The hits keep coming for Drake, as Kendrick Lamar has unloaded another new diss track. Following the Tuesday arrival of "euphoria," the Californian has now delivered "6:16 in LA," which you can hear below.
Landing via Lamar's Instagram page, "6:16 in LA" arriving three days after "euphoria" is reminiscent of when Drake delivered a pair of diss tracks against Meek Mill in quick succession with "Charged Up" and "Back to Back" in 2015.
Lamar seemed to note that the one-two punch response was his plan all along in "euphoria," rapping, "'Back to Back,' I like that record / I'ma get back to that, for the record."
Not unlike his verses on "euphoria" and "Like That," there are levels to Lamar's diss track artistry. "6:16 in LA" was produced by recurring Lamar collaborator Sounwave and in-demand pop producer Jack Antonoff, who are two thirds of synthpop supergroup Red Hearse. Of course, Antonoff is more widely known as a key collaborator of Taylor Swift's, so one could technically call this latest helping of beef "Taylor Made."
"6:16 in LA" is constructed around a sample of "What a Wonderful Thing Love Is" by Al Green — and the Reverend even hopped on X to mark the occasion with a link to his 1972 song. Playing guitar for Green on that year's I'm Still in Love with You was none other than Drake's uncle, Mabon "Teenie" Hodges.
Of course, the title of Lamar's latest is a dig at Drake's "timestamp series" of songs that follow a "[time of day] in [location]" naming convention — "5AM in Toronto," "4PM in Calabasas," "6PM in New York," to name a few.
Lyrically, Lamar conjures images of a life unbothered, opening "6:16 in LA" on his "off-white Sunseeker at the marina" before prodding at Drake's paranoia, suggesting those in the Canadian's circle are working against him:
"Are you finally ready to play have-you-ever? Let's see / Have you ever thought that OVO is working' for me?" he raps, continuing, "Fake bully, I hate bullies, you must be a terrible person / Everyone inside your team is whispering that you deserve it / Can't Toosie Slide up outta this one, it's just gon' resurface / Every dog gotta have his day, now live in your purpose."
Again, Lamar appears to allege that Drake had promised financial rewards to anyone who could dig up dirt on his West Coast counterpart, only to have his sources come back empty-handed: "It was fun until you started to put money in the streets / Then lost money 'cause they came back with no receipts / I'm sorry that I live a boring life, I love peace / But war-ready if the world is ready to see you bleed."
Lamar also takes time to mention Drake's more immediate responses — like posting clips from 10 Things I Hate About You — saying, "your reality can't hide behind WiFi" before taunting, "Your lil memes is losing steam, they figured you out."
If "the pen is Hattori Hanzo" like Drake claimed, we should expect to hear from him soon, because at the moment, the winners are Lamar and Toronto Chinese restaurant New Ho King.
