Childish Gambino Seemingly Disses Drake On New Song “Yoshinoya”

Childish Gambino raps on his new album, Bando Stone and the New World. Not as much as you’d think, though. The artist intersperses bars with sonic experiments and electronic flourishes. “Yoshinoya” is a rare exception to this. The track sees Childish Gambino drop aggressive rhymes over a trunk-rattling instrumental from producer Triangle Park. He takes aim at some undisclosed target in his verses, but fans have been quick to point out clues that suggest the target is in plain sight. The theory is that the rapper is the latest to attack Drizzy Drake.

The biggest piece of evidence to suggest that Childish Gambino is targeting Drake is in the first verse. “I put your boy in the seat. You got your biz’ in the streets,” he raps. “I wash my hands when I eat. I never hand her the key.” The use of the moniker the “Boy,” evokes the nickname that Drake has used over the last decade. Genius even posits Gambino’s wording as a means of schooling the 6 God, hence putting him in a seat (the annotation is, notably, unreviewed). The next few lines have also been theorized to be about Drake. “I don’t know no one BD,” he raps. “But they dependent on me.” “BD” is baby daddy, which technically applies to the Toronto rapper. Drake also scored a hit single in 2023 with “Rich Baby Daddy.”

The rest of the song is peppered with slights and comments that could easily apply to Drake. Childish Gambino mentions finding a house “on the app,” which evokes the iconic imagery of Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” diss. The rapper also suggests that his unnamed target has untrustworthy people in his circle. “They plottin’ hard when you slatt,” he spits. “Thеy got a gun in your back. This who you trust when you sleepin’ at night.” There’s even an “AK” bar. “AK not silent like knife,” Childish Gambino raps towards the back end of the verse. The reference applies to a loud firearm, of course, but could just as well apply to DJ Akademiks and the fact that he serves as Drizzy’s mouthpiece.

Childish Gambino and Drake have not had the closest relationship over the years. The latter infamously criticized Gambino’s “This Is America” during a 2018 concert in Chicago. He posted a user comment that read: “The overrated and over awarded hit song ‘This Is America’ was originally a Drake diss record.” It’s also worth noting that fans have compared Childish Gambino’s sound on the new album to Drake. Many social media users have compared Bando Stone and the New World to the 6 God’s recent releases, and there’s definitely similarities. We won’t know if “Yoshinoya” is a diss unless Gambino confirms it, but we know there isn’t love lost between him and Drake.