Kanye West & Drake Have 7 Friends In Common That Make Their Feud Kind Of Awkward
Celebrity relationships and friendships are a rare breed. These famous faces have their lives played out in front of the masses, whether it’s the good, the bad, or the straight-up shady. In Elite Daily’s new series, It’s Complicated, we’re highlighting the biggest celebrity “feuds” that took over Hollywood and dominated our Sunday brunches for weeks on end. We’ll take a deep dive into the lives and social media feeds of our favorite stars and dissect what happened in front of the camera, what went down behind the scenes, and everything you might have missed in between.
Look, it's not easy being a rap star. In fact, my general understanding is that your social circle is pretty limited once you hit a certain level of fame. Such is the case with Kanye West and Drake. It's no secret these two have been feuding for, like, ever, so it's surprising and kind of interesting when you dive deeper into their mutual connections. I've counted at least seven people Kanye West and Drake have in common outside of an average run-of-the-mill industry connection, and at least three of them can be considered family to West. Yikes.
To speak candidly, both of these men have some pretty supreme egos. West has a notable God complex and I think anyone who refers to themselves as "Champagnepapi" has healthy self-esteem. These two intense personalities clashing can make for some pretty explosive fights, and the fallout is very seldom contained to just the two of them. Over the years, musical collaborators, friends, and yes, even family, have swayed between the two rap giants, making this one complicated dynamic.
Here's a look at seven celebrities Drake and West have in common.
1. Travis Scott
Ah yes, the protégé. Scott recently popped into the center of the Drake/Kanye feud when he chose to collaborate with Drake on his hit single, "Sicko Mode." Now, you, me, and everyone's mother knows Scott recently had a baby with West's sister-in-law, Kylie Jenner. That makes Yeezy the literal uncle to Travis Scott's daughter, Stormi. Ya follow?
In "Sicko Mode," Drake raps the lyrics, "checks over stripes," presumably in reference to the Nike and Adidas logos. If you're not up to speed on which brand each rapper reps, Drake reps Nike and West vehemently reps Adidas. So, obviously, West took Drake's lyrics to be a sneak-attack diss. Naturally, this caused a lot of tension between him and Scott, who West says "never should have allowed" Drake to rap those lyrics on his song in the first place.
The conflict played out over Twitter (as it so often does with 'Ye) and ended with West explaining Scott visited him at his home to address the situation. Apparently, both men "expressed" themselves and it's "all love" now.
2. Kylie (& Kendall) Jenner
The Travis Scott history acts as a pretty natural transition into Kylie and Kendall Jenner and their connection to both Drake and West. Like I mentioned, the Jenners and Wests are officially family these days. But, that doesn't erase the fact that the two famous sisters attended Drake's New Year's Eve party.
Literally, the same day West was angrily tweeting about Drake following his wife Kim on Instagram, Kylie and Kendall hit up the "Hotline Bling" singer's NYE shindig with their boyfriends.
I guess my question is, what the hell do Kylie, Kendall, and Drake all talk about when they get together? Do they just roll their eyes the way my family and I do when our uncle has one too many eggnogs at Christmas? Or is it, like, weird?
Sigh.
3. Kris Jenner
Naturally, now that we're in Jenner territory, I can't not bring up the weird friendship Kris Jenner has developed with Drake over the years. In fact, you guys, there's even an article out there titled Drake and Kris Jenner: A Brief History of Their Unlikely Friendship, and you better believe I'm printing it out to make into bedroom wallpaper.
In 2013, Kris hired Drake to perform at Kylie's sweet sixteen birthday party. At that time, West had already begun dating her other daughter, Kim. That year, Kris would also pop by Drake's album release party, where they would take this incredible selfie together.
Is it just me or do they make an adorable pair?
Two years later, this picture emerged (posted by Kylie, no less) from Kris Jenner's 2015 Christmas Eve Party:
Today, Kris mainly does damage control and plays defense when West acts out on Twitter, but her picture with Drake is still up on her Instagram account if you scroll back far enough. So, take that little fact however you please.
4. Ariana Grande
Funnily enough, Kris is also the link that connects Ariana Grande to West and Drake, too. (How many times do I have to tell you guys? All roads lead back to Kris Jenner.) Stick with me.
Kris Jenner is West's mother-in-law and secret BFF to Drake. Kris also popped up in an epic cameo in Grande's famous "Thank U, Next" music video.
Then, the same day Grande was getting ready to drop her new single "Imagine," Drake and West were going at it on Twitter. This prompted Grande to post this message on Twitter:
Guys, i know there are grown men arguing online rn but miley and i dropping our beautiful, new songs tonight so if y’all could please jus behave for just like a few hours so the girls can shine that’d be so sick thank u.
Of course, West couldn't let it go and was all, "Wait a second, I thought you loved me?!" about it.
Drake did not respond to Grande directly, but that's probably because, somewhere, Kris was doing damage control and just telling everyone to calm the F down.
5. Rihanna
OK, OK, OK. So, we all know that if it were up to Drake, he would have pulled Rihanna up onto his stallion and ridden off into the sunset long ago. Alas, RiRi never felt the same way. In May 2018, Rihanna told Vogue, "We don’t have a friendship now, but we’re not enemies either. It is what it is." Ouch.
Still, West knows how to get Drake where it hurts.
This past year, Drake released his hit song "In My Feelings" which famously includes the lyrics, "Kiki, do you love me?" Apparently, some people thought he could be referencing West's wife, Kim. Despite overwhelming evidence pointing to the song being about Canadian television personality Keshia “KeKe” Chanté and/or Drake's rumored former flame K’yanna Barber and definitely not Kim Kardashian, 'Ye wasn't loving it and took to Instagram to make sure Drake knew.
In one video rant, West said, "You know, if I had a girlfriend from Chicago, her name was Renita and then you was married to Rihanna, I wouldn't make no song called 'RiRi'." Elite Daily previously reached out to Drake and West's reps for comment, but did not hear back by the time of publication.
West also famously collaborated with Rihanna for their 2016 hit "Four Five Seconds," which just happens to be the same year Drake professed his love for her at the MTV Video Music Awards.
Awkward.
6. Nicki Minaj
My main girl Nicki has collaborated with both Drake and West, though her allegiance seems to mostly be with Drake. Together, she and Champagnepapi have turned out hits like "Only," "No Frauds," and "Moment 4 Life." However, one of her most famous verses is on the massive collaboration track "Monster" featuring West, JAY-Z, Rick Ross, and Bon Iver.
Minaj posted about her and West's conversation regarding her verse on the song and called him a "genius" on Instagram. "Kanye, thank you for being the genius you are. You always put others first," she said.
Today, both Drake and West pop up in her "Barbie Dreams" lyrics, where she playfully (?) disses them and many other famous rappers out there.
7. JAY-Z
Just as a reminder, I'm not a famous rapper. But, I imagine collaborating with JAY-Z is a right of passage in order to get to greatness.
West and JAY-Z have had a longtime bromance with plenty of ups and downs. The two have created many hits together, though the public first got hip to potential trouble in this #friendshipgoals paradise when JAY-Z and Beyoncé did not attend West and Kardashian's Italian wedding. After that, things got messy.
After Kim's horrific Paris robbery in 2016, West went on a 20-minute rant on stage dragging JAY-Z and Beyoncé for... well, I'm not really sure what. But, he was mad. Then, JAY-Z brought up 'Ye on his 4:44 album and directly referenced West's longwinded speech. After that, JAY told The New York Times Style Magazine, "I love Kanye. I do. It’s a complicated relationship with us."
As for Drake and JAY-Z, they also have a winding, complicated history. It involves lots of lyrical references to one another, shots at each other's records and career milestones, and a recent reunion on Drake's fifth studio album, Scorpion. In fact, in August, they took their first photo together in five years.
Suffice it to say, it gets complicated at the top. I think as long as we all agree our priority is Kris Jenner, Kris Jenner's feelings, and Kris Jenner's advice, we should be OK.
