As popular an artist as he is, Drake is a bigger target than ever, and while he'd like to think otherwise, he can't help but respond to his detractors. This means that he spends a lot of time going back-and-forth with other artists, making his line from 2009 single, "Successful;" "diss me, you'll never hear a reply for it" laughable in its inaccuracy.
Drake tends to go the subliminal route when he disses people, rarely naming names, but he's definitely made a few of his targets rather obvious. In wake of the rapper seemingly going at two notable rapper on his brand new track, "Two Birds, One Stone," we decided to look back at 5 rappers who dissed Drake, and DID in fact get a reply. We can't say this is a complete list of those Drake checked on record, but it certainly includes some of his most memorable beefs, many of which have yet to be squashed.
Click through the galleries to get a refresher on some of the people Drake couldn't resist replying to.
COMMON
The Diss: Common released the song, "Sweet," on his 2011 album The Dreamer / The Believer. The track saw him dissing an unnamed rapper for singing and being "soft."
Some hoe ass n*ggas
Singing all around me man, la la la
You ain't motherfucking Frank Sinatra
Uh, lil' bitch
Yeah, this the raw right here
This the raw right here, n*gga
Sweet motherfucker
Sweet ass bitch motherfucker
Later on Sway In The Morning, he confirmed that the lines were about Drake.
The Reply:
According to MTV News, Drake responded with both a comment on stage; "I might sing, but I ain't no bitch. If Common got something to say, say it to my face," as well as a quickly deleted tweet; “Platinum. Now THAT’S Sweet!" However, his official on-record response came with the release of Rick Ross' "Stay Schemin'," dedicating a few bars to Common.
It bothers me when the gods get to acting like the broads
Guess every team doesn't come complete with n*ggas like ours
That's why I see no need to compete with n*ggas like y’all
I just ask that when you see me you speak up, n*gga, that's all
Don’t be ducking like you never wanted nothing
It's feeling like rap changed, it was a time it was rugged
Back when if a n*gga reached it was for the weapon
Nowadays n*ggas reach just to sell they record
The Aftermath: Common responded to Drake's "Stay Schemin" verse with his own remix to the track, calling Drake out by name, as well as dropping an infamous Canada Dry comparison. Drake decided not to respond, and the tension eventually died down.
Beef Status: Common wished the best for his ex, Serena Williams, when asked about her relationship with Drake last year, so the two seem to be on okay terms.
TYGA
The Diss: Tyga's comments about Drake came in a 2014 interview with Vibe where he voiced his frustration with Young Money/Cash Money. "I’m tryna’ go independent," he said, suggesting that YM wasn't the family dynamic it was made out to be. "I don’t really get along with Drake. I don’t really get along with Nicki."
Later on, he elaborated on his problems with Drake. "I don’t like Drake as a person," he said. "He’s just fake to me. I like his music; you know what I’m saying? I think his music is good, but we’re all different people."
The Reply: Naturally, Drake did not take the comments lightly, and decided to fire back on his If You're Reading This It's Too Late bonus cut, "6PM In New York." As usual, he didn't name names, but made the shot clearer than usual by name-dropping VIBE, and making reference to the rapper's younger girlfriend, who was the then-17-year-old Kylie Jenner.
I heard a little little homie talking reckless in Vibe
That's quite a platform you chose
You should've 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
The Aftermath: Tyga sent out a tweet in response to Drake's lines from "6PM," suggesting that the rapper has been "ducking the fade from [Chris] Brown." He later deleted the tweet.
Tyga later doubled down on his original comments in an appearance on the Breakfast Club, saying, "It's not really a beef. It's just personal experiences I've had with him -- just phone calls and stuff like that. I feel like he's a nice guy on the outside, but he's not genuine. He plays people left and right."
On his most recent tour, Drake changed the lyrics to "Summer Sixteen" to say, "All you boys with a fake 'Controlla' wanna be me a little," which fans speculated was a reference to both Tory Lanez' "Controlla" remix and Tyga's "1 Of 1," which has a similar dancehall feel.
Beef Status: Things have simmered down to an extent, but don't expect them to be having dinner together anytime soon.
Meek Mill
MEEK MILL
The Diss: This one should be familiar to most by now. Though his motive is still more or less unknown, Meek Mill decided to "out" drake for his use of collaborative writers on Twitter one very famous night in July 2015.
Stop comparing drake to me too.... He don't write his own raps! That's why he ain't tweet my album because we found out! 😁
The whole game know forreal they scared to tell the truth! I can't wait tok these guys and sit back and act like they don't know!
Don't compare me to none of the cats that don't write they own raps either...... Lol
The Reply: Drake didn't waste any time coming back with some bars for Meek Mill, releasing a diss track aimed at the MMG rapper called "Charged Up" the following week.
Wow, I’m honored that you think this is staged
I’m flattered man, in fact, I’m amazed
The perfect start to the summer, man this shit is a doozy
This shit a twist in the movie but don't jump to conclusions
Done doing favors for people
Cause it ain’t like I need the money I make off a feature
I see you niggas having trouble going gold
Turning into some so and so’s that no one knows
But so it go
Rumor has it, there’s something that only I know
Rumor has it, I steer the ship with my eyes closed
Rumor has it, I either fucked her or never could
But rumor has it, hasn’t done you niggas any good
After waiting for a few days for a response from Meek, Drake dropped a second diss track called "Back To Back," where he suggested that the beef was officially over and he'd emerged victorious. He called Meek out for his lack of a timely comeback, criticized him for starting beef on Twitter, and mocked the fact that Nicki Minaj, his girlfriend, was a more popular artist than him.
I waited four days, n*gga, where y'all at?
I drove here in the Wraith playin' AR-AB
I'm not sure what it was that really made y'all mad
But I guess this is what I gotta do to make y'all rap
This for y'all that think that I don't write enough
They just mad ‘cause I got the Midas touch
You love her, then you gotta give the world to her
Is that a world tour or your girl's tour?
Yeah, trigger fingers turn to twitter fingers
Yeah, you gettin' bodied by a singin' n*gga
I'm not the type of nigga that'll type to n*ggas
And shout-out to all my boss bitches wifin' n*ggas
The Aftermath: Meek eventually released a response titled "Wanna Know," but it did not attain the same ubiquity or praise as Drake's records. From there, the two have continued to trade bars on a number of records, and Drake even went as far as to diss Meek on stage in his hometown of Philly.
Beef Status: As much as fans on both sides would appreciate them moving on, these guys still have it out for each other.
Kid Cudi
KID CUDI
The Diss: In September 2016, Kid Cudi took to Twitter to call out fake people in the industry, including those that have "30 people writ[ing] songs for them.' He Mentioned Drake and Kanye West by name.
I need yall to know I got so many haters within the industry and these clowns know Im bout to crush their entire existance.
Everyone thinks they're soooo great. Talkin top 5 and be having 30 people write songs for them
The fake ones wont be lasting too much longer
My tweets apply to who they apply. Ye, Drake, whoever. These niggas dont give a fuck about me. And they aint fuckin with me.
Niggas keep you close when they see how powerful you are by yourself. When they see your greatness. Out of fear
Im the one they worry about cause they know I dont give a fuck about the corny shit they do
The Reply: Drake responds that night while on stage at the Summer 16 tour, riffing on OT Genasis' hit, "Cut It," rapping "Boy, you getting way too high, you need to Cudiiiii," which was generally received as a weak comeback.
"Boy you getting way too high you need to..." #SummerSixteenTour pic.twitter.com/amULs6AiI6
A few weeks later, Kid Cudi announced that he will be checking himself into rehab for "depression and suicidal urges," which didn't stop Drake from releasing a diss track called "Two Birds, One Stone," which seemingly mocked Cudi's state of mind.
You were the man on the moon
Now you just go through your phases
Life of the angry and famous
Rap like I know I'm the greatest
Then give you the tropical flavors
Still never been on hiatus
You stay xanned and perked up
So when reality set in you don't gotta face it
I'm down 200 in Vegas but winning life on a daily basis
It seems like nobody wants to stay in my good graces
I'm like a real estate agent, putting you all in your places
Look what happens soon as you talk to me crazy
Is you crazy?
The Aftermath: Drake was criticized for kicking Cudi while he was down, though he stood by his words.
The Beef Status: Seeing as this all happened this weekend; very much still on. We have yet to here Cudi's take on all of this, as he is still in rehab.
Pusha T
PUSHA T
The Diss: Pusha T has been subliminally dissing Drake since (at least) 2012, when he dropped "Exodus "23:1," targeting Drake's business sense and questioning his choice to sign with Young Money.
Contract all fucked up
I guess that means you all fucked up
You signed to one n*gga that signed to another n*gga
That's signed to three n*ggas, now that's bad luck
While Push has a couple more lines that may or may not be about Drizzy, the most important one comes in his most recent record, "HGTV," which seems to take Drake to task for using collaborative writers, the same driving force as Drake's beef with Meek Mill.
It’s too far gone when the realest ain't real
I walk amongst the clouds so your ceilings ain't real
These n*ggas Call of Duty cause their killings ain’t real
With a questionable pen so the feelin' ain’t real
The Reply:
Drake offered a response to Pusha's "Exodus" diss with a few bars at his Club Paradise tour date is Washington, DC.
If you had ill 16s when I was 16
And then your shit flopped and you switched teams
Don't talk to me, my n*gga
However, his more official response to Push came after "HGTV," and on the same record where he dissed Kid Cudi, aptly titled, "Two Birds, One Stone." Here he chose to call Pusha out for embellishing his "drug dealer stories."
But really it's you with all the drug dealer stories
That's gotta stop though
You made a couple chops and now you think you Chapo
If you ask me though you ain't lining the trunk with kilos
You bagging weed watching Pacino with all your n*ggas
Like "this what we need to be on", but you never went live
You middle man in this shit, boy you was never them guys
I can tell cause I look most of you dead in your eyes
And you'll be trying to sell that story for the rest of your lives
Can't show us where the cash is
Me, I don't judge, I'm just going off what the math is
Numbers inflated
The Aftermath: No word from Pusha so far, but we assume he already has his pen out.
Beef Status: No one has backed down from this one yet.