Kendrick Lamar has never been shy about declaring his supremacy in the rap game. His diss-packed verse on Big Sean’s 2013 track “Control” is the stuff of legend, and more than a decade later, Lamar is still not ready to entertain the idea there’s anyone in his league. At least that’s the sense you get listening to his verse on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That,” which arrived today on the pair’s album WE DON’T TRUST YOU.
Future’s opening verse on the song is solid—lots of villainous sex and drug talk, delivered with his typical icy calm—but Kendrick’s portion of the song is what has everyone talking this morning. That’s because K-Dot seemingly takes aim at Drake and J. Cole, who are currently on tour together. Right from the start of his verse, it’s clear Kung Fu Kenny is about to put the smack down.
These niggas talkin’ out of they necks
Don’t pull no coffin out of your mouth,
I’m way too paranoid for a threat
A few lines later, Lamar makes reference to Drake and Cole “clickin’ up,” or forming a clique, and he does so while alluding to Bay Area rappers B-Legit and E-40, members of the group The Click. (Shoutout to Genius users @SmashBeezy and @CedarPoint for unpacking these lines in their annotation.) Then he name-checks Drake’s 2023 chart-topper “First Person Shooter,” featuring J. Cole.
Niggas clickin’ up, but cannot be legit, no 40 Water, tell ’em
Ah, yeah, huh, yeah, get up with me
Fuck sneak dissin’, first person shooter, I hope they came with three switches
On “First Person Shooter,” Cole refers to Drake, Kendrick, and himself as “the big three.” It wasn’t meant as an insult, and up to this point, there was really no indication that Kendrick had any issues with Cole. But it turns out K-Dot would rather not be lumped into this trio.
To close out his verse, Kendrick belittles Cole’s (or maybe Drake’s) work; likens himself to Prince, with whom he nearly collaborated; and dispenses with some clever wordplay (For All The Dogs, AK-47, K9, etc.) while threatening to bury his supposed competitors.
Motherfuck the big three, nigga, it’s just big me
Nigga, bum, what? I’m really like that
And your best work is a light pack
Nigga, Prince outlived Mike Jack'
Nigga, bum, ’fore all your dogs gettin’ buried
That’s a K with all these nines, he gon’ see Pet Sematary
Nigga, bum
As you wait for the next episode in this burgeoning drama, you can read all the lyrics to “Like That” on Genius now.
