You may think that the beef started very recently β like last week β but in fact this beef has been brewing for some time now... It actually all began in the dark ages of 2006.
Come join me on this journey as we explore who, what, why, where, and how 2018's biggest rap beef materialized.
We'll start with the players:
First up we have Drake.
Next, we have Pusha-T.
You may or may not know, but Lil Wayne is involved in this beef too.
Minor characters include Dennis Graham (Drake's dad), Sandi Graham (Drake's mom), and Virginia Williams (Pusha-T's fiancΓ©).
Surprisingly (or maybe not) the initial beef was between Lil Wayne and Pusha-T's former group the Clipse.
You see, Lil Wayne was on the cover of Vibe magazine in 2006.
Wayne responded in an interview with Complex.
Complex brought up the Clipse's jab when its reporter sat down with Wayne:
βYou talking to the best. Talk to me like youβre talking to the best. I donβt see no fuckinβ Clipse. Come on man,β Wayne said. βWeezy, man. They had to do a song with us to get hot, B. 'What Happened to That Boy?' Cβmon, B.β
Wayne even called out Pharrell, saying, βWho the fuck is Pharrell? Do you really respect him? That nigga wore BAPEs and yβall thought he was weird. I wore it and yβall thought it was hot.β
Nothing happened for a while after Wayne responded.
Reports say that as early as 2010 Drake was a fan of the Clipse.
According to Vulture:
While Weezy was serving his eight-month prison sentence for weapon possession, his Young Money signee Drake appeared on MTVβs When I Was 17 to proclaim his teenage love for Clipse. He revealed that he bought a $200 microphone supposedly signed by Pusha-T on eBay, a purchase of which he says, βAt the time, it meant the world to me.β
But one year later in 2011, things started to heat up again.
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Drake released a single called "Dreams Money Can Buy." There were some unnamed shots taken in the song and in an interview with Complex, Drake justified everything:
βI just felt like at that time, my favorite rappers werenβt moving me,β Drake said explaining the lines. βI was like, do I really rap better than this guy that I look up to? What happened, did something change? I wonβt even say names, just based off the fact that, it wasnβt meant to, it could be anybody.β
Shortly after Drake released the above song, Pusha-T released a "response" track called "Don't Fuck With Me" over the same beat that Drake used in "Dreams Money Can Buy."
The Washington Post reports that:
Pusha freestyled in 2011 over the beat of βDreams Money Can Buy,β a single intended to be on Drakeβs sophomore album, βTake Care.β Though Pusha didnβt name a specific target, many have theorized that certain lyrics refer to Drakeβs ego: βRappers on their sophomores, actinβ like they boss lords / Fame such a funny thing for sure.β
Still with me? OK. So after "Don't Fuck With Me" was released, Pusha did an interview with HipHopDX, where he said this:
DX: And a few individuals were referenced, one of which is believed to be Drake. Would I be correct in saying that?
Pusha-T: No, youβre not.
DX: Okay β
Pusha-T: Wait, what do you mean? You mean people are referencing them?
DX: No, no, no. Iβm saying you referenced people on the verses.
Pusha-T: Naw, I never referenced Drake. I never referenced anybody in particular on that track. Never. Thatβs not what happened. People have turned it into the βDrake Diss.β People have taken apart the verses and started to put the lines with rappers they think are targets or whatever, and that wasnβt the case. Like, thatβs not what this is at all. So I just sit back and I watch it. But it ainβt nothing to me, man.
On May 23, 2012, Pusha released another song, called "Exodus 23:1." This track spilled a whole lot of Lil Wayne's tea. Basically it exposed his "father figure" Birdman aka Baby and painted him as taking advantage of Lil Wayne.
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The particularly damning lyrics brought to light a contract situation. In summary, Pusha accused Drake of being signed to Young Money, the label owned by Lil Wayne, who's in turn signed to Birdman's Cash Money Records, and at the end of the day Birdman is the one making the most money.
Pusha's point was ultimately proved and played out in the media because Lil Wayne filed a lawsuit against Birdman for not keeping promises and other alleged bad business, which you can read all about in the included link.
After "Exodus," Wayne tweeted:
Fuk pusha t and anybody that love em
Now hold on, we're almost up to the present...
I'll spare you the granular details but since 2012, a few diss tracks were released between Drake and Pusha-T.
In 2013 Drake's "Tuscan Leather" song took shots at Pusha in defense of his mentor Lil Wayne.
And Pusha released a song in 2016 called "H.G.T.V," which according to reports took shots at Drake's alleged ghostwriting drama (see: Meek Mill beef).
Fast forward to last Friday. Pusha-T's Kanye West-produced album Daytona drops. The seven-track disc contains a song called "Infared."
Infrared is the last track on the album and Pusha aims his sights directly at Drake.
Specifically THIS:
The lyric pennin' equal the Trumps winninβ
The bigger question is how the Russians did it
It was written like Nas, but it came from Quentin
The sleuths over at Genius break it down like this:
The opening lines and much of this song fires direct shots at Drake. Push compares Drakeβs success as an artist to Donald Trump becoming Presidentβthey both had outside help. Trump through the Russians, Drake through ghostwriters.
"It Was Written" is the title of Nasβs 1996 sophomore album. In 2016, a few reference tracks that a ghostwriter, Quentin Miller, recorded for Drake on songs like β10 Bandsβ and his verse on Meek Millβs βR.I.C.O.β were leaked by Funk Flex during an ongoing beef between Drake and Meek.
Within 24 hours Drake fired back with a track called "Duppy Freestyle."
He then billed GOOD Music for the free promotion.
Nicki Minaj even had something to say too, defending her friend/labelmate Drake:
Niggaz gon run that Quentin shit in the fkn ground like Drake donβt write 4 himself & OTHERS! Ya enemies will remix, reinvent & TRY 2make u RELIVE some old shit for YEARS 2 come when they have NOTHING ON U! Knock it off. Challenging the chosen ones only awakens the sleeping giant
A few days later Pusha released a scathing diss track that made a lot of below-the-belt accusations against Drake, including that the Toronto rapper has a secret child.
To make matters worse, the track artwork for "The Story of Adidon" featured a photo of Drake in blackface. Pusha also posted this tweet:
Please stop referring to this picture as βartworkβ...Iβm not an internet baby, I donβt edit images...this is a REAL picture...these are his truths, see for yourself https://t.co/gd6vRS3HM8 https://t.co/2el58HEZ8F
Drake has yet to respond on wax to Pusha-T, but he did release a statement via Instagram addressing the album artwork:
Pusha has been doing promo for his album and visiting radio stations and of course he addressed the beef with LA's Big Boy on Real 92.3.
Pusha T told @BigBoy he wasnβt baiting Drake. He speaks on his ongoing beef with Cash Money.
Clearly, fans on both sides are enthralled by the "circus" and have a lot to say:
This Drake/Pusha T beef reminds me of middle school when you're roasting each other and you're like "look at your shirt" and the other person is like "YOUR DAD IS IN JAIL FOR ARSON AND IS GONNA DIE THERE"
πππRT @YungLost_Rebel: Juelz want a drake verse
This Drake and Pusha T beef really the greatest Dark skin vs. Light skin war since Mufasa and Scar.
I just listened to Pusha Tβs verse about Drake and Iβm not sure if that was a rap beef or Gossip
Kanye watching the Pusha T & Drake beef like
Here's the TL;DR:
