A leaked song from Drake’s upcoming album seemingly has several Hollywood A-listers in the crosshairs.
Clips of Drake’s new song “1 a.m. in Albany” surfaced on social media on Wednesday, May 13, leading fans to attempt to piece together the lyrics.
“Muggsy Bogues dunked for once, even I’m a bit amazed, someone give the kid a raise,” one lyric read, referring to the retired point guard that had fans believing was a dig at Kendrick Lamar. (Bogues was famously the shortest player in NBA history at 5-foot-3, while Lamar stands at 5-foot-5.)
While Drake, 39, and Lamar, 38, were once friendly peers, they’ve been embroiled in a back-and-forth rap battle for years.
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“I don’t ever want to get into responses,” Drake told Vibe in 2013 when asked whether he had written “The Language” about the drama. “ It’s just me talking my s***. I never once felt the need to respond to [Lamar’s ‘Control’]. The sentiment he was putting forth is what he should have.”
He continued, “Of course you wanna be the best. Where it became an issue is that I was rolling out an album while that verse was still bubbling, so my album rollout became about this thing. What am I supposed to say? ‘Nah, we’ll be buddy-buddy?’ Mind you, I never once said he’s a bad guy [or] I don’t like him. I think he’s a f***ing genius in his own right, but I also stood my ground as I should.”
Lamar, for his part, released a song called “6:16 in L.A.” in 2024 that has parallels to Drake’s “Albany” title. (However, Drake has dropped several tracks with times in the titles, including “5 a.m. in Toronto” and “4 p.m. in Calabasas.”) The next year, Lamar headlined the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show and invited Drake’s ex Serena Williams to join his performance of “Not Like Us,” which was also about the feud.
Drake seemingly slammed the song in his 2025 track “What Did I Miss?”
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“I don’t give a f*** if you love me, I don’t give a f*** if you like me / Askin’ me, ‘How did it feel?’ Can’t say it didn’t surprise me,” he began, appearing to reference peers who took sides. Later in the song, he rapped, “It’s love for my brothers and death to a traitor, let’s go / She might decide to say no to me now, but say yеs to me later, let’s go.”
In another “1 a.m. in Albany” lyric, Drake appears to call out J. Cole as a “married rapper” before going after LeBron James for siding with Lamar in their now-viral beef.
“I shouldn’t even be shocked to see you in that arena, because you always made your career off of switching teams up,” the lyrics read. “Please stop asking what’s going on with 23 & me, I’m a real n****, and he’s not, it’s in my DNA.”
Drake’s album Iceman will be released on Friday, May 15.
