Drama among rappers is nothing new: Tupac and Notorious B.I.G, Jay-Z and Nas — and more recently, Kanye West and Drake.
Ever since the friendship — and working relationship — between the Chicago-born producer and the “Take Care” crooner dissolved following the shelving of a joint project, it’s been nearly impossible for fans to keep up. Things took a sharp turn throughout 2018 as the duo proceeded to hurl insults back and forth in the form of diss tracks, one of which revealed that Drake had a son.
In October 2018, the former Degrassi star claimed that West went behind his back regarding his child. “I tell him I’m having trouble with my son’s mother. We had a conversation. I wake up and all these dates are out,” he said on HBO’s The Shop at the time. “Then the next two days, whatever, I wake up now to this text from him, passive like, ‘Yo, I love you brother.’ … I was just there with you as friends helping you, and now you’re dissing me. So I’m like, ‘Man, this is dark.'”
Two months later, the Yeezy designer called out Drake in a Twitter spree, alleging that he’d been “trying to meet with” the Canadian artist for six months.
“You sneak dissing on [Travis Scott] records and texting Kris [Jenner] talking about how’s the family,” West continued. “I told you I ain’t tell Pusha about your son. It’s all love bro but don’t play with me. You stay too close to be playing all these industry games bro. Sending purple emojis when I’m dealing with mental s–t. I need my apologies now.”
In another set of since-deleted tweets that same month, the Grammy winner slammed Drake for following Kim Kardashian on Instagram. (West and the reality star split in February 2021 after six years of marriage.)
“I never knew till this morning that Drake followed my wife on Instagram back in September,” the “Gold Digger” rapper wrote in December 2018. “I had to bring this up because it’s the most f–ked up thing of all and I just saw it this morning. Imagine having a problem with somebody and they follow your wife on Instagram.”
The following year, the “God’s Plan” artist claimed that he had “no desire to mend anything with” West or with Pusha T, who performed on the track that told the world about his son.
“There’s something there that bothers him deeply and yeah, I can’t fix it for him. It just is what it is,” Drake said on the “Rap Radar” podcast in December 2019. “I could never ever ever ever turn my back on the things that I’ve said about him in a positive light, and I still feel all those same things. … Things have changed. I’m not just some kid that’s a fan anymore. Now we have personal situations, and like I said, a lot of his issues with me, I can’t fix them for him.”
After seemingly going after West on his album Certified Lover Boy in September 2021, the duo appeared to put their history behind them. They each shared a series of photos in November 2021 from a friendly hangout, posing side by side with pal Dave Chappelle.
Scroll down for an in-depth look at the musicians’ feud: