Drake is undeniably one of the most commercially successful rappers of all time. All of his albums, plus three of his mixtapes, went #1 on the Hot Billboard 100. However, as much love as Drake gets, he also has faced a lot of hate throughout his career. Many people have questioned Drake's authenticity over the years, accusing him of ghostwriting and potentially embellishing an impoverished lifestyle that he may have never lived. Hip-Hop fans have also criticized Drake for being too emotional in his music.
Hip-Hop is synonymous with rappers dissing each other. When battle rap emerged in the 1980s, trash-talking among rappers was all in good fun. It was customary for rappers to claim that they were the best and attempt to outshine their peers with their lyrical finesse. However, over the years, the beef between rappers has become personal, and unfortunately, even fatal. Let's unpack ten of Drake's most-publicized beef.
10 Common Called Out Drake For Singing On His Tracks
In 2011, Common released a song called Sweet. In the track, Common rapped, "Singing all around me man, la la la. You ain't mutha----ing Frank Sinatra." Eventually, he did confirm that the track threw shots at Drake. Drake then fired back at Common on the song Stay Schemin, and then Common made a remix to this record and called Drake "Canada dry," taking shots at his Canadian origins and calling out his tough-guy act. According to Vibe, the two squashed their beef.
9 Tyga Called Drake Fake
At a point in time, Drake and Tyga were both signed to Young Money Entertainment. People reported that Tyga did not like Drake, he found him fake, and that the label forced their friendship. The two then began dissing each other on tracks, but Drake escalated the feud even more by posting a photo of him and Tyga's then-rumored girlfriend, Kylie Jenner, together. In track's track 6 PM in New York, he rapped that it was childish for Tyga to mention his name on the world stage. Then he followed up with, "You need to act your age and not your girl's age." When Tyga began dating Jenner, she was a minor.
8 Drake Subliminally Called Ludacris' Bars Corny
In 2010, Drake said that he perfected the "punchline" style of rapping, a rap style synonymous with What's Your Fantasy rapper Ludacris. He used a line from Ludacris' track My Chick Bad as an example of a corny punchline. The specific line was "Comin down the street like a parade, Macy's."
Ludacris was not happy about this and retaliated in the diss track Bada Boom saying that Drake is "softer than the Pillsbury doughboy," that there haven't been any new flows since Big Daddy Kane, and that he should watch his mouth when referring to a legend. The feud between the two ended, and Drake let Ludacris know that he had a lot of love for him at the 2017 Billboard Music Awards.
7 Diddy Allegedly Lays Hands On Drake
Usually, Drake's feuds play out on diss tracks. However, in 2014 a rumor spread that producer and mogul Diddy smacked Drake. It's unclear of all of the details that may have led up to this alleged physical altercation. However, it may have been over some business dealings.
The producer Boi-1da sent Drake and Diddy the same beat, which Diddy didn't use for months. Drake used the beat on one of his songs from his album 6God, and Diddy didn't like that the song was doing well. The altercation could have also stemmed from Drake trying to flirt with Diddy's then-girlfriend Cassie in front of him. Diddy has denied laying hands on Drake and said that Drake was his friend.
6 Kendrick Lamar Disses Track On Big Sean's Track 'Control'
Drake and Kendrick Lamar were fans of each other for a while. Drake was a featured artist on Kendrick Lamar's Poetic Justice. However, in 2013, Lamar came out with Control, where he dissed Drake and other rappers, including Jay-Z, A$AP Rocky, and even Big Sean himself. Lamar has also called out Drake for Ghostwriting. Until around 2017, the two have shared passive-aggressive messages about each other in their music, but it's unclear what the dynamics are between Kendrick and Drake are like nowadays.
5 Jay-Z And Drake Have Always Been Competitive
Jay-Z and Drake don't necessarily dislike each other, but they have always thrown passive-aggressive shots at each other. Jay-Z appeared on Drake's Light It Up and Pound Cake / Paris Morton Music 2, and Drake sees Jay-Z as a mentor that he will always respect. However, the two always throw subliminal shots over who is the better or more commercially successful rapper. Also, Jay-Z has come for Drake once again, rapping about a life he never lived with the lyrics "Sorry Mr. Drizzy for so much art talk. Silly me rapping 'bout sh** that I really bought. While these rappers rap bout guns, they ain't shot and a bunch of silly sh** that they ain't got. " from his song We Made It.
4 Pusha T Accuses Drake Of Ghostwriting And Revealed To The World That He Has A Son
In 2018, Pusha T, a former member of the rap duo, Clipse, accused Drake of using a ghostwriter named Quentin Miller on his songs. Pusha also released a track called The Story Of Adidon, which featured a photo of Drake in blackface. He also revealed that Drake had a hidden child with former adult film star Sophie Brussaux. Drake seems to have no interest in squashing the beef with Pusha T, and in his track Scorpion, he rapped about not hiding his kid from the world but hiding the world from his kid.
3 Kanye West Produced Pusha T's Track 'Infrared'
Drake will most likely never forgive Pusha T for airing out his business to the entire world. Drake will probably also never forgive Kanye West for producing Pusha T's track Infrared. Drake felt as if West purposefully recruited a guy who mutually disliked him. Drake believed that all of the love that West expressed in interviews for him wasn't authentic. Plus, West also accused Drake of flirting with his soon-to-be ex-wife Kim Kardashian.
2 Meek Mill Also Accused Drake Of Using Ghost Rappers
In 2015, Meek Mill also called Drake out for allegedly using ghostwriters. Meek Mill even claimed that Drake didn't promote his album Dreams Worth More Than Money because he found out that he was using a ghostwriter. He escalated things even more by saying that if he knew Drake didn't write his verses, he would have taken him off his album.
Drake dissed Meek Mill in a few songs, and things were even more awkward for the two because Meek was dating Drake's close friend and former label mate Nicki Minaj, who Minaj considered a brother. Meek Mill and Drake made up and collaborated on the song Going Bad together.
1 Chris Brown And Drake Both Deeply Loved Rihanna
Chris Brown and Drake had feelings for Rihanna and even got into a bloody nightclub brawl over her in 2012. However, Drake decided to bury the hatchet and collaborate on the song No Guidance with Brown. Drake realized that Rihanna was no longer in both of their lives, and since he always respected Brown's talent, he wanted to make a song and felt as if Rihanna wouldn't be mad at it.
