In 2025, Drake reflected on the feud on "Fighting Irish Freestyle"; and Lamar won five Grammy Awards for "Not Like Us" (such as Song of the Year), performing it and “Euphoria” at Super Bowl LIX.

[4] In the track, Lamar shares how his initial meeting with Drake had felt like an introduction into the tempting, but potentially harmful world of celebrity, luxury, and fame.

Lamar's verse on the track called out many popular rappers of his generation by name, including Drake, claiming that he "had love" for all of them, but was trying to figuratively "murder" them, to the point of making their fans forget about their existence.

[33] Two days after the track's release, Drake addressed Lamar's 2013 BET Hip Hop Awards cypher verse and "The Language" in a cover story for Vibe, mocking the idea of them being "buddy-buddy" and stating he already "stood [his] ground" in response to "Control".

[34] In a list of potential sneak disses on Drake's February 2015 mixtape If You're Reading This It's Too Late, Brandon Caldwell for Billboard claimed "Used To" and the bonus track "6PM in New York" contained lines targeting Lamar.

/ I swore I wouldn't tell / But most of y'all sharing bars like you got the bottom bunk in a two man cell" from "King Kunta" were retrospectively interpreted by multiple outlets as subliminal Drake disses from Lamar.

[26][42][43] The songs "Darkside / Gone" and "Deep Water" from Dr. Dre's August 2015 studio album Compton also both featured Lamar verses with lines interpreted as Drake disses.

[63] Six months later, Lamar responded directly to the track and the "Big Three" notion in a feature on Metro Boomin and Future's song, "Like That" from their album We Don't Trust You.

[70] Drake did not directly acknowledge "Like That" on tour, simply stating at one concert: "I got my head up high... and I know no matter what there's not another nigga on this Earth that could ever fuck with me".

[75] In addition, Drake disses numerous other artists on "Push Ups", including Metro Boomin, Future, the Weeknd, ASAP Rocky, and Rick Ross.

[78] On this track, Drake makes the feud's first reference to the pedophilia accusations against him, using Shakur's AI-generated voice to implore Lamar: "Talk about him liking young girls, that’s a gift from me/Heard it on the Budden Podcast, it’s gotta be true.

"[79] The song inspired direct criticism from Shakur's estate, which stated disapproval of the AI-generated verse and threatened to sue Drake to pull the song from social media, citing the violation of Shakur's personality rights and the decision to diss a friend of the estate: "The unauthorized, equally dismaying use of Tupac's voice against Kendrick Lamar ... who has given nothing but respect to Tupac and his legacy publicly and privately, compounds the insult.

[83] On May 3, 2024, three days after "Euphoria", Lamar posted an Instagram Reel captioned "6:16 in LA", containing a new diss track,[84][85] similar to how Drake released "Taylor Made Freestyle".

[101][102] Drake responded to Lamar on Instagram: "Nahhhh hold on can someone find my hidden daughter pls and send her to me ... these guys are in shambles", followed by multiple laughing emojis.

[104][105][106] Several members of Drake's crew were mentioned by name in the track, including a direct reference to Baka Not Nice's prior criminal charges of sex trafficking, assault, and robbery of a 22-year-old woman he allegedly forced into prostitution in 2014.

Lamar concluded the concert with a "Not Like Us" encore, afterwards repeating the song five more times while dancing on stage with colleagues and members of many Los Angeles street gangs, including the Crips and Bloods, before taking a group photo onstage.

[142] On November 25, 2024, Drake appeared on a Kick livestream with Canadian streamer xQc, describing himself as "fully intact, mind, body, and soul" and remarking that "you need facts to take me out, fairy tales won't do it".

[144][145] On the same day, Drake filed a petition against Universal Music Group (UMG) and Spotify alleging they violated the RICO Act by using illegal tactics to boost streams for "Not Like Us".

[146] UMG responded the same day, denying the allegations and stating that "no amount of contrived and absurd legal arguments in this pre-action submission can mask the fact that fans choose the music they want to hear".

[151] In September 2024, shortly after being announced as the halftime show musical guest for the upcoming Super Bowl, Lamar dropped his first track following the beef, an untitled Instagram-only release known colloquially as "Watch the Party Die" after its refrain; the song did not mention Drake, and was interpreted as an attempt to reshape the narrative from the beef towards Lamar's broader goals of shifting hip-hop away from glorifying luxury and the celebrity lifestyle (symbolized by Drake) and towards lyricism and music with a deeper meaning.

[165][166] The song received mixed reactions from critics, with HipHopDX writing that "after retreating in his beef with Kendrick following the underwhelming reception to 'The Heart Part 6', the tough talk just feels empty".

[180][182] On February 14, 2025, less than one week after Lamar's Super Bowl performance, Drake released a collaborative album with PartyNextDoor titled $ome $exy $ongs 4 U.

[note 4] Lamar has been supported by Metro Boomin, Future, SZA, Pusha T, Kanye West, The Weeknd, ASAP Rocky, Rick Ross, Serena Williams, Joe Budden and Jay Rock, among others.

[212] Former wrestler and current WWE producer Shawn Michaels, whose Sweet Chin Music finishing move was mentioned in "Not Like Us", invited the pair to settle their feud on NXT.

[213] Tennis star Naomi Osaka claimed that in her opinion, Kendrick is winning the feud, and that she used "Not Like Us" in coming out to the court before beating Clara Burel at the Italian Open.

"[71] Multiple commentators, including Todd Boyd, compared the feud to the East Coast–West Coast hip hop rivalry from the 1990s,[225][226] which culminated with the drive-by shooting deaths of both Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G.

[228] Likening the feud to literary debates, The Independent's Ryan Coogan opined that the two rappers' poetic talents had elevated their conflict from celebrity gossip to art.

[230] Holmes noted that unlike Drake's leverage of meme culture in his feud against Meek Mill, he was at a disadvantage compared to Lamar's less accessible nature on the internet.

[71][230] The Ringer argued hypocrisy in both parties' messaging, stating that Drake, who went after Lamar for allegedly abusing women, had shouted out Chris Brown on "Family Matters" and posted his support on social media of Tory Lanez, both of whom had been arrested for domestic violence.

[71] The Roots drummer Questlove condemned both for engaging in "wrestling match level mudslinging", opining that neither can reasonably be considered to have emerged victorious, concluding, "Hip Hop truly is dead.