While a lot of Drake's bars on his new "Fighting Irish" freestyle could just be about general hip-hop woes, it's hard not to listen to it through the context of the 2024 rap beef with Kendrick Lamar. In fact, Drake seemed to call K.Dot out while addressing people that took his side and backstabbed Drizzy with the following set of bars: "That n**** pulled a rabbit out a hat, I know you love a magician / It's funny to see y'all rejoicing and hugging and kissing." Some other bars seem to take aim at the 6ix God's former circle that turned on him. "'Nothing Was The Same' with all you b***hes and nothing's forgiven" and "The world fell in love with the gimmicks, even my brothers got tickets, seemed like they loved every minute" are particular standouts.
Of course, social media is going wild with theories about who Drake might've been talking about on "Fighting Irish," with main culprits being LeBron James, J. Cole, Future, and many others (the Fighting Irish was the mascot of Bron's high school team). What's more is that we have even more lyrical nods to talk about, as he seemed to move past the rap beef and shout 21 Savage out as a real supporter on a song snippet that surfaced shortly before this freestyle.
Drake Reflects On Kendrick Lamar Battle In New Freestyle
In addition, Drake might've alluded to his legal petition against his label Universal Music Group, Spotify, iHeartMedia, and more for allegedly boosting Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us." "I hate to see their empire crumble on judges’ convictions," he raps at one point, which many have linked to this dispute. As for where that battle in court is even going, we don't have many updates to talk about yet.
Finally, Drake fans think that he might've directly responded to Kendrick Lamar's accusations on "meet the grahams" that he has a drinking problem. "I don’t have a drinking problem, I got a subtle addiction / I got my father’s habits and I got my mother’s permission," he rapped on the cut. As you can see, there are a lot of bars to unpack here about this explosive moment, and many more references to potentially uncover.