What’s going on between Jay-Z and Drake? Last weekend, Jay-Z took a few jabs at Drake during his Roots Picnic freestyle:
My next update, the jig is up
N***a, I'm up ten
Wrong chart, champ, you gotta look up again
N****s look up to Hov, I never looked up to them
Them crackers got your publishin', gangster, go talk tough to them
Don't talk success to me, you n****s is workers
In perpetuities, how your contracts is worded
These bars were a reaction to some of the subtle shots Drake sent at Hov on Iceman. Like on “Whisper My Name,” when he said, “I’ll take the 500K, not the dinner, I never could learn shit from none of ya’ll.” Or on “Make Them Pay” when he questioned why other rappers’ need Hov's approval before making moves. Or the “jig is up” line that Hov makes specific reference to in his freestyle, from “Janice STFU”: “We know how you OGs rockin' already, my n***a, the jig is up.“
Personally, I don't think either Drake or Jay-Z are going for blood in their bars. This feels more like two people reminding each other where they stand. But it's the latest chapter in a relationship that's been one of the most interesting dynamics in rap for going on seventeen years now.
It started with some level of mentorship. Back in 2009, Hov shouted Drake out on "A Star Is Born" off The Blueprint 3, where they also collaborated for the first time on "Off That.” A year later Jay-Z landed on Drake’s Thank Me Later cut "Light Up," and Hov used his verse to give Drake free game about not getting involved in frivolous rap beefs. Ironic, given where we are today.
Drake started signaling his ambitions early. On DJ Khaled's "I'm On One" in 2011, he makes his first claim for the rap crown, spitting, "I'm just feeling like the throne is for the taking—watch me take it." He denied it was aimed at Hov or Kanye, but come on. That was the first time Drake openly framed himself as a competitor rather than a student. The relationship shifted right there.
The 2010s were full of these little moments. They sparred on Drake’s "Pound Cake" in 2013. Drake clowned Jay's art collection in a Rolling Stone interview and Hov came back with the "Sorry Mrs. Drizzy" line on the "We Made It" remix in 2014. Drake said he "turned into Jay" on "Summer Sixteen" in 2016. Hov sent subtle shots back on DJ Khaled's "Shinin'." Drake hops on Lil Wayne’s “Family Feud” remix and shows love to Hov in 2017, and then they collaborate together again on Drake’s Scorpion in 2018. In 2019, Drake told Rap Radar that he and Hov had talked it all through and the mutual respect won out.
Then Hov chose Kendrick Lamar for the Super Bowl halftime show. And Drake, who had just come out of the most public rap beef of his career, sounds scorned about it on Iceman. Hov told GQ's Frazier Tharpe that the decision wasn't a slight. Maybe Drake believed him. Maybe he didn't.
That’s how we ended up where we are today, and I have a feeling these two titans are not done with each other.
