Drake has made his share of enemies—especially over the last couple of years—and on “Make Them Pay,” a new song off ICEMAN, one of three albums he released today, Drizzy seems to take shots at a few of them. But before he does, he admits that he’s in something of a fragile place. Over a gentle R&B-infused beat, he plays on the word “hurts,” referencing the name of Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, and laments all the soured relationships in his life.
I need compliments ‘cause lately, it’s just falling-outs and disagreements, industry is really evil
And I faced the way they paint me, but it hurts just like the Philly Eagles
Interestingly, when Hurts and the Eagles won Super Bowl LIX in February 2025, Kendrick Lamar performed at the halftime show and famously included the Drake-dissing “Not Like Us” in his set. Drake clearly hasn’t forgotten the whole Kendrick episode, and a few bars later on “Make Them Pay,” he seems to address J. Cole, who famously inserted himself into the beef with “7 Minute Drill” before deciding to extricate himself from the situation. If the following lines are, indeed, about Cole, it seems Drake did not approve of the Fayetteville rapper’s surrender.
Me, I stood ten T’s and accepted the mission
‘Cause I’d much rather death than submission
How can you press the ignition and let some memories of the past affect your decision?
I love you 'cause of the history, but if we bein’ real, I could never forgive you
And you never called me back, but destiny’s written, for real
In the lines that follow, Drizzy stays fixated on the beef. He paraphrases a Kendrick lyric from Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That,” the song that instigated the whole wax war, and goes on to imply that Lamar might have benefited from some fake streams.
Fuck a big three anyway, there was too many chefs in the kitchen, it was a mess to begin with, yeah
And now they got a new GOAT and we gotta test the position
Damn, who is this guy for real? I guess a magician
Hundred million streams vanished, no one got questions for niggas
Next, Drake turns to Pharrell Williams and brags about owning a bunch of jewelry that once belonged to the Virginia Beach icon.
Well, maybe I’m best as the villain
‘Cause I got real numbers on niggas who say they got billions
I got all the chains that they ever repped in Virginia
I got niggas’ prized possessions, I get possessive on niggas
I am pressin' everything, I’ll get impressive on niggas
A little later, Drake blasts DJ Khaled—who remained neutral during the Drake/Lamar conflict—for not speaking out about the war between Israel and Palestine. Khaled is the child of Palestinian immigrants, and some have criticized him for his silence. (Shoutout to Genius users @RMZB, @piquebtw, and @OliK_official for explaining this via annotation.)
And, Khaled, you know what I mean
The beef was fully live, you went halal and got on your deen
And your people are still waitin' for a free Palestine
But apparently everything isn’t black and white and red and green, damn
I’m seein' everyone’s true colors, for real, I’m sensin' a theme
You can read all the lyrics to “Make Them Pay” on Genius now.