Drake accused of trolling Kendrick Lamar with a Tupac Shakur shirt

It seems that just when the battle between Drake and Kendrick Lamar appears to be over, something reignites the rivalry. Most recently, Drake possibly trolled Lamar by wearing a shirt featuring the late, legendary rapper Tupac Shakur — sparking a major reaction.

Drake posted a selfie to his Instagram Stories on Monday, July 23. The shirt he wore featured a close-up of Shakur's face with the words 'Only God Can Judge Me' emblazoned in bold green letters. Granted, people love Shakur, and wearing a t-shirt with his face or name on it is as commonplace in hip-hop as wearing a gold chain. However, considering how much Shakur's name has been used in the Drake and Lamar feud, the selfie could be seen as a direct shot.

So, let's start from the beginning.

Years before their epic battle began, there have been rumors of tension between the two men, despite Drake featuring on Lamar's song "Poetic Justice," off his classic 2012 album Good Kid, M.A.A.D City. But those beef rumors turned into facts once Lamar threw a shot at Drake and J. Cole on Metro Boomin and Future's song "Like That." That led to Drake responding with the song "Push Ups," Lamar returning fire with his cut "Euphoria," and more diss songs being exchanged, like Drake's "Family Matters," as well as Lamar's "Not Like Us." In fact, many believe that Lamar won the battle with that song.

Just how Tupac was used in the Drake, Kendrick battle

The first person to bring Shakur into the battle was Drake, who used AI to clone his voice in the Lamar diss song, "Taylor Made Freestyle." Drake was heavily panned for the move, both by fans and Shakur's Estate, who threatened legal action. Drake removed the song after that. Then in Lamar's response, "Euphoria," he brought up Drake buying Shakur's ring at a Sotheby’s auction in 2023 for $1.01 million. In short, Lamar said that Shakur turned in his grave because a Canadian rapper bought the ring.

Lamar would later bring up Drake's use of Shakur's voice again, this time in "Not Like Us." "You think the Bay gon' let you disrespect Pac / I think that Oakland show gon' be your last stop," rapped Lamar. He also had something to say about Shakur during his "Pop Out" concert in June by changing a line in "Euphoria." "Give me Tupac’s ring back, and I might give you a lil' respect," was the line change. Plus, Lamar seemed to bring up the late rapper and "Taylor Made Freestyle" while speaking to the crowd. “Y’all ain’t gonna let anyone disrespect the West Coast, huh?" asked Lamar. "Oh, y’all ain’t gonna let nobody mock or imitate our legends, huh?"

Drake possibly trolling Lamar with the Pac shirt

Now, let's jump back into Drake's post of the Tupac shirt and people's reaction. One theory could be the OVO rapper knows just how much Lamar was bothered by the Shakur reference in "Taylor Made Freestyle" and the ring purchase. So, maybe he thought what better way to get under his skin? But regardless if that was Drake's intention or not, some online believe it was, and they voiced their opinion. Here are just some of what people wrote in the comments after Drake's selfie was posted by New York radio station Hot 97:

"He steady tryna troll you’ll never be like us sir"

"He think he’s trying to troll but he is just taking more L’s"

"Still trolling"

But others said Drake was just paying homage to Shakur, and people are making something out of nothing.

"Guys allowed to love pac"

"Who cares he’s a fan okay"

Of course, whether Drake wanted to troll Lamar and his fans is unknown but either way, it's still keeping the talk of their battle going. So, at this point, it looks like things will never fully die down. At least among the rapper's respective fan bases.