Video Discription |
Artist/Group: Kendrick Lamar
Album: N/A
Released: 2024
Label: Interscope
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"Euphoria" is a diss track written and recorded by American rapper Kendrick Lamar, in response to Canadian-American rapper Drake's single "Push Ups" and his independently released song "Taylor Made Freestyle". It was unexpectedly released on April 30, 2024, via Interscope Records, initially as a YouTube exclusive before being released to streaming platforms hours later. The song takes its name from the American teen drama series Euphoria, of which Drake serves as an executive producer.
The song was produced by Cardo and Kyuro, with additional work from Johnny Juliano, Sounwave, and Yung Exclusive. Its extended introduction contains a sample of Teddy Pendergrass's 1981 song "You're My Latest, My Greatest Inspiration". "Euphoria" was met with generally positive reviews from music critics, who praised its humorous yet hateful tone, Lamar's versatile performance, and complex entendres. However, criticism was directed at the production and a few punchlines that some considered objectionable. The song broke the single-day streaming record for a hip hop song in 2024.
On March 22, 2024, Kendrick Lamar made a surprise appearance on Future and Metro Boomin's collaborative studio album We Don't Trust You on the single "Like That". His featured verse was a diss against Drake and J. Cole in response to their single "First Person Shooter". Cole rebutted "Like That" first with the polarizing "7 Minute Drill", which he later retracted and removed from streaming services.
Drake offered two responses to "Like That". His first, "Push Ups", was premiered by media personality DJ Akademiks after a low quality demo version that sampled "Get Money" by Junior M.A.F.I.A. was leaked. Throughout the song, Drake mocks Lamar's short stature and musical authenticity, all the while generating rumors of him being extorted by his former label, Top Dawg Entertainment.
The second response, "Taylor Made Freestyle", was released on Drake's social media accounts immediately after "Push Ups" was released to streaming platforms. The song used vocals generated from artificial intelligence of Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg, two of Lamar's musical idols, to entice him to release his own response. He also questioned his friendship with singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, whom the freestyle is named after. Shakur's estate sent Drake a cease and desist letter accusing him of violating the rapper's personality rights and abusing his legacy. They further claimed that the AI-generated vocals being used against Lamar, a "good friend" of the estate who respected Shakur publicly and privately, compounded the disrespect. Drake was ordered to remove the song from his social media accounts or face litigation; he obliged to the former demand.
The song begins with an audio sample, which was revealed to be a reversed audio clip from The Wiz, a 1978 remake of The Wizard of Oz starring Michael Jackson (who Drake has often compared himself to), in which Richard Pryor, who plays the titular Wiz, states "Everything they say about me is true. I'm a phony." After this, the song starts out "softly" with Lamar waiting until the final line of the first verse to directly address Drake. The song's intro builds around a sample of Teddy Pendergrass's song "You're My Latest, My Greatest Inspiration". Lamar talks about a "paranoid", "pathetic", and "spiraling" master manipulator "fabricating stories on the family front". The beat then picks up as the delivery gets "sharper", while the rapper makes references to Drake's name ("Draco Pistol"), as well as the previous diss track "Taylor Made".
Lamar later mentions Drake and Cole by name and references "The Story of Adidon", a 2018 diss track by Pusha T aimed against Drake, in the context of fatherhood. In other instances, he accuses Drake of being a "scam artist" and namedrops artists such as YNW Melly, Gunna, Daft Punk, Lil Yachty, and Sexyy Red. Lamar also accuses Drake of sending a cease and desist letter to prevent the release of "Like That": "Try cease and desist on the 'Like That' record / Ho, what? You ain't like that record?" Further references in the song include Drake's Meek Mill diss track "Back to Back".
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