OVO affiliate Oliver El-Khatib shared El-Kuumba Tape Vol. 1 today, which is available to stream on SoundCloud as a 50-minute mix. Within that mix is a new freestyle from Drake titled "War" that also came with a wintery music video filled with skiing and cabin chills. As is usually the case when Drake goes off on a freestyle, his savage side comes out on "War", which is fitting given the song title.
Right off the jump, Drake is dropping lines that may leave some clutching their chest. His second bar is: "Feds wanna tap up man and wire man like Chubbs did Detail." From reading this, you could gather that Drake is using the same UK accent and slang that he did on his "Behind Barz" freestyle. What's so brazen about this bar is that Drake is addressing his bodyguard, Chubbs, beating up producer, Detail, in 2014, after the lawsuit against Drake for orchestrating the attack was dropped. The reason for the attack allegedly had to do with Detail refusing Drake's request to solely produce for him. Since Detail was left severely injured and unable to work for a year, he tried to sue Drake for compensation, but the case was thrown out after Detail failed to appear at a hearing. Considering this incident was largely swept under the rug, Drake bringing it up in this freestyle is quite audacious.
Another person referenced in "War" that may have ears perking up was The Weeknd. While his name isn't explicitly mentioned, the references are pretty obvious:
"OVOXO link up, mandem drink up, me and the drillers
Hawk and Sticks and Cash and Baka, Gucci, P, and Gilla,
And the boy that sound like he sang on Thriller, you know that's been my n****
Yeah, we just had to fix things, family, 6ix tings, we can't slip up"
"The boy that sound like he sang on Thriller"? Yeah, that's definitely The Weeknd. OVOXO was the title that encompassed the meshing of Drake's OVO and The Weeknd's XO collectives. Hawks, Sticks and Cash are all members of the XO crew. These lines put to rest any speculation that Drake and The Weeknd are still on bad terms. The two Toronto artists have sent some shots at each other in the past, which seemed to stem from The Weeknd taking credit for the majority of Drake's 2011 album, Take Care. The most recent hint of hostility between them was when The Weeknd referenced Drake ~hiding a child~ on his 2018 song, "Lost In The Fire". Well, it appears they have reconciled in the name of real 6ix tings.