When someone is at the top of anything, or considered to be at the top, they will have many people gunning for their spot. In basketball, several players have worked to try and surpass Michael Jordan’s legacy. That can be achieved in one of two ways: beating him or having a more impressive resume. Regardless of what method players choose or can utilize, considering those who entered the league after he retired, there is closure in the fact that people can say “I have a better resume than MJ” or “I eliminated MJ from the playoffs.” Still, no one could do it when it mattered, as he is undefeated in six NBA Finals appearances.
In Hip-Hop, it is different. There is no metric besides sales and awards where someone can be considered justifiably better than someone else, and even those metrics are arbitrary. There is no way to actually “beat” someone who is considered the best rapper, and everything simply comes down to opinions and preferences.
This past Friday, Kendrick Lamar delivered a fiery verse aimed at Drake and J. Cole on “Like That” from Future and Metro Boomin’s latest album, We Don’t Trust You. In the verse, he denounced the idea that there was a “Big 3” made up of himself, Drake, and Cole, seemingly in response to their lyrics on the October 2023 collaboration “First Person Shooter.” The verse has led many to demand the Toronto rapper respond to Lamar and finally engage in the battle that has been danced around for over a decade.
People are also questioning whether Drake is even fit to go up against the DAMN. rapper and whether either artist is “battle-tested.” For the 6 God, that shouldn’t be a question given his infamous 2015 war with Meek Mill and 2018 fisticuffs with Kanye West and Pusha T. While he has not gone up against someone who would be considered his equal, he has taken up his sword when he deemed it necessary. As people reflect on Drake’s previous opponents and what could come of this latest diss thrown his way, VIBE is looking back at the five best Drake disses of all time.
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Pusha T – “Infrared”
Image Credit: Francois Durand/Getty Images
“The game’s f**ked up/ Ni**as’ beats is bangin’, ni**a, ya hooks did it/ The lyric pennin’ equal the Trumps winnin’/ The bigger question is how the Russians did it/ It was written like Nas, but it came from Quentin.”
Pusha T and Drake had sent shots at one another for years, but it hit its peak in 2018 when the Clipse member released Daytona. On the final track “Infrared,” he brought up the Toronto superstar being exposed for using Quentin Miller as a ghostwriter, expressed his respect for J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar, and took shots at Lil Wayne and Birdman. It was less vicious than his infamous “Exodus 23:1” record, but still a sharp jab.
People called out Drake for years after Meek Mill revealed he worked with Quentin Miller on songs from If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late. However, Push had the most clever way of saying it; his personal issues with Cash Money made the jab even more painful, evident in the fact that the 6 God responded the same day the album dropped with “Duppy Freestyle.”
Of course, fans quickly learned that the Virginia rapper was just baiting his opponent in so he could drop an even bigger bomb on him and the world.
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Pusha T – “The Story Of Adidon”
Image Credit: Francois Durand/Getty Images
“A baby’s involved, it’s deeper than rap/ We talkin’ character, let me keep with the facts/ You are hiding a child, let that boy come home/ Deadbeat mothaf**ker playin’ border patrol/ Adonis is your son/ And he deserves more than an Adidas press run; that’s real/ Love that baby, respect that girl/ Forget she’s a pornstar, let her be your world”
…and drop a bomb he did. Pusha T used “Story Of Adidon,” his response to Drake‘s “Duppy Freestyle,” as a lyrical press release. The former G.O.O.D Music President revealed that the biggest artist in the world had a son that no one knew about with stripper and pornstar Sophie Brussaux. He also intimated that the five-time Grammy winner was a deadbeat father and wasn’t caring for his child.
This was just the climax of the record, but other bars were targeting his divorced parents, his producer Noah “40” Shebib’s battle with multiple sclerosis, his insecurities being mixed race, and he used a photo of Drake wearing blackface as the cover art. It was the most scathing diss ever sent the Toronto rapper’s way, forcing him to drop an iPhone Notes app explanation of why he was wearing blackface before openly bowing out of the battle. The effects of this record last to this day, with the two still trading subliminals at one another, but it is undeniably the first and only time Drake has admittedly taken a loss in the competitive arena of rap.
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Kendrick Lamar – 2013 BET Hip Hop Awards Cypher
Image Credit: Leon Neal/Getty Images
“Yeah, and nothing been the same since they dropped ‘Control’/ And tucked a sensitive rapper back in his pajama clothes/ Haha, joke’s on you/ High-five, {*smack!*}, I’m bulletproof/ Your shots’ll never penetrate/ Pin a tail on the donkey, boy, you been a fake/ I got my thumb on hip-hop/ And my foot in the back of your a**”
Kendrick Lamar shook up the world with his verse on Big Sean’s “Control” in the summer of 2013 when he named several rappers in the game that he respected but wanted to “murder.” Drake responded in multiple interviews, calling the verse a “moment” with no longevity. He also fired back on his record “The Language,” rapping “I don’t know why they been lyin’ but your sh*t is not that inspirin’.”
K. Dot answered him in the TDE Cypher at the 2013 BET Hip-Hop Awards, referring to his 2013 album Nothing Was The Same and how his responses to the “Control” verse came off sensitive. It was a clever flip and an assertion that his ascendence in the rap game had Drake feeling sensitive. While he didn’t spend too long on his opponent in this verse, it was a major moment due to the fact he went at him on national television. They’ve been embroiled in a cold war since, and time will tell if things get as direct as these bars again.
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Common – “Stay Schemin’ (Remix)”
Image Credit: Larry French/Getty Images for Think Common
“Cause every song you make, Joe, is really h*e music/ I heard you said you wasn’t a bi**h because you sing/ You a bi**h because you cling like a bi**h that’s 18/ Can’t say my name but rap about a ni**a’s wife/ You so black and white, trying to live a ni**a’s life/ I’m taking too long with this amateur guy/ You ain’t wet nobody, ni**a, you Canada dry”
Common fired the first shot at Drake on his 2011 record “Sweet,” dissing him for being a rapper who sings. Drizzy fired back on Rick Ross’ “Stay Schemin,” daring the Chicago rapper to say whatever he needed to say to his face. It seemed like there was also some tension since they both had been involved with tennis superstar Serena Williams.
Common went on to deliver one of the funniest diss bars in recent Hip-Hop history on his remix to “Stay Schemin’” by calling the Toronto superstar “Canady Dry.” He also dismissed him for making “h** music,” acting like a little girl, and being mixed race. Not much else came from this back-and-forth, but Hip-Hop lovers often reflect on the humor of calling the man “Canada Dry.” Where many people tried and failed, Common got off one bar with staying power.
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Joe Budden – “Wake”
Image Credit: Paras Griffin/Getty Images for Revolt
“You leverage your celeb, taking waves over/ That’s territorial takeover/ Maybe he thinks nobody notices/ Gucci wasn’t home two seconds before you rode his d**k/ Bodied Versace flows, copy, that he stole/ Ay dios mio, sorry Migos, adios amigo/ Was that your plot all along?/ Why you ain’t do that vid with Fetty but you hopped on the song?/ No really, we want a Party album/ But you keep stealing all of Party’s album/ To go and put it on your party album”
Joe Budden found himself in Drake‘s crosshairs after he gave a harsh review of his 2016 album Views. After a snippet of his “No Shopping” verse where he repeats “Pump it up” came out, the now-retired rapper took a preemptive approach by firing off multiple diss tracks. The most impactful one ended up being “Wake.”
The New Jersey artist addressed Drake’s allegations of being a culture vulture, claiming that he clung to Gucci Mane upon being released from jail because he was a hot topic, saying he stole Migos’ flow, calling him out for not doing a music video with Fetty Wap but capitalizing on his hype, and holding PARTYNEXTDOOR hostage. While Joe was far from the popularity he currently holds, his respect as an MC garnered the support of a subsection of the Hip-Hop community.
Drake ultimately did not see him as worthy of more than a few shots on songs over the next few years, but these bars from Budden did lead to people viewing the way he hopped on trends from a more negative perspective.