TORONTO — Drake is pulling back on his beef with Kendrick Lamar.
After weeks of relative silence in one of rap's most captivating diss battles, Toronto's biggest rap star quietly removed three tracks from his social media that had stoked the flames of conflict.
Fans noticed "Push Ups," "Family Matters" and "The Heart Part 6," vanished from Drake's Instagram on Wednesday with no explanation.
Two of those songs were officially released as singles and remain available on streaming music platforms as of Thursday midday.
It's the latest twist in Drake's war with Lamar, which consensus suggests the L.A. rapper won.
On Monday, Drake became the centre of a different conversation when SoundCloud rapper Snowd4y issued a remix of the 2005 acoustic pop hit "Hey There Delilah," by Plain White T’s, with Drake credited as a guest vocalist.
On the track, Drake erupts in a flurry of Toronto slang in Caribbean patois on the renamed "Wah Gwan Delilah."
Some listeners mused online that Drake's part was created with artificial intelligence but the rapper seemed to confirm his involvement on Instagram.
Meanwhile, Lamar revealed this week he's planning a concert in Inglewood, Calif., on June 19 that's cryptically named Ken & Friends - The Pop Out. The lineup has yet to be announced.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 6, 2024.
David Friend, The Canadian Press
