Drake’s fan base has taken a significant hit since his war with Kendrick Lamar took off in April 2024 — a battle that the Canadian rapper presumably lost following Lamar’s infamous “Not Like Us” diss track, which earned him five Grammy Awards.

This became apparent based on the “One Dance” rapper’s social media following, as it took a steep nosedive, according to mystery box site Cases.gg, which analyzed Drake’s platforms in a new study using Social Blade.

Drake’s Instagram (@champagnepapi) particularly saw a massive decline in followers, with over 3 million hitting the unfollow button on the Degrassi alum’s page. This appeared to be influenced by his feud with Lamar, as Drake went from 146.7 million followers at the start of their beef to 143.4 million since “Not Like Us” was released in May 2024.

Cases.gg also reported that Drake’s follower count is dropping on average 345,000 per month, the largest since his Instagram plummeted 187,000 in September 2022. Drake’s Instagram was hardest hit in September 2024, with Lamar’s track gaining popularity, giving him a net loss of almost 500,000 (486,048).

He’s currently facing a similar decline, with a dip of 406,000 in January 2025, before Lamar included “Not Like Us” in his Super Bowl performance, which became the most-watched halftime show in history.

Drake vs. Kendrick Beef Explained

Drake — birth name Aubrey Drake Graham — has a history of getting into rap battles with various artists, although no others have been as career-wrenching as his war with Lamar. The former TV star ignited the back-and-forth with Lamar on April 19 with his track “Push Ups,” which mocked the Compton native’s small stature. Drake also appeared to target Rick Ross, The Weeknd, Metro Boomin, Future, and others in the song.

Days later, the “Best I Ever Had” rapper fired again at Lamar with the track “Taylor Made Freestyle,” expressing his disappointment that the “Humble” rapper had yet to respond to “Push Ups.” However, Lamar didn’t wait long before he retaliated with the six-minute-long diss track “Euphoria,” in which he slammed Drake for using the N-word and mocked his fashion sense.

On May 3, Lamar kept the disses going with the track “6:16 in LA,” claiming that the “God’s Plan” rapper had a mole spewing dirt on him. Hours later, Drake clapped back with the track “Family Matters,” where he took some personal jabs at Lamar and his relationship with his fiancée Whitney Alford.

The saga continued with Lamar’s track “Meet the Grahams,” in which he ripped Drake for being a “deadbeat” father and alleged that he might have a secret child, aside from his son Adonis, whom he shares with French artist Sophie Brussaux. Lamar also claimed Drake had issues with alcohol, gambling, and dating underage women.

It was then that Lamar dropped “Not Like Us,” which fans have applauded as his best work and the apparent nail in the coffin of the rappers’ spat. He again ripped into Drake for his alleged involvement with much younger women, even putting sex offender symbols on the track’s artwork.

Drake addressed Lamar’s allegations in the track “The Heart Pt. 6,” released on May 5, but it seemed fans had already chosen their winner, and he couldn’t recover. By May 13, “Not Like Us” topped the Billboard Hot 100 charts and quickly became the song of the year.

It also led to Lamar’s five Grammy Award wins at the February 2, 2025, awards ceremony, nabbing Best Music Video, Record of the Year, Best Rap Song, Song of the Year, and Best Rap Performance.

What This Means for Drake

It seems like it’s going to take quite a bit for Drake to come back from his public beatdown by Lamar, especially given his falling social media following. However, the rap star has appeared to pour his energy into his work and recently announced he’s headlining the Wireless Festival in London this summer.

According to reports, tickets sold out instantly following the news of Drake being the headliner, a sign that things might be looking up for the Toronto rapper. But for now, the social media numbers don’t lie.

Gabriele Asaro, head of research for Cases.gg, shared his take on their findings and what might be in store for Drake.

“Kendrick’s diss track winning Song of the Year highlights its huge impact. We dug into Drake’s social channels and found that since its release a year ago, he’s been losing hundreds of thousands of followers every month, where he was previously gaining them at a similar rate.”

He added: “It goes to show how rap feuds can backfire, costing you more than you bargained for, including social influence and fans. In Drake’s case, battling Kendrick Lamar has resulted in his own social media following rapidly declining, and his opposition’s song winning one of the most prestigious awards, which has got to hurt a little.”

Drake is hardly the first celebrity this year whose social media has been impacted by their choices. Kim Kardashian and Snoop Dogg‘s Instagram followers considerably dropped after they showed support for President Donald Trump at his inauguration. The same happened to Selena Gomez’s follower count amid backlash surrounding her Oscar-nominated film Emilia Pérez.