The rap beef heard around the world came to a close last summer, and fans have eagerly been waiting to see what Drake‘s next moves would be. On Friday (Jan. 3), a new freestyle by the Toronto native surfaced, featuring him rapping with no hook over a beat produced by Conductor Williams.
The three-minute clip was uploaded within a longer video on the beatmaker’s YouTube channel for his “Signature Blends” series. It’s worth nothing the video was no longer available shortly after it was revealed, and he confirmed in an Instagram caption that the song will not be released on DSPs.
Over the mellow instrumental, Drake addresses the betrayal he felt watching his peers support his opponent, rapping, “The world fell in love with the gimmicks, even my brothers got tickets/ Seemed like they loved every minute, just know this sh*t is personal to us, and it wasn’t just business.”
The “tickets” could be referring to K. Dot’s The Pop Out: Ken & Friends event June 19, 2024, where Kendrick performed “Not Like Us” six times in a row with former Drake associates like DeMar DeRozan and LeBron James in attendance. It could also be a reference to Kendrick Lamar‘s recently announced stadium tour with SZA, the Grand National Tour.
As rap fans got their hands on the freestyle, they immediately began dissecting the lyrics. One of the biggest theories is that a lot of the bars are about LeBron James. The song is allegedly called “Fighting Irish Freestyle,” which would be a reference to where the NBA legend played high school basketball.
Elsewhere in the song, Drake continues expressing his feelings about the lack of loyalty he saw last year from his circle. “Sure convinced the gang this shit is rooted in love when it isn’t… I guess now you boys got to abandon your summer tradition/ Cold shoulders I gave in the Hamptons, it come with the distance
Figured we was always gon’ be close, like ovens and kitchens/ I was sadly mistaken, the loyalty wasn’t a given.”
Towards the end of the record, Drake raps, “I don’t have a drinkin’ problem, I got a subtle addiction/ I got my father’s habits and I got my mother’s permission.” Fans think this is a reference to the “drinking problem” claim made by Kendrick on “meet the grahams.”
Conductor Williams has an extensive catalogue that includes producer credits for J. Cole, Westside Gunn, Tyler, The Creator, and more. On his channel, he breaks down his process behind the creation of his beats. Check out his episode about making “Stories About My Brother” by Drake below and the new freestyle above.
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