artists, including Rick Ross and Metro Boomin. J. Cole previously entered the fray with “7 Minute Drill,” later apologizing and withdrawing the track from streaming platforms.
Drake responded with “Push Ups” and “Taylor Made Freestyle,” the latter featuring AI-generated vocals resembling Snoop Dogg and Shakur, which drew legal threats from the late rapper’s estate.
“You personally are well acquainted both with publicity rights and the laws that protect them, and with the harm that unauthorized AI impersonations can cause to artists, including yourself,” lawyer Howard King wrote in a cease-and-desist letter to Drake.