On 2009's "Successful," a young Drake rapped, "Diss me, you’ll never hear a reply for it," creating somewhat of a mission statement for his career from there on out. In a way, those words were accurate, as Drizzy rarely (if ever) calls out anyone by name in his music, but more accurately, he's become known as the king of the sneak diss, the sultan of the subliminal shot. Especially on his new If You're Reading This It's Too Late, the Toronto MC makes his targets pretty easy to guess: not every label boss owes him money, and not every rival rapper is dating a child.
Some call Drake's diss style petty, some call it cowardly, but whatever the case, he's really started some shit with his words over the course of his career. Just ask Tyga. Often prompting more vulgar, immature responses, Drake's shots range from broad statements that apply to the whole rap game ("every song sound like Drake featuring Drake") to hyper-specific, subtle details that seem to piss off their targets to no end.
Unless he's talking to Rolling Stone, Drake tends to keep other rappers' names out of his mouth, but many times we can infer who he's talking about through carefully-crafted references. Here are his ten best diss lines that offer at least some clues as to whom they're directed at. Watch out Jas Prince, you might be next.
diddy used 2
"Real quick man, you couldn't have hated that/Let's be real nigga, you couldn't have made it that" - Used To
The "real quick" should tip you off that Drake's talking about "0-100," and if you've been following the controversy surrounding its Boi-1da beat, it should be clear who Drizzy's addressing here. Diddy, who hasn't had a hit record in quite some time, most likely couldn't have made "0-100" the inescapable smash it was, but the jury's still out on whether he did, in fact, hate it.
jay draft
"Just hits, no misses, that's for the married folk" - Draft Day
This one's a little more crafty, as the double entendre of "misses" and "Mrs." would make sense to anyone, but doesn't initially seem at all like a diss. In actuality, it's a response to a line that Jay Z sent at Drake on his and Jay Electronica's "We Made It" freestyle (itself a response to Drake and Soulja Boy's version of the track). On that track, Jay says "Sorry Mrs. Drizzy for all of the art talk," referencing Drake dissing his art-related bars in the aforementioned Rolling Stone article. As you can see, following the endless shot-and-response cycle can get a little tiring.
Elsewhere on the song, Drake mentions "suits and ties" in another nod to Jay, and in a rare move, mentions Chance The Rapper by name. As it's not subtle, and barely a diss, "If I left this shit to chance, I would've picked a name like Chance The Rapper" isn't included on this list.
bird star67
"Brand new Beretta, can't wait to let it go/Walk up in my label like, where the check though?" - Star67
Another one that's rather obvious, as long as you don't live under a rock and know about all the Cash Money label drama that's been popping off. Allegedly, Drake still hasn't received all the royalties he's due from Nothing Was The Same and even Take Care, and on "Star67," he sounds mad as hell at Birdman for stiffing him some checks. Drizzy engaging in some gun talk might attract the ire of his many haters, but coming directly after a Lil Wayne intro about entering the studio with "ammo," it's clear that the loaded gun is a metaphor for a mind packed full of ideas for new songs.
A similar sentiment can be heard on his recent track with Big Sean, "Blessings," when he says "I expect that payment, nothing less nothing over." Give the man his money!
common
"Back when if a nigga reached it was for the weapon/Nowadays niggas reach just to sell they record" - Stay Schemin'
What's more of a reach than devoting an entire song on your album to dissing one of the most popular rappers in the game? That's exactly what Common did on "Sweet," a track on which he attacked Drake for his singing abilities. Soon thereafter, Drizzy claimed that Common avoided him at that year's Cali Christmas Concert, and along with the above line, rapped "I just ask that when you see me you speak up, nigga, that's all/Don’t be ducking like you never wanted nothing" on Rick Ross' "Stay Schemin'."
kdot used 2
“They gon’ say your name on the airwaves/They gon’ hit you up right after like it’s only rap" - Used To
Long before IYRTITL dropped, it was clear that Drake wasn't happy about being name-dropped on "Control." While not going as far to offer up a "response" track (this isn't Papoose we're talking about, after all), he has alluded to Kendrick Lamar's now-infamous verse a number of times, including some lines on "The Language" and a remix of Future's "Sh!t" (“If a nigga say my name he the hot shit/But if I say that nigga name he still the hot shit"). That's not the only time Kendrick's dissed Drake, as he also called him a "sensitive rapper" in his 2013 BET cypher. This one doesn't seem to be over yet.
vanessa
"Kobe ‘bout to lose a hundred fifty M’s / Kobe my nigga I hate it had to be him" - Stay Schemin'
Another barb from one of Drake's most vicious verses, this isn't necessarily a diss, but more of a lament at how much Kobe Bryant would have been forced to give up in his divorce with his wife Vanessa Bryant (they ended up calling it off). She clearly viewed it as a slight against her, as she went on to say "I don't need to be in the gym. I'm raising our daughters, signing checks and taking care of everything else that pertains to our home life.” When asked about her words in an interview, Drake said "It's just rap."
rihanna fire
"I can tell it wasn't love, I just thought you'd fuck with me/Who coulda predicted Lucky Strike would have you stuck with me" - Fireworks
We all know that Drake is often more than willing to spill the beans on relationships with non-celebrities like "Courtney from Hooters on Peachtree," but for a dude who's more than likely had his fair share of famous flings, his lyrics are light on details. One exception is "Fireworks," the second verse of which seems almost entirely dedicated to Rihanna. The only clue offered is the name-drop of bowling chain Lucky Strike, which is the first place RiRi was spotted with Drizzy.
Drake also had some harsher, less oblique bars for her and Chris Brown on Beyoncé's "Mine":
"I know you think it's funny that your ex is not a running back
But that nigga came running back
And you tell me that you’re done with that
And I believe it's true as long as you know who you belong to"
As well as on his verse on 2 Chainz's "No Lie":
"Aww that look like what’s her name, chances are it’s whats her name
Chances are if she was acting up then I fucked her once and never fucked again
She could have a Grammy, I still treat her ass like a nominee
Just need to know what that pussy like so one time is fine with me"
weeknd 5am
"Cause I show love, never get the same outta niggas/Guess it's funny how money can make change outta niggas" - 5AM In Toronto
This one wouldn't be as clear if it didn't come out right in the middle of The Weeknd's signing with Universal, which came after Drake had brought him along on his Club Paradise tour. As he's pretty much the only reason Abel Tesfaye got popping in the first place, Drake had every right to be mad when the singer accepted a higher offer from a major label rather than signing with OVO. Although it's clear that Tesfaye is no longer the "nobody" Drake refers to on the song, Trilogy might have sold more copies had it had Drizzy's push behind it.
A line from "Jodeci Freestyle," "You bit the hand, now starve," has also been cited as a diss of The Weeknd.
push
“I can still talk keys without pushing ‘caine" - Jodeci Freestyle
When this line popped up in "Jodeci Freestyle," it was the culmination of a longstanding beef between Drake and Pusha T. Previously, Drake had hinted at the bad relationship on "Lord Knows" ("I know that they tryna push me") and a freestyle on his Club Paradise tour (“If you was doing’ 16s when I was 16, and your shit flopped and you switched teams, don’t talk to me”), but this "Jodeci Freestyle" line is a little more clear in its target. Wrath Of Caine had just been released, and we all know Pusha loves to rap about keys (or, more accurately, kilos).
tyga
"I heard a lil lil homie talking reckless in Vibe/That's quite a platform you chose, you shoulda kept it inside
Oh you tried/It's so childish calling my name on the world stage/You need to act your age and not your girl's age" - 6PM In New York
This is the diss everyone's talking about at the moment, and it truly is one of Drake's most biting lines. Responding to Tyga's comments about him in a VIBE article, Drizzy goes for the low blow, calling out T-Raww for his alleged relationship with 17-year-old Kylie Jenner, but can you blame him? With Tyga chirping back in a much more public and petty way, Drake clearly won this battle. Lets see where the feud goes from here.