Five rappers Drake dissed on ‘Iceman’
People are still wrapping their heads around the surprise drop of, not one, but three new Drake albums.
While Iceman has long been anticipated, the fact that two other albums, Maid of Honour and Habibti, arrived, too, caught people off guard and means that fans have a lot of Drake music to cram in. But Iceman, of the three, is clearly the main source of interest for people, with Drake’s rapping skills being pushed out front and centre on it.
Iceman sees Drake on the attack in lots of his songs, with the Canadian using the album to settle some scores. He targets multiple figures on the record, clearly with the difficulties of his feud with Kendrick Lamar still fresh on his mind. His dismay at what happened throughout 2024 is evident.
Drake disses a bunch of people on Iceman, but most of his targets are in some way tied to the Kendrick beef. Here are five rappers that he goes after on the album, but, to be clear, this is not an exhaustive list. Lots more people attract Drake’s wrath on Iceman.
Five rappers Drake dissed on Iceman:
5. Jay-Z
“We know how you OGs rocking already,” Drake raps on the song ‘Janice STFU,’ “my n***a, the jig is up.” Who’s an OG rapper Drake might have an issue with? That word “jig” might be a clue, but maybe that’s looking too closely into things? Well, no. “I’ll take $500k, not the dinner,” he also raps on ‘Whisper My Name.’
Drake is clearly talking about Jay-Z on these songs, with the “$500k” thing referring to that meme that poses the question of whether or not you’d prefer to have dinner with Jay or accept half a million dollars. Drake, angry at Hov for his part in selecting Kendrick to perform at the 2025 Super Bowl Halftime Show, clearly would take the money over the offer of dinner.
4. A$AP Rocky
Drake has had it in for A$AP Rocky ever since he made it clear where his allegiances lay, in the context of the Drake-Kendrick feud. They did not, to be clear, lay with the Canadian. Rocky actively dissed Drake on his own album from earlier this year, Don’t Be Dumb, so Drake duly responded on Iceman. But he didn’t just go for Rocky alone. He pulled in Rocky’s wife, a woman that Drake himself once shared a fruitful creative partnership with and was long rumoured to be involved with romantically.
The track ‘Burning Bridges’ takes a swipe at Rocky by bringing up Rihanna. “Your baby mama ain’t even post your single, damn,” he raps. “Where she at? Yeah, where she at?” Drake also references Rocky on ‘Firm Friends,’ rapping, “K-Y-S A-S-A-P, that’s some shit that you could do for me.” Their relationship, which once was more than amicable, remains frosty for the time being.
3. Dr Dre
One of Kendrick’s most vicious disses against Drake throughout their feud was that he “likes ’em young.” That one obviously stung, but Drake, on ‘Make Them Remember,’ decided to turn the tables a bit. He didn’t hit back at Kendrick specifically in this vein, but he dragged in one of his mentors. “If Drake took out the AK, maybe he’d be in jail,” he raps. “Just based off the name that it spells.”
Take the A and the K away from Drake, and you’re left with Dre. “I heard they got special places in hell,” Drake goes on in his ‘Make Them Remember’ verse, “for n****s jokin’ about evil when they did it themselves, damn.” He seems to be bringing up allegations made against Dr Dre, claiming that he dated the singer Michel’le when she was 16 and he was a few years older. Dre was also allegedly physically abusive towards her during their relationship.
2. J Cole
Drake’s one-time friendship with J Cole was left in tatters by the wider feud with Kendrick. Cole stepped into the mess with his contribution to Drake’s 2023 song ‘First Person Shooter,’ in which he refers to the trio as rap’s “big three.” Kendrick wasn’t having that, declaring on ‘Like That’ that there was no big three, just “big me.” Cole responded with ‘7 Minute Drill,’ before apologising for it and trying to pull out of the beef. The fact that Cole had given up annoyed and baffled lots of people, especially Drake. He still hasn’t forgiven him for it.
On ‘Make Them Pay,’ Drake raps about accepting “the mission” of the conflict with Kendrick, because he would “much rather death than submission.” He mocks Cole for pressing “the ignition” and abandoning the feud, which is something he “could never forgive” him for. “Fuck a big three anyway,” he also raps. “There was too many chefs in the kitchen, it was a mess to begin with.”
1. Kendrick Lamar
It would have been bizarre if Drake hadn’t mentioned Kendrick on Iceman, but, of course, he did. Plenty of times. He refers to Kendrick and the beef on multiple tracks, including on ‘Janice STFU,’ where he raps that “white kids listen” to Kendrick “cuz they feel some guilt.” He targets Kendrick’s perceived self-righteousness, accusing him of “handin’ out turkeys on camera inside of your hood, then you go back to the hills.”
On ‘Make Them Pay,’ Drake also implies that the streaming numbers that Kendrick clocked up for ‘Not Like Us’ were manipulated. “Damn, who is this guy for real?” he raps. “I guess a magician / 100 million streams vanished, no one got questions for n****s.” This is a long-standing claim made by Drake.