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Drake came on the scene as hip-hop’s sweater-clad emotional softboy, but he’s never shied away from rap beefs. Over the years, he’s survived skirmishes with Meek Mill, Pusha T, and many, many more. Last month, Drizzy’s longtime enemy Kendrick Lamar took shots at the 6 God with his venomous verse on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That,” and over the weekend, Drake finally responded in the form of “Push Ups (Drop & Give Me Fifty),” a leaked diss track that finds the Canadian superstar surrounded by foes yet completely unfazed.
Although the song—which is still not available on streaming platforms, and which some fans initially believed to be the work of AI—is primarily aimed at Kendrick, Drake begins by taking a swing at Future, who seemingly dissed him on “We Don’t Trust You,” the title track off the chart-topping album that gave us “Like That.” In the opening lines, Drake reminds Future that he was responsible for Future getting his first No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, thanks to “Way 2 Sexy.”
I could never be nobody number-one fan
Your first number one, I had to put it in your hand
A few lines later, Drake goes in on Kendrick. In “Like That,” Lamar has a line about how he’s “snatchin’ chains,” and Drake insists that’s not happening to him anytime soon. Then he clowns Kendrick—who stands something like 5’5” or 5’6”—for having small feet. (And of course, Kendrick’s last album was called Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers.)
You won’t ever take no chain off of us
How the fuck you big steppin’ with a size seven men’s on?
Drake then implies that, due to an unfavorable deal, Kendrick gives half of his publishing to TDE founder Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith.
Extortion baby, whole career you been shook up
’Cause Top told you drop and give me fifty like some push-ups, huh
Then Drake blasts Kendrick for doing feature spots on songs by pop artists like Maroon 5 and Taylor Swift. (Future has also worked with both artists, as Genius user @spillretro astutely points via a lyric annotation on the song page.)
You better do that motherfuckin’ show inside the bity
Maroon 5 need a verse, you better make it witty
Then we need a verse for the Swifties
Top say drop, you better drop and give ’em fifty
On “Like that,” Kendrick dismisses the idea that he, Drake, and J. Cole (who subsequently dissed Kendrick on “7 Minute Drill” but then publicly apologized and deleted the track) are part of hip-hop’s “big three.” Kendrick thinks he stands alone atop the mountain, but here, Drake lists off three other rappers he rates higher than Lamar. Then Drake takes another dig at Kendrick’s deal with Interscope and Dr. Dre’s Aftermath label.
You ain’t in no big three, SZA got you wiped down
Travis got you wiped down, Savage got you wiped down
Like your label, boy, you in the scope right now
And you gon’ feel the aftermath of what I write down
Next, Drake responds to the line in “Like That” where Kendrick likens himself to Prince and Drake to Michael Jackson. Drake reminds us that MJ was the “King of Pop,” and that by definition, a prince is a king’s son. (Also, Michael Jackson has a son named Prince.)
What the fuck is this, a 20-v-1, nigga?
What’s a prince to a king? He a son, nigga
And since Metro Boomin made the beat for “Like That,” he doesn’t get off scot free. (Their beef actually goes back a bit further.)
Metro, shut your ho-ass up and make some drums, nigga
Yeah, I’m the 6ix god, I’m the frontrunner
Then Drake turns to The Weeknd, or more specifically, his management team.
Y’all nigga manager was Chubbs lil’ blunt runner
Claim the 6ix, and you boys ain’t even come from it
And when you boys got rich, you had to run from it
Cash blowin’ Abel bread, out here trickin’ (Out here trickin')
Shit we do for bitches he doin’ for niggas (What the fuck?)
At the top of the second verse, Drake turns his attention to Rick Ross, perhaps because Rozay unfollowed him on social media following the release of “Like That.” Drake points out that Ross is nearing the half-century mark, and that all three of his Top 10 hits are Drake collabs. (Ross has already responded to “Push Ups” with “Champagne Moments.”)
I might take your latest girl and cuff her like I’m Ricky
Can’t believe he jumpin’ in, this nigga turnin’ fifty
Every song that made it on the chart, he got from Drizzy
Spend that lil’ check you got and stay up out my business
After a brief detour into dissing NBA star Ja Morant—that’s a whole other thing—Drake returns to his primary enemy, at least for this song.
This for all the top dogs, drop and give me fifty, drop, drop
And that fuckin’ song y’all got did not start the beef with us
This shit been brewin’ in a pot, now I’m heatin’ up
I don’t care what Cole think, that Dot shit was weak as fuck
Drake ends the second verse with the threat of harsher words and additional revelations.
This ain’t even everything I know, don’t wake the demon up
This ain’t even everything I know, don’t wake the demon up
As you await the next flare-up in this increasingly complex rap war, you can read all the lyrics to “Push Ups (Drop & Give Me Fifty)” on Genius now.
