Kendrick Lamar Taps Antonoff After Drake Drags Taylor Swift Into Feud

Lamar, 36, surprised fans on Friday, May 3, by releasing "6:16 in LA." This second diss track came mere days after he shared "Euphoria," his long-awaited response to Drake's "Push Ups" and "Taylor Made Freestyle."

While the new song contains more of Lamar's blatant disrespect toward Drake, it subtly subverts some Swiftian shade Drake slung in his first two songs. Soon after the song hit the Internet, fans noted that Genius listed Swift's longtime creative partners and best friends — Jack Antonoff and Sounwave - as 6:16 in LA's cowriters and producers.

Lamar's decision to recruit Antonoff, 40, and Sounwave, 38, on "6:16 in LA" appears to be a response to all the times Drake name-dropped Swift, 34, in his first two diss tracks.

In "Push Ups," Drake mocked Lamar's hip-hop authenticity by pointing out how he appeared on Maroon 5's "Don't Wanna Know" and on Swift's "Bad Blood," a song from her 2014 album, 1989. "Maroon 5 need a verse, you better make it witty / then we need a verse for the Swifties / Top [Anthony 'Top Dawg' Tiffith] say drop, you better drop and give 'em fifty," rapped Drake.

"Push Ups" leaked on April 13, and many fans online suspected it was fake since Drake had been the target of an AI song. However, it was real and he released the song officially on April 19, the same day Swift's The Tortured Poets Department arrived.

Drake referenced Swift's new album in "Taylor Made Freestyle," a song he also released on April 19 after Lamar's perceived lack of response.

"The first one really only took me an hour or two / The next one is really 'bout to bring out the coward in you / But now we gotta wait a f—kin' week 'cause Taylor Swift is your new Top / And if you 'bout to drop, she gotta approve / This girl really 'bout to make you act like you not in a feud / She tailor-made your schedule with Ant, you out of the loop," rapped Drake.

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Later on the track, Drake showed Swift respect by calling her the "biggest gangster in the music game right now." He also reiterated that he "moved my album when she dropped." This is likely a reference to how Drake moved the release date for Her Loss, his collaborative album with 21 Savage, to November 4, 2022, after Swift announced she was releasing Midnights on October 21 — Her Loss's initial release date

Drake was forced to remove "Taylor Made Freestyle" because it used vocals from an AI-generated Tupac Shakur. According to Billboard, the estate of the late rapper threatened to sue Drake over the voice, resulting in the song being pulled from streaming services.

Lamar hinted he would drop a second diss track soon after "Euphoria" by referencing Drake's "Back to Back," his second Meek Mill diss track (released in 2015, after "Charged Up"), in the song. However, fans may have overlooked that line while debating whether Lamar intentionally mixed up Haley Joel Osment and Joel Osteen.