Push Ups

Album

Single

Label

OVO Sound

Genre

Hip hop

Composer(s)

Aubrey Graham;Matthew Samuels;Noel Cadastre

Entered Chart

May 4, 2024

Peak Date

May 11, 2024

Released

April 19, 2024

In this scathing diss track, Drake takes aim at his longtime rival, Kendrick Lamar. The title is a reference to the trope of a drill sergeant or '70s gym teacher demanding 50 pushups for acts of laziness or insubordination (Drop and give me 50!). Drake uses the phrase to imply that Kendrick gives up half his earnings to his record label, Top Dawg Entertainment, run by Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith, who, in Drake's telling, has made Kendrick his puppet, pushing him to drop verses on songs for pop stars like Taylor Swift ("Bad Blood") and Maroon 5 ("Don't Wanna Know"), making himself rich off Kendrick's work. "Push Ups (Drop & Give Me Fifty)" leaked online on April 13, 2024 without any official release. It looked like it could be an AI creation unsanctioned by Drake, but as days went by and Drake didn't deny it, we had to assume it was real. On April 19, Drake finally released the song along with the credits. We learned that the beat came from producers Boi-1da, Coleman, Fierce, and Noel Cadastre. The trigger for Drake's diss is the song "Like That," a collaboration between Future, Metro Boomin and Kendrick Lamar where Kendrick takes shots at Drake. That song dropped on March 26, 2024 and went to #1, so a Drizzy response was inevitable. In "Push Ups," Drake goes after Future and Metro as well. Drake and Future used to be tight; they paired up in 2015 on a mixtape called What A Time to Be Alive, and in 2021 on Drake's hit "Way 2 Sexy," which accounts for this barb: Your first number one, I had to put it in your hand As for Metro, Drake calls him out in this line: Metro, shut your ho-ass up and make some drums Caught in the middle of this feud is J. Cole, who appears on Drake's 2023 track "First Person Shooter" and declares himself, Drake and Kendrick the "Big 3" of rap. In "Like That," Lamar asserts that there's no Big 3 - it's just him at the top. This prompted J. Cole to respond with "7 Minute Drill," where he says Kendrick is washed-up: He still on stage, but faded like The Simpsons Cole later rescinded the track, removing it from streaming services and claiming he felt pressured to diss Lamar but came to regret it. In "Push Ups," Drake checks in: I don't care what Cole think, that Dot shit was weak as f--k The day he officially released "Push Ups," Drake also dropped a "Taylor Made Freestyle" on Instagram with guest verses from AI-generated Tupac and Snoop Dogg. On that one, the three rappers taunt Kendrick Lamar for not yet responding. Like Lamar, Tupac and Snoop are from the Los Angeles area, and they're letting him know they need him to represent the West Coast with a solid retort. In Drake's verse, he speculates that Kendrick is waiting for Taylor Swift's approval and is probably struggling to come up with something. It's not surprising that Drake wanted to escalate this feud - it's great for business. When these two hip-hop heavyweights started going at it, their streaming numbers spiked and they got even more media coverage. Drake took down the "Taylor Made Freestyle" on April 26, 2024 after legal threats from Tupac's estate - apparently Drake didn't get the OK to simulate Tupac's voice.

(Whoo Kid)
Ayy

I could never be nobody number-one fan
Your first number one, I had to put it in your hand
You pussies can't get booked outside America for nan'
I'm out in Tokyo because I'm big in Japan
I'm the hitmaker y'all depend on
Backstage in my city, it was friendzone
You won't ever take no chain off of us
How the fuck you big steppin' with a size-seven men's on?
This the bark with the bite, nigga, what's up?
I know my picture on the wall when y'all cook up
Extortion baby, whole career, you been shook up
'Cause Top told you, "Drop and give me fifty," like some push-ups, huh
Your last one bricked, you really not on shit
They make excuses for you 'cause they hate to see me lit
Pull your contract 'cause we gotta see the split
The way you doin' splits, bitch, your pants might rip
You better do that motherfuckin' show inside the bity
Maroon 5 need a verse, you better make it witty
Then we need a verse for the Swifties
Top say drop, you better drop and give 'em fifty
Pipsqueak, pipe down
You ain't in no big three, SZA got you wiped down
Travis got you wiped down, Savage got you wiped down
Like your label, boy, you in a scope right now
And you gon' feel the aftermath of what I write down
I'm at the top of the mountain, so you tight now
Just to have this talk with your ass, I had to hike down
Big difference 'tween Mike then and Mike now
What the fuck is this, a twenty-v-one, nigga?
What's a prince to a king? He a son, nigga
Get more love in the city that you from, nigga
Metro, shut your ho ass up and make some drums, nigga
Yeah, I'm the 6ix God, I'm the frontrunner
Y'all nigga manager was Chubbs lil' blunt runner
Claim the 6ix and you boys ain't even come from it
And when you boys got rich, you had to run from it
Cash blowin' Abel bread, out here trickin' (Out here trickin')
Shit we do for bitches, he doin' for niggas (What the fuck?)
Jets, whips, chains, wicked, wicked, wicked (Wicked, wicked)
Spend it like you tryna fuck, boy, you trippin', boy, you trippin'
Drizzy Chip 'n Dale, probably got your bitch Chanel
I just got 'em done, boy, don't make me have to chip a nail
Rolling Loud stage, y'all were turnt, that was slick as hell
Shit'll probably change if your BM start to kiss and tell
Hugs and kisses, man, don't tell me 'bout no switches
I'll be rockin' every fuckin' chain I own next visit, ayy
I be with some bodyguards like Whitney
Top say drop, your little midget ass better fuckin'

Ayy, better drop and give me fifty, ayy
Drop and give me fifty, drop and give me fifty, ayy
Niggas really got me out here talkin' like I'm 50, ayy
Niggas really got me out here rappin' what I'm livin'

I might take your latest girl and cuff her like I'm Ricky
Can't believe he jumpin' in, this nigga turnin' fifty
Every song that made it on the chart, he got from Drizzy
Spend that lil' check you got and stay up out my business
Nigga, shout out to the hooper that be bustin' out the griddy
We know why you mad, nigga, I ain't even trippin'
All that lil' heartbroken Twitter shit for bitches
This for all the top dogs, drop and give me fifty, drop, drop
And that fuckin' song y'all got did not start the beef with us
This shit been brewin' in a pot, now I'm heatin' up
I don't care what Cole think, that Dot shit was weak as fuck
Champagne trippin', he is not fuckin' easin' up
Nigga callin' Top to see if Top wanna peace it up
"Top, wanna peace it up? Top, wanna peace it up?"
Nah, pussy, now you on your own when you speakin' up
You done rolled deep to this, it's not fuckin' deep enough
Beggin' Kai Cenat, boy, you not fuckin' beatin' us
Numbers-wise, I'm out of here, you not fuckin' creepin' up
Money-wise, I'm out of here, you not fuckin' sneakin' up
Cornball, your show money merch money fee to us
I'ma let you niggas work it out because I seen enough
This ain't even everything I know, don't wake the demon up
This ain't even everything I know, don't wake the demon up
Drop and give me fifty, all you fuck niggas teamin' up

What top five you smokin' on, Kendrick?

Mmm, mmm, yeah
Drop, drop, drop, drop
Drop a fifty bag for the mob in the spot
Drop a fifty bag, twenty-nine for the thot
Uh, I was really, really tryna keep it PG