What’s Going On Between Kanye West and Drake? Well, It’s Complicated

Michelle Ruiz
Updated
West apologized to Drake this week after a lengthy feud.

In a series of early morning tweets on Wednesday, Kanye West apologized to Drake after a lengthy feud (including a nasty rumor of a Drake–Kim Kardashian West affair), referencing “Cudi” and “Wiz,” and denying any involvement in Pusha T’s diss track. Wait, what? This is understandably confusing. Here, a handy explainer:

Chapter 1: The release date drama

In one West apology tweet, the 41-year-old rapper and Yeezy designer issued a mea culpa to Drake for “stepping on your release date in the first place.” This is a reference to the fact that West surprise-dropped his album Ye on June 1—ahead of Drake’s planned debut of Scorpion on June 29. According to West, he and Drake were discussing collaborating on new music at the time—“building as friends and brothers,” as he puts it—so scooping his album was a not-cute move. Though, as West also notes, he was, at the time, in the midst of his Trumpian tweetstorms and went on to do his highly regrettable TMZ appearance, so, it’s safe to say he was in a weird (weirder than usual?) place.

West also says that, pre-feud, he and Drake were “squashing the issues with Cudi.” Presumably, he means rapper Kid Cudi’s 2016 comments that appeared to call out Drake and West for allegedly using ghostwriters: “Everyone thinks they’re soooo great. Talkin top 5 and be having 30 people write songs for them.” Got it? Good.

Chapter 2: Pusha T

In his very thorough excavation of the facts, West also acknowledges that he maybe-probably should have intervened when rapper Pusha T, president of West’s G.O.O.D. Music label (who recently had a very beautiful wedding in Virginia), released the diss track “Infrared” about Drake in late May, another battle in an ongoing war between Drake and Pusha. Like Kid Cudi, Pusha accused Drake of using ghostwriters and specifically not giving enough credit to Atlanta rapper Quentin Miller (“It was written like Nas, but it came from Quentin”).

Drake swiftly fired back with a diss track of his own, “Duppy Freestyle,” lashing out at both Pusha T and West, alleging that West is the one who employs ghostwriters, because—oh s&*%—Drake himself once served as one for him (“I’ve done things for him I thought that he never would need / Father had to stretch his hands out and get it from me / I pop style for 30 hours then let him repeat,” he rapped, name-checking the West songs “Father Stretch My Hands,” “30 Hours” and their joint song “Pop Style”).

West now says he “should have spoken to Pusha about the Quentin Miller bar. There should have been no songs with my involvement that had any negative energy towards you.” Further, West denies that he supplied Pusha T with any intel that Drake had secretly fathered a child. “I did not have any conversations about your child with Pusha,” West wrote. “I don’t play with the idea of people’s children after I spoke to Wiz a few years earlier.” Wiz would be Wiz Khalifa, whom West feuded with in 2016 after West said Khalifa was all but trapped by having a child with West’s ex Amber Rose. (I told you this was dense.)

This said, West also tweeted today that says he understands Pusha’s anger, because Drake had mentioned Pusha’s now-wife, Virginia Williams, on “Duppy Freestyle,” and “if someone mentions your fiancée, men go mask off. I’ve done the same myself at times.” Speaking of which . . .

Chapter 3: The Kim–Drake rumor

Compounding this intricate Shakespearean drama: enter a viral fan theory that Drake, as a form of ultimate revenge, has been having an affair with Kim Kardashian West. This theory is based on . . . well, not much: some supposedly veiled Instagram captions and a Drake lyric making reference to going down the block and making a right—which would be the way he’d get from his house to Kimye’s. Kardashian West quickly shut this down, commenting on an Instagram about the rumor: “Never happened. End of story.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BnRIQ3Bl1zQ/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=embed_loading_state_control

Chapter 4: The Future

West is now not only apologizing but praising Drake’s latest concerts and vowing to come to a show ASAP. Drake has yet to respond but was recently heard in an alleged clip from a forthcoming Drake–French Montana (yes, West’s sister-in-law Khloé Kardashian’s ex, just to keep things interesting) collaboration apparently dissing West and his Yeezy shoe empire, rapping, “I told her don’t wear no 350s around me.” Will Drake accept this apology and resume the budding brotherhood he’d been forming with West? The saga continues. . .

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