Kendrick Lamar’s public diss to Drake led to more dollars for a Toronto-based restaurant.
The “King Kunta” rapper released “Euphoria,” a track about Drake, on April 30. In the song that otherwise criticized Drake for being inauthentic, Lamar said he eats at Chinese food restaurant New Ho King in Toronto, which is Drake’s hometown.
“Talk about me and my family crodie / Somebody gone bleed in your family crodie / I be at New Ho King eating fried rice with a dip sauce and a blammy, crodie,” Lamar rapped. Crodie is slang for bro or friend and commonly used in south Ontario, Canada, according to Urban Dictionary.
New Ho King owner, Johnny Lu, said in a local interview with City News on May 1 that business has boomed since the song released.
“This morning, a lot of people texted me, ‘Oh look at that, that’s your restaurant?’ I said, ‘Yes,’ and I said, ‘Look at that, look at the song.’”
“He said good food and ... fried rice. Get more, more, more rice. The chef gonna be busy,” Lu added.
The restaurant’s Yelp page has been flooded with five star reviews that thank Kendrick for putting them on to a great dining option.
“I call these guys and say ‘Hi can I get the kendrick lamar special’ and the guy on the phone says “That’s it?” one reviewer wrote.
“Kendrick recommended .. did not disappoint ...mans knows good food excellent service,” another said.
“King Kenny brought up yo place in a Drake diss congratulations, you now have the best restaurant in the country Ill have to come try it sometime, jus need the money to fly to Toronto. If Kendrick said it’s good then it’s good ,” a third person added.
Lu said he now wants to learn the lyrics to “Euphoria,” and he complimented Kendrick: “Kendrick’s a good guy.”
New Ho King’s booming business is just about the only good fallout from the record, but one Drake fan said on X the lyric is still a diss — the Canadian rapper was robbed at gunpoint in 2009 at a Toronto restaurant, according to the New York Times, and the X user explains how they believe “dip” and “blammy” could be references to the robbery.
Drake and Kendrick have maintained a growing feud for at least a decade, exchanging jabs about each other’s likeness, music and authenticity. Kendrick’s “Euphoria” is in response to Drake’s April 19 “Push Ups.” Kendrick released a second diss track, “6:16 in LA,” on Instagram May 3.
