Anyone waiting for Drake to fire back at Kendrick Lamar's "Euphoria" with the next diss track in the great rap wars of 2024 will have to wait. He's busy posting 10 Things I Hate About You references to downplay the pure vitriol K.Dot sent his way on Tuesday.
Alongside emojis of a broken heart and a winking face, Drake shared a moment on his Instagram Stories from the 1999 high school rom-com where Julia Stiles—who co-starred with Heath Ledger—tearfully reads the following lines of poetry: "I hate the way you talk to me and the way you cut your hair/I hate the way you drive my car, I hate it when you stare/I hate your big dumb combat boots and the way you read my mind/I hate you so much it makes me sick, it even makes me rhyme/I hate it—I hate the way you're always right, I hate it when you lie/I hate it when you make me laugh, even worse when you make me cry/I hate it when you're not around, and the fact that you didn't call."
On the fiery "Euphoria," Kendrick, 36, raps to 37-year-old Drake, "It's always been about love and hate, now let me say I'm the biggest hater/I hate the way that you walk, the way that you talk/I hate the way that you dress, I hate the way that you sneak diss/If I catch a flight, it's gon' be direct"—along with far more than 10 things that he flat-out hates about Drizzy.
Here's the full scene from the Gil Junger-directed 10 Things I Hate About You:
Earlier Tuesday, Drake pseudo-responded by liking a @haus.of.drake Instagram post showing the For All the Dogs MC looking unamused beneath a fur hood, with a caption simply reading, "That's it??"
The six-and-a-half-minute "Euphoria" is Kendrick's first full-on response to Drake's "Push Ups" and "Taylor Made Freestyle," which were precipitated by Lamar's antagonistic verse on Future and Metro Boomin's "Like That." The We Still Don't Trust You track hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has stayed on the chart for five weeks, now sitting at No. 17. "Push Ups" debuted at No. 19. Drake pulled the freestyle from his socials after the estate of 2Pac threatened legal action over his use of an AI filter to emulate the late legend's voice.
For more dissection of "Euphoria" on Complex, read Peter A. Berry's rundown of the most disrespectful bars, Jordan Rose analyzing the lyrical assault, and Jaelani Turner-Williams' roundup of reactions from some of hip-hop's biggest players.
