Drake vs. Ludacris Beef: ‘More Life’ Rapper Ends Feud At Billboard Music Awards

Sunday night at the 2017 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas was a big night for Drake. The “More Life” rapper not only performed from the fountains at the Bellagio, but he also broke the Billboard Music Awards record for most awards won in one night.

While Drake’s night was full of memorable moments, there was one in particular that flew under the radar for some viewers. While accepting the award for top Billboard 200 album, the rapper threw out a couple shoutouts and also managed to end his longtime feud with Ludacris, who was hosting the ceremony.

“Ludacris, I know we haven’t always seen eye-to-eye, but I’ve always been a big fan of yours, man. I got a lot of love for you,” Drake said, appearing to be pointing at the rapper off-stage. “I wanna let you know that, face-to-face, while I’m still here.”

Drake’s comments about Ludacris may have just seemed like a shoutout for the hip-hop veteran, but the two have a rocky past. The feud between the two dates back to 2011 when Ludacris dissed Big Sean and Drake on the song, “Badaboom.” Ludacris took offense to Drake and Big Sean using his flow, which was famous for one-word punchlines at the end of a sentence.

“You lyin’ to yaself, just admit it / May not like the way I used it, but you know you ain’t invent it, boy / Do your research before you make a claim so bogus that’s disrespecting pioneers in the game,” Ludacris rapped. While he never mentioned names in the song, the diss came after Big Sean said he created the flow and claimed Drake stole it from him.

Although the beef between Drizzy and Luda never became one of hip-hop’s most memorable feuds, Drake did discuss the incident with Vibe in 2012 (via YouHeardThatNew). “[Ludacris,] that’s a case of someone trying to use my marketing money to get things going again for themselves,” said Drake. “That didn’t affect my day, my month, my year. I didn’t take any of that seriously.”

The feud with Ludacris wasn’t the only beef Drake put an end to in recent days. Last week, photos of Drake and fellow Toronto artist Tory Lanez were posted on Instagram. Drake uploaded a photo of the two together, writing, “The city needs more of this and less of that,” while Lanez posted the same photo with a different caption that read, “Toronto… I Told U.”

While Drake has been in a few feuds with other rappers before, including Common, Pusha T and Jay, the “Gyalchester” rapper prefers to promote unity among his peers, especially those from his own city.

In a 2016 interview with Zane Lowe, Drake spoke about unity between the city of Toronto. “Any time prior, ask me about anybody [in Toronto], I’m biggin’ ’em up. It’s our city, man. Why would you get up on a public platform and start being like ‘aaaaahh!’ Nah, man. And then what — just to come back and start backpedalling and begging it out?”