It all started with a tweet, as many rap beefs go nowadays: “Stop comparing Drake to me too… He don’t write his own raps!”
Stop comparing drake to me too…. He don’t write his own raps! That’s why he ain’t tweet my album because we found out!
— Meek Mill (@MeekMill) July 22, 2015
Late Tuesday, Meek Mill took to Twitter to call out Drake for not writing his own raps, claiming Drake didn’t promote Meek Mill’s album, Dreams Worth More Than Money, because he and his team found out that Drake used a ghostwriter. (Let’s not forget when Meek Mill called out fellow Maybach Music Group labelmate Wale for not promoting the album when it was first announced.)
Drake Disses Meek Mill on Future Mixtape: See All the Beefiest Verses
Meek Mill spilled more hate by pointing out that Drake is “way out of it” compared to Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole. He continued to say that he would’ve taken out Drake’s verse off their DWMTM collaboration “R.I.C.O.” if he would’ve known that Drake didn’t write it himself. (And no, Meek Mill’s account wasn’t hacked.)
He ain’t even write that verse on my album and if I woulda knew I woulda took it off my album….. I don’t trick my fans! Lol
— Meek Mill (@MeekMill) July 22, 2015
When he said the dream girl shit on Rico I thought he was coming at me lol Then youngbull played me the verse … http://t.co/CWwLO2muK5
— Meek Mill (@MeekMill) July 22, 2015
A few people on Twitter caught an alleged tweet from Rick Ross that featured him choosing Drake over Meek Mill. Meek quickly tweeted that Rick Ross was right beside him and that “It’s really love, we don’t act like we cool for the camera!”
Lol even Rick Ross knows. He deleted it though. pic.twitter.com/PB9bHOAn6I
— Lil Edd (@TheRealLilEdd) July 22, 2015
Chris Brown posted a now-deleted photo on Instagram of himself smiling and looking outside a car window, with the caption: “Chris Brown looking at Twitter like ‘for once it ain’t me.'”
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OG Maco popped up in the conversation to back Meek Mill’s ghostwriting claims against Drake, pointing out one “ghostwriter,” Quentin Miller. “Some of us been knew. Meek just put it in the air,” he tweeted. “Meek not hatin. He’s being honest.” He proceeded to tweet a screen-grab of credits of a handful of songs from Drake’s latest mixtape, If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, that shows Miller credited (“6 Man,” “10 Bands” and “Know Yourself”). (If he’s credited, that makes Miller a contributing writer, not a ghostwriter.) Meek then tweeted Miller’s name, almost as confirmation.
All this shit fake as fuck! Meek hating or these credits clearly say Quentin__Miller I’m sick of you fuck ass clowns pic.twitter.com/8e2y7khOAP
— OG Maco (@OGMaco) July 22, 2015
OG Maco also tweeted the name of Boi-1da, a longtime producer for Drake and others who is highlighted in the IYRTITL credits. The producer caught drift and told Maco to “chill.”
@OGMaco bro you look thirsty, chill. Go back to doing whatever you do and stop highlighting my name.
— Boi-1da (@Boi1da) July 22, 2015
Maco then responded to Boi-1da, but not directly. “I never highlighted your name like I never asked for any of your beats or attention,” Maco tweeted. Bo1-da replied, also not directly: “You can’t have what you can’t afford.” And then came another tweet from Maco: “Don’t subtweet lame ass n—a. Be a man and apologize then go to bed. I would rather buy mid than cop from you.”
Roscoe Dash popped up and claimed that Meek Mill dismissed him when he wanted to collaborate on Dash Effect 2. He continued to tweet that Drake not promoting Dreams Worth More Than Money is karma.
And I fuck with @meekmill I reached out for this #DashEffect2 project I thought it would be a dope collab for the ppl
— Scoe!!! (@Roscoedash) July 22, 2015
And he told me FOH … #Support works both ways …now the universe balances out and now he’s abt @drake not tweeting his album
— Scoe!!! (@Roscoedash) July 22, 2015
On Wednesday, Hot 97’s Funkmaster Flex debuted an alleged reference track to Drake’s “10 Bands” by Quentin Miller. Flex claims, according to VIBE, that someone from OVO sent him the track. The date of the recording is unknown and the song has since been deleted from SoundCloud.
Also on Wednesday, Meek Mill joined Nicki Minaj on stage during her The Pinkprint tour stop in Bristow, Va., to shout out Drake (not apologize): “I was just upset as a fan… Shout-out to Drake. Let him be great in all the mother—-in’ lanes he’s great in.”
He did, though, apologize to his girlfriend: “I wanna give a special apology shout-out to Nicki Minaj for my crazy ass going crazy on Twitter.”
Lupe Fiasco chimed in on the conversation of ghostwriting via Instagram, saying it isn’t rare in rap (nor necessarily a bad thing), but that also radio has set high expectations for musicians.
Drake’s longtime friend and producer Noah “40” Shebib didn’t sit back and let the claims continue circulating. He took to Twitter to come to Drake’s defense. “I’ve spent maybe 30 min in a studio with Q. Nice enough guy, very talented… If you’re asking if he contributed to if you’re reading this… Yes, he did,” he tweeted.
I’ve spent maybe 30 min in a studio with Q. Nice enough guy, very talented…
— Noah Shebib (@OVO40) July 23, 2015
If your asking if he contributed to if you’re reading this… Yes, he did. You can also see that by reading the credits.
— Noah Shebib (@OVO40) July 23, 2015
“Rap has a stigma about writing your own lyrics and rightfully so… its a very personal art form and its rooted in speaking truthfully,” he continued to tweet. “Thankfully for me drake isn’t just a rapper. He’s also a musician and a producer and a creator.”
He continued to tweet his respect for Drake’s musicianship: “Never has someone spoken about themselves or there own perspective so vividly… ever,” he tweeted. “Its why people have called him soft… because he shows humility and is truthful and honest.”
you’re smokin that shit you say you selling if you think someone wrote that shit.
— Noah Shebib (@OVO40) July 23, 2015
so if someone wants to be upset that drake made a great album, go for it, get mad all day lol! but don’t ever question my brothers pen.
— Noah Shebib (@OVO40) July 23, 2015
40 closed his Twitter speech with a message for anyone who’s ever doubted Drake’s penmanship: “You’re smokin that shit you say you selling if you think someone wrote that shit.”
Update:
During his 2-hour Beats 1 OVO Sound radio show on Saturday, July 25, Drake unleashed a song allegedly aimed at Meek Mill titled, “Charged Up.” “N—–s snitching on us without no interrogation. I stay silent ‘cause we at war and I’m very patient. 6God is watching,” he raps. “Done doing favors for people ‘cause it ain’t like I need the money I make off a feature/ I see you n—–s having trouble going gold, turning into some so and sos that no one knows,” he raps, perhaps referencing the Dreams Worth More Than Money collaboration in question, “R.I.C.O.”
Meek Mill wasted no time to respond to “Charged Up” on Twitter, and later on stage. “Baby lotion soft,” he tweeted. “I can tell he wrote that 1 though.”
Baby lotion soft……
— Meek Mill (@MeekMill) July 26, 2015
I can tell he wrote that 1 tho……
— Meek Mill (@MeekMill) July 26, 2015
“I heard that shit, that shit was very soft. Baby lotion soft,” he re-iterated on Sunday, July 26, on Brooklyn stop of The Pinkprint tour.
Meek Mill even referenced the infamous beef between Notorious B.I.G. and 2pac: “We aren’t going to focus to much motherfuckin’ energy on that, but I’mma let you know, when it comes to this rap shit, Biggie and Tupac had to die to become the motherfuckin’ greatest. If you gonna be the motherfuckin’ greatest of this shit just make sure you’re doing your motherfuckin’ pen game, and keep it all the way a motherfuckin’ hundred”
Nicki Minaj also shared a few words on ghostwriting during her Brooklyn The Pinkprint show. “See a bitch ass n—-s can’t write my raps. You know why? You don’t have the heart or the mind frame or the motherfuckin’ intellect, n—-. You don’t even know how to pronounce the motherfuckin’ words in my raps, bitch.”
Oh meek done poisoned her mind pic.twitter.com/pF7kkzcU46
— Carlos Reedriguez (@TheOnlyReed) July 27, 2015
Update: On July 27, Hot 97 DJ Funkmaster Flex hyped his premiere of a Meek Mill diss song, aimed at Drake, but for whatever reason it never materialized. Meek Mill took to Twitter shortly after to tweet, “LOL,” and posted a snippet of a fake response.
Here it gooooooooo lets get it pic.twitter.com/eWdMOXZrPh
— Meek Mill (@MeekMill) July 28, 2015
(While perhaps intended to be funny…it wasn’t.)
Drake didn’t wait for Meek Mill’s response. While people slept, during “scary hours,” Drake went ahead and released another diss freestyle aimed at Meek Mill, titled “Back to Back.”
A stand-out line from “Back to Back” that quickly flooded timelines was one referencing Meek Mill’s opening slot on Nicki Minaj’s The Pinkprint tour: “Is that a world tour or your girl’s tour?/ I know that you gotta be a thug for her/ This ain’t what she meant when she told you to open up more.”
Update: Meek Mill is still silent.
Update: Funkmaster Flex came through on the second try on Thursday night (July 30). The Hot 97 DJ premiered Meek Mill’s diss freestyle, “Wanna Know,” while co-producer of the song, Jahlil Beats, joined in and tweeted “scarier hours.” As “Wanna Know” played on Hot 97, Flex released four more If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late reference tracks on his own site. They were quickly taken down from SoundCloud.
And not an hour later, Drake, Ja Rule (who’s legendary beef with 50 Cent is referenced in “Wanna Know”), and the rest of the Internet react to “Wanna Know” with some of the best memes.
Update: Drake and Future released a joint mixtape, What a Time To Be Alive, featuring numerous obvious and subliminal digs at Meek Mill. Read our roundup of the beefiest verses here.
Update: Meek Mill reignited his Drake Beef with the release of his 4 / 4 EP last January. The MMG rapper dishes our bars on the Drake and Future “The Plug”-referencing “I’m Da Plug Freestyle,” spitting, “Jumpman, Jumpman, Jumpman / Ain’t nobody tell ’em this ain’t what they want, man / You ain’t really write it, I’m like, ‘Who’s your stuntman?'”
Meek Milly also called out Drizzy on the 4 / 4 Part Two EP, which coincided with the release of Drake’s loaded cut “Summer Sixteen.” On the fiery track “War Pain,” Nicki Minaj’s beau took aim at the 6 God and his viral jam “Hotline Bling”: “Man I hate that shit, niggas be talkin’ out they face/ But soon as you body somethin’ they be singin’ like they Drake/ Wait, n—-s dancin’ like they fruitcakes/ Hotline Bling don’t get no bing up in this new Wraith.”