Taylor Made Freestyle

Background

In 2024, Kendrick Lamar, Future, and Metro Boomin released the song "Like That" from Future and Metro Boomin's joint album We Don't Trust You. On it, Lamar rejected the idea that he, J. Cole, and Drake were the "Big Three" of contemporary hip hop, a claim Cole had made in his song with Drake, "First Person Shooter". Lamar called Drake's best songs a "light pack" and compared their rivalry to Michael Jackson and Prince. Drake responded with "Push Ups" on April 19, two versions of which had leaked online days earlier.

After perceiving no immediate reply from Lamar, Drake posted a freestyle on Instagram titled "Taylor Made Freestyle". The instrumental was originally created in 2009 and submitted to Dr. Dre for his album Detox, with a chorus from Toronto artist Shi Wisdom; Dr. Dre had shown interest in using it for a record featuring Keyshia Cole. Drake reportedly wanted an old-school, West Coast-sounding beat.

Lyrics

The song incorporates AI-generated vocals in the style of Tupac Shakur on the first verse and Snoop Dogg on the second. Drake had previously gone viral a year earlier after AI-generated Drake vocals were used in an unlicensed version of Ice Spice's "Munch (Feelin' U)", which Drake had criticized. Lamar later leveled allegations of pedophilia towards Drake on "Not Like Us". Drake's final verse, without AI, claims Lamar has not responded because he did not want to be overshadowed by the release of Taylor Swift's eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, and compares Lamar's silence to the "everybody on mute" challenge from Beyoncé's Renaissance World Tour.

Response

Shakur's estate threatened legal action, with plaintiff Howard King sending a cease-and-desist letter stating that using Shakur's likeness violated his personality rights and that Drake would be sued if the song remained on his social media. The estate said they would never have cleared the AI-generated vocals and called it an affront to Shakur's legacy, adding that using it to diss Lamar, who respected Shakur and the estate, compounded the disrespect. Lamar responded with the songs "Euphoria" and "6:16 in LA"; the feud continued with Drake's "Family Matters" and Lamar's "Meet the Grahams" and "Not Like Us", all released within 24 hours of each other. Lamar later referenced the song on "Wacced Out Murals" from his album GNX, stating disappointment in Snoop Dogg for promoting the song on social media. Snoop Dogg confirmed he promoted it only because he was high on cannabis edibles.