Why did Kendrick Lamar diss Drake & J. Cole on Future & Metro Boomin’s ‘Like That’?

Kendrick Lamar released diss track ‘Like That’ aimed at Drake and J. Cole on Future & Metro Boomin’s new album We Don’t Trust You. Here’s an explainer on why this feud is happening.

The cold war between Drake and Kendrick Lamar quietly began with the release of Big Sean’s ‘Control,’ on which Lamar was featured. After listing off several contemporaries, Lamar raps, “I got love for you all but I’m tryna murder you n****s.”

Drake later responded with ‘The Language,’ from his Nothing Was the Same, thus igniting their supposed feud. “I don’t know why they been lyin’ but your shit is not that inspirin’,” he rapped, seemingly take shots at Lamar for ‘Control.’

Another diss called ‘Used To’ came next, featuring the lyrics: “They gon’ say your name on them airwaves / They gon’ hit you up right after like it’s only rap.” Despite Lamar’s claims his diss was meant to inspire others to step up their game, Drake didn’t see it that way. More diss tracks followed as the two volleyed back and forth, including in Dr. Dre’s ‘Deep Water,’ featuring Lamar.

Drake and J. Cole then lashed out at Kendrick Lamar in their 2023 collaboration First Person Shooter from Drake’s For All the Dogs.

“We the big three like we started a league, but right now, I feel like Muhammad Ali,” read some of the lyrics. “Who the GOAT? Who you b***h really rooting for? / Like a kid that act bad from January to November, na, it’s just you and Cole.”

What is Future & Metro Boomin’s ‘Like That’ about?

Drake, J. Cole, and Kendrick Lamar are often referred to as the Big Three of rap, the biggest mainstream rappers of the 2010s. Kendrick Lamar reignites their beef in ‘Like That,’ featured on Future & Metro Boomin’s 2024 album We Don’t Trust You.

In the track, Lamar brings up First Person Shooter specifically and doesn’t hold back with his rhymes. “Sneak dissin’, First Person Shooter, I hope they came with three switches,” he raps.

Later on, Lamar compares himself to Prince and Drake to Michael Jackson, referencing the two icon’s feud. He continues, “I still got PTSD / Muthaf**k the big three, na, it’s just big me / Na, bum, what? I’m really like that / And your best work is a light pack / N***a, Prince outlived Mike Jack’ / N***a, bum, ‘fore all your dogs gettin’ buried / That’s a K with all these nines, he gon’ see Pet Sematary.”

These lyrics respond specifically to Drake’s boast in First Person Shooter, in which he compares his commercial success to Michael Jackson’s many chart-topping hits. “What the fuck, bro? I’m one away from Michael,” he raps. “N***a, beat it, n***a, beat it, what.”

Pet Sematary refers to Stephen King’s 1983 best-selling novel of the same name, a dare that Lamar will bury Drake in his rhymes.