Family Matters

Album: released as a single (2024)
Charted: 17 7
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Drake dropped "Family Matters" on May 3, 2024, as a full-on clap back at Kendrick Lamar for his diss tracks, "Euphoria" and "6:16 in LA." This 7-minute tirade throws everything but the kitchen sink at K.Dot, from accusing him of cheating on his fiancée, Whitney Alford, with "vanilla cream" to claiming his business partner, Dave Free, secretly fathered one of his kids. Drake even throws shade at Tupac's estate, suggesting Lamar pulled strings to block his "Taylor Made Freestyle" diss.
  • "Family Matters" also sees Drake go after some of his other hip-hop foes as he throws not-so-subtle jabs at Rick Ross, The Weeknd, A$AP Rocky, Future, and Metro Boomin.
  • Drake ends the track declaring victory and bowing out of any further beef by saying he's going on vacation. However, if the rumors are true about someone in Drake's camp leaking information, the 6 God needs to tighten up his team. Lamar dropped "Meet The Grahams" 20 minutes after "Family Matters" landed, as if he knew Drake would mention his family. After the Compton rapper released another track, "Not Like Us," shortly afterwards, Drizzy was forced to respond with "The Heart Part 6."
  • The song title "Family Matters" plays on the popular '90s sitcom of the same name.
  • The music video is laden with symbolism, including:

    1. A similar van to Lamar's mother's Dodge Caravan, reminiscent of the cover of the deluxe edition of his album Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, is crushed in a junkyard.

    2. Drake flaunts Tupac's ring, harking back to his use of AI to impersonate the legend in "Taylor Made Freestyle."

    3. Cakes inscribed with "Happy Divorce" and "Happy Co-parenting" – guess Drake's betting on Lamar's relationship with Whitney Alford going sour.
  • For those keeping score, "Family Matters" marked Drake's third diss track aimed at Lamar, following "Push Ups and "Taylor Made Freestyle."

Comments: 1

  • 6ixer from 6The best diss song of all time!
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Daryl Hall

Daryl HallSongwriter Interviews

Daryl Hall's TV show is a hit, and he's been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - only one of these developments excites him.

Booker T. Jones

Booker T. JonesSongwriter Interviews

The Stax legend on how he cooked up "Green Onions," the first time he and Otis Redding saw hippies, and if he'll ever play a digital organ.

Fire On The Stage

Fire On The StageSong Writing

When you have a song called "Fire," it's tempting to set one - these guys did.

Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World

Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat WorldSongwriter Interviews

Jim talks about the impact of "The Middle" and uses a tree metaphor to describe his songwriting philosophy.

Randy Houser

Randy HouserSongwriter Interviews

The "How Country Feels" singer talks Skynyrd and songwriting.

Carol Kaye

Carol KayeSongwriter Interviews

A top session musician, Carol played on hundreds of hits by The Beach Boys, The Monkees, Frank Sinatra and many others.