‘Duppy Freestyle’: the song Drake used to diss Pusha T
Drake and Pusha T’s ongoing feud has proven to be one of the most enticing rap beefs in recent memory, going back and forth with diss tracks and subliminals ever since the Virginia rapper’s ‘Exodus 23:1’ in the early 2010s.
In 2018, Push called out Drake for using ghostwriters—specifically Quentin Miller—on his DAYTONA song ‘Infrared’, which sparked Drizzy to return with his own shots on ‘Duppy Freestyle’. Using the word “duppy” in the title saw Drake use Jamaican patois for “ghost,” while claiming Pusha is a ghost of the past in the lyrics.
Drake questioned the attacks around using a ghostwriter by claiming Quentin Miller, who has famously served as a songwriter for the Toronto rapper, has no hits of his own, rapping: “Whoever supposedly making me hits, but then got no hits sound like they need me/ My hooks did it, my lyrics did it, my spirit did it.”
Not only did Drake target Pusha T, but he also brought Kanye West into the fray, having produced ‘Infrared’ and the rest of Push’s DAYTONA album. Drake mentioned Ye whilst claiming the beef was bringing more attention to his career, spitting, “Tell ‘Ye we got an invoice comin’ to you/ Considering we just sold another 20 for you.”
Shortly after releasing the song, Drake took to Instagram to share an OVO Sound invoice to G.O.O.D Music and Def Jam Recordings for $100,000, citing the cause of the bill as “promotional assistance and career reviving.” In addition, he also wrote “You’re welcome” in the caption.
Drake released ‘Duppy Freestyle’, produced by Boi-1da and Jahaan Sweet, on the same day Pusha T released DAYTONA as an instant response to ‘Infrared’. The song also shares the same title as Skepta’s 2006 diss towards Megaman; Drake has had a strong relationship with the grime MC over the years and even has a Boy Better Know tattoo on his shoulder.
Drizzy previously addressed the ghostwriter allegations in 2015, telling Billboard he wasn’t ashamed about using reference tracks to create a song, despite what people might say about his abilities.
“I need, sometimes, individuals to spark an idea so that I can take off running. I don’t mind that,” he said about the topic. “And those recordings—they are what they are. And you can use your own judgment on what they mean to you.
“If I have to be the vessel for this conversation to be brought up—you know, God forbid we start talking about writing and references and who takes what from where — I’m OK with it being me. It’s just music at times, can be a collaborative process, you know?”
He added, “Who came up with this, who came up with that — for me, it’s like, I know that it takes me to execute every single thing that I’ve done up until this point. And I’m not ashamed.”
Drake’s beef with Pusha T has been far from his priority as of late, having been involved in a high-profile feud with Kendrick Lamar earlier this year.