Drake's Toronto house 'owned by Lamar'? How the fight of epic proportions put Canada in the spotlight
Here’s how Toronto has played a part in the lyrical altercation thus far
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Drake’s hometown of Toronto has been thrust into the spotlight in the ongoing feud between him and Compton, California’s Kendrick Lamar.
The rap beef began after Lamar took a shot at Drake, verbally threatening him and questioning his rap legacy in a guest verse on Future and Metro Boomin’s song ‘Like That,’ released on March 22.
Here’s how Toronto has played a part in the lyrical altercation thus far.
First, what did I miss?
The dispute between Drake and Kendrick Lamar has escalated in recent weeks, with the rappers trading sharply worded verses, many of them unrepeatable here, in a series of rap songs aimed at each other.
Each rapper seems to be given no quarter. Both accuse the other of serious crimes without proof.
Each fine point in the clash, between two of hip hop’s biggest artists, has spread quickly on social media. The diss songs have been streamed millions of times, often within hours of their release. The dispute also led to resharing of a video featuring former U.S. president Barack Obama, who was asked to weigh in on the rivalry eight years ago.
“Gotta go with Kendrick,” Obama said during a 2016 interview with YouTuber Adande Thorne. “I think Drake is an outstanding entertainer but Kendrick, his lyrics.”
How does Toronto play into it?
The artwork for Lamar’s song ‘Not Like Us’ featured an aerial photo of Drake’s $100 million estate in Toronto.
Lamar also mentions DeMar DeRozan, a fellow Compton native, who was drafted by the Raptors in 2009 and spent 9 years on the team. “I’m glad DeRoz’ came home, y’all didn’t deserve him neither,” he raps, seemingly expanding the hostility to include all of Canada.
The song, which has gained nearly 20 million views on YouTube in two days, prompted some fans to use Google Maps’ feature allowing users to label locations, adding “Owned by Kendrick” pin to Drake’s Toronto home. The name appears to have since been taken down.
In the song, Lamar calls Drake a colonizer for featuring Atlanta rappers in his songs to make money. Elsewhere, he also seems to take issue with his Canadian background.
What about Toronto’s New Ho King?
The Toronto Chinese restaurant received a wave of positive reviews after it was mentioned in Lamar’s song ‘Euphoria.’ The six-minute song was the first Lamar released going after Drake. In it, referring to Drake as Crodie, the name of Drake’s cat, and even putting on a Toronto accent at one point. Lamar says:
“I be at New Ho King eatin’ fried rice with a dip sauce and a blammy, crodie/ Tell me you’re cheesin’, fam/ We can do this right now on the camera, crodie.”
The reference is believed to hint at the location Drake was the victim of an armed robbery in May 2009. In an interview with GQ, Drake said he was “set up,” by his date. “I had on a sweater and a jacket. But when they banged on the car window with a gun and opened the door, the first thing he said was, ‘Yo, (give up) that chain,’” he said.
Drake appeared at New Ho King, where he dined on fried rice and chicken wings for his music video Family Matters, which takes aim at Lamar.
New Ho King’s owner Johnny Liu, said Lamar’s song has helped business, bringing new visitors to the restaurant in recent days and attracting positive reviews that mention the fried rice.
Dua Lipa explains the beef
In a Saturday Night Live sketch poking fun at the drama, guest host and pop superstar Dua Lipa played a culture critic on a morning show who is trying to grasp the convoluted back and forths.
Asked what she has learned so far, Dua’s character Wendy Weems, a children’s music teacher, says: “Well, here’s one clue: on the song ‘Euphoria’ when Kendrick describes Drake as Canadian, that is because Drake is from Toronto.”
“Now in Drake’s diss track, he questioned Kendrick’s manhood saying he wears a size 7 shoe,” she adds. “But now Drake is being sued by Tupac’s estate for using an AI version of his voice.”
The sketch ends with Mikey Day and Heidi Gardner, who play the hosts of the morning show, using paddles with the faces of the two rappers on them. They attempt to talk out their feud instead of firing “mean raps” at each other.
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