May 3, 2024

Kendrick Lamar - "6:16 in LA"


On his second Drake diss track of the week, Kendrick Lamar tightens his grip as he goes for the jugular.

I'll admit it. When Kendrick dropped "Euphoria" earlier in the week, I sighed with a sense of disappointment. As the biggest rap feud in quite some time entered another month, the exchanged bars between Drake and his growing list of enemies was finally starting to feel exhausting. KDot's barbs sounded stale and the beat was boring. His insults were fine, but offered nothing new in the growing beef. Well it turns out that "Euphoria" was just an amuse bouche to the main event. The first in the 1-2 punch set to knock Drake firmly out. Today, Lamar hit back at Drake with his second diss of the week and on "6:16 in LA," Kendrick eviscerates the competition. Aside from the biblical references that you can draw from 6:16 alone, the digs at Drake leave him all but dead on arrival. You can also make whatever inferences you want to 6/16 being Father's Day this year (hopefully you recall Pusha T's massacre of Drake on "The Story of Adidon" which not only include album art of Drake in blackface, but also revealed that Drake had long been hiding his son and escaping the duties of fatherhood) on top of Tupac's birthday (Drake's recent shot at Kendrick featured AI vocals from Pac and resulted in a cease and desist from Shakur's estate). Then there's the fact that Drake's recent response, called "Taylor Made," included a jab at Lamar for not wanting to release a diss track at the same time as Swift's latest blockbuster for fear of being drowned out by the competition. Drake also praised Taylor as the biggest gangster in music. Leave it to Lamar to then go out and recruit none other than Swift's celebrity bestie Jack Antonoff to produce "6:16." However, the onslaught doesn't stop there. Making claims that there are spies littered within Drake's camp who actually work for Lamar, how Drake paid money to find dirt on Kendrick only to come up empty handed, and how Drake's whole crew actually can't stand him and think he deserves all the heat, it's like watching someone continuously beat down on someone who is already at their lowest. Kendrick even goes as far as to say that the mole might even be sitting next to Drake at the moment he here's the song which instantly makes you wonder what Drake must be sending to the group chat or what will be on the agenda at the next OVO board meeting. KDot brings things to a close with one of the most lethal lines yet: "Before you figure that you're not alone, ask what Mike would do." Never forget that Michael Jackson's "You Are Not Alone" was written by none other than R Kelly. None of this should be surprising or brushed off as a coincidence. Every move Lamar makes is surgical, precise, and well thought out. Kiss the ring, Drake. Kendrick is still the king.

Listen to “6:16 in LA” here.

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