Did Drake’s 2025 start by dissing LeBron James?

To usher in the new year, Drake released the new freestyle “Fighting Irish”, a title that was given to him shortly after its release. In the piece released and then removed, the Toronto rapper seems to once again address the consequences of the diss track with Kendrick Lamar. But there would be more. Some fans speculate that the track references LeBron James, who appeared to support Kendrick Lamar during the height of the feud last summer. The song, his first of the year, was released in the middle of a 20-minute YouTube video by the record producer Conductor Williams. The latter, who posted the clip as part of his ongoing “Signature Blends” series, shared a post on Instagram directing fans to the video, before deleting it shortly after. The two previously worked together on Drake’s 2023 album “For All The Dogs.”

“The world fell for tricks, even my brothers got tickets/Seemed like they loved every minute, just know this shit is personal to us, and it wasn’t just business,” Drake raps on the track. Then again: “Analyzing behavioral patterns is a little suspect/I n… were never happy with me when I made the numbers go up/Or when I broke world records, while guzzling Guinness”. Some fans are convinced that within the lyrics there are some references to basketball player LeBron James, of whom Drake has a tattoo and is a fan, but who seemed to support Lamar in the rhyme clash. The song’s title, “Fighting Irish,” was also the name of James’ high school basketball team mascot, Complex magazine reported. Drake recently filed two lawsuits against Universal Music Group in connection with “Not Like Us,” the hit with which Lamar musically defeated Drake. The first lawsuit, filed in New York, alleges that the label “artificially inflated” the numbers for “Not Like Us.”

The second lawsuit, filed in Texas, claims that the major label “knowingly” approved the release of “Not Like Us” despite Kendrick Lamar’s lyrics claiming that Drake is a “pedophile”. Universal has since responded to both allegations: “The inkling that Universal does anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and false. We utilize the highest ethical practices in our marketing and promotional campaigns. No amount of contrived and absurd legal arguments can mask the fact that fans choose the music they want to hear“.