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Alleged attack on Rick Ross – and reignited Drake feud – explained

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The feud between rapper Rick Ross and Drake flared up again after he was apparently attacked in Vancouver for allegedly playing Kendrick Lamar’s diss track about Drake, “Not Like Us,” following his performance – which subsequently led to a back-and-forth on social media between Ross, Drake and his ex-girlfriend Tia Kemp.

Key data

Video footage from Ross’ performance at the Ignite Music Festival in Vancouver appears to show the rapper being punched and shouted by concertgoers. According to TMZ, this happened after Ross finished his performance with a rendition of Lamar’s “Not Like Us.”

Although Ross did not directly address the incident, Drake (who is Canadian) liked a post on Instagram detailing the alleged attack on Ross and warning people not to “come to Canada if you have any issues with Drake.”

Drake posted a series of Instagram stories on Monday night in which he laughed and wished his followers a happy Canada Day (which was on Monday) and said “cheers to the whole country,” which some took as a jab at Ross.

Ross’ ex Tia Kemp, who is also the mother of one of Ross’ children and frequently clashes with Ross, commented on Drake’s recent Instagram post, “Drakeeeeee 🤩,” and Drake responded by calling her “my goat.”

Widely shared (but unconfirmed) screenshots show Ross leaving an apparently already-deleted comment titled “Pedo vs. Granny” on Drake’s post, attacking both Drake and Kemp (Lamar accuses Drake of preying on minors in “Not Like Us,” which Drake denies).

Kemp responded to Ross’ alleged comment in a video on Instagram (which Drake liked) by sharply criticizing his “grandma” comment and pointing out that Ross is also a grandfather.

How did the argument between Rick Ross and Drake start?

Ross and Drake, who had previously collaborated frequently, exchanged bizarre accusations and diss tracks earlier this year that overlapped with Drake’s highly publicized feud with Lamar. “Push Ups,” a diss track Drake recorded primarily against Lamar, leaked in April and contained lyrics presumably aimed at Ross: “Every song that charted, he got from Drizzy” (Drizzy is a nickname of Drake’s). Ross responded with “Champagne Moments,” in which he accused Drake of hiring ghostwriters for his raps and undergoing various cosmetic surgeries, including a nose job. Ross also sampled a years-old interview clip of Drake saying Ross was his “favorite person to rap with on every song.” Shortly after Ross released “Champagne Moments,” Drake shared a screenshot of text messages with his mother on his Instagram Story, accusing Ross of being “angry and racist” and joking that he would have given himself and his mom a two-for-one deal if he had gotten a rhinoplasty. While promoting his diss track on social media, Ross consistently used the hashtag #BBLDrizzy, a reference to the Brazilian Butt Lift procedure. Drake has consistently denied undergoing a BBL, but the “BBL Drizzy” moniker stuck: Lamar accused Drake of undergoing a BBL in his diss track “Meet the Grahams,” and producer Metro Boomin released an instrumental beat in May that he dubbed “BBL Drizzy” — which Drake later used to spite his critics by rapping over the beat in Sexyy Red’s song “U My Everything.”

Important background

Ross and Kemp have one son together, William Roberts III, who is 18 and graduated from high school in June. The two have clashed several times this year alone. When Ross and Drake’s feud escalated earlier this year, Kemp demanded that Drake call her out on Instagram Live because she allegedly had derogatory information about Ross. Ross also posted a video in June celebrating his last child support payment (though it’s unclear which of his five children he was referring to). Kemp responded with harsh words, claiming in one video that he has “eight, nine, or 10” children – more than he has publicly admitted to – and repeatedly calling him “fat” and “funky.”

Main critics

Several other critics have mocked Ross for the alleged Vancouver attack, including 50 Cent, who posted several videos of the alleged attack and Kemp’s video response on his Instagram account. “I guess you’re not coming back to Canada,” 50 Cent said. Rapper Bobby Shmurda said “you gotta see the video” in a now-deleted video he posted in response to the incident, in which he laughs nonstop for nearly a minute.

tangent

Although the dust had largely settled on Drake’s feud with Lamar by mid-May, their feud was back in the spotlight on June 19, when Lamar performed a star-studded concert in Los Angeles, closing his performance by singing “Not Like Us” five times in a row. He invited various Los Angeles celebrities to join him onstage, including rappers YG and Dr. Dre, and NBA players DeMar DeRozan and Russell Westbrook, to show West Coast unity. Lamar appeared to blast Drake onstage, “Y’all not gonna let anyone disrespect the West Coast, huh? Y’all not gonna let anyone mock or imitate our legends, huh?”, which many took to be a reference to Drake’s use of the AI-generated voices of West Coast rappers Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur in his diss track “Taylor Made Freestyle.” Lamar also shot a video for “Not Like Us” in Los Angeles last week, but a release date has not yet been announced.

Further information

Drake and Rick Ross feud: What you need to know about the diss tracks, nose job allegations and “BBL Drizzy” (Forbes)

Drake-Kendrick Lamar Feud Timeline: Lamar Performs Diss Tracks at Star-Studded Pop Out Show (Forbes)

Here’s who joined Kendrick Lamar onstage during Drake’s diss: Dr. Dre, DeRozan, Westbrook and more (Forbes)

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