Drake is a 38-year-old Canadian rapper 24 years into his career, but after recent controversy, his popularity may be coming to an end. His once untouchable dominance over the industry now faces a possible collapse after his five-month back-and-forth feud with fellow rapper Kendrick Lamar. Now, even some of Drake’s own fans are considering distancing themselves from him after the resulting fallout. 

Long before his career as a rapper, 15-year-old Aubrey Drake Graham made his public debut as an actor in the popular TV drama “Degrassi: The Next Generation.” He portrayed Jimmy Brooks, a loyal, supportive and friendly high school student that often faced discrimination as a wheelchair user, a result of a school shooting in season four. During the course of the series, Drake began to experiment with a career in music, releasing a 2006 debut mixtape titled “Room For Improvement,” and, prior to signing with his first record label, Young Money Entertainment, he released two additional mixtapes titled “Comeback Season” and “So Far Gone.”

In 2012, after achieving more significant success, Drake would go on to found OVO (October’s Very Own), an independent Canadian record label that he still runs to this day. The name OVO also refers to his clothing brand, which began selling Drake-themed merchandise around the same time. The reference to October stems from Drake’s birthday, Oct. 24. In July 2015, after a period of moderate success, Drake would go on to release four singles: “Back to Back,” “Charged Up,” “Hotline Bling” and “Right Hand.” Their individual successes became the catalyst for his astronomical growth in the mid-2010s, and fueled his later career as a rap icon.

In September of that same year, he released a collaborative album with industry partner Future, titled “What a Time To Be Alive,” which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and was later certified  two-time multi-platinum by RIAA for combined sales. His 2016 album “Views” featured the massively popular song “One Dance,” which later became Drake’s first number one single in both the U.S. and Canada. 

Drake went on to release several albums in the following years, but his next colossal hit didn’t come until 2018 with the mini EP “Scary Hours.” One of the two songs on this EP was titled “God’s Plan,” and it debuted number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Another notable success was his late 2018 album “Scorpion,” featuring “In My Feelings,” his sixth U.S. number one hit. “Certified Lover Boy,” Drake’s 10th number one album on the Billboard 200 received some controversy, with some calling both the cover art (a series of pregnant women emojis) and song choices lazy. This reception began a long-running complaint often lodged against some of Drake’s later work: it was too complacent and generic. While not necessarily a devastating stain to have on one’s name, it was indicative of a larger public shift in rap that was growing slightly tired of Drake. In 2024, this minor exhaustion would evolve into a massive distaste for anything related to him — all beginning with his extremely famous feud with equally famous rapper Kendrick Lamar.

On March 22, 2024, Lamar featured on a song titled “Like That” alongside fellow rappers Metro Boomin and Future. During his verse, he dissed both Drake and J. Cole, implying that neither of them were as important to the modern hip-hop industry as he was. J. Cole, while originally offended, later forgave Lamar and pulled out of the feud. Drake, however, would enter a series of rapid-fire back and forth disses through song releases with Lamar that ultimately culminated in two career-changing songs.

On May 3, 2024, Drake released “Family Matters.” The piece alleged that Lamar was a domestic abuser and that another man had fathered his son. The release of the single shifted the feud’s tone significantly — claims of this nature were extremely grave and not usually topics of diss tracks. The boldness of this accusation suddenly took their rivalry to an extremely personal level, with many wondering if Lamar would even respond. Exactly twenty minutes later, he did. “Meet The Grahams” is a solemn, sober piece that famously begins by addressing Adonis, Drake’s son. In the track, Lamar apologizes for Drake’s insufficiency as a parent and offers himself up as a father figure; he then goes on to allege that Drake has a hidden baby daughter, whom he also expresses sympathy for, lamenting that she’ll never grow up in a loving house. He also insults both of Drake’s parents by name, criticizing them for raising a son like him and wondering if they’ll ever realize what they’ve done.

In response, dozens of YouTube channels that follow hip-hop related news began releasing reaction videos, with many of them sporting sensationalized titles like RobTV’s (Street Fighter V streamer and hip-hop enthusiast) extremely popular video “Kendrick Lamar Just ETHERED Drake! “Meet The Grahams” (Reaction!).” The brutal and cutting nature of this song, as well as the extremely quick time of release, had fans questioning if the feud was finally over. It was not. 

The very next day on May 4, Kendrick Lamar released a single that most of America is now familiar with: “Not Like Us.” This piece ruthlessly insults Drake in various ways, accusing him and his associates of pedophilia, while also claiming he uses his status as a black man for personal gain without truly understanding the culture. Lamar even goes so far as to make a vulgar pun out of his record label OVO by relabeling it “OV-ho” and inviting the audience to chant it. The success of this single was unparalleled, breaking the record for most number of weeks spent at number one on Billboard’s Hot Rap Songs, a title previously held by “Old Town Road.” 

Later in the year, the track won five Grammy Awards and Lamar took the opportunity to perform the hit at the 2025 Super Bowl, where over 65,000 fans sang alongside him. His performance was referred to as a “victory lap” by some, and his attitude during the nearly 12-minute endeavor certainly seemed to suggest as much. After the game ended, a screenshot of the rapper staring directly into the camera with a big grin as he began the most famous verse of his rap went viral.

Say Drake…

While all claims made in “Not Like Us” are still very much alleged, it may not even matter at this point.

Millions of people all over America, even those unaffiliated with the hip-hop scene, have been taught to dislike Drake. He may not truly be a pedophile, but he will absolutely be called one until the end of his career. 
As of now, it appears as Drake has attempted to put the feud behind him, but jokes at his expense are still circulating the internet. On Jan. 3, Drake released “Some Sexy Songs 4 U,” his most recent full album. The album is a collaboration with Canadian singer-songwriter PartyNextDoor, whose Toronto show he had recently surprise-featured in. Reception to the album was mixed, even from his own fans, but it sold moderately well. It features direct references to the recent Lamar feud, most notably in the track labeled “GIMME A HUG” where he thanks rapper 21 Savage for being the only one to stay by his side during the conflict. Additionally, Drake announced he was headlining all three days of the Wireless Festival, an annual rap and hip-hop concert in London, England. Previous years’ turnout has been about 50,000 attendees, which is no small crowd. As such, it may not be the end of Drake’s career just yet. Though his overall public image has been severely muddied, he continues to be supported by his numerous loyal fans and likely will not face destitution anytime in the near future.