The war between Drake and Kendrick Lamar is formally entering its second round following the release of the latter's response track, "euphoria." After the kick-off "Like That" and Drizzy's responses, "Push Ups" and "Taylor Made Freestyle," we already have a good idea of the main angles that each MC is taking against their opponent. As for the OVO camp, one of the most notable, new, and incendiary moments was when he claimed that K.Dot's wife, Whitney Alford, cheated on him with his bodyguard, or multiple. While Kendrick claimed this was a fake attempt to stir up controversy on "euphoria," fans went back into the Toronto rapper's catalog and discovered another set of bars that could suggest this.
"Bodyguards don't look like Kevin Costner, you tweaking / Just pulled up to Whitney Houston, Texas for the evening," Drake raps on the 2020 DJ Khaled collab, "POPSTAR." Given that it's set up in a similar way to his mention of Whitney on "Push Ups" ("I be with some bodyguards like Whitney"), fans wonder whether this also alluded to that fact. However, considering the "POPSTAR" line previous to this, it's also possible that the real depth behind this bar is just how much Aubrey decided to do his due research on The Bodyguard. It's the 1992 film with Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston, for which her hit Dolly Parton cover "I Will Always Love You" was released, partly produced by someone who The Boy mentions on the previous line on "POPSTAR": "If we talking joints, it's just me and David Foster."
Did This Drake Bar On "POPSTAR" Already Allude To Kendrick Lamar's Wife Cheating On Him?
As such, there's not a whole lot here to connect this to Drake's taunting of Kendrick Lamar on "Push Ups," and for the record, it's something that he'll likely double down on with whatever he's cooking up next. But let's wear the tinfoil hats for a second: maybe he's insinuating that the real dangers as to Kendrick and Whitney's relationship aren't "Kevin Costners" (or the white women that the Compton lyricist admitted to cheating on his partner with years before this beef), but rather the bodyguards in their own circle. The 6ix God could even have insinuated that he himself was with Whitney on "POPSTAR," à la the "Hit 'Em Up" intro. If you thought that was a reach, just wait until you hear this next conspiracy theory.
Here are the next bars on "POPSTAR" after this "Whitney Houston, Texas" mention: "They tell the same story so much, they start to believe it / The ones that start like, 'Drizzy's s**t was cool, but we even.'" Might Drake be referencing Kendrick Lamar's refusal to believe the other alleged side of this cheating story? Is the last part of these bars alluding to the artistic competition between the two, with him calling it a lie for Mr. Morale to consider him an equal and not a superior? Maybe... maybe not... but isn't that the fun part about breaking down bars, especially in a rap beef? If nothing else, let's give the Canadian superstar some credit for the Bodyguard wordplay, and let's see what else they've both got in store.