Did Kendrick Lamar Diss Young Thug on “Squabble Up”?

Young Thug had a lot to say about many people while in jail, and Kendrick Lamar was not exempt. His recently leaked jail phone calls now have fans questioning whether the Compton rapper dissed King Slime on his November 2024 record “Squabble Up.”

In one phone call, Thugger discussed how he wanted a verse from K. Dot for his 2023 album Business Is Business, but Lamar declined it. “These ni**as too big like ‘Ion wanna do no features.’ Why?” Thug asked. “Why you don’t wanna do no features? Why wouldn’t you wanna do a feature for a superstar?”

He thought that the multi-time Grammy winner should have worked with Moneybagg Yo, and brought up how he primarily worked with his “bullsh*t a**” cousin Baby Keem at the time. He was frustrated and said that the Pulitzer Prize winner’s unwillingness to collaborate would ensure that he never became bigger than Drake. “You supposed to be a ni**a blessing ni**as, that’s why these ni**as will never be bigger than Drake, EVER in life,” he said, highlighting how Drizzy works with many different people and has changed lives.

“It ain’t like Strick calling you for a song. You really got Lil Durk […] Lil Baby, Thug, real superstars calling you for a song. Why wouldn’t you do the song? We lit and we going No. 1 too. F**k is you thinking? I don’t be understanding that type of sh*t. […]  Kendrick, goddamn, put a ni**a on. You’re a superstar. You done ran up a few hundred M’s, but you ain’t put nobody on though. You ain’t even put Keem on.”

It seems like Dot may have subliminally shared some thoughts about his exchanges with Thug way before people even knew the YSL leader had an issue with him. “Pipe down, young, these some whole other politics/ Bi**h with him and some bi**h in him, that’s a lot of bi**h,” he rapped on the third verse of “Squabble Up” before later adding “Tell me why the f**k you ni**as rap if it’s fictional?/ Tell me why the f**k you ni**as fed if you criminal?/ ‘Ayy, Dot, can I get a drop?’ I’m like, ‘Ni**a, nah.’”

Lamar rarely addresses these types of things in interviews, and clearly, he did not want to be direct in the music either. As for Thug, he has been tweeting through it ever since his jail phone calls first leaked last week, fielding snitching allegations and claims that he is disloyal to his closest collaborators. Fans may never get clarity on this situation, but it won’t stop them from spewing conspiracy theories.