Kendrick Lamar 616 in LA Lyrics Meaning: Drake Diss Track

It’s the rap feud that has everyone talking right now. After the surprise drop of “Euphoria” on April 30, Kendrick Lamar’s “6:16 In LA” lyrics are a direct, blistering attack on Drake and it seems things are really heating up between the two.

In the world of hip-hop, friendly competition, and the occasional back-and-forth banter in lyrics are not uncommon, but things between Drake and the Pulitzer-winning Kendrick have been boiling over as of late.

On April 19, 2024, Drake released “Push Ups” as his response to Kendrick Lamar’s verse on Metro Boomin and Future’s “Like That.” The verse was a jab at J. Cole’s “First Person Shooter,” in which he referred to himself, Drake, and Kendrick as “the big three.” Drake fired at Kendrick again with “Taylor Made Freestyle”.

On April 30, Kendrick issued a rebuttal with “Euphoria”; a striking 6-minute takedown of Drake: “A pathetic master manipulator, I can smell the tales on you now / You’rе not a rap artist, you a scam artist with the hopes of being accеpted.”

Kendrick lobbed another music grenade at Drake on May 3, 2024. Kendrick Lamar’s “6:16 in LA” lyrics are scathing attacks on the Canadian-born rapper. The song title seems to reference a song format Drake is known for popularizing, including “6PM in New York” from If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late to “8am in Charlotte” from his recent album, For All the Dogs.

Kendrick Lamar’s “6:16 in LA” lyrics meaning

We’ve picked them apart so you don’t have to.

• Intro

  Uh (Uh)
  Uh (Uh)
  Uh, yeah (Uh)
  It’s survival, survival
  I think somebody lying
  Smell somebody lying
  I don’t see no fire

  • Kendrick opens the song with accusations that “somebody lying” to pull the first punch against Drake.
  • He talks about survival, which could be interpreted as “survival of the fittest” and the idea that the stronger rapper will ultimately come out on top. Pretty self-explanatory.

• Off-white Sunseeker at the marina

  Fuck a Phantom, I like to buy yachts when I get the fever
  Wine cooler spill on my white t-shirt, the sightseer
  Trifecta, money, morals, and culture, that’s my leisure
  My visa, passport tatted, I show up in Ibiza
  Lucalis dwellings in Brooklyn just to book me some pizza
  Who could reach us? Only God could teleport this type of freedom
  God, ah

  • Kendrick opens with a reference to Drake’s Mansory Rolls-Royce Phantom luxury car. Kendrick would rather buy boats and travel the world, it seems.
  • It could be a reference to Rick Ross’ “luxury rap” style of music. Ross entered the beef between Kendrick and Drake with “Champagne Moments” and he’s also a founder of the rap label Maybach Music Group.

• My God, my confession is yours, but

  Who am I if I don’t go to war?
  There’s opportunity when livin’ with loss
  I discover myself when I fall short
  Raise my hands to a fallen sky, I fantasize
  Me jumpin’ planets immortalized, I correspond
  Three angels watchin’ me all the time
  Put my children to sleep with a prayer, then close my eyes, definition of peace

  • Kendrick is making it clear that he’s not going to take Drake’s disses lying down, declaring they must “go to war”.
  • 6:16 could be a reference to a few verses in the Bible, and there are religious connotations with angels, prayer, and raising one’s hands to the sky in this part of the rap.
  • Proverbs 6:16 – 6:19, Ephesians 6:16, and Jeremiah 6:16 all make references to qualities God hates: pride, lies, and false witness.

• Tell me who gon' stop me? I come from love

  Estelle cover my heart, then open me up
  Remember when picked up a pen, lyrics that I can trust
  Timid soul, stare in the mirror, askin’ where I was from
  Often, I know this type of power is gon’ cost
  But I live in circadian rhythms of a shooting star
  The mannerisms of Raphael, I can heal and give you art
  But the industry’s cooked as I pick the carcass apart

  • Here, Kendrick is comparing himself to the great masters of art, e.g. Raphael, who was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. Raphael’s work was admired for its refinement and often represented an ideal of perfection.

• Yeah, somebody's lyin', I can see the vibes on Ak

  Even he lookin’ compromised, let’s peel the layers back
  Ain’t no brownie points for beating your chest, harassin’ Ant
  Fuckin’ with good people make good people go to bat
  Conspiracies about Cash, dog? That’s not even the leak
  Find the jewels like Kash Doll, I just need you to think
  Are you finally ready to play have-you-ever? Let’s see
  Have you ever thought that OVO is workin’ for me?
  Fake bully, I hate bullies, you must be a terrible person
  Everyone inside your team is whispering that you deserve it
  Can’t toosie slide up outta this one, it’s just gon’ resurface
  Every dog gotta have his day, now live in your purpose

  • “Have you ever thought that OVO is workin’ for me?” suggests that Drake’s record label, OVO Sound, is secretly loyal to Kendrick with the words “everyone inside your team is whispering you deserve it”. Harsh.

• It was fun until you started to put money in the streets

  Then lost money ’cause they came back with no receipts
  I’m sorry that I live a boring life, I love peace
  But war-ready if the world is ready to see you bleed
  The Elohim, KTW
  Know you can’t sleep, these images trouble you
  Know the wires in your circle should puzzle you
  If you were street-smart, then you woulda caught that your entourage is only to hustle you

  • Kendrick is taking a direct shot at Drake here, suggesting the Canadian rapper has been unsuccessful in digging up dirt on Kendrick.
  • He’s also suggesting that there could be a rat amid his team.

• A hundred n—s that you got on salary

  And twenty of ’em want you as a casualty
  And one of them is actually next to you
  And two of them is practically tired of your lifestyle
  Just don’t got the audacity to tell you
  But let me tell you some game ’cause I can see you, my lil’ homie
  You playin’ dirty with propaganda, it blow up on ya

  • Again, Kendrick is suggesting there is an information leak within Drake’s team, a reference to what Pusha T said about Drake’s Noah “40” Shebib during their feud. In episode #188 of The Joe Budden Podcast, T said: “Now, I never told nobody [where the information came from]. I never said that to anybody. And I never put that out there. Because, the way I see it, there was so much power in silence.“

• You're playin' nerdy with Zack Bia and Twitter bots

  But your reality can’t hide behind wifi
  Your lil’ memes is losin’ steam, they figured you out
  The forced opinions is not convincin’, y’all need a new route
  It’s time that you look around on who’s around you
  Before you figure that you’re not alone, ask what Mike would do

  • Kendrick concludes by accusing Drake of hiding behind the internet, conspiring with friend Zack Bia to “play dirty” with Twitter bots.
  • The last line in “6:16 in LA” is a reference to Michael Jackson (“Mike”), whom Drake has frequently compared himself to.

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