Kendrick Lamar is not playing with Drake and J. Cole. At all. On Friday (Mar. 22), K. Dot appeared on Metro Boomin and Future‘s new album, We Don’t Trust You. Lamar brings his signature Gemini energy (“Ah, my temperament bipolar, I choose violence”) to the track “Like That,” which Metro produced entirely. 

Over a sample of Rodney O & Joe Cooley’s “Everlasting Bass” and an interpolation of Eazy-E’s “Eazy Duz It,” Kendrick asserts he is in a class of his own. His aggressive flow mirrors that of Lil Wayne’s when he jacked the beat for Da Drought 3’s “I Can’t Feel My Face” (do your Googles). He ponders the notion that the oft-spoken “Big Three” consisting of himself, Cole, and Drizzy, is real. The West Coast emcee then ups the intensity, referencing the light-skin bro’s recent collaborative banger, “First Person Shooter.” 

Upon several listens, it’s clear Kendrick didn’t take too kindly to “ni**as linking up” on the hit single. Kendrick winks at Drizzy’s obsession with comparing himself to Michael Jackson (“Ni**a, Prince outlived Mike Jack”), and Cole catches a few strays by proxy. So, did Kendrick Lamar diss Drake and J. Cole? Look at it like Captain America: Civil War. Iron Man ain’t have smoke with Winter Soldier, he really wanted the fade with Captain America. However, since Bucky was in the way, Tony Stark, full of hubris, said, “f**k it, both of y’all can get it.” However, it’s unclear if this bout will end the way that the MCU handicap match did. 

Kendrick Lamar closes out his verse by calling Drake’s last LP, For All The Dogs, trash. He uses some witty wordplay to reference Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Again, Kenny wasn’t playing with these boys. At all. 

“Ni**as clickin’ up, but cannot be legit, no 40 Water, tell ’em/ Ah, yeah, huh, yeah, get up with me/ F**k sneak dissin’, first-person shooter, I hope they came with three switches/ I crash out, like, ‘F**k rap, diss Melle Mel if I had to/ Got 2TEEZ with me, I’m snatchin’ chains and burnin’ tattoos, it’s up,” Kendrick snaps. “Lost too many soldiers not to play it safe/ If he walk around with that stick, it ain’t Andre 3K/ Think I won’t drop the location? I still got PTSD/ Motherf**k the big three, ni**a, it’s just big me/ Ni**a, bum, what? I’m really like that/ And your best work is a light pack/ Ni**a, Prince outlived Mike Jack’/Ni**a, bum, ‘fore all your dogs gettin’ buried/ That’s a K with all these nines, he gon’ see Pet Sematary/ Ni**a, bum.”

As previously reported, Cole and Drizzy dropped “First Person Shooter” in 2023. The pair both referenced the GOAT debate in their verses. Both emcees took different approaches to the angle. 

Cole acknowledged himself, Kendrick, and Drizzy as the “Big Three,” but argued that he was the greatest of all time with a reference to the late Muhammad Ali. “Love when they argue the hardest MC/ Is it K-Dot? Is it Aubrey? Or me?/ We the big three like we started a league, but right now, I feel like Muhammad Ali,” Cole rhymes. 

Drizzy took a more staunch approach. His verse dabbled in pseudo-revisionist history, removing Lamar from the GOAT discussion entirely: “Who the GOAT? Who you bi**hes really rooting for?/ Like a kid that acts bad from January to November, ni**a, it’s just you and Cole.”

Oh, yeah, and Big Sean is gearing up to drop a new song later on Friday. But, Kendrick Lamar, once again, stole his thunder. Face it, though, this Friday is all about Kung-fu Kenny, yet again. 

Hip-Hop, it’s gon be a long year but an exciting one, nonetheless. 

Per: Vibe