Drake’s lyrics to his 2010 song “Thank Me Now” still ring true when it comes to his relationship with Kanye West — “Your idols become your rivals.”
Over the last decade, the Canadian rapper has gone from talking about West as someone he admires to exchanging diss tracks and engaging in social media feuds.
Most recently, West, 41, took aim at Drake, 32, on Twitter, tweeting over 125 times on Dec. 14 and claiming Drake threatened him, his wife Kim Kardashian West and their children North, 5, Saint, 3, Chicago, 10 months.
Though Drake and West’s ongoing feud seems to be far from over, here’s a look back at a timeline of their complicated love/hate relationship.
Sept. 1, 2007
Drake’s “Comeback Season” mixtape contained a freestyle over West’s “Barry Bonds,” which wasn’t released until his album Graduation dropped 10 days later.
October 2008
Once again, Drake released a freestyle over one of West’s projects, “Swagga Like Us.” The song was originally recorded by West, JAY-Z, T.I.and Lil Wayne.
Late 2008 – Early 2009
Drake released “So Far Gone,” which is a song he recorded with a beat produced by West that originally appeared on the 808s & Heartbreak track “Say What’s Real.”
In an interview with MTV News at the time, Drake described West as “the most influential person” on his sound.
“Before I ever got the chance to meet him, Kanye West shaped a lot of what I do, as far as music goes,” he said. “We always, always, always took the time to listen to Kanye’s music and appreciate it beyond. We searched the samples and we find out where his inspiration came from, because he has one of the best ears in music, period. He knows how to recognize great music that’s not his. He knows how to utilize great sounds and great music. So before I met him, I had the utmost respect for Kanye West. I’d even go as far as to say he’s the most influential person as far as a musician that I’d ever had in my life.”
June 25, 2009
Drake and West, who shared managers — Cortez Bryant and Gee Robertson — at the time, both appeared on the remix of Jamie Foxx’s“Digital Girl.”
Aug. 27, 2009
“Forever” was released as a collaboration between Drake, West, Eminem and Lil Wayne. The song was issued on the soundtrack for Lebron James’ documentary, More Than a Game.
April 28, 2010
“Find Your Love,” which was co-written and co-produced by West, was released by Drake.
September 2010
Drake was spotted out at a club with West’s ex Amber Rose, with whom he’d split two months prior.
November 2010
It became known that Drake recorded a verse on West’s “All of The Lights” when an earlier leak of the track (which was originally called “Ghetto University”) leaked. But when the song was officially released in November, Drake’s verse had been cut.
January 2011
The first public diss came from Drake during an interview with English DJ Tim Westwood when he said that he and Lil Wayne were working on a joint album. He then threw a jab at West and JAY-Z, who were also working on their joint album, Watch the Throne.
“I heard some other guys are coming out with an album, too,” he said. “There’s two other rappers that are coming out with an album together. I don’t know where they got that idea.”
October 2011
Drake covered an issue of The Source, and he talked about being compared to West during his interview.
“It’s an honor,” he said. “When I was a kid trying to figure out what I liked, it was ‘Ye who I related to the most. He was an artist, in every sense, from his cover art to his music. Now, I would say, he is [a] really great competitor…and friend, at the same time… My goal is to surpass everything he’s accomplished. I don’t want to be as good as Kanye, I want to be better.”
Dec. 20, 2011
Drake’s verse on DJ Khaled’s “I’m On One” seemed to be another jab at West and JAY-Z’s Watch the Throne. He rapped, “I’m just feeling like the throne is for the taking/Watch me take it.”
Aug. 5, 2013
West appeared as a surprise guest at Drake’s 2013 OVO Fest, and not only did he perform, but he also admitted that Drake had a part in inspiring Watch the Throne.
“Me and Hov would’ve never made Watch the Throne if [Drake] wasn’t putting pressure on us like that, so I just want to pay my respects,” West reportedly told the crowd, according to MTV News.
Afterward, Drake told MTV News that West’s appearance “was probably the most important moment in my career to date.”’
“Me and Hov would’ve never made Watch the Throne if [Drake] wasn’t putting pressure on us like that, so I just want to pay my respects,” West reportedly told the crowd, according to MTV News.
Afterward, Drake told MTV News that West’s appearance “was probably the most important moment in my career to date.”
Feb. 13, 2014
Jan. 31, 2015
March 12, 2015
During an interview with French website Clique, West said that he looks at Drake as an “amazing sparring partner.”
“Someone who’s like, ‘Come on, man, get back up!’” he said. “I was sitting there getting fat. Sitting back, just knocked everybody out. And then this guy hits the gym, he’s just running around like, pow, 14 hits… I’m like, ‘Whoa. Let me go to the studio, then. Let’s see what’s happening. Let me get these lyrics up.’ So, that’s where we at right now, that’s where you getting these records from.”
Jan. 30, 2016
Drake released “Summer Sixteen” in which he bragged about having a bigger pool than West, specifically with the lyrics, “Ye’s pool is nice, mine’s just bigger’s what I’m saying.”
Feb. 12, 2016
Nov. 20, 2016
During a stop on his Saint Pablo tour, West had a long onstage rant where he alleged DJ Khaled “set up” his Drake collaboration “For Free” with radio stations, according to Fader.
He made it clear, though, that he still had appreciation for his fellow artists. “I love Drake, I love Khaled,” he said.
February 2017
In response to West’s rant, Drake told DJ Semtex, “I’m not really sure what he’s referring to half the time.”
“Because in the same breath, I went from being…like working on a project with him, to him sorta publicly s——ing on me and DJ Khaled for being on the radio too much. I’m not sure why we’re the target of your choice that you made that night. And yeah, I accept what you’re going through, and I just go and continue working on my own thing.”
March 18, 2017
Drake released “Glow” off of his album More Life with a feature from West.
May 25, 2018
Drake’s longtime rival Pusha T released the song “Infrared” off of his album Daytona, which West produced. In the song, Pusha calls out Drake for allegedly using a ghostwriter.
May 29, 2018
A war of words ensued following the release of “Infrared” — with Drake and Pusha exchanging social media insults and diss tracks — then Pusha released “The Story of Adidon.” Among his attacks were rhymes mocking Drake’s newfound anger, supposed habit of walking away from relationships, his mother (by name), and one set of lyrics that exposed the fact that Drake had fathered a child with former adult-film star Sophie Brussaux (Drake would later verify the longtime rumors on his album Scorpion).
June 1, 2018
When West dropped “No Mistakes” off of his album Ye, fans took the song’s final lyric to be a diss directed at Drake, “Too rich to fight you/Calm down, you light-skinned.”
Aug. 29, 2018
In an interview with Chicago radio station WGCI, West denied that he told Pusha about Drake’s kid.
“I’m ‘Ye. I got major things to do other than be telling him some information about Drake,” West said. “I honestly don’t care that much, in all honesty.”
0Later in the interview, West continued to talk about his relationship with Drake and said, “When we talk about the Drake thing, it hits me in a really sensitive place because you hang around people and they come to your house and be around your family and this and that. And then they get mad about a beat and send you purple demon emojis. We understand that he got upset about [“The Story of Adidon”]. I feel that it was insensitive for him to, in any way, stress me out in any way after TMZ, while I’m in Wyoming healing, pulling all the pieces together, working on my music.”
When West made the TMZ reference, he was speaking about the time he made his “slavery is a choice” comments while on the show.
Sept. 4, 2018
Sept. 20, 2018
A couple of weeks after West apologized to Drake, he switched gears and went off on him on Instagram. In since-deleted videos, West fired back at claims that his wife hooked up with Drake in the past — a conversation that occurred on Complex’s Everyday Struggle between DJ Akademiks and Nick Cannon on Sept. 3.
He also brought up Drake’s hit “In My Feelings” and his reference to “Kiki,” which some speculated to be Kardashian West as that has long been one of her nicknames.
“People making rumors or thinking you f— my wife and you’re not saying nothing… that don’t sit well with my spirit,” West said. “You know, if I had a girlfriend from Chicago, her name was Renita, and you was married to Rihanna, I wouldn’t make no song called ‘Riri.’ So when you’re like, ‘I don’t know where it came,’ you too smart for that bro.”
October 2018
During a candid conversation on LeBron James’ HBO show The Shop, Drake detailed the betrayal he felt when West dropped his album, Ye, weeks before his own album, Scorpion.
2Prior to the release, Drake claimed he and West had connected in the studio. There, West allegedly pressured Drake into revealing details about Scorpion, convincing him that he had good intentions and never revealing that he was working on an album of his own.
“He sold me on this whole speech of like, ‘I’m in a great place, I’m making money, and I’m a father, and I wanna be Quincy Jones and help you. But in order to do that, you’ve gotta be transparent with me, you gotta play me your music, and you gotta tell me when you’re dropping. And I know you don’t like to do things like that,’” Drake recalled on The Shop. “I guess we all kind of felt a genuine vibe from it, so I played him my music and I told him when I was dropping.”
Drake went on to say that West invited him to spend time in Wyoming to work on some music. While there, Drake claimed he played West his song “March 14,” which addresses his relationship with 1-year-old son Adonis’ mother. The two even got into a discussion about their personal lives, with Drake showing the father of three a photo of his own son, who at that point was a secret. “I tell him I’m having trouble with my son’s mother. We had a conversation,” Drake said on The Shop.
Dec. 13, 2018
West aimed a string of Tweets at Drake after receiving a text from someone named “Free” — likely a producer from his team — asking if he wanted to clear Drake’s request for “Say What’s Real.”
West shared a screenshot of the text and wrote, “This proves s— faker than wrestling,” before expressing that he was still waiting for Drake to apologize “for mentioning the 350s and trying to take food out your idols kids mouths” on “No Stylist.”
3Dec. 14, 2018
Just hours after West appeared to settle their beef, he hopped back on Twitter with over 125 Tweets and claimed Drake “called trying to [threaten] me.”
“So Drake if anything happens to me or anyone from my family you are the first suspect — so cut the tough talk,” West continued.
West even went as far as saying Drake wouldn’t even be where he is today without him.
“I’m the guy with the pink polo that made a way for him,” West wrote. “There would never be a drake without a Kanye west so never come out your mouth with a threat.”
“I’m your oxygen,” West continued.
4“You trying to be a bully. I never been bullied in my life and I never will be. That’s why I made it this far in a pink polo,” West tweeted.
West also briefly professed his love for Drake writing, “I’m Ye bro Remember that I love you I would never intentionally hurt you That’s what I’ve been saying to you.”
“I will never put negative energy into a song,” West continued. “Only positive energy.”
Dec. 15, 2018
West began a lengthy tweetstorm by addressing a tweet Ariana Grande shared on Thursday evening, hours before she dropped her new song “Imagine.”
Speaking on behalf of herself and Miley Cyrus, who was also releasing a song at midnight, Grande tweeted, “Guys, i know there are grown men arguing online rn but miley and i dropping our beautiful, new songs tonight so if y’all could please jus behave for just like a few hours so the girls can shine that’d be so sick thank u.”
“I know Ariana said this to be cool and didn’t mean no harm but I don’t like even slightest level of slight commentary from someone I know loves and respects me,” West tweeted.
5“People will no longer take mental health for a joke,” he continued before briefly outlining what led him to come after Drake online this week. (Months after telling the world that he suffered from bipolar disorder — and even referencing it on the cover his album Ye back in June — West said in October that he was “misdiagnosed” with the condition.)
“Drake verbally attacked [Kid] Cudi when he was in the hospital and went at me after TMZ because I decided to release albums in June,” he wrote. In a Facebook letter posted in 2016, Kid Cudi told his fans that he was checking himself into rehab to tackle his depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts.
West went on to write that things “snowballed and he refused to meet with me but texted my mother in law and did sneak disses on peoples records that I consider family,” referring to “Sicko Mode,” a song Travis Scott’s latest album Astroworld that Drake appears on.
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