Unless you鈥檝e been living under a rock, you鈥檝e probably seen a headline or two (or 10) about Drake鈥檚 ongoing beef with rapper Pusha-T.
A series of diss tracks released earlier this week saw the two stars trading barbs in lyrics that tackled everything from authenticity, ghostwriting, fiancées, to a secret child (gasp!)
Although the war of words reached a fever pitch this week, the story behind Drake and Pusha-T鈥檚 simmering resentment actually dates back to 2006 and involves a Japanese clothing label of all things.
Here鈥檚 a quick explainer for anyone unfamiliar with the years-long drama.
How did it start?
The saga began when rapper Lil Wayne, Drake鈥檚 mentor, was photographed wearing a hooded sweatshirt by the Japanese brand BAPE on the cover of a magazine during the height of his career. The former rap duo Clipse, which consisted of Pusha-T and his brother No Malice, took offense because they claimed they wore the clothing label first.
Although Lil Wayne appeared to brush off the apparent controversy in an interview soon after, the dispute didn鈥檛 end there.
In 2011, Pusha-T came out with the track 鈥淓xodus 23:1鈥� in which he took aim at rappers who sign with multiple companies. Drake signed to the record label Young Money, which is under multiple other companies, including Cash Money Records. Lil Wayne reacted to the perceived slight with the blunt lyric 鈥淔--k Pusha-T鈥� in one of his songs.
As Drake鈥檚 fame started to overshadow Lil Wayne鈥檚 in the ensuing years, Pusha-T, now the president of Kanye West鈥檚 label G.O.O.D Music, started to direct his ire at the rising rapper. The pair traded thinly veiled insults about each other鈥檚 success until Pusha-T came out with the track 鈥淗.G.T.V. Freestyle鈥� in 2016, where he directly called out Drake鈥檚 lyrics and alluded to the use of ghostwriting. Drake responded by taking shots at the credibility of Pusha-T鈥檚 drug-dealing past in his own song 鈥淭wo Birds, One Stone.鈥�
Who鈥檚 involved?
Although the hostilities initially involved Lil Wayne and Clipse, the feud shifted to Drake and Pusha-T after the former stood up for his mentor and became a global superstar himself.
There have been a few peripheral players, such as Kanye West, mentioned in the lyrical face-offs, but the crux of the conflict has centred on Drake and Pusha-T for the most part.
What sparked the latest resurgence?
On Friday, Pusha-T released a new song called 鈥淚nfrared鈥� on his latest album Daytona in which he accused Drake of employing Quentin Miller as a ghostwriter. Before the day was done, Drake retaliated with his own track 鈥淒uppy Freestyle鈥� where he raps about how he helped Kanye West with a couple of songs on his album The Life of Pablo, mentions Pusha-T鈥檚 fiancée Virginia Williams, and threatens to send G.O.O.D. Music an invoice for using his fame for publicity for Daytona.
What are the juiciest revelations to come out of it?
Perhaps the most intriguing details to emerge from the lengthy dispute have come from Pusha-T鈥檚 鈥淭he Story of Adidon,鈥� which he released on Tuesday complete with a now-viral photo of a young Drake in blackface for the song鈥檚 artwork.
Pusha-T didn鈥檛 hold back in the track's fiery lyrics which insult Drake鈥檚 parents, his racial identity, and even, his producer and friend Noah 鈥�40鈥� Shebib for having multiple sclerosis. Ironically, Pusha-T said he was unaware that he released the song on the eve of World MS Day.
In what may be the most salacious piece of gossip of all, Pusha-T accuses Drake of secretly fathering a child with a former porn star. Drake has yet to respond to that particular allegation, but he did post a note on his Instagram stories explaining why he was in blackface for that old photo.
The drama is assumedly far from over as Drake鈥檚 next album Scorpion is set for release in June.
