Drake stirred up speculation Friday by releasing a new track, ‘Fighting Irish Freestyle.’
The song came just a day after Notre Dame secured its College Football Playoff semifinal spot with a 23-10 Sugar Bowl win over Georgia. The song had nothing to do with college football and everything to do with what fans believe is a depiction of the rapper’s strained relationship with entertainment industry members, including Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James.
The NBA champion and all-time leading scorer famously played high school basketball and football for the St. Vincent-St. Mary high school Fighting Irish, hinting at the possible name for the song. Drake’s famous bicep tattoo features a young LeBron in his high school Fighting Irish jersey.
Drake previewed the freestyle alongside a Conductor Williams visual, showing raw, unfocused footage of the artist rapping before a fireplace. Within hours, Genius broke down the track, uncovering what fans suspect are jabs at James.
The lyrics center around strong themes of backstabbing and unfaithfulness, seemingly referencing the public fallout between the two well-known celebrities. In the opening verse, Drake raps: “The world fell in love with the gimmicks, even my brothers got tickets / Seemed like they loved every minute / Just know this —- is personal to us, and it wasnt just business.”
Listeners considered the words to point out James getting a ticket to Kendrick Lamar’s ‘The Pop Up Out: Ken & Friends’ show at the Kia Forum in LA on June 19. The one-night-only show was headlined by the Drake diss track ‘Not Like Us,’ which ended after being played more than five consecutive times.
The verse suggests that Drake feels abandoned by someone he considers family. Another line that intensified theories read: “Pulled a rabbit out the hat, and y’all love a magician / It’s funny to see you all rejoicin’ and huggin’ and kissing.”
Rap analysts saw the bars as a reference to LeBron celebrating with Kendrick and other NBA stars, such as James Harden, Russell Westbrook, and DeMar DeRozan, who joined him on stage at the show. Drake previously addressed his relationship with DeRozan and threatened to remove a future Toronto Raptors banner honoring DeRozan if the franchise ever decided to retire his jersey.
The freestyle’s reception has been nothing short of divisive despite being released less than a day ago. While Drake was unclear about who the lyrics were aimed at, many zeroed in on possible LeBron references. They went on social media to call out Drake for continuing to address non-rap stars who he believed sided with Lamar.
One fan wrote: “Drake really thinks he’s about to come out alive going at UMG, LeBron, and by proxy Nike. He’s playing a dangerous game.”
Another fan added:” Dissing LeBron James [a non-rapper] doesnt do anything for me. Drake continuously attacks all the wrong people.”
A third chimed in with: Mad at Bron. Youre the one with the tattoo, referencing the infamous ink on Drake’s bicep.
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