Kendrick Lamar, meet the grahams | Song Review 🎵

Kendrick Lamar kicks ass and takes names on “meet the grahams,” his hardest diss yet against fellow rapper, Drake.

“Dear Adonis / I’m sorry that that man is your father, let me be honest.” Oh, snap! I thought “euphoria” was an epic diss track.  Grammy and Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar ups the ante on “meet the grahams”, another diss track aimed at Drake. For some context, “meet the grahams” is Kendrick’s response to Drizzy’s diss track, “Family Matters”. In this scathing song, Kendrick Lamar addresses members of the Graham family, including Drake’s son, mom, and father.  K-Dot does not hold back from rapping numerous eyebrow-raising lyrics and making newfound allegations against the Canadian musician.  The six-and-a-half-minute banger is produced by The Alchemist. He gives Lamar a dark, evil instrumental to demolish Drizzy.

The first verse is addressed to Adonis, Drake’s son.  Kendrick criticizes Drake’s parenting and tells Adonis he needs “good leadership / Let me be your mentor since your daddy don’t teach you shit.” Woo! Before giving Adonis advice, he also informs him, “I look at him and wish your grandpa woulda wore a condom.” Like in “euphoria”, K-Dot takes shots at his adversary’s blackness. In the second verse, he addresses Drake’s mom, Sandra.  “Sandra, sit down, what I’m about to say is heavy, now listen / … Your son’s a sick man with sick thoughts, I think niggas like him should die.” Wow… In this wild verse, he criticizes Dennis Graham, likens Drizzy to Harvey Weinstein, blasts his treatment of black women, and alleges there are sex offenders on his OVO payroll. “Fuck a rap battle, he should die so all of these women can live with a purpose…” Gah-day-um!

There are two more verses – Kendrick Lamar has a lot to say.  In the third verse, he addresses a nameless daughter of Drake’s.  There is no evidence of a secret daughter, but the rapper runs with it. He concludes the verse with a bang: “Yes, he’s a hitmaker, songwriter, superstar, right / And a fuckin’ deadbeat that should never say More Life / Meet the Grahams.”  Finally, in verse four, Kendrick addresses Aubrey Drake Graham. Why did “meet the grahams” have to happen? Per K-Dot, “But you fucked up the moment you called out my family’s name.” This happened in “push ups” for some context.  Kendrick Lamar, once more, obliterates Drake, diss song after diss song.  “meet the grahams” > “Family Matters”. 

Kendrick Lamar // “meet the grahams” // Kendrick Lamar / Interscope // 5.3.24

[📷: Brent Faulkner/The Musical Hype; Kendrick Lamar / Interscope; Clker-Free-Vector-Images, Królestwo Nauki, OpenClipart-Vectors, Pete Linforth, Tumisu from Pixabay]