Drake Dissed Kendrick Lamar In Shelved ESPN Interview, Marcellus Wiley Claims
Drake and Kendrick Lamar‘s feud is a decade in the making. But according to Marcellus Wiley, the battle could’ve happened a lot sooner. On Tuesday (May 7), the former NFL player spoke about the ongoing rivalry and revealed some never-before-heard tidbits surrounding Kendrick Lamar’s “Control” and its aftermath. Wiley explained that his former co-host Max Kellerman had K. Dot on their ESPN show SportsNation as a guest in 2013. The athlete disclosed that they had Drake as a guest the following year and that his hostile energy caught them off guard.
“Drake came on the show and he felt a certain type of way about Kendrick. To me, it sounded like either jealousy or he wanted to really pat him on his head like, ‘Dog, that’s cute what you’re doing but you ain’t me,’” Marcellus Wiley explained.
Wiley later contacted Lamar’s former label, TDE. The athlete explained that he previously had a friendship with Punch and felt it he had to explain to them what he had just heard. The ex-Buffalo Bill player continued, saying, “It was fresh in my mind then, and so we chopped it up. They say, ‘Alright, don’t do nothing, don’t say nothing…’ So, I was like, ‘Alright, I’ll let y’all handle it.’ What y’all are seeing now—the intensity, the volume, the frequency, why Kendrick stay ready, he ain’t gotta get ready, because, in 2014, he already knew where this was headed.”
Later in the video, Wiley claimed that after they taped the episode, Drake called ESPN and told them to delete the footage. The NFL alum said he was set to host the ESPYs that year and used the show as an ultimatum against the network. If they aired the SportsNation episode, Drizzy allegedly threatened to pull out of the show and forfeit his hosting duties. The move has since left an impression on Marcellus Wiley ever since that moment.
“You went on our show, dissed this dude, then hid behind your team, let them call our bosses, and told them, ‘Hey dog, if y’all let that interview go, I’m not hosting the ESPYs.’”
The whole Kendrick Lamar-Drake feud has opened up a new interpretation of both of the artists’ songs as new information reveals how far back their rivalry goes. But this moment in particular calls forth another reading of K. Dot’s lyrics from “ELEMENT,” where he rapped, “‘Cause most of y’all ain’t real, most of y’all gon’ squeal/ Most of y’all just envy, but jealousy get you killed/ Most of y’all throw rocks and try to hide your hand/ Just say his name, and I promise that you’ll see Candyman.” Very relevant to Marcellus’ claims.
