A breakdown of all the lyrics, references and thematics within Kendrick Lamar’s ‘euphoria’, courtesy of genius, complex and my own interpretation.
Table of Contents
· Background
· Analysis of euphoria
∘ Opening Verse
∘ Verse One
∘ Verse Two
Background
Kendrick Lamar’s ‘euphoria ’is his first officially released diss track against Toronto-based rapper Drake, publicised after Drake’s own response to Kendrick’s callout track ‘Like That’, which featured on Metro Boomin & Future’s collab album We Don’t Trust You. The Compton born rapper similarly to 2013 shakes up the industry by affirmatively denying claims of a “big three” between himself, Drake and J. Cole, firmly asserting himself as the greatest rapper of all time.
“Motherfuck the big three, n****, it’s just big me”
This track was released just 11 days after the official release of Drake’s ‘Push Ups’ (17 days after the leaked version) and ‘Taylor Made Freestyle’, where Drake goes back-to-back against Kendrick, featuring AI voices of West Coast legends 2Pac and Snoop Dogg to taunt him, pressuring him to drop.
“You asked for smoke, now it seem you too busy for the smoke… Now you ‘bout to give this shit another week?
“I guess you need another week to figure out how to improve, What the fuck is taking so long? We waitin’ on you”
It’s important to note this track was received with highly mixed opinions from the general public, the use of AI by such a mainstream artist left fans very upset at Drake for normalising it, coupled with the fact that he used two West Coast legends, one of them being the late Tupac Shakur, to mock Kendrick as he is simultaneously from the West Coast and also looks up to 2Pac greatly, even featuring an edited and publicly unheard 2Pac interview on his closing track ‘Mortal Man’ from ‘To Pimp A Butterfly’.
[2PAC (AI)], “Kendrick, we need ya, the West Coast savior… You seem a little nervous about all the publicity”
Some fans even say the releasing of this track actually negatively affected Drake more than anything, as the main point of this track was to pressure Lamar into dropping a response track, something which he would prove he can do in a timely manner, and more.
Analysis of euphoria
On April 30th just as the month was about to end, Kendrick Lamar drops his long-awaited response-track titled ‘euphoria ’on a Tuesday morning at 8:24 am PT. Interestingly, the cover art of ‘euphoria ’actually shows a nod to the track’s release date by mentioning the euphoria of “Tuesday”. This 6:24 minute track features Kendrick rapping over three different beat switches, a nod to his line in ‘Like That’ where he states that Drake and J. Cole should've “came with three switches” on their joint-track ‘First Person Shooter’.
“Fuck sneak dissin’, first-person shooter, I hope they came with three switches
The title itself ‘euphoria ’is a clever nod to the 2019 Drama series also named Euphoria which features, and was criticised for heavy sexualisation of teenagers, with one of the executive producers being Drake himself. This is an extremely subtle allusion to an idea which Kendrick unravels in two of his coming tracks, ‘meet the grahams’ and ‘Not Like Us’ that Drake is a predator, who houses predators in his record label ‘OVO Sound’.
Opening Verse
Kendrick opens this track with an unexpected air of calmness, following a reversed audio clip of the character Scarecrow from The Wiz — a character both known for inauthenticity and also being played by Michael Jackson (something which has been a major referral point for Drake), the unreversed line plays as “Everything they say about me is true”, with the full from the movie adding onto that with:
“Everything they say about me is true, I’m a phony…”
Kendrick is clearly implying that Drake is putting up a front, being a literal straw-man. These parallels between Drake and Michael Jackson have a much longer history with many more references, however Kendrick is playing on this as he did in ‘Like That’ to suggest Drake’s only point of comparison between the legend is his hit-singles, and that he’s just a phony, making substance-lacking music proclaiming to be a legend.
The opening verse follows Kendrick over a calm instrumental, slowly dissecting Drake’s character and even claiming to predict drakes “angle”, that is, attacking his family due to Kendrick’s publication of his family life on his fifth studio album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers something which is proven right within the next week. Kendrick attacks Drake on the basis that he isn’t a true member of his culture, suggesting that Drake only uses his status as a Black man when it benefits him with the line “Tommy Hilfiger stood out, but FUBU never had been your collection”, FUBU being a black-owned company standing for “For Us, By us”, whilst Tommy Hilfiger being largely rumored to be a racist who had disdain for the hip-hop community using his brand.
On top of calling Drake a “master manipulator”, a “habitual liar” and uncalculated, Kendrick also makes one of his first lines in the track which reveal themselves within the coming diss tracks, the first being:
“I make music that electrify ‘em’ you make music that pacify ‘em”
On the surface this is Kendrick stating the difference between his music and Drake’s, saying that he himself makes music which is thought-provoking and innovative whilst Drake makes yearly boring music meant to please the masses and fulfill contract deals, however, this, like the title of the track is an allusion to a greater narrative Kendrick is painting, undoubtably less subtle this time. Kendrick suggest that Drake makes ‘boring’ and ‘pacifying’ music, but also plays on the word ‘pacify’ itself to further allude to Drake’s questionable history with minors, calling him a predator in a non-abrasive way, even going as far as to issue him a warning, making it known that he’s being “kind” by not publicising this in a more obvious way, almost sparing him.
“I can double down on that line, but spare you this time, that’s random acts of kindness”
Kendrick then makes reference to his 2017 track titled ‘The Heart Part 4’, the fourth issue of his ‘Heart’ series he releases before every album’s release with the lyrics:
“But don’t tell no lie about me and I won’t tell truths ‘bout you”
This is a callback to the lyrics within The Heart Part 4’s chorus.
“Don’t tell a lie on me, I won’t tell the truth ‘bout you”
- Kendrick Lamar on “The Heart Part 4”
Kendrick specifically calls back to this track due to it being a warning track, initially thought to be at rapper Big Sean only, but now revealed to be subtly towards Drake himself too. On this track, Kendrick proclaims a lot, the main parts being that he is the best, that ‘certain’ people are sneak dissing him and that if brought to it, he will “son” them.
“My fans can’t wait for me to son ya punk-ass and crush ya whole lil’ shit, I’ll Big Pun ya punk-ass you a scared lil’ bitch, Tiptoein’ around my name, n****, you lame…”
“And when I get at you, homie, Don’t you tell me you was just playin’”
“ “Oh, I was jus playin’, K-Dot C’mon, you know a n**** rock witchu, bro”, Shut the fuck up, you sound like the last n**** I know”
The lines from this track have been revealed to likely be dissing Drake here too, as have other lines within Kendrick discography, some notable ones being:
“Stop playin’ with me ‘fore I turn you to a song (yeah)”
- Kendrick Lamar on ‘Rich Spirit’
“I don’t even want your congratulations… I recognize your false confidence… You the moral to the story, you endorsing? Motherfucker, I don’t even like you…”
- Kendrick Lamar on ‘All the Stars’
“I can dig rapping, but a rapper with a ghost writer? What the fuck happened?”
- Kendrick Lamar on ‘King Kunta’
The cover art yet again plays significance within the track, as it also is a nod to the tone and beat switch at the beginning, with the description stating that euphoria itself is the “change in mood”, referring to the sudden change from Kendrick’s own calm demeaner at the opening verse, to a much harsher and exponentially aggressive tone/mood throughout the track.
Verse One
As per Drake’s own request, Kendrick provides him with an entendre with numerous meanings,
“You better have a motherfuckin’ quintuple entendre on that shit”
-Drake on ‘Taylor Made Freestyle’
Kendrick responds with his own likely quintuple entendre.
“Hellcat, made his homeboys and them type sell they souls, okay
Everybody wanna be demon ’til they get chipped by your throwaway”
Firstly, Kendrick is quite literally stating that people (in this case Drake) will want to go against him until they actually see what he is capable of with just a ‘throwaway’ verse. Kendrick is likely referring to either the ‘Like That’ or ‘Control’ verse which was something notably Drake and a few (out of a large group of) rappers took offence to. Secondly, this line is also referring to actually getting ‘chipped’ (killed or injured) by a throwaway gun. Thirdly, this line refers to Future’s middle name DeMun and his song ‘Throw Away’, with Future being relevant as he is both the person Kendrick used (on Future’s album) to initiate the beef, and someone Drake has had conflicts with himself, being a contributing factor to the beef as well. Similarly, Drake also has a song called ‘Demons ’on his 2020 throwaway mixtape titled Dark Lane Demo Tapes. Lastly, to wrap up Future’s involvement, it has recently to light that one of the major things that caused the rift between Future and Drake’s was in fact a woman, Kendrick is mentioning her as a ‘throwaway’, something which Future and Drake likely share a sentiment as they are both notorious for sleeping with a multitude of women. Future is someone Kendrick in a subsequent song claims Drake wants to be, or at least aspects of Future’s ability to get club music.
The first line refers to Drake’s tendency to sign artists to his record label OVO and get them to work for him, promising a blooming career only for them to not maintain any form of longevity. Kendrick also plays on the the theme of hell here with the phrases “hellcat”, “sell they soul” and “demon”, something which he does again later with a different verse and theme. This is also a direct reference to Drake saying:
“This ain’t even everything I know don’t wake the demon up”
On Push Ups.
Kendrick then makes a likely reference to Drake’s role as a child actor on Degrassi when he played the character Jimmy which is wheelchair bound with:
“And I might do a show a day, once a lame, always a lame”
By saying that Drake was “once a lame” and that he will continue to remain a “lame”, Kendrick is also very likely referring to the informal way of calling a person a cripple in the medical field, a ‘lame’, which is what Jimmy (The character Drake played) was in the “show”.
“Have you ever walked your enemy down like with a poker face?
Have you ever paid five-hundred thou’ like to an open case?”
This line is a direct response to Drake’s second verse on ‘Taylor Made Freestyle’ where he uses Snoop Dogg’s AI voice to mock Kendrick, claiming he’s not who he really says he is, saying he is a ‘fake thug’.
“I know you never been to jail or wore jumpsuits and shower shoes
Never shot nobody, never stabbed nobody
Never did nothing violent to no one, it’s the homies that empower you”-[AI]Snoop Dogg on ‘Taylor Made Freestyle’
Kendrick rebuttals this by questioning Drake’s own authenticity as a gangster, asking him if he’s ever “walked” anyone down. To walk someone down is referred to in slang terms as progressing on a person, in an altercation, something which a ‘real’ gangster would have done in their lifetime.
The mention of a $500,000 case is likely a reference to Drake’s own previous case where he had to pay out $350,000 to a woman filing against the Toronto-based rapper under claims of sexual assault, something which has been reported here. Kendrick is stating that he’s been through legal issues, and failed largely however wasn’t held back, and instead came out stronger as a result of his ‘losses’.
“Well, I have, and I failed at both, but I came out straight”
This line directly after supports that Kendrick is giving examples of his own legal losses and Drake’s but is making a point in how they individually responded to failure.
“I hate when a rapper talk about guns, then somebody die
They turn into nuns, then hop online, like “pray for my city”
He fakin’ for likes and digital hugs”
This directly references Drake’s own lyrics being hypocritical, Kendrick is saying that Drake is someone who both praises gang culture, violence and raps about it in his lyrics, but simultaneously will condemn it online to appease to the audience and make himself be perceived better.
-Drake on "Remember Me, Toronto" preaching about the negative impacts of
gang culture and violence.“His daddy a killer, he wanna be junior, they must’ve forgot the shit that they done”
Kendrick refers to Drake’s “daddy”, in this case being Birdman who Drake is signed under alongside rapper Lil Wayne, whilst also referring to J. Prince, an actual father of his son J. Prince Jr but more importantly someone who Drake claims gives him ‘Mob Ties’. Kendrick implies that Drake isn’t credible enough and ‘forgets’ his lack of criminal history or credibility.
“Dementia must run in his family, but let it get shaky
I park your son”
Playing with a scheme of neurological disorders Kendrick continues on with the notion that Drake ‘forgets’ his lack of real credibility and issues faced by saying that “Dementia must run in his family”. He follows this up with saying that he will “park” his son, a double entendre with the literal meaning being that he will put him in check if needed, but also a homophone for Parkinson's disease, characterised by “shaky” tremors.
“The very first time I shot me a drac’, the homie had told me that “Aim it this way”
I didn’t point down enough, today I show you I learn from those mistakes”
This is referring to the Draco pistol, saying that Kendrick misused the gun by not aiming low enough (likely to kill someone) at a younger age, however he pronounces it as Drake to say that he didn't “point down enough” earlier, this is likely referencing the ‘Control ’verse which Kendrick feels he didn’t go hard enough against him, and now will correct his mistakes by making the kill shot.
“Somebody had told me that you got a ring, on God, I’m ready to double the wage,
I rather do that, than let a Canadian n***a make Pac turn in his grave”
A reference to Drake’s 2023-purchased 2Pac custom diamond and ruby ring for ~$1,000,000 USD.
It’s three GOATs left, and I see two of them kissin’ and huggin’ on stage, I love ’em to death, and in eight bars, I’ll explan that phrase…”
Kendrick here is referring back to the ‘GOAT’ status that J. Cole proclaimed the three of them were on ‘First Person Shooter’ whilst also nodding to the fact that they are ‘friendly’ with each other, something he also mentioned on ‘Like That’.
“Niggas clickin’ up, but cannot be legit, no 40 water, tell ‘em”
-Kendrick Lamar on ‘Like That’
It’s also important to note that Kendrick mockingly says that he “love ’em to death”, and that this is something he will explain in “eight bars” where exactly eight bars later he says:
“I pray they my real friends, if not, I’m YNW Melly”
This is a reference to rapper YNW Melly, who was on trial for the suspected double homicide of two of close friends.
“I love him to death, and in eight bars, I’ll explain that phrase
It’s nothin’ nobody can tell me
I don’t wanna talk on no celly
You know I got language barriers
There’s no accent you can sell me
Yeah, Cole and Aubrey know I’m a selfish n***a
The crown is heavy
I pray they my real friends, if not, I’m YNW Melly”
Kendrick also uses this rhyme scheme to attack Drakes character, calling on a multitude of characteristics, primarily Drake being very active on social media and his use of fake accents within his music, and own personal life, two things Kendrick finds to be very unauthentic.
“Take off the clout chase,
Take off the Wi-Fi”- Kendrick Lamar on ‘N95’
Kendrick in general has been heavily against social media within the past seven years since the release of DAMN., culminating within the release of Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers where he speaks a lot on this issue, that he finds social media to be harmful to oneself, within interviews too Kendrick shares this same notion.
“I go months without a phone.”
- Kendrick Lamar on ‘oklama.com’
“My social media, most of the time, is completely off,”
- Kendrick Lamar on ‘New York Times’
An important thing to note is that Kendrick’s only form of communication throughout this entire beef has been purely his music, being released as just tweets with the caption being the title of the song with a subsequent link to it, Kendrick has shown he practices what he preaches.
Within the “eight bars”, Kendrick also plays on the lyrical theme of prison.
“I love him to death, and in eight bars, I’ll explain that phrase
It’s nothin’ nobody can tell me
I don’t wanna talk on no celly
You know I got language barriers
There’s no accent you can sell me
The use of the terms, celly, barriers, bars and sell are a clever way to allude to and execute the verse pertaining prison time and the possible harm Kendrick say’s he could cause to both Drake and J. Cole if they were to take this any further by not being genuine with him.
“I don’t like you poppin’ shit at Pharrell, for him, I inherit the beef”
Drake has had a long-time standing fued with Pharrel and his close friends and business partners, notably Kanye West and Pusha T, this line refers to this fued with Drake’s recent verse on ‘MELTDOWN’ from Travis Scott’s UTOPIA where he states:
“I melt down the chains that I bought from yo’ boss
Give a fuck about all of that heritage shit
Since V not around, the members done hung up the Louis, they not even wearing that shit”
Kendrick is saying he’d “inherit the beef” from Pharrell, and go after Drake himself.
“Yeah, fuck all that pushin’ P, let me see you push a T
You better off spinnin’ again on him, you think about pushin’ me?
He’s Terrence Thornton, I’m Terence Crawford, yeah, I’m whoopin’ feet”
Pushing P is a reference to Drake’s songs regarding the phrase whilst Pusha T is one of the people who formerly dissed Drake in 2018, widley regarded as one of the best diss tracks of all time, and the winner against Drake. Kendrick is saying that Drake is better off dissing the man who unanimously won against him again than even trying to fued with Kendrick, with the next line saying that “he’s Terrence Thorton” and that Kendrick is “Terrence Crawford”, Thorton being the last name of Pusha T whilst Crawford being a famously undefeated boxer. Kendrick then says he’s “whoppin’ feet”, which is LA slang for beating someone up so badly they end up out of their own shoes. It’s interesting to note that similar to Kendrick, Crawford is infrequent with his appearances in his chosen field, something which Kendrick re-states on ‘6:16 in LA’ four days later.
“But I live in circadian rhythms of a shooting star”
-Kendrick Lamar on ‘6:16 in LA’
Kendrick then makes a reference to a famous DMX interview where he’s asked about Drake.
“It’s always been about love and hate, now let me say I’m the biggest hater
I hate the way that you walk, the way that you talk
I hate the way that you dress”
Interestingly, Kendrick also flips one of Michael Jackson’s lines from his 1987 ‘The Way You Make Me Feel’, keeping up the ongoing Prince and Michael Jackson comparisons.
“I like the groove of your walk, your talk, your dress”
- Michael Jackson on ‘The Way You Make Me Feel’
The next line is a double entendre stating:
“We hate the bitches you fuck, ’cause they confuse themselves with real women”
Kendrick is saying that the women that Drake has sex with are ‘trashy’, something which Pusha T also stated on his own diss against Drake, as Drake is known for getting porn-stars pregnant.
“Let ’em know who you chose as your Beyoncé
Sophie knows better, ask your baby mother
Cleaned her up for IG, but the stench is on her”- Pusha T on ‘The Story of Adidon’
However, Kendrick is also alluding to his coming subject matter in the next few disses against Drake where he accuses him of predatory behaviour with young girls, who are not considered “real women”.
“You gon’ make a n***a bring back Puff, let me see if Chubbs really crash somethin’”
This is a reference to Sean Diddy Combs, a.k.a Puff Daddy getting into an altercation with Drake and punching him at DJ Khaled’s 2014 birthday bash. Kendrick also calls out Chubbs, Drake’s own personal bodyguard, questioning if he will go to great lengths for Drake in a physical altercation.
“Let your core audience stomach that
Didn’t tell ’em where you get your abs from
V12, it’s a fast one, bow-bow-bow, last one”
Here Kendrick calls out Drake for having fake ab implants, with a rhyme scheme involving “core”, “stomach” and “abs”, whilst also referencing a V12 which is a fat-slimming device, further accusing him of body modifications.
Other notable people who have called out Drake for body modifications have been; Joe Budden, DJ Carnage an Rick Ross.
“Headshot for the year, you better walk around like Daft Punk”
A reference to Daft Punk members wearing headgear, another threat from Kendrick.
Verse Two
Verse two begins with a Kendrick mocking Drake back from Drake himself mocking Kendrick’s vocal inflections on ‘Like That’ where he says:
“Remember”
This is a reference to Drake’s ‘Worst Behavior’ from 2013.
From this same song, Drake states that:
“Always hated the boy, but now the boy is the man
Motherfucker, I done growed up”
Something which Kendrick also references later.
“Surprised you wanted that feature request
You know that we got some shit to address”
This is most likely a reference to Drake suspectedly reaching out for a Kendrick feature on the song ‘First Person Shooter’ with J. Cole, a song which was suspected to originally include the ‘Big Three’ in it, but only ended up being Drake and Cole.
Kendrick then goes on to (as earlier) state that he enjoys the Drake that makes him dance, with a continuation of his earlier statement that he “likes Drake with the melodies” but not the Drake that “acts tough.” Here, Kendrick further doubles down on his stance by proclaiming that Drake should continue “makin’ him dance, wavin’ his hand, and it won’t be a threat.” The purpose as to why Kendrick chose to mention his viewpoint twice is largely due to the fact that he doesn’t want people to misconstrue his perspective on Drake as an artist, as a large part of the community has. This ties in with the general thesis of ‘euphoria ’itself, as the track is a medium in which Kendrick attempts to unveil the ‘mask’ of Drake, calling him out for being fake.
Ayy, Top Dawg, who the fuck they think they playin’ with?
Extortion my middle name as soon as you jump off of that plane bitch
This bar primarily serves two purposes, firstly it acts as a means of rebbutal for Drake’s own ‘Push Ups’, where Drake makes the accusation that Kendrick is being extorted by his ex-manager and long time friend Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith. Kendrick here casually calls out Top, insinuating that he’s on completely good terms, and subsequently doubling down by saying that he is the one doing the extorting.
“I’m knowin’ they call you The Boy, but where is a man? ’Cause I ain’t seen him yet”
As stated earlier, Kendrick references the same track which Drake says “remember?” on, which he himself (Drake) calls himself “the boy”, Kendrick further continues with the notion of a fake mask to say that he still hasn’t seen the true Drake, also a double entendre to call him childish.
When I see you stand by Sexyy Red, I believe you see two bad bitches
I believe you don’t like women, that’s real competition, you might pop ass with ‘em
Whilst seemingly just to be a joking bar, mocking Drake for his notoriously feminine looks, behaviour and friendships, stating that Drake himself views himself as a female, it also acts as (many other bars) a setup for a subsequent, albeit more subtle line in one if his next tracks, titled ‘meet the grahams’, where Kendrick states that Drake is a “beard”, which generically refers to a person who covers up for people, and more commonly a person who enters a relationship purely for the sake of covering their sexuality. Kendrick here is likely insinuating one of three things, firstly that Drake is a homosexual (more likely bisexual) man who is acquainted with many women to cover up his sexuality. Secondly, this could be referring to Drake masking his questionable relationships with minors, with adult women (an angle which Kendrick plays on heavily in his coming tracks), or lastly, that Drake is covering up his alleged OVO sex ring. Either, or if not all interpretations is most likely what Kendrick is implying here.
“Let’s speak on percentage, show me your splits
I make sure I double back with you
You was signed to a n***a that’s signed to a n***a that said he was signed to that n***a”
Again, Kendrick further rebuttals Drake’s main argument point within ‘Push Ups’ (extortion) where Drake claims Kendrick does “splits” so much (contract splits) that his “pants might rip”, by interpolating Pusha T’s own shot at Drake from his 2012 track titled ‘Exodus 23:1’ where Pusha T says:
“Contract all fucked up
I guess that means you all fucked up
You signed to one nigga that signed to another nigga
That’s signed to three niggas, now that’s bad luck”
In this case referring to Drake being signed under Lil’ Wayne’s Young Money imprint, which is under Birdman’s Cash Money, when is subsequently under Universal Records. — Genius
Try cease and desist on the “Like That” record
Hoe, what? You ain’t like that record?
Kendrick claims Drake sent a cease and desist letter for the diss track against him, something which Metro Boomin’ seemingly confirmed in a tweet later.
“”Back To Back,” I like that record
I’mma get back to that for the record”
Here it seems as if Kendrick is actually giving Drake credit on his infamous ‘Back to Back’ diss track against rapper Meek Mill (a diss track which was met with widespread positive acclaim). This bar however is a forewarning to Drake, where Kendrick himself likes the idea of the ‘Back To Back’ record, with him then proceeding to release a track titled ‘6:16 in LA’ back to back. Something interesting to note here is that the cover art of ‘euphoria ’actually predicts this, with the description stating that “They had almost a week to recover from the ‘euphoria ’of Tuesday’s series-winning victory …”. Note that ‘euphoria ’was released on Tuesday, and accordingly, they (Drake) has “almost a week” to “recover” from it with the release of ‘6:16 in LA’ only four days later.
“Why would I call around tryna get dirt on n***as?
Y’all think all of my life is rap?
That’s ho shit, I got a son to raise, but I can see you don’t know nothin’ ‘bout that”
As a direct response to Drake’s taunting antics, mocking Kendrick for being ‘scared’ to drop, Kendrick reveals that his life isn't purely rap and that he, unlike Drake (allegedly) is busy taking care of his son. Kendrick also alleges that Drake is spending money to dry get dirt on Kendrick, this is something rapper Pusha T has also claimed in the past.
Kendrick then flips Drake’s lines about the feud being a “20 v 1” by claiming that it is in fact Kendrick who is against 20 people with the lines:
“Ain’t 20-v-one, it’s one-v-20 if I gotta smack n***as that write with you
Yeah, bring ’em out too, I clean ’em out too
Tell BEAM that he better stay right with you”
This bar acts as a clever rebbutal, however also directly name dropping one of Drake’s alleged ghostwriters. Interestingly, Kendrick specifically name drops BEAM instead of other alleged ghostwriters, a likely double entendre for Drake needing to stay by his “beam” (gun). This is very in line with the track’s overarching theme of a ‘fake actor’ in Drake. — Genius
“Am I battlin’ ghost or A.I.? N***a feelin’ like Joel Osteen
Funny, he was in a film called A.I.
And my sixth sense tellin’ me to off him”
A reference is made to the film ‘Sixth Sense’ wherein a child is able to see dead people. This rhyme scheme cleverly references Kendrick’s confusion in who he’s fighting (AI, Ghostwriters and AI of dead people). Kendrick also references this in the opening line of ‘Not Like Us’, where he says that he can “see dead people”.
Kendrick also seemingly mixes up the names of Joel Osteen and Haley Joel Osment here, however this could be expressing his confusion on who he is truly versing in the beef, as Drakes use of AI of deceased figures is mentioned right beforehand. Notably, Kendrick pronounces Joel Osteen’s name as Joel (Hale) Osteen, possibly referring to Haley Joel Osteen, who did star in the film ‘Sixth Sense’. Something to mention is that the person Kendrick mentions (Joel Osteen) famously has drama pertaining to AI and ghostwriting. This is likely not unintentional, as Kendrick has rarely (if never) made obvious lyrical mistakes within his music before.
“I’mma blick n***as, all in they coffin”
This is a call back to the mentioning of a coffin from the ‘Like That’ verse, however more importantly a subtle nod at the fact that Kendrick will “blick” (East Coast slang to murder) Drake in his “coffin”. This refers to Kendrick dropping ‘Not Like Us’ after ‘murdering’ Drake with ‘meet the grahams’.
“Yeah, OVO n***as is dick riders”
“OVO” which is Drake’s record label, Octobers Very Own is pronounced as OV-Hoe here, something which Kendrick turns into a chant on ‘Not Like Us’.
Kendrick then rebbutals ‘Push Ups ’claims that The Weekend’s crew, XO ran from America with the lines:
“Tell ’em run to America to imitate heritage, they can’t imitate this violence
What I learn, these n***as don’t like the West Coast
And I’m fine with it, I push the line with it
Pick a n***a off one at a time with it
We can be on a three-hour time difference”
Kendrick then goes on to mock Drake’s Canadian standing with him copying and exaggerating the Toronto accent. Kendrick also uses the now Toronto slang of “crodie” here, a slang term which was originally popularised by American crips. Drake’s cat’s name is also crodie, Kendrick is calling him a pussy.
Further mocking the accent, Kendrick says “cheesin’ fam”, very obviously mocking Drake’s own Toronto accent. Kendrick also mentions “New Ho King”, a famous Toronto restaurant, and how he’s eating there. Kendrick is responding to Drake’s mocking comment that Kendrick is “held up in that NY apartment”.
“I be at New Ho King eatin’ fried rice with a dip sauce and blamy, crodie
Tell me you’re cheesin’, fam
We can do this right now on the camera, crodie”
Kendrick is also stating that he’s willing to do a live battle rap against Drake, something which would ultimately prove Kendrick’s point that Drake needs ghostwriters.
Overall, ‘euphoria ’is a masterclass in lyricism, catchiness and delivery with the Drake responding to practically every accusation, line and inference made within ‘Push Ups’. Kendrick uses his extremely unique delivery to produce some of the most memorable lines from the entire beef within this six minute masterclass of a track, ultimately demonstrating his versatility as not only a rapper, but an artist. ‘euphoria ’is a track that has many layers on layers, and despite that still sounds and is extremely enjoyable on the first listen, however definitely a track which gets better every single listen as it is packed with intriguing rhyme schemes, references, accusations, foreshadowing and rebuttals. Kendrick Lamar effectively counteracts ‘Push Ups’, with his own ‘euphoria’.
