Kendrick Lamar wasted no time firing shots at Drake during the opening night of his Grand National Tour, which kicked off Saturday in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The tour, co-headlined by Lamar and SZA, celebrates the success of Lamar's Grammy-winning album, GNX.
While fans eagerly anticipated a live performance of "Not Like Us"—one of the album's standout tracks—Lamar went a step further.
Ahead of the song, he aired a pre-recorded skit mocking Drake's "drop, drop, drop" lyric, drawing loud reactions from the crowd.
The move comes amid fresh legal tensions between Drake and Universal Music Group (UMG).
Earlier this week, as reported by The New York Times, Drake amended his ongoing federal defamation lawsuit against UMG to include allegations that Lamar's Super Bowl 59 halftime show performance caused reputational harm.
The new accusations ignited a fierce exchange between Drake's legal team and the label, with UMG issuing a stern warning: "As the old saying goes, 'be careful what you wish for.'"
Drake's spokesperson fired back, saying, "Drake knows exactly what he asked for: the truth and accountability."
The Lamar-Drake feud stretches back over a decade now.
To recall, it sparked in 2013, after Drake responded to Lamar's provocative verse on Big Sean's Control. Now, 12 years later, full of subtle barbs, the feud seems unlikely to simmer down soon.
Tensions actually boiled over in 2023, following J. Cole's First Person Shooter collaboration with Drake. In the track, Cole referred to himself, Drake, and Lamar as the "big three" of contemporary hip-hop—a sentiment Lamar swiftly dismissed in his song Like That, declaring it was "just big me."
The rivalry then escalated sharply in 2024, leading to a range of diss tracks that their respective fans actually enjoyed, including Drake's Family Matters and Lamar's biting response in Meet The Grahams.
As Lamar's Grand National Tour continues, fans are watching closely to see whether the rap battle spills even further onto the stage.
Staged as a true co-headlining adventure with SZA, the Grand National Tour opened with a striking visual: Lamar rising from beneath the stage inside a classic Buick GNX—a nod to the vehicle that has become an unofficial mascot of his current era—before rolling into "Wacced Out Murals" from his GNX album.
Throughout the night, Lamar and SZA masterfully traded the spotlight, each commanding the stage for individual hits before seamlessly ceding to the other. The pair also frequently joined forces onstage for their many collaborations, including "30 for 30," "All the Stars," and "Luther."
Despite the unusually dim lighting across the massive main stage, catwalks, and the octagon-shaped "Energy Floor," the energy never dipped. Both SZA's soaring vocals and Lamar's rapid-fire rhymes cut through clearly, with the crowd of about 50,000 erupting in deafening sing-alongs.
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