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Around this time nine years ago, Drake and Meek Mill's beef was already in full effect.
After Meek Mill accused Drake of using ghostwriters to write his "R.I.C.O." verse and released the reference track, Drake retaliated by dropping his scathing diss tracks "Charged Up" and "Back To Back." The latter song dropped seven years ago today. On July 29, 2015, Drake shook up the industry when he released "Back To Back." The song's title is a reference to the Toronto Blue Jays' epic back-to-back World Series wins and its victory over the Philadelphia Phillies in 1993, which is Meek's hometown. It was released on the 22nd anniversary of the '93 World Series.
WARNING: EXPLICIT LANGUAGE
"Is that a world tour or your girl's tour? I know that you gotta be a thug for her," Drake raps, referencing Meek's girl at the time Nicki Minaj. "This ain't what she meant when she told you to open up more/Yeah, trigger fingers turn to Twitter fingers, yeah, you gettin' bodied by a singin' n***a."
The song's title is also a double entendre that references Drake and Meek's back-and-forth in the days after Meek first called out Drake. Before "Back To Back," Drake released "Charged Up" two days earlier, which also had bars aimed at Meek. The domino effect from that record was already felt throughout the industry. DJ Clue, who was mentioned on "Charged Up," recently recalled what happened immediately after the song dropped.
"Drake drops the diss record," Clue explained. "With my name in it. So now I come back and everybody is looking at me and I'm like 'What the f**k is going on?' I'm like 'They thinking I knew about it' and I'm like 'Nah like how? Like I haven't--- At this time, I hadn't seen Drake in a minute. I'm 'like 'I haven't seen this n***a in a year like I don't know why..."
Meanwhile, "Back To Back" was one of the only diss tracks in Hip-hop history to make an impact on the Billboard charts. It debuted at No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has since gone 2x platinum according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Meek Mill tried to follow-up with another diss track aimed at Drake called "Wanna Know," but eventually removed the song from his SoundCloud.
Drake and Meek Mill's beef lasted until 2018 when they squashed their beef at the Canadian rapper's concert in Boston. Their reconciliation happened after Meek Mill was sent to prison after a parole violation, and Drake actually campaigned for his release. Eventually, they collaborated once again on Meek's "Going Bad" off his Championships album.