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Rb Hip Hop

Drake Calls Out Those Who Switched Sides on Him During Kendrick Lamar Beef on ‘Fighting Irish’

The freestyle was released and quickly taken down from Conductor Williams' YouTube page.

Drake performs onstage during "Lil Baby & Friends Birthday Celebration Concert" at State Farm Arena on Dec. 9, 2022 in Atlanta.

Drake performs onstage during "Lil Baby & Friends Birthday Celebration Concert" at State Farm Arena on Dec. 9, 2022 in Atlanta.

Prince Williams/Wireimage

After closing the book on a turbulent 2024, Drake may be looking to make the most of a clean slate in the new year. Conductor Williams, a producer who has worked with the OVO boss, released a brand new Drizzy freestyle on his YouTube page on Friday (Jan. 3).

While the video was quickly taken down, fans grabbed the “Fighting Irish” freestyle and spammed the viral clip across social media. The visual captures Drake’s side profile as he raps through a small, grainy TV screen.


On the track, the 6 God gets introspective about the trials and tribulations of his 2024 over Conductor’s gleaming production, and seemingly blasts those who switched sides on him throughout the Kendrick Lamar feud.

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“The world fell in love with the gimmicks, even my brothers got tickets, seemed like they loved every minute/ Just know the s–t is personal to us and wasn’t just business/ Analyzing behavioral patterns is somewhat suspicious,” he raps.

Drake appears to be targeting those he considered close friends, such as NBA stars DeMar DeRozan and LeBron James, who were in attendance for Kendrick’s Pop Out concert in June. The Fighting Irish was also the mascot for LeBron’s high school team when he attended St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Ohio.

Drizzy also dispels on the track Kendrick’s notion that he has a drinking problem, which Lamar alleged on the diabolical “Meet the Grahams.” “I don’t have a drinkin’ problem, I got a subtle addiction/ I got my father’s habits and I got my mother’s permission,” Drake rhymes.

He also sent a possible subtle jab at Universal Music Group regarding his legal actions alleging that his parent label artificially inflated the popularity of Lamar’s “Not Like Us” diss track. “I hate to see their empire crumble on judges’ convictions,” he spews. (UMG denied his allegations, calling them “offensive and untrue” in a November statement to Billboard.)

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Drake and Conductor have connected in the past on For All The Dogs tracks such as “8am in Charlotte” and “Stories About My Brother.”

Billboard has reached out to Drake and Conductor Williams for comment about the track and its removal.

This article first appeared on Billboard U.S.

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Earth, Wind & Fire
Don Huntstein

Earth, Wind & Fire

Chart Beat

Earth, Wind & Fire’s ‘September’ Makes Its Debut on Billboard Canada Charts 48 Years After Its Release

The funk band’s cross-generational 1978 hit arrives at No. 49 on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100. Plus: U.K. indie band bôa is the latest act to experience a major resurgence with 1998’s “Duvet,” largely thanks to TikTok.

“Do you remember the 21st night of September?”

Those are the first words sung by Earth, Wind & Fire’s then-frontman Maurice White in the funk band’s instantly recognizable hit “September.” This week, the funky track debuts on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 at No. 49, dated Oct. 3 — nearly 50 years after its 1978 release. On the Billboard Hot 100, the song re-enters the U.S. chart at No. 45, but previously reached No. 8.

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