Kendrick Lamar‘s new song has quickly drawn a reaction from his fierce rival Drake‘s camp — and needless to say, it isn’t positive.
On Wednesday (September 12), the Compton rap star released an untitled track on Instagram by surprise, just as the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards were kicking off.
Referred to by fans as “Watch the Party Die,” the five-minute song finds Kendrick lamenting the state of the rap game and wider music industry (if not society as a whole) with lyrics like: “Street n-ggas and the corporate guys, the rappers that report the lies, I need they families mortified / We can do life without ’em, get they bodies organized, tell me if you obliged.”
Although he doesn’t take any direct shots at Drake as he did on other recent releases, K. Dot does appear to reference their high-profile battle by rapping: “Just walk that man down, that’ll do everyone a solid / It’s love, but tough love sometimes gotta result in violence.”
Nevertheless, Drizzy’s longtime associate Baka Not Nice didn’t take kindly to the song and was quick to dismiss it as a weak effort.
While reacting to the track on TikTok, the OVO Sound rapper took aim at Kendrick by writing: “Shit sound like how them shoes look lil n-gga [wastebasket emoji].”
It’s perhaps no surprise that Baka has an axe to grind with K. Dot considering he aimed a stray shot at him on his chart-topping diss song “Not Like Us.”
While exposing those within Drake’s crew, Kendrick rapped: “And Baka got a weird case, why is he around?” with the lyric since being turned into a meme.
The line references Baka’s 2014 arrest for allegedly forcing a 22-year-old woman into prostitution and stealing her money.
According to the Toronto Sun, Baka (real name Travis Savoury) avoided charges of procuring for prostitution and human trafficking but pleaded guilty to assaulting the woman.
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He was subsequently sentenced to six months in jail but allowed to walk free due to time served.
While he’s yet to react to “Watch the Party Die” himself, Drake did recently appear to address the ongoing debate surrounding Kendrick Lamar’s upcoming Super Bowl halftime show in New Orleans.
Seemingly agreeing with those who believe the gig should’ve been given to hometown hero Lil Wayne, the 6 God posted several throwback photos of his Young Money mentor on social media shortly after Nicki Minaj and Birdman had voiced their complaints.
