A leaked song from Drake’s upcoming album seemingly has several Hollywood A-listers within the crosshairs.
Clips of Drake’s latest song “1 a.m. in Albany” surfaced on social media on Wednesday, May 13, leading fans to try and piece together the lyrics.
“Muggsy Bogues dunked for once, even I’m a bit amazed, someone give the child a raise,” one lyric read, referring to the retired point guard that had fans believing was a dig at Kendrick Lamar. (Bogues was famously the shortest player in NBA history at 5-foot-3, while Lamar stands at 5-foot-5.)
While Drake, 39, and Lamar, 38, were once friendly peers, they’ve been embroiled in a back-and-forth rap battle for years.
“I don’t ever need to get into responses,” Drake told Vibe in 2013 when asked whether he had written “The Language” in regards to the drama. “ It’s just me talking my s***. I never once felt the necessity to answer [Lamar’s ‘Control’]. The sentiment he was putting forth is what he must have.”
He continued, “After all you wanna be one of the best. Where it became a difficulty is that I used to be rolling out an album while that verse was still bubbling, so my album rollout became about this thing. What am I speculated to say? ‘Nah, we’ll be buddy-buddy?’ Mind you, I never once said he’s a foul guy [or] I don’t like him. I feel he’s a f***ing genius in his own right, but I also stood my ground as I should.”
Lamar, for his part, released a song called “6:16 in L.A.” in 2024 that has parallels to Drake’s “Albany” title. (Nonetheless, Drake has dropped several tracks with times within the titles, including “5 a.m. in Toronto” and “4 p.m. in Calabasas.”) The subsequent 12 months, Lamar headlined the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show and invited Drake’s ex Serena Williams to hitch his performance of “Not Like Us,” which was also in regards to the feud.
Drake seemingly slammed the song in his 2025 track “What Did I Miss?”
Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s feud has change into probably the most storied rap beefs in history, but their relationship wasn’t all the time so fraught with tension. Before Lamar made his major label debut with 2012’s Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, the Compton native and Drake were on good terms. Lamar made a guest appearance on Drake’s 2011 […]
“I don’t give a f*** in the event you love me, I don’t give a f*** in the event you like me / Askin’ me, ‘How did it feel?’ Can’t say it didn’t surprise me,” he began, appearing to reference peers who took sides. Later within the song, he rapped, “It’s love for my brothers and death to a traitor, let’s go / She might resolve to say no to me now, but say yеs to me later, let’s go.”
In one other “1 a.m. in Albany” lyric, Drake appears to call out J. Cole as a “married rapper” before going after LeBron James for siding with Lamar of their now-viral beef.
“I shouldn’t even be shocked to see you in that arena, because you usually made your profession off of switching teams up,” the lyrics read. “Please stop asking what’s happening with 23 & me, I’m an actual n****, and he’s not, it’s in my DNA.”
Drake’s album Iceman will likely be released on Friday, May 15.