Hip-hop beefs usually start with a bar, a tweet, or a subliminal. The tension between A$AP Rocky and Drake is different. It’s a decade-long story about mentorship, ego, and one of the most famous women on the planet: Rihanna.
Today, Rocky is on his new album Don’t Be Dumb rapping “First you stole my flow, so I stole your bitch,” and giving interviews saying he just doesn’t mess with Drake anymore. To understand how we got here, you have to rewind to when these two were actually close.
When Drake Put Rocky On
In 2011, A$AP Rocky went from Harlem mixtape buzz to major-label energy fast. His breakout tape Live.Love.A$AP dropped in October 2011 and turned him into one of the most hyped new artists in rap. Around the same time, Drake was leveling up off Take Care, already a star but still hungry.
Drake didn’t just recognize Rocky’s wave—he amplified it. He brought Rocky (and Kendrick Lamar) on the Club Paradise Tour, giving them exposure to 10–15k capacity crowds across North America. For Rocky, who’d never been on a tour at that scale, this was huge. In old interviews, he openly credits Drake as one of the few big artists who really put him on early.
Then came “Fuckin’ Problems” in 2012. The record technically belongs to Rocky, but Drake had a big hand in it and could have kept it for himself. Instead, it became Rocky’s first massive hit—proof that at one point, their relationship was closer to big bro–little bro than rivals.
The Rihanna Factor
Drake and Rihanna’s connection goes way back. They were linked romantically as early as 2009, and their on-and-off situationship spilled into collabs, club appearances, and public moments for years. Drake has admitted he was emotionally invested in her and even talked about wanting that “fairy tale” family situation that never materialized.
Rocky’s connection to Rihanna initially looked more professional. He appeared on the remix to “Cockiness (Love It)” and performed it with her at the 2012 MTV VMAs, famously grabbing her onstage and sparking early speculation. He then joined her on tour, working closely with her as an opener.
In 2016, Drake and Rihanna had what felt like one last big run together with “Work,” a very public rekindling that culminated in Drake presenting her with the Video Vanguard Award at the VMAs. On stage, he poured his heart out, confessing he’d been in love with her since he was 22, then leaned in for a kiss—only for Rihanna to visibly dodge it.
Two years later, Rihanna clarified in an interview that she and Drake weren’t really friends anymore—“not enemies, but not friends either.” Around that same period, she and Rocky grew visibly closer, seen together at fashion events, campaigns, and her Diamond Ball. By 2020–2021, their romantic relationship was public, and eventually they became parents together.
So from Drake’s point of view: the woman he very publicly loved ends up in a long-term relationship and starts a family with someone he once helped come up in the game. That doesn’t create beef by itself, but it’s the emotional context behind a lot of what came next.
The Subliminal Era
For years, Rocky didn’t openly attack Drake, but little jabs and energy shifts started to appear. At the same time, Drake began dropping lines that fans read as aimed at Rocky and Rihanna.
On 2023’s For All the Dogs, Drake’s track “Fear of Heights” was widely read as a Rihanna record, taking shots at both their past relationship and her current situation with Rocky. He raps about people making it sound like he’s still hung up on an ex, flips Rihanna’s ANTI into a bar about being “anti” because he “had it,” and implies the relationship wasn’t as deep as people think.
That song, alongside other lines referencing “Pretty Flacko” and “Fenty,” fed a growing narrative that Drake was bitter, shading both Rihanna and Rocky without naming them outright. The shots were mostly lyrical and subliminal—more emotional venting than outright war—but they built tension.
Rocky, for his part, mostly played it cool in public. He focused on fashion, brand work, and a scattered run of musical drops. Critics and even Drake himself later used that against him, suggesting Rocky had pivoted away from being a fully active rapper.
Kendrick, Metro, and the Beef Heating Up
The temperature changed when Kendrick Lamar and Future/Metro Boomin went at Drake in 2024–2025. On that broader anti-Drake wave, Rocky finally stepped more directly into the conversation.
On tracks associated with the We Don’t Trust You / We Still Don’t Trust You era, Rocky dropped bars that fans interpreted as targeting Drake—touching on women, image, and identity. At the same time, leaked or previewed Drake records like the “Iceman” snippet suggested Drake was willing to fire back at Rocky too.
In interviews, Rocky started opening up more about his underlying issues with Drake. Reports from blogs and hip-hop outlets cited Rocky allegedly admitting Rihanna sits at the root of the tension—they were “once friends,” and things “went wrong over females.” By this point, the story had evolved from subliminals to something closer to open acknowledgment of a rift.
”Stole Ya Flow” and Don’t Be Dumb
Everything truly boiled over with Rocky’s 2026 album Don’t Be Dumb. Multiple tracks on the project contain lines that fans, outlets, and Rocky himself have strongly linked to Drake.
The clearest example is the song “Stole Ya Flow.” On it, Rocky raps:
“First you stole my flow, so I stole yo’ bitch”
The line is widely read as a direct reference to Drake supposedly borrowing elements of Rocky’s style while Rocky ended up with Rihanna. Other bars on the track bring up cosmetic work (“niggas getting BBLs”), copying his aesthetic, and not spending time with one’s kids—another line that listeners link to Drake’s co-parenting situation.
When pressed in interviews about whether “Stole Ya Flow” is aimed at Drake, Rocky leans into the ambiguity while making it obvious. He’s been quoted saying things like “I think we all know” who it’s about and suggesting that if someone feels hit by the lyrics, “then it’s about them.”
He also downplays any need for resolution. In recent conversations, Rocky has said he doesn’t see a reason to fix things with Drake, implying their fallout doesn’t need to be cleaned up or turned into a neat ending. The friendship is over, period.
Rocky’s Recent Comments on Drake
Alongside the music, Rocky has been more direct in interviews than ever before. Summarizing his recent stance:
He’s described their issues as “soft” and said the whole situation “went wrong over females.” He’s clarified that he simply doesn’t mess with Drake anymore and doesn’t feel obligated to reconcile just because they were once close. He’s called some of Drake’s perceived shots at Rihanna “soft,” making it clear he takes issue with older men still poking at a woman they once dealt with.
The combination of these interviews with the lyrics on Don’t Be Dumb paints a consistent picture: Rocky sees Drake as someone who used to be a friend, became a rival largely over Rihanna, and now exists to him as an opp he has no interest in patching things up with.
Where Things Stand Now
So where are we as of early 2026?
Rocky has publicly and musically aired his side: he feels Drake copied his style, mishandled their friendship, and crossed lines in how he talks about Rihanna. Drake has a catalog of bars that make him sound bitter about Rihanna moving on, and a handful of lines shading Rocky’s relevance and musical output. Rihanna is with Rocky, raising a family, and not engaging with any of this music drama directly.
The “winner” depends on what you value. From a life perspective, Rocky looks unbothered, settled, and stable with the person Drake once very publicly wanted. From a pure rap battle perspective, Drake still has nuclear pens and the ability to weaponize records against anyone.
What’s clear is that the animosity between them is way bigger than just rap. It’s a layered story about early support, shifting power, romantic history, pride, and the weirdness of watching someone you helped put on end up with the person you never got over.
And that’s how we ended up with A$AP Rocky talking about “stealing your bitch” on Don’t Be Dumb while saying he has no interest in ever being friends with Drake again.