# Meet the Grahams
**Meet the Grahams** (stylized "meet the grahams") is a diss track, a song that verbally attacks another artist, by the American rapper [Kendrick Lamar](https://www.edgepedia.org/kendrick-lamar), released as a single on May 3, 2024, during his 2024 feud with Drake. The six-minute track was produced by The Alchemist and released under exclusive license to [Interscope Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/interscope-records)[1](https://music.apple.com/us/album/meet-the-grahams-single/1744776349). It answers Drake's diss track "Family Matters", arriving less than an hour after that song, and directs its verses to members of Drake's family: his son Adonis, his parents Dennis and Sandi Graham, an alleged hidden daughter, and Drake himself[2](https://apnews.com/article/d01a072f46dece82cdd9c57c4be86293).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Artist and release | Kendrick Lamar, single "meet the grahams", May 3, 2024, one song, 6 minutes, ℗ 2024 Kendrick Lamar under exclusive license to Interscope Records[1](https://music.apple.com/us/album/meet-the-grahams-single/1744776349) |
| Response to | Drake's "Family Matters", released 37 minutes earlier on the night of May 3, 2024[3](https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/2024/05/07/kendrick-drake-twitter-genius-tiktok/) |
| Producer | The Alchemist, with recording engineer Ray Charles Brown Jr., mix engineer Johnathan Turner, and mastering engineer Nicolas de Porcel[4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_tchksaJCM) |
| Structure | Four verses addressed in turn to Drake's son Adonis, his parents Dennis and Sandi Graham, an alleged 11-year-old daughter, and Drake[5](https://www.complex.com/music/a/j-rose/breaking-down-everything-kendrick-said-about-drake-on-meet) |
| Sample | "Can You Say Yeah?" by Andrew Wartts and The Gospel Storytellers (1982, from the album *There Is a God Somewhere*)[6](https://www.complex.com/music/a/peter-a-berry/kendrick-lamar-drake-red-button-weekend-essay) |
| Central allegations | A hidden daughter, substance addiction, gambling addiction, and sex crimes; none of the allegations from either side of the feud have been verified with concrete evidence[5](https://www.complex.com/music/a/j-rose/breaking-down-everything-kendrick-said-about-drake-on-meet) |
| Follow-up | "Not Like Us", released less than 24 hours later[2](https://apnews.com/article/d01a072f46dece82cdd9c57c4be86293) |
## Background: the 2024 Lamar–Drake feud
The feud between Kendrick Lamar and Drake, simmering since the early 2010s, escalated in 2024 beginning with Lamar's guest verse on [Future](https://www.edgepedia.org/future-rapper) and [Metro Boomin](https://www.edgepedia.org/metro-boomin)'s "Like That"[7](https://www.gq.com/story/the-kendrick-lamar-drake-beef-explained). Lamar followed with "Euphoria" and, on the morning of May 3, 2024, "[6:16 in LA](https://www.edgepedia.org/6-16-in-la)", a track questioning the loyalty of Drake's OVO entourage[2](https://apnews.com/article/d01a072f46dece82cdd9c57c4be86293).
On Friday night, May 3, Drake released "Family Matters", a nearly eight-minute response with a music video, in which he alleged abuse and infidelity in Lamar's relationship with his fiancée[2](https://apnews.com/article/d01a072f46dece82cdd9c57c4be86293). The two releases formed part of a chain of five songs the two rappers put out within roughly 72 hours[8](https://www.npr.org/2024/05/08/1249906234/kendrick-lamar-drake-beef-fallout).
## Release and timing
"Meet the Grahams" appeared 37 minutes after "Family Matters"[3](https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/2024/05/07/kendrick-drake-twitter-genius-tiktok/). NPR described the song as a "morose intervention" that undercut the momentum of Drake's release, noting it was out less than an hour later[8](https://www.npr.org/2024/05/08/1249906234/kendrick-lamar-drake-beef-fallout).
The speed of the response fed two explanations. Lamar had previously claimed he had a source inside Drake's camp, and the timing fueled that claim[9](https://hiphopdx.com/news/alchemist-kendrick-lamar-meet-grahams-drake-diss/). Commentators also noted that the song's subject matter mirrors "Family Matters" so closely that Lamar appears to have prepared it in advance, predicting the angle Drake would take[5](https://www.complex.com/music/a/j-rose/breaking-down-everything-kendrick-said-about-drake-on-meet) • [7](https://www.gq.com/story/the-kendrick-lamar-drake-beef-explained).
## Lyrics and structure
The song is built as a series of open letters, one verse per family member, which is the source of its title[5](https://www.complex.com/music/a/j-rose/breaking-down-everything-kendrick-said-about-drake-on-meet).
**Verse one addresses Adonis**, Drake's young son, opening with the line "I'm sorry that man is your father"[2](https://apnews.com/article/d01a072f46dece82cdd9c57c4be86293). Lamar offers himself as a mentor figure and works in accusations against Drake, including use of the weight-loss drug Ozempic and the advice not to "have a kid to hide a kid to hide again", alluding to the hidden-daughter claim developed later in the song[5](https://www.complex.com/music/a/j-rose/breaking-down-everything-kendrick-said-about-drake-on-meet).
**Verse two addresses Drake's parents**, Dennis and Sandi Graham, who are separated[5](https://www.complex.com/music/a/j-rose/breaking-down-everything-kendrick-said-about-drake-on-meet). Lamar criticizes how Drake treats his mother and links his behavior to his upbringing[10](https://time.com/6975027/kendrick-lamar-drake-beef-explained-timeline/).
**Verse three addresses an alleged daughter.** Lamar accuses Drake of hiding an 11-year-old daughter, a claim Drake immediately refuted on Instagram[5](https://www.complex.com/music/a/j-rose/breaking-down-everything-kendrick-said-about-drake-on-meet). The verse frames the alleged child's situation through Drake's absences, contrasting time with her against trips to Turks and Caicos and drug use[5](https://www.complex.com/music/a/j-rose/breaking-down-everything-kendrick-said-about-drake-on-meet).
**Verse four addresses Drake directly.** Across the song Lamar accuses him of a substance addiction, a gambling addiction, and various sex crimes, and labels him a "predator" without elaborating[5](https://www.complex.com/music/a/j-rose/breaking-down-everything-kendrick-said-about-drake-on-meet) • [2](https://apnews.com/article/d01a072f46dece82cdd9c57c4be86293). In one line he compares Drake to the film producer and convicted sex offender [Harvey Weinstein](https://www.edgepedia.org/harvey-weinstein)[10](https://time.com/6975027/kendrick-lamar-drake-beef-explained-timeline/). Lamar also justifies the attack on Drake's family, rapping, "This supposed to be a good exhibition within the game / But you fucked up the moment you called out my family's name"[10](https://time.com/6975027/kendrick-lamar-drake-beef-explained-timeline/). None of the allegations made on either side of the feud have been verified with concrete evidence[5](https://www.complex.com/music/a/j-rose/breaking-down-everything-kendrick-said-about-drake-on-meet).
## Cover art
The single's artwork is a zoomed-out version of the "6:16 in LA" cover, revealing items laid out together: a bottle of Ozempic prescribed to Drake, a business card for the jeweler Nadine Ghosn, a receipt from Popular Jewelry in New York City, the black leather Maybach gloves from the earlier cover, and a shirt[5](https://www.complex.com/music/a/j-rose/breaking-down-everything-kendrick-said-about-drake-on-meet). According to the streamer [DJ Akademiks](https://www.edgepedia.org/dj-akademiks), the items came from a suitcase belonging to Dennis Graham, Drake's father[5](https://www.complex.com/music/a/j-rose/breaking-down-everything-kendrick-said-about-drake-on-meet). *Time* reported that the photographs of medication bearing Drake's name, used as cover art, had not been verified as legitimate[10](https://time.com/6975027/kendrick-lamar-drake-beef-explained-timeline/).
## Production
The [Alchemist](https://www.edgepedia.org/alchemist) produced the track, built on downbeat percussion and dreary keys around a sample of "Can You Say Yeah?", a 1982 song by Andrew Wartts and The Gospel Storytellers from the album *There Is a God Somewhere*[4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_tchksaJCM) • [6](https://www.complex.com/music/a/peter-a-berry/kendrick-lamar-drake-red-button-weekend-essay). Lamar delivers the verses in a quiet, talk-rap style; GQ described the result as "joyless" by design, and Complex's reviewer wrote that he "sounds like Jigsaw" through the allegations[7](https://www.gq.com/story/the-kendrick-lamar-drake-beef-explained) • [11](https://uk.complex.com/music/a/j-rose/drake-and-kendrick-lamars-diss-tracks-ranked). The Alchemist later said he had not realized, when he supplied the beat, that it would be used for a Drake diss track[7](https://www.gq.com/story/the-kendrick-lamar-drake-beef-explained).
## Reception and aftermath
The Washington Post called the song "pointed and brutal"[3](https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/2024/05/07/kendrick-drake-twitter-genius-tiktok/). Commentators noted its limited replay value: GQ wrote that its ominous sound and content "took the air out of the room" and deflated the excitement around the beef, which made Lamar's next move more effective[12](https://www.gq.com/story/in-the-midst-of-war-kendrick-lamar-delivered-the-song-of-the-summer).
That move came less than 24 hours later, when Lamar released "Not Like Us", produced by DJ Mustard, which carried the same accusations over a danceable beat[2](https://apnews.com/article/d01a072f46dece82cdd9c57c4be86293). Drake answered on May 5 with "[The Heart Part 6](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-heart-part-6)", in which he denied having a secret daughter and claimed he had planted false information for Lamar to use in "Meet the Grahams"[2](https://apnews.com/article/d01a072f46dece82cdd9c57c4be86293) • [11](https://uk.complex.com/music/a/j-rose/drake-and-kendrick-lamars-diss-tracks-ranked). Many fans declared Lamar the winner of the feud after Drake's response[3](https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/2024/05/07/kendrick-drake-twitter-genius-tiktok/).
## References
1. [meet the grahams – Single, Apple Music](https://music.apple.com/us/album/meet-the-grahams-single/1744776349)
2. [Drake and Kendrick Lamar's feud – the biggest beef in recent rap history – explained, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/d01a072f46dece82cdd9c57c4be86293)
3. [Kendrick Lamar vs. Drake: How the rap media covered the beef, The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/2024/05/07/kendrick-drake-twitter-genius-tiktok/)
4. [meet the grahams, YouTube (official artist channel, credits)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_tchksaJCM)
5. [Breaking Down Everything Kendrick Said About Drake on "Meet the Grahams", Complex](https://www.complex.com/music/a/j-rose/breaking-down-everything-kendrick-said-about-drake-on-meet)
6. [Kendrick Lamar Won't Stop Pressing the Red Button, Complex](https://www.complex.com/music/a/peter-a-berry/kendrick-lamar-drake-red-button-weekend-essay)
7. [The Kendrick Lamar/Drake Beef, Explained, GQ](https://www.gq.com/story/the-kendrick-lamar-drake-beef-explained)
8. [The fallout of the Kendrick Lamar vs. Drake beef, NPR](https://www.npr.org/2024/05/08/1249906234/kendrick-lamar-drake-beef-fallout)
9. [The Alchemist Shares Story Behind Kendrick Lamar's 'Meet The Grahams' Drake Diss, HipHopDX](https://hiphopdx.com/news/alchemist-kendrick-lamar-meet-grahams-drake-diss/)
10. [A Recent Timeline of the Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar Beef, Time](https://time.com/6975027/kendrick-lamar-drake-beef-explained-timeline/)
11. [Ranking Every Song in Kendrick Lamar and Drake's Beef, Complex](https://uk.complex.com/music/a/j-rose/drake-and-kendrick-lamars-diss-tracks-ranked)
12. [Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us" Is the Song of the Summer, GQ](https://www.gq.com/story/in-the-midst-of-war-kendrick-lamar-delivered-the-song-of-the-summer)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Compositions and songs › Pop, rock, and metal songs › Hip-hop songs › 2020s hip-hop songs*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license