Kendrick Lamar Is Destroying Drake in the Charts Right Now

Kendrick Lamar has emerged as the victor in his high-profile rap feud with Drake—at least as far as his dominance across multiple streaming platforms is concerned.

Lamar and Drake, whose full name is Aubrey Drake Graham, have spent recent weeks leveling insults and allegations at one another on a host of tracks after the long-established bad blood between the two reached boiling point.

The war of words got into full swing in March, when Lamar released "Like That," a cutting response to the Drake and J. Cole track "First Person Shooter." While J. Cole quickly bowed out of the brewing beef, Lamar and Drake have relentlessly attacked one another on tracks that have captivated fans ever since.

During the past weekend alone, the rappers ramped up their back-and-forth with the release of four new diss tracks between them. In the tracks, they talk about each other's families and lob unsavory allegations at one another.

"Not Like Us," a diss track targeting Drake that was released by Lamar on the night of May 4, has gone on to become a certified hit, besting his adversary's sales on multiple streaming platforms.

The track, which serves up an array of cutting insults to a catchy beat, has broken Spotify's single-day streaming record for a hip-hop song with a tally of 6.59 million listens. Ironically, Lamar took the record from Drake, who had previously held the honor through "Girls Want Girls," his non-diss track from 2021 featuring Lil Baby.

Over on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, Lamar's diss track "Euphoria," which was released on April 30, has debuted in the 11th spot, while Drake's song "Push Ups"—which is largely credited with heightening the feud—trails in 17th place.

As of Thursday, five of the nine diss tracks exchanged between Lamar and Drake had made it to the top 15 of Apple Music's charts. Showing a consistency with other charts, Lamar's "Not Like Us" is in the top spot on Apple Music, while Drake's "Family Matters" follows in third place. This is replicated in Drake's native Canada, where the songs sit in identical positions on the country's top 100 Apple Music tracks.

When it comes to tracks that have been streamed the most in the U.S. on Spotify, Lamar is also a winner, taking the top spot with "Not Like Us," placing third with "Euphoria," sixth with "Like That," and seventh with "Meet the Grahams." Drake puts in an eventual appearance in ninth place with "Family Matters."

On YouTube, "Not Like Us" has clocked up 28 million views, while "Family Matters," which is the most streamed of Drake's tracks from this current feud on the platform, trails by almost 10 million with a current total of about 19 million hits.

Of note is the fact that one of Drake's tracks is now out of the running. "Taylor Made Freestyle," which was released in late April, featured the use of artificial intelligence vocals from Snoop Dogg and the late Tupac Shakur. The track was eventually removed from streaming following a threat of legal action from Shakur's estate.

Even when it comes to older work away from the feud, Lamar is proving to be a dominant force. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, rap stats account Hip Hop All Day reported that Lamar's seven-year-old album Damn is currently receiving 8.5 million daily streams—more than any of Drake's albums on Spotify.

Newsweek has contacted representatives of Lamar and Drake for comment.

Despite occasional collaborations, Drake and Lamar's feud has been going on for more than a decade, with the rappers taking shots at each other through their music and in the media.

On his track "Meet the Grahams"—which was released on May 3, less than an hour after the unveiling of Drake's diss track "Family Matters"—Lamar accused his adversary of having an 11-year-old daughter that he had hidden from public view.

Canadian musician and actor Drake denied this in his May 5 track, "The Heart Part 6," claiming that he and his associates had purposely planted misinformation to trick Lamar into using it during their battle.

During a previous rap beef with Pusha T back in 2018, Drake was accused of having a secret son. Drake confirmed that this was true weeks later on the track "Emotionless."

To date, Drake's "The Heart Part 6" is the last track to have been released by either party in the feud.

On Tuesday, a drive-by shooting outside a Toronto property owned by Drake left a security guard hired by the artist badly injured.

Officers found a man with "serious injuries" near the scene, and he was taken to the hospital. The victim was a security guard for the rapper, Toronto police confirmed to Newsweek in a statement.

Police said the suspect fled in a vehicle. Officials haven't released a description of the alleged shooter or the car.

When contacted by Newsweek, representatives of Drake declined to comment on the matter.