The Kendrick vs Drake Disses Ranked by the Diss Severity

The Kendrick Lamar and Drake beef has been an ongoing feud still going on today, due to both rappers continuously mentioning the feud throughout their recent songs. Today, I’m going to be ranking every diss track by diss severity and how much damage it did to each rapper, with one J.Cole song “7 Minute Drill” thrown into the mix as it was a diss aimed against Lamar when Cole was still part of the feud before apologising.

11. The Heart Part 6 (By Drake)

Overall, Drake’s “The Heart Part 6“ is a very weak diss track and overall the worst diss track to come out of the beef. This is due to Drake’s weak disses, such as “trauma from (Lamar’s) own confessions”, which is traced to Kendrick’s song “Mother I Sober”, which Drake refers to as “that one record where you got molested”, which comes from Lamar’s supposed molestation as a child. However, Drake gets these facts wrong, as the song is actually about generational trauma and Lamar confessing that he had not been molested and his mom not believing him. Drake’s denial of the pedophilia and sexual misconduct from Lamar was also incredibly weak, where he states that “Only fuckin’ with Whitneys, not Millie Bobby Browns, I’d never look twice at no teenager”, which is undermined by the fact that in 2010, he kissed an underage girl at a concert, where he comments on her body, saying “I can’t go to jail yet man! Why do you look like that?” He also denies the allegations of having a hidden daughter, where he claims to have “fed” Kendrick false info through double agents, along with accusing Lamar of abusing his wife, and Kendrick’s manager Dave Free had impregnated her instead, though only using social media as a basis for these allegations. 

10. Taylor Made Freestyle (By Drake)

Drake’s streak of bad disses continue, with “Taylor Made Freestyle” next. One of the earlier disses in the battle, “Taylor Made Freestyle” uses AI vocals of 2 of Kendrick’s idols, those being 2Pac and Snoop Dogg, where they urge Kendrick to diss Drake in the name of “West Coast hip hop”, while Snoop Dogg criticises Kendrick for not releasing a new diss track sooner, which supposedly makes him look like he is setting himself up for failure. Drake then claims that Kendrick hasn’t released a new diss so he can’t be overshadowed by Taylor Swift’s new album. However, the diss caused a lawsuit from 2Pac’’s estate, where they sent him a cease-and-desist letter, saying that Drake would be sued if “Taylor Made Freestyle” remained on social media and streaming services, causing the song to be removed. However, even then the diss is incredibly weak, as it disrespects the legacies of both 2Pac and Snoop Dogg through the use of AI, along with being a poor tactical move that caused more damage to Drake’s public image.

9. 7 Minute Drill (By J.Cole)

The one diss track of what used to be a 3 man battle between the 3 rappers, 7 Minute Drill was the one diss track released by J.Cole before bowing out of the beef. And there is a good reason why. 7 Minute Drill is an overall weak diss track that many felt was more restrained and mediocre to Lamar. For example Cole begins by comparing Lamar’s career to the Simpsons, where while it is the longest running American animated series, many have noticed a decline in quality over time. Cole then evaluates Lamar’s discography, stating that “Your first shit was classic (Good Kid, M.A.A.D City from 2012), your last shit was tragic (Mr Morale and the Big Steppers from 2022), was tragic, your second shit put fellas to sleep but they gassed it (To Pimp a Butterfly from 2015, Your third shit was massive and that was your prime (Damn from 2017), I was trailing right behind and I just now  hit mine. However, his evaluation of Lamar’s discography is very ironic, as many find Cole’s own discography has been criticised for its alleged sleepy nature. Despite Cole stating that this was “merely a warning shot to back fellas down”, meaning to continue the beef, his exit from the beef definitely didn’t age well, and thus lands low on this list.

8. First Person Shooter (By Drake feat. J.Cole)

First Person Shooter, as an overall song, is actually quite good, with great production and strong rapping performances from both Drake and J.Cole. While it isn’t really a diss, It was the main cause for relighting the beef between the rappers, due to J.Cole stating that he, Drake and Kendrick are the “big three” in rap music. However, in comparison to the other disses, it’s really a light jab in comparison to the competition. 

7. Like That (Future and Metro Boomin feat. Kendrick Lamar)

Like That was a song put out on Future and Metro Boomin’s 2024 record “We Don’t Trust You” with Kendrick Lamar being a feature on his record. Kendrick’s verse on the track was a direct diss towards the previous song by Drake and J Cole, featuring the album name “For All the Dogs” in his verse itself.  He also references the song track himself with the line “First Person Shooter, I hope they came with 3 switches,” as well as rejecting the concept of a “Big Three” with the line “Motherfuck the big 3, fella it’s just big me”. The line shows how Kendrick doesn’t think that he, Drake and J.Cole and how he is just the best rapper of his generation. However, while “Like That” isn’t the best of disses, it did its job at lighting the fire for more diss tracks in the future. 

6. Push Ups (Drake)

Push Ups was the first response from Drake, and overall, is a pretty good diss track all things considered, as Drake not only attempts to diss Kendrick, but also popular figures such as Metro Boomin, Future, and the Weeknd. Well written disses, such as telling Future, “Fake written all over you / Hate written all over you”, responding to Future’s diss in one of his songs, stating “You a fella number one fan, dog / Sneak dissin’, I don’t understand dog”. Drake keeps this idea that he helped Future to his success due to their constant collaborations, like on songs such as “Life is Good” and “Jumpman” and on their collab mixtape “What a Time to Be Alive”. The song “Way 2 Sexy” also became Future’s number one on the Billboard Hot 100, which isn’t even his own song as it’s Drake’s meaning its ironic that Future states this. He also questions Kendrick’s musical authenticity, saying “maroon 5 need a verse, you better make it witty / Then need a verse for the Swifties”, showing how while Lamar makes more true rap songs, he also does try to appeal to more mainstream audiences, likely for better success. However, this song ended up being a bit more in the background, as Kendrick’s 7 minute response ended up taking all of the spotlight due to its higher diss severity and overall better quality. 

5. Family Matters (Drake)

However, even with Push Ups’ great disses, Family Matters is an overall much stronger song in terms of diss severity, as he delivers a series of allegations against Lamar, which includes accusations of domestic abuse, infidelity, and a claim that one of Lamar’s children was fathered by his business partner, Dave Free, along with accusing other artists of their wrong doing. He also states that other artists such as YG, The Game and Chris Brown as people “who really bang a set”. While many of these allegations ended up coming untrue, at least in comparison, there was a basis to many of these, and Drake’s strong performance in this 7 minute song helped elevate it as his overall best diss.

4. 6:16 in LA (Kendrick Lamar)

6:16 in LA, while it doesn’t rank high, is definitely one of the most evil tracks and one that started a whole wave of allegations and disses against Drake. The production, while soothing and relaxing, ends up being a sample of one of Drake’s uncle’s songs. The diss also includes Lamar stating that many OVO members (Drake’s production label) are moles, as well as accusing some of the members of OVO of insulting Drake behind his back. Kendrick also references DJ Akademiks (a pro Drake media personality), calling him compromised, and also pokes Drake for his memes and online activity, and says that if Drake continues to run away, the track will resurface and come after him. 

3. Not Like Us (Kendrick Lamar)

The most iconic track, while Not Like Us may be overplayed and might not seem as powerful as before, is still a defining track of the current era of rap, as the production stands out, and the overall disses are incredibly evil. He starts by accusing Drake and the members of OVO of pedophilia, and also talks about Drake’s relationships along with challenging Drake’s cultural identity, calling him a rich white boy who poses as a rapper, along with disrespecting rappers like 2Pac and exploiting Black artists for more street cred and financial gain, citing collabs with artists such as Future and 21 Savage. The chorus “they not like us” also is interpreted as Drake not being of Lamar’s caliber. 

2. Euphoria (Kendrick Lamar)

Euphoria, probably my favourite track out of the lot, is personally to me, a better overall diss track than Not Like Us, due to the disses being more well thought out and Lamar’s higher and more hateful energy. The beat switches are some of the best I’ve heard, as they go from calm, to rapid, to more hateful near the end, as Lamar calls Drake “paranoid”, “pathetic” and “spiraling”, and accuses him of being a scam artist, along with mocking Drake’s accent, and mocks Drake for his alleged insecurities regard his race, stating that he “even hates when you say the word fella, but that’s just me, I guess”. 

1. Meet The Grahams (Kendrick Lamar)

While not the most technically impressive, Meet the Grahams is overall the best diss, as even the cover was censored due to the items on the cover due to being stolen by Drake himself. Not only that, but the disses are absolutely brutal, as each verse is addressed to a person close to Drake, such as his son Adonis, his parents Dennis and Sandra “Sandi” Graham, and then his alleged daughter, until calling him Drake a sexual predator later in the song, comparing his actions to Harvey Weinstein. He then calls out Drake’s confusion and mistake of battling Lamar, telling him ‘you fucked up the moment you called out my family’s name’.