"The Heart Part 6" is a diss track written and performed by Canadian rapper Drake. It was released on May 5, 2024, during his feud with American rapper Kendrick Lamar.[1][2][3][4] It is a response to Lamar's "Meet the Grahams" and "Not Like Us". The title of the song is a reference to Lamar's song series called "The Heart", the latest installment then being "The Heart Part 5" (2022).
| "The Heart Part 6" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Song by Drake | |
| Released | May 5, 2024 |
| Recorded | May 2024 |
| Studio | OVO |
| Genre | Hip hop |
| Length | 5:25 |
| Songwriter(s) |
|
| Producer(s) | Boi-1da |
| Audio | |
| "The Heart Part 6" on YouTube | |
"The Heart Part 6" was overwhelmingly panned by critics and fans. Drake would later delete an Instagram post promoting the song from his feed, a move that was interpreted in the media as a white flag admission.[5]
Lamar would later continue "The Heart" series with the release of "Heart Pt. 6" as the tenth track of his album GNX (2024), and would make no mention of the similarly titled track or the feud that spawned it.
Background
Drake has been "long plagued" by rumors of inappropriate behavior with minors. During his feud with Kendrick Lamar in 2024, Lamar resurfaced these allegations on the diss tracks "Meet the Grahams" and "Not Like Us", which repeatedly accuse Drake of pedophilia and other misdeeds.[6]
Title and artwork
The title of "The Heart Part 6" is a reference to Lamar's "The Heart" song series,[7] which has lasted for over a decade as of 2024, starting in April 2010.[8]
The cover art for the single is a screenshot of a comment by Kendrick Lamar's manager Dave Free under an Instagram post by Lamar's fiancee Whitney Alford. This connects to Drake's allegations on the song that Alford had an affair with Free.[9]
Content
The song samples "Prove It" by Aretha Franklin, specifically the line: "Now let me see you prove it / Just let me see you prove it".[1] Throughout the song, Drake denies the allegations of pedophilia and sexual misconduct levelled against him by Lamar on previous songs. He also alleges that Lamar fixates on the topic because of his own supposed molestation as a child, labeling this "trauma from [Lamar's] own confessions".[7] Drake traces this to Lamar's song "Mother I Sober" off of his 2022 album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, referring to the song as "that one record where you say you got molested". However, the referenced song is actually about generational trauma and Lamar's mother not believing him when he truthfully told her he had not been molested.[10][11][9]
Drake also denies the allegations that he has a hidden daughter, claiming to have "fed" Lamar false information through double agents.[5] He also goes on the attack against Lamar, attacking his relationship with his fiancee Whitney Alford.[6] Drake claims that the relationship between Lamar and Alford has grown distant, accuses Lamar of committing physical domestic abuse against Alford, and suggests that Alford was impregnated by Lamar's manager Dave Free. He cites social media posts such as the one featured in the single artwork that he says support his claims.[9]
Towards the end of "The Heart Part 6", Drake expresses his desire to withdraw from the feud in light of Lamar's supposed childhood trauma, saying "I don't wanna diss you anymore, this really got me second-guessing".[6] He sarcastically wishes Lamar well in recovering from his alleged traumatic experiences.[9] The song concludes with a spoken word outro in which Drake says it was enjoyable to "get the pen working" during the feud, which he calls "good exercise".[6]
Reception
"The Heart Part 6" garnered overwhelming negative reactions from critics and fans alike, with the song garnering an estimated over 1.5 million dislikes on YouTube.[12] Drake would later delete an Instagram post promoting the song from his feed, a move that was interpreted in the media as a white flag admission.[5] Candace McDuffie of The Root called the song a "cringy response" in which Drake's lyrics come off as a confession to Lamar's pedophilia accusations, and found his disses towards Lamar contradictory and nonsensical.[11] Fellow rapper Rick Ross also slammed the song, saying of its lyrical content, "You know ain't nobody playing a song about pedophilia and defending pedophilia in the club". Ross singled out one line in particular, "If I was fucking young girls, I promise I'd have been arrested / I'm way too famous for this shit you just suggested" as especially poorly executed. Referencing rumors of Drake using ghostwriters, he remarked, "Whoever wrote that for you should have put more thought into that… White boy, it's your writers. Whatever message you translated to them, that wasn't the way they was supposed to do that".[13]
Drake's OVO clothing retailer on London's Carnaby Street was vandalized on May 7, 2024, by an unknown graffiti artist, who plastered the phrase "They not like us" in silver lettering on its window.[14] The London Metropolitan Police Service have not announced plans to investigate the store tagging and no arrests have been made.[15]
In the following days, two separate individuals were apprehended by the Toronto Police while attempting to break into Drake's Bridle Path home; the same residence shown on the cover art for Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us".[16]
References
- ^ a b Corcoran, Nina (May 6, 2024). "Drake Responds to Kendrick Lamar With New Song "The Heart Part 6"". Pitchfork. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
- ^ Horowitz, Steven J. (May 6, 2024). "Drake Denies Pursuing Underage Women on New Kendrick Lamar Diss Track 'The Heart Part 6'". Variety. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
- ^ Harrison, Scoop (May 5, 2024). "Drake Goes on the Defensive Against Kendrick with "The Heart Part 6"". Consequence. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
- ^ DeVille, Chris (May 6, 2024). "Drake Releases New Kendrick Lamar Diss Track "The Heart Part 6": Listen". Stereogum. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
- ^ a b c Saponara, Michael (June 5, 2024). "Drake Deletes 'The Heart Part 6' From Instagram: Here's How Fans Are Reacting". Billboard. Retrieved June 16, 2024.
- ^ a b c d Horowitz, Steven J. (May 6, 2024). "Drake Denies Pursuing Underage Women on New Kendrick Lamar Diss Track 'The Heart Part 6'".
- ^ a b Avila, Pamela (May 5, 2024). "Drake denies Kendrick Lamar's grooming allegations in new diss track 'The Heart Part 6'". USA Today. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
- ^ Cheung, HP (March 24, 2017). "Kendrick Lamar's "The Heart" Series: Everything You Should Know". Hypebeast. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
- ^ a b c d Rose, Jordan. "Breaking Down Drake's "The Heart Part 6"".
- ^ Bras Nevares, Gabriel (May 6, 2024). "Drake "The Heart Part 6": What is Kendrick Lamar's "Mother I Sober" Actually About?". HNHH.
- ^ a b McDuffie, Candace (May 6, 2024). "Why Drake's 'The Heart Part 6' Was An Embarrassing Failure Of A Diss Track". The Root. Retrieved May 7, 2024.
- ^ Williams, Kyann-Sian (May 9, 2024). "Drake's latest Kendrick Lamar diss 'The Heart, Part 6' has over 1million dislikes on YouTube". NME. Retrieved May 10, 2024.
- ^ Cho, Regina (May 6, 2024). "Rick Ross Clowns Drake After "The Heart Part 6" Response: "You Bowing Out, You Can't Take It"". VIBE. Retrieved June 15, 2024.
- ^ Sadler, Armon (May 8, 2024). "Drake's London OVO Store Vandalized With Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us" Lyrics". Vibe. Archived from the original on May 20, 2024. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
- ^ Paul, Larisha (May 8, 2024). "Graffiti Artist Tags Drake's London OVO Storefront With Kendrick Lamar 'Not Like Us' Lyrics". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on May 20, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
- ^ Horowitz, Steven J. (May 10, 2024). "Police Return to Drake's Home for Third Time This Week Following Trespasser Incident". Variety. Archived from the original on May 17, 2024. Retrieved June 28, 2024.