This article breaks down everything Kendrick Lamar said in his diss track about Drake. There is so much to unpack from the lyrics of the track so let’s have an analysis.
So much is happening right now. Mere minutes after Drake dropped his ‘Family matters’ diss song, Kendrick Lamar responded with “Meet The Graham” and the battlefield is now decimated.
In his nuclear response, Kendrick Lamar takes a shot at Drake with a 6-minute track that thoroughly addresses each member of Drake’s immediate family. In the song, Kendrick accuses Drake of several serious issues and actions, including hiding a daughter from the public, struggling with substance and gambling addictions, and engaging in various sex crimes. Kendrick’s verses are structured in a way that he speaks directly to Drake’s family members, making the song’s title a reference to this structure. Additionally, the title may also serve as a double entendre, hinting at the potential exposure of another child of Drake’s. This intense and personal approach makes the track a powerful and controversial response in their ongoing feud.
Meet the Graham was dropped shortly after Drake accused Kendrick of domestic violence and infidelity in family matters on Friday night.
The similarity in the subject matter (and titles) of the two songs suggests that Kendrick might have already known “Family Matters” was going to be released, so he prepared “Meet the Grahams” in advance.
DJ Akademiks reported that the items originated from Dennis Graham’s suitcase, which Kendrick somehow acquired. Throughout the song, Kendrick references these items in various ways, suggesting that Drake has issues with substance use and overspending. He also reiterates claims that Drake uses Ozempic.
The Adonis Graham Verse
In the first verse of the song, Kendrick speaks directly to Drake’s son, Adonis, to get a message to Drake.
“Sometimes our parents make mistakes that affect us when we’re older. You’re a good kid who needs good guidance. Let me be your mentor since your dad doesn’t teach you anything. Never let anyone disrespect you.” He offers to be the father figure that Adonis does not have, Kendrick makes references to an alleged incident in 2015 where T.I. said that his late friend urinated on Drake in the club.
Kendrick begins to make strong accusations that Drake is part of the escort business while also teasing Drake about being biracial. Kendrick is saying that even if you have a lot of women, it doesn’t make you strong. He advises Adonis to stay true to himself as a Black man, regardless of the situation. Kendrick is implying that Drake only acts Black when it benefits him.
“Get some discipline, don’t cut them corners like your daddy did/ Fuck what Ozempic did/ Don’t pay to play with them Brazilians, get a gym membership/ Understand, no throwin’ rocks and hidin’ hands, that’s law/ Don’t be ashamed ’bout who you wit,’ that’s how he treat your moms/ Don’t have a kid to hide a kid to hide again, be sure/ Five percent will comprehend but ninety-five is lost”
Kendrick implies that Drake has had cosmetic surgery and uses the weight loss drug Ozempic. He goes further to advise Adonis not to “have a kid to hide a kid to hide again,” which is his way of alluding to later allegations that Drake has been hiding his first-born child this entire time. The five percent bar is a double entendre that references the Five-Percent Nation as a way to say that only five percent of listeners will fully understand the truth of his previous bar about Drake hiding another child.
The Sandra & Dennis Graham Verse
In the second verse, Kendrick addresses Drake’s parent which might be a jab in itself because the two have been separated since the rapper’s youth. Kendrick uses them as vessels to dive deeper into more serious allegations he has against Drake, including his relationships with underaged women and how he operates in the celebrity world.
“I think niggas like him should die/ Him and Weinstein should get fucked up in a cell for the rest they life/ He hates black women, hypersexualizes them, with kinks of a nympho fetish/ Grew facial hair ’cause he understood bein’ a beard just fit him better/ He got sex offenders on OVO that he keep on a monthly allowance”
“I been in this industry twelve years, I’ma tell y’all one lil’ secret/ It’s some weird shit goin’ on and some of these artists be here to police it/ They be streamlinin’ victims all inside of they home and callin’ em Tinder/ Then leak videos of themselves to further push their agendas”
The music industry has been filled with so many stories of sexual misconduct, grooming, and other heinous crimes for decades, and Kendrick Lamar is implying that Drake has used his home for something deeply nefarious (like a sex trafficking ring), insinuating that the rapper’s leaked nude from February was being used as bait. These allegations come shortly after Diddy’s home was raided by the Department of Homeland Security while being investigated for sex trafficking.
The Hidden Daughter Verse
Kendrick accuses Drake of having an 11-year-old daughter that he has been hiding from the world (a claim that Drake immediately denied on instagram). Kendrick also uses the verse to discuss Drake’s drug addiction and double down on calling him a deadbeat dad, similar to what Pusha-T did on “Story of Adidon.”
“Should be teachin’ you time tables or watchin’ Frozen with you/ Or at your eleventh birthday, singin’ poems with you/Instead, he be in Turks, payin’ for sex and poppin’ Percs”
Kendrick reveals how old Drake’s alleged daughter is, making her five years older than Adonis. If the math is accurate, she would have been born right around the time Frozen came out, since the film was released in Nov. 2013. Then Kendrick says that Drake is busy going on vacations to Turks and Caicos while doing drugs, instead of being a present father.
LISTEN TO THE DISS TRACK
English