Drake’s new track “4PM In Calabasas,” which dropped Saturday via Episode 23 of OVO Sound Radio, is the latest installment in his AM-PM Series, joining “9AM In Dallas,” “5AM In Toronto,” and “6PM In New York." Over production from Frank Dukes and Vinylz that samples EPMD’s “You’re a Customer,” Drake fires a handful of subliminal shots at Puff Daddy.
There’s been some drama between them ever since reports surfaced that Puff punched Drake at LIV nightclub in Miami Beach in December 2014. The argument was reportedly over Drake’s Grammy-nominated “0 To 100” song, which producer Boi-1da shopped to Puff months before Drake released it.
The “Calabasas” subs start flying with the line imitating Puffy’s laugh on “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down" and a reference to his debut album, No Way Out:
Ha-ha-ha-ha
No way out cause I’m already in it
He interpolates the “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down” chorus moments later:
Then he uses Puffy’s signature “Take that, take that” phrase in a line that seems to address how Puffy’s spoken about him in interviews since their fight:
Take that, take that no love in they heart so they fake that
DiCaprio level the way they play that
Damn nigga, what is that?
Drake is a huge fan of Ma$e but the next line flips a “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down” lyric, swapping himself and Chubbs, his muscle, into the rhyme:
Chubbs, why try, I’m a thug, I'mma die high
Next, he flips Puffy’s line “Don’t push us, cause we’re close to the, edge," which is homage to a line from Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five’s “The Message”:
Towards the end of “4PM In Calabasas,” Drake references Total, the female R&B trio signed to Bad Boy Records in the ‘90s:
You SWV cause you weak and I’m always always on your mind
He ends it with another laugh, too.
Drake has thrown subs at Diddy on past records. He addresses the “0 To 100” disagreement on the If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late track “Used To”:
Let’s be real, nigga, you couldn’t have made it that.
Joe Budden believes he was targeted on Drake’s new loosie as well, in retaliation for an episode of his podcast in which Budden said Drake sounds “uninspired” on Views. Drake raps about about being looked at like a “golden child,” a name Joe called him on the podcast.
While Joe has suggested that he won’t reply to Drake’s latest, he’s egging on a response from Puff, who hasn’t publicly addressed the song.
So is this all homage or sly subliminals? Read the full lyrics and lyrical breakdown of Drake’s “4PM In Calabasas” right here on Genius.
