Photo Credit: Kendrick Lamar by Kenny Sun / CC by 2.0
Certain Drake disses were omitted from Kendrick Lamar’s track “Euphoria,” Top Dawg President Terrence “Punch” Henderson reveals.
In an in-depth, three-hour-plus interview with Curtiss King, Top Dawg Entertainment President Terrence “Punch” Henderson confirmed that Kendrick Lamar’s song “Euphoria” initially contained more jabs at his nemesis, Drake. The seemingly more damaging version of the song, which was released in response to Drake’s “Push Ups,” ended up more concise per Punch’s advice.
The news comes on the heels of rumors that a nearly 20-minute version of the song exists. “I don’t know the length, but there was definitely a version that was longer than what the world got,” said Punch. “There was a lot of stuff that didn’t make it on there.”
“There was just some things in there that I didn’t think would have been beneficial in the long run to put in there,” he added. “So I gave him my input on that and he took some of those things out.”
Punch also provided some other insight into Ken’s ongoing feud with Drake, such as the former’s numerous Easter eggs throughout their battle. He also mentioned some areas where he thinks Drake went wrong.
“I read [‘Taylor Made Freestyle’] as [Drake’s] first mistake,” said Punch. “To me, it felt like a mockery of the West Coast. So when you do that, you’re gonna unite it. If there was any type of division at that time, once you do that, you’re gonna get all the people together.”
“My first response [to Drake’s ‘Push Ups’] was, ‘It’s not enough,’” he explained. “It was cool; it was cute. I see where you’re going, but those angles are not gonna be enough. It’s as simple as that.”
He continued, “I had the same thought with ‘Family Matters’ that I did with ‘Push Ups,’ and that was: It’s not enough! I think another mistake that they made was giving the idea that they was finna push this red button. When you do that, you build the anticipation a bit too high, so now people have expectations.”
“[The feud] had been bubbling for a while. We had been pretty close-mouthed about it,” Punch said of the lead up into Kendrick’s track “Like That.” “He played the record for Top [Dawg]. […] He told me a little bit about the record, so I hit [Lamar] like, ‘It’s going down?’ He said, ‘Yeah, we’ll see what’s up,’ laughing.”
“People think that this [feud] is so serious, but it’s funny,” explained Punch. “This n—a is from Compton, California, bro. Where he grew up, it’s serious over there — you getting shot at, you getting home invasions, you getting gang wars. We’re talking about music, bruh, so it’s funny!”
Drake recently amended his defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG) related to Kendrick’s award-winning Drake diss track, “Not Like Us.” Previously, Drake was given until April 16 to respond to UMG’s motion for dismissal or file an amended lawsuit. The amended filing is 23 pages longer than the original.
“The Recording was performed during the 2025 Super Bowl and broadcast to the largest audience for a Super Bowl halftime show ever, over 133 million people, including millions of children, and millions more who had never before heard the song or any of the songs that preceded it,” the amended filing reads.
“On information and belief, Kendrick Lamar would not have been permitted to perform during the Super Bowl Performance unless the word ‘pedophile’ (in the phrase ‘certified pedophiles’) was omitted from the lyrics — that is because nearly everyone understands that it is defamatory to falsely brand someone a ‘certified pedophile.’”
Content shared from www.digitalmusicnews.com.