A Timeline of Drake & Ye’s Relationship: From Friends to Feuds

Drake confirmed respect to Ye from the early days of the latter’s profession whereas freestyling over the thumping “Barry Bonds” beat on Drizzy’s 2007 Comeback Season mixtape. “Barry Bonds” was on Ye’s Commencement album as a Lil Wayne collaboration, which arrived shortly after Drake’s mixtape; it’s unclear how Drizzy acquired the beat forward of time.

Rap’s final posse minimize arrived in ’08 with T.I., Jay-Z, Lil Wayne and Ye becoming a member of forces for “Swagga Like Us.” The braggadocios monitor peaked at no. 5 on the Billboard Scorching 100. Drake wished in on the hip-hop titans teaming up, and freestyled over West’s manufacturing to showcase he can go toe-to-toe with the very best the style has to supply.

Drake’s breakout mixtape So Far Gone included one other hat tip to West by making the desolate electro-pop 808s & Heartbreak opener “Say You Will” his personal canvas, which he repackaged as “Say What’s Actual.”

Drake showered Ye with reward in a 2009 interview with MTV. Drizzy had met the “Good Life” rapper months prior in Hawaii whereas West was engaged on My Stunning Darkish Twisted Fantasy.

“Earlier than I ever acquired the prospect to satisfy him, Kanye West formed lots of what I do, so far as music goes,” Drake stated on the time. “We all the time, all the time, all the time took the time to take heed to Kanye’s music and admire it past. We searched the samples and we discover out the place his inspiration got here from, as a result of he has the most effective ears in music, interval. He is aware of learn how to acknowledge nice music that’s not his. He is aware of learn how to make the most of nice sounds and nice music. So earlier than I met him, I had the utmost respect for Kanye West. I’d even go so far as to say he’s probably the most influential particular person so far as a musician that I’d ever had in my life.”

Ye returned the favor when crowning Drake with the very best line of 2009 on Younger Cash’s “Each Woman.”

West wrote on his Kanye Universecity weblog: “Drake stated, ‘Do you want women like I do?? Les-bi-honest!!!!!’ Greatest line of the yr thus far!”

Drake later instructed MTV in response to the props: “I really feel prefer it’s humorous, as a result of that’s one thing he might need stated. [But] it’s an honor that he’s even taking a look at me as considerably of an equal, considerably of a peer. I believe he’s one of many biggest to ever do it.”

Ye put his artistic imaginative and prescient to work when hopping behind the lens to direct the visible for Drake’s “Greatest I Ever Had” anthem. West had Drake play the coach of a girls’s basketball crew that definitely wasn’t missing within the breast division.

Drake might have missed out on “Swagga Like Us,” however he made certain to seek out his approach on the following hip-hop posse minimize. “Eternally” served as a knighting of kinds with Eminem, Ye and Lil Wayne welcoming Drizzy into rap’s pantheon.

West wasn’t featured as a vocal visitor on Drake’s Thank Me Later, however produced the island-tinged “Discover Your Love” and is credited as a co-writer on the 2010 debut album monitor. Ye additionally produced a track titled “You Know You Know,” which didn’t make the ultimate album’s minimize and ended up leaking months later.

Drake is credited with offering further vocals on the luscious “All the Lights,” by which Kanye spared no expense and introduced in myriad gifted collaborators to contribute to the My Stunning Darkish Twisted Fantasy standout.

Whereas he’s barely on the unique album model, an unofficial “All the Lights” remix arrived following the monitor’s launch, and finds Drake alongside Lil Wayne and Huge Sean.

Drake seems to take a jab at Ye and Jay-Z as they ready to ship Watch the Throne throughout his 2011 Tim Westwood interview.

“I heard another guys are popping out with an album too,” Drake stated whereas teasing that he and Wayne have been teaming up for a joint venture. “There’s two different rappers which can be popping out with an album collectively. I don’t know the place they acquired that concept.”

Drake exhibits like to Ye and says it’s an “honor” to be even in comparison with him, however makes it recognized it’s a contest on the market, and his plans have been to someday “surpass” West’s accomplishments in hip-hop.

“It’s an honor. Once I was a child making an attempt to determine what I favored, it was Ye who I associated to probably the most. He was an artist, in each sense, from his cowl artwork to his music. Now, I’d say, he’s [a] actually nice competitor and good friend,” he instructed The Supply. “My purpose is to surpass all the pieces he’s completed. I don’t wish to be pretty much as good as Kanye — I wish to be higher.”

Ye made an look at Drake’s OVO Fest in 2013. “Me and Hov would’ve by no means made Watch the Throne if [Drake] wasn’t placing strain on us like that, so I simply wish to pay my respects,” West stated on stage. Drake referred to as Ye’s assist at his competition the “most essential second in my profession thus far.”

Drake jabbed at a few of Ye’s bars on Yeezus. “There have been some actual questionable bars on there,” he instructed Rolling Stone. “Like that ‘Swaghili’ line? Come on, man. Even Fabolous wouldn’t say some s–t like that.” Nevertheless, he saluted West because the “motive” he’s right here.

Ye responded on the Yeezus Tour, not leaning into the feud and claiming it was all “love” between each events. “They all the time be making an attempt to pit n—as in opposition to one another and it ain’t taking place no extra. So, tonight it ain’t none of that. We love Drake,” West instructed the New Jersey crowd.

A decade into his profession, Ye wanted a push creatively, and Drake’s run of hits helped present that inspiration to hit the studio and take issues to a different stage within the mid-2010s.

“Somebody who’s like, ‘Come on, man, get again up!’ I used to be sitting there getting fats. Sitting again, simply knocked all people out. After which this man hits the fitness center, he’s simply operating round like, ‘Pow, 14 hits’ I’m like, ‘Whoa. Let me go to the studio, then. Let’s see what’s taking place. Let me get these lyrics up,’” Ye instructed Clique. “So, that’s the place we at proper now, that’s the place you getting these data from.”

Drake kicked off 2016 with “Summer time Sixteen,” by which he flexed about allegedly having an even bigger pool in his yard than his Calabasas neighbors Kanye West and Kim Kardashian. “Now I acquired a home in L.A., now I acquired an even bigger pool than Ye/ And look man, Ye’s pool is sweet, mine’s simply greater’s what I’m saying/ I’m that n—a’s what I’m saying,” he raps.

Drake is credited as a co-writer on The Lifetime of Pablo sleeper “30 Hours” that includes André 3000. Drizzy allegedly recorded an early demo, and the reference monitor leaked on social media following TLOP‘s arrival.

Ye made one other OVO Fest look in Toronto, the place he ran by a mini-set and teased {that a} collab album with Drake was on the horizon. “This man is the rationale I’m on this stage. My largest inspiration,” Drizzy stated to the viewers about Ye.

Later that month, billboards hinting on the joint venture started popping up, studying “Calabasas is the brand new Abu Dhabi” with the logos of OVO and Ye’s G.O.O.D. Music.

West took the stage in Sacramento on Nov. 19, 2016, in what would find yourself being the ultimate date of the Saint Pablo Tour, as he was hospitalized days later and canceled the remainder of the trek on account of excessive exhaustion and stress. In his last minutes on stage, the rapper went on a stream of consciousness by which he partly ranted in regards to the success of DJ Khaled and Drake’s multi-platinum “For Free” dominating radio airwaves.

“We are able to love one another, however the guidelines gotta be truthful,” he stated. “Khaled, and Drake, and radio, and Doc, and 92.3 and all people — is it simply me or did you hear that track so many instances? You say you wanna play it ‘For Free’? Ayy, ayy, you understand what it’s, although.”

Drake responded to Ye’s radio rant focusing on his and DJ Khaled’s “For Free” in an interview with DJ Semtex. The OVO boss additionally alluded to how he and Yeezy have been working towards a joint album, so dissing him didn’t make sense.

“As a result of in the identical breath, I went from, like, engaged on a venture with him, to him sorta publicly s—ting on me and DJ Khaled for being on the radio an excessive amount of,” he stated. “I’m unsure why we’re the goal of your alternative that you simply made that night time. And yeah, I settle for what you’re going by, and I simply go and proceed working alone factor.”

Drake recruited West to look on his Extra Life playlist, and the duo teamed up for the underwhelming “Glow.” At this level, the OVO honcho and Yeezy’s relationship was beginning to fracture, and the rap titans haven’t collaborated on a monitor within the years since.

Pusha T sniped at Drake on Daytona’s closing monitor “Infrared,” which is produced by West (he helmed your complete venture). King Push faucets Drizzy with ghostwriting allegations by citing Quentin Miller, who was credited on a number of tracks of Drake’s 2015 mixtape If You’re Studying This It’s Too Late. “It was written like Nas, but it surely got here from Quentin,” Pusha raps.

Drake rapidly responded to Pusha T with “Duppy Freestyle,” but it surely wasn’t solely King Push in his crosshairs, as there was loads of smoke for Ye too. Drizzy places West on blast as a result of Drake allegedly helped Ye full a handful of latest data.

“I’ve executed issues for him I assumed that he by no means would wish/ Father needed to stretch his fingers out and get it from me/ I pop model for 30 hours then let him repeat,” Drake raps.

Drake launched his Scorpion album in June 2018 whereas Ye was rolling out his string of G.O.O.D. Music initiatives. Followers and business critics alike speculated Drizzy was jabbing at West all through the album. Joe Budden theorized on his eponymous podcast that verses on “Impassive” and “8 Out of 10” have been linked and taking goal at Ye.

“He our bodies this flip of the phrase ‘good’ all through this entire track. A lot so, for those who’re probably not paying consideration you assume he’s simply utilizing the phrase good — he ain’t. Owls are an indication of excellent luck, right? What I believe he’s saying is that they’re switching camps,” Budden recommended.

Pusha T alleged that Drake was hiding a son in diss monitor “The Story of Adidon.” Followers speculated that Ye was the one to feed Push the details about little Adonis — whose existence was beforehand not public data — since Drake reportedly headed to work with Kanye in Wyoming months earlier, however West denied sharing the information.

“I’m Ye. I acquired main issues to do aside from be telling him some details about Drake,” Ye stated to WGCI. “I actually don’t care that a lot, in all honesty. Once we discuss in regards to the Drake factor, it hits me in a very delicate place since you cling round folks and so they come to your home and be round your loved ones and this and that.

“After which they get mad a couple of beat and ship you purple demon emojis. We perceive that he acquired upset about [‘The Story of Adidon’]. I really feel that it was insensitive for him to, in any approach, stress me out in any approach after TMZ, whereas I’m in Wyoming therapeutic, pulling all of the items collectively, engaged on my music.”

Yeezy tried to dealer a peace treaty between OVO and G.O.O.D. Music with Drake and Pusha T’s feud simmering. West despatched his nicely needs and tried to clear the static.

“Sending good vitality and like to Drake and household and crew,” West tweeted on the time. “I haven’t seen the present in particular person however the photos look unbelievable on-line. I perceive the place the confusion began.”

Ye additionally went on to publicly deny giving Pusha the details about Adonis for “Story of Adidon.” He apologized for stepping on Scorpion‘s launch date along with his string of G.O.O.D. Music releases in June 2018, along with how he launched “Elevate Your self” himself as a troll after promising Drake he may hop on it.

“There ought to have been no songs with my involvement that had any unfavorable vitality in direction of you,” Ye added.

West’s spouse on the time, Kim Kardashian, shut down rumors that she had been romantically concerned with Drake previously. The Shade Room posted an On a regular basis Battle clip of Nick Cannon and DJ Akademiks speculating whether or not the fact star and Drake had ever connected, and he or she hopped into the Instagram feedback part to disclaim the rumors. “By no means occurred,” she wrote. “Finish of story.”

Ye went on one other Twitter rant calling for Drake to place an finish to the hypothesis tying “Kiki” — whom Drizzy references on “In My Emotions” — to Kim Kardashian.

“The truth that individuals are making rumors and considering that you simply f–ked my spouse and also you’re not saying something and also you’re carrying it nicely like that,” Ye stated on the time. “Don’t sit nicely with my spirit. , if I had a girlfriend from Chicago and her identify was Ranita and also you have been married to Rihanna, I wouldn’t make no track referred to as RiRi. So once you’re like, ‘Oh, I don’t know the place it comes from.’ You’re too sensible for that, bro. the place it got here from.”

Months after the mud settled following the Drake and Pusha T drama, followers have been nonetheless looking for solutions. The 6 God pulled as much as The Store, the place he opened up about his journey to Ye’s writing camp in Wyoming earlier in 2018.

Drake revealed he allegedly performed Weest unreleased music, together with “March 14,” which incorporates references to his son and child mama that the general public didn’t learn about but.

“He offered me on this entire speech of like, ‘I’m in an excellent place, I’m earning profits, and I’m a father, and I wanna be Quincy Jones and assist you to,’” Drake stated. “‘However as a way to try this, you’ve gotta be clear with me, you gotta play me your music and also you gotta inform me once you’re dropping. And I do know you don’t love to do issues like that.’ I assume all of us form of felt a real vibe from it, so I performed him my music and I instructed him after I was dropping.”

He continued to say he felt manipulated and betrayed by Ye for confiding in him about sure issues concerning his rising household. Drizzy reportedly even confirmed him a photograph of his son, and claimed that Ye lied about engaged on an album slated for the summer season (ye dropped in June).

“I inform him I’m having bother with my son’s mom. We had a dialog,” Drake added. “Oh, this man’s trolling me. This was like a manipulative, like, ‘I wanna break you’ factor. I stated, ‘Alright, I’m gonna return to distancing myself once more. I do know what that is.’”

One other day, one other Ye rant in 2018. West used an alleged textual content in search of clearance for Drake’s “Say What’s Actual” to go to streaming (The So Far Gone monitor sampled Ye’s “Say You Will”) to go after the 6 God as soon as once more.

“This proves s–t faker than wrestling for mentioning the 350s and making an attempt to take meals out your idols youngsters mouths,” he tweeted, in search of an apology for Drizzy’s “No Stylist” jab. “Been making an attempt to satisfy with you for six months bro. You sneak dissing on Travis [Scott] data and texting Kris Jenner speaking bout how’s the household. Sending purple emojis after I’m coping with psychological s–t I would like my apologies now. Not by Scooter [Braun] both. Not by Travis.”

Ye exploded in a prolonged tweet rant that went on for greater than 125 messages, reigniting his feud with Drake. It was seemingly sparked by a cellphone dialog between the 2 throughout which Ye claimed Drizzy threatened him. “So Drake if something occurs to me or anybody from my household you’re the first suspect — so minimize the robust discuss,” he wrote on the time.

“There would by no means be a Drake with out a Kanye West so by no means open your mouth with a risk,” Ye continued.

West didn’t cease there: He referred to Drake as a “bully” and demanded Drizzy “depart … [his] household alone.” The epic rant additionally spawned the well-known “He operating round like he Pac” tweet.

Drake sat down for a two-hour interview with Rap Radar, discussing a large number of subjects, together with his points with Yeezy, which he stated he had no real interest in patching up.

“That’s the place all of this stems from,” he stated of West and his conflict with Pusha. “It’s all rooted in that scenario, sure. I believe that [Ye] positively recruited a man with an identical dislike for me it doesn’t matter what he says in interviews. I do know that there’s one thing there that bothers him deeply and yeah, I can’t repair it for him. It simply is what it’s.”

Nevertheless, he’s wasn’t going to stroll again the previous reward he’d showered on Ye. “He’s nonetheless my — clearly apart from Lil Wayne and if I have a look at Hov — because the man who actually formed the vast majority of my considering, skillset, all these issues, Kanye West could be my favourite artist throughout,” Drake declared. “And that’s simply details. I’ve no downside saying that. Issues have modified. I’m not just a few child that’s a fan anymore. Now now we have private conditions, and like I stated, lots of his points with me, I can’t repair them for him.”

Drake reignited his beef with Ye forward of their album showdown along with his visitor verse on Trippie Redd’s “Betrayal.” The OVO mogul wasn’t contemplating any form of armistice. “All these fools I’m beefin’ that I barely know/ 45, 45 (Burned out), let it go/ Ye ain’t changin’ s–t for me, it’s set in stone,” he raps.

Ye acquired wind of the jabs and appeared to dox Drake by revealing what might have been Drizzy’s Toronto handle earlier than later deleting the tweet. He entered his “Joker” period with extra threats on the 6 God. “I dwell for this. I’ve been fucked with by nerd a– jock n—as such as you my entire life. You’ll by no means recuperate. I promise you,” he declared.

Drake didn’t take something too critically, as he shared an Instagram Story laughing off West’s newest antics.

The feud reached a head with Ye stepping on one other Drake launch date by slicing him in keeping with Donda arriving 4 days earlier than Licensed Lover Boy. Each albums debuted atop the Billboard 200. Donda moved 309,000 album-equivalent models in lower than a full gross sales week earlier than being changed on the summit by Drake as CLB offered 613,000 album models.

Drake and Ye agreed to place their variations apart for the better good in a jail reform fundraiser spreading consciousness surrounding the incarcerated Gangster Disciples chief Larry Hoover. Rap-A-Lot Data co-founder J. Prince helped broker a meeting to rearrange the unlikely peace treaty as Ye and Drizzy agreed to hit the stage for the Free Larry Hoover Profit live performance.

The pair of rap titans placed on a united entrance whereas operating by loads of hits from their embellished discographies on the Coliseum present in Los Angeles.

“I admire Kanye for having me up right here tonight,” Drake stated on stage of the surreal scene that didn’t appear doable a few months earlier. “It’s essential that we make this occur. Once we have been strolling by the arches proper there it felt like a dream. It felt surreal. It was one thing I all the time wished to do being on stage with my idol as he’s operating by the most effective catalogs in music, interval.”

Drake stirred the pot with Ye as soon as extra along with his “Search and Rescue” single. Drake elected to make use of himself and a thriller girl in motorbike helmets as the duvet artwork, which some speculated to be Kim Kardashian. Nevertheless, it was rapidly debunked and uncovered that the girl within the art work is artist and mannequin Lilah Pi.

Though Kardashian’s voice is sampled on “Search and Rescue,” it was a quote from the fact star speaking to her mom on Preserving Up With the Kardashians about her divorce from Kanye that ended up making the minimize. “I didn’t come this far, simply to come back this far and never be joyful,” she cryptically stated on the collection finale.

2023 couldn’t expire with out Drake getting one other dig in at Ye. The 6 God returned in November 2023 to ship his For All of the Canine Scary Hours Version. Drake blasts West on “Crimson Button” for utilizing their truce as a setup to go behind his again, and he’s not falling for any of his olive branches anymore.

“Each time you want me for a lift, I by no means hesitated/ Each time that Yeezy referred to as a truce, he had my head inflated/ Thinkin’ we gon’ lastly peace it up and get to levitatin’/ Notice that all the pieces premeditated,” Drake raps.

West was solely going to remain quiet as long as a rap conflict waged, particularly with a plethora of rappers ganging up on Drake. Yeezy delivered a remix to Future and Metro Boomin’s Kendrick Lamar-assisted Drake diss monitor “Like That” on April 20.

The remix isn’t on streaming companies, however is accessible on West’s web site. Ye took goal at Drake and introduced up the 6 God’s reported large licensing take care of Lucian Grainge’s Common Music Group.

“The place’s Lucian? Serve your grasp, n—a/ You caught a little bit bag on your masters, didn’t ya/ Lifetime deal, I really feel unhealthy for n—as/ Y’all so outta sight, outta thoughts/ I can’t even consider a Drake line,” he raps.

Days later, on April 22, Ye hopped on Justin LaBoy’s The Message podcast, the place he credited the “elimination of Drake” as his inspiration for dropping the remix.

“[Future] referred to as me and I went to the studio and laid that. We went by the artistic technique of including the chords and referred to as the Hooligans out in London to get on the joint,” Ye defined. “Everyone was very, very energized in regards to the elimination of Drake.”

He continued: “You say wealthy child daddy it’s like Drake has a wealthy child daddy named Lucian and Common. It’s like, ‘My daddy acquired it. My daddy management the spins. My daddy acquired the DSPs.’ Drake has a wealthy child daddy named Lucian.”