Since their brief period of mutual admiration back in 2009, Kanye West and Drake have been embroiled in an on again, off again war of words. When the pair first connected at the end of the aughts, Kanye was publicly complimenting Drake’s music, and Drake openly gushed about Kanye being “the most influential person, as far as a musician, that I’d ever had in my life.” Things took a turn, however, shortly after Drake was seen with Amber Rose, Kanye’s ex of only a couple of months at the time, in 2010. Whether that moment was the cause or the reflection of their relationship souring, the two subsequently would begin to spar on records, on social media and in the press for the next 11 years and counting.

Although they had intermittent moments where they professed to have made peace, such as when Kanye made a surprise appearance at Drake’s OVO Fest in 2013 and suggested that the two might be making a joint album in 2015, the vast majority of the last decade has been a cold war with the two sporadically taking shots; some passive aggressive and others just plain aggressive.

Drake made it explicitly clear he was coming for Kanye in a 2011 issue of The Source, where Drizzy said “When I was a kid trying to figure out what I liked, it was [Kanye] who I related to the most. He was an artist in every sense, from his cover art to his music. Now, I would say he was a really great competitor…My goal is to surpass everything he’s accomplished. I don’t want to be as good as Kanye, I want to be better.” In 2016, Drake seemed to update that statement on his “Summer Sixteen” song, where he rapped “I used to wanna be on Roc-A-Fella, then I turned into Jay / Now, I got a house in LA / Now, I got a bigger pool than Ye / And look man, Ye’s pool is nice, mine’s just bigger’s what I’m saying.”

Kanye’s aggressions during that time period came in the form of recording songs with Drake and subsequently removing his contributions, as he did with “Wolves,” and making occasional quips about Drake during his run of infamous monologues from the stage during his The Saint Pablo Tour. However, tensions rose to a different level in 2018, when West produced “Infrared” on Pusha-T’s DAYTONA album. Although it was Pusha’s song, it set off a chain of events that turned Kanye and Drake’s war nuclear.

Drake’s “Duppy Freestyle” response to “Infrared” pulled Kanye in the game from the sidelines. In reacting to Pusha’s jabs about Drake employing ghost writers from some of his songs, Drake raps about Kanye “So if you rebuke me for workin’ with someone else on a couple of V’s / What do you really think of the ni**a that’s makin’ your beats? / I’ve done things for him that I thought he never would need / Father had to stretch his hands out and get it from me / I popped style for 30 hours then let him repeat / You poppin’ up with the jokes, I’m dead; I’m asleep / I just left from over by y’all puttin’ pen to the sheets / I’m tired of sittin’ quiet and helping my enemies eat.” Drake also implies that superstar designer Virgil Abloh left Kanye’s camp because Ye was threatened by talented people around him.

Things turned particularly personal, however, when Pusha released his response, “The Story of Adidon.” On the song, which is one of the most searing diss records of all-time, Pusha-T revealed to the world that Drake had a son whose existence Drake had not publicly disclosed. In addition to outing Drake’s progeny, the revelation also cost Drake a deal he had with Adidas, related to his son. In an incredibly poignant episode of LeBron James’ HBO show, The Shop, Drake explains in painstaking detail how he believes it was Kanye West who disclosed the existence of Drake’s son to Pusha. Drake says that he played his “March 14” song for West, prior to its release, and the song tells Drake’s story of how he became a father. Drake also accuses Kanye of having deliberately manipulated him to learn of the release date of Drake’s then upcoming Scorpion album, so that Kanye could sabotage it. Allegedly after learning of Drake’s timing, Kanye released 5 albums that he produced, over 5 consecutive weeks, with one of the dates coinciding with Drake’s intended album release date.

Drake Speaks In Detail About How Kanye West Betrayed Him (Video)

While things had been relatively quiet between Kanye and Drake for the last couple of years, save for the occasional sneak diss here and there, things began to heat up this Summer, not surprisingly, around album release dates. After a number of false starts over the last year, Drake announced that his Certified Lover Boy album would be released this Summer. As chatter grew about the release of the album being imminent, Kanye announced in July that he was releasing his Donda album on July 24. After that date passed without Donda coming, Kanye announced the new date would be August 6. That date passed too, with the new announced date being August 27. The album eventually arrived on the morning of August 29, with Kanye subsequently posting that his record label had released the project without his permission. Many speculated that Kanye’s delays were intentional, as he was waiting to learn Drake’s release date so that the two could compete head to head, presumably settling the question of who was bigger, once and for all.

On August 27, Drake announced his album would be released on September 3. With the wheels already in motion for Kanye’s album to be released later that weekend, the head to head conflict was avoided, but it did allow for Drake to potentially steal West’s thunder, in a digital world where attention spans are fleetings. Drake had already set the stage for combat, with a veiled diss on Trippie Redd’s song “Betrayal,” which was released on August 21. On his verse, Drake speaks about those who have betrayed him, and raps “All these fools I’m beefin’ that I barely know / Forty-five, forty-four (Burned out), let it go / Ye ain’t changin’ sh*t for me, it’s set in stone.” Drake’s mention of 45 and 44 appear to be sly references to the ages of Pusha-T and Kanye West, respectively. His last line also seems to be in relation to Kanye’s album release date. Kanye did not take kindly to Drake calling him “burnt out,” and, in retaliation, he briefly posted the address to Drake’s personal residence on Instagram.

Now, Certified Lover Boy has finally arrived, and it contains Drake’s most pointed bars toward Kanye, yet. As has been the case for a number of songs, Drake often reserves his sharpest words for his tracks that reference a specific time and location. On “4pm In Calabasas,” Drake took shots at Joe Budden, Puff Daddy and Chris Brown. In that same vein, Drake puts Kanye in the cross-hairs on Certified Lover Boy‘s “7am On Bridle Path.”

From the title, it is clear that the song was recorded after Kanye posted Drake’s address on August 24, as Bridle Path is the area in Toronto where Drake resides. Although Drake almost never names names on his songs (“But I ain’t really into talkin’ names”), there are multiple references throughout “7am On Bridle Path’ that are likely aimed directly at Kanye. Early in the verse, Drake raps about someone who has publicly claimed to be his friend, yet is sabotaging him behind his back “Secretly beefin’ me behind closed doors / But playin’ it peacefully for the streets to see / My ni**a, have some decency.” Even the line about “for the streets to see” might be a reference to Kanye’s malicious post of his address (but more on that later).

It’s at the 1:50 mark of the song, however, where Drake truly unleashes his sting. In one of the most scathing stanzas of his career, he raps:

You over there in denial, we not neck and neck
It’s been a lot of years since we seen you comin’ correct
Man, f*ck a “Respectfully,” I just want my respect
They tried to label me mean, I say what I mean
People that could’ve stayed on the team
They played in-between
Clouds is hanging over you now, ’cause I’m reigning supreme
Some of these ni**as say what they mean, it ain’t what it seems
Had to pull my ni**as out the mud like I’m trainin’ Marines
You ni**as hot to them little kids, you ain’t famous to me
Told you I’m aimin’ straight for the head, not aiming to please
I could give a f*ck about who designing your sneakers and tees
Have somebody put you on a Gildan, you play with my seed
Trust me, there’s some sh*t you really gotta come see to believe
That’s why your people not believers, they all leavin’ ya
That’s why you buyin’ into the hype that the press feedin’ ya
You know the fourth level of jealousy is called media
Isn’t that an ironic revelation?
Give that address to your driver, make it your destination
‘Stead of just a post out of desperation
This me reachin’ the deepest state of my meditation
While you over there tryna impress the nation
Mind’s runnin’ wild with the speculation
Why the f*ck we peacemakin’, doin’ the explanations
If we just gon’ be right back in that b*tch without hesitation?

In that set of lines, Drake touches on nearly every major sore point he has had with Kanye, and vice versa, over the years. He states that he has clearly now surpassed Kanye, and that’s been the case for years. He also alludes to how Kanye’s public persona has become persona non grata to many, presumably due to many of Kanye’s outlandish stances (slavery, MAGA) over the last decade. In saying “they tried to label me mean,” Drake addresses some of the blowback he received for snide remarks about some of Kanye’s mental health problems. He also reiterates the exodus from Kanye’s team of talented people like Virgil Abloh. Drake sends a stern warning shot about how Pusha outed his son, ostensibly from Kanye’s disclosures. He also dives into Kanye’s perceived obsession for media coverage. He then gives his specific thoughts about Kanye’s stunt in posting his address to social media.

“7am On Bridle Path” is certainly not going to be the last word in Kanye and Drake’s ongoing feud. In fact, Kanye’s rep., Bu Thiam, has already said that Kanye would have to respond, if Drake dissed him on Certified Lover Boy. It remains to be seen, however, what form that will take, after years of subliminal references on records, explicit interviews, targeting of family members and revealing highly confidential personal information.

“7am On Bridle Path,” and other songs from Certified Lover Boy, is featured on AFH’s constantly updated playlist, which also contains new music from Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, Westside Gunn, Nas, Skyzoo, Lauryn Hill, Tyler, The Creator, Benny The Butcher, MF DOOM and many, many more.