The feud between Drake and Abel is a complicated one, with periods of friendship and collaboration as well as public spats and disses. The two artists first met in 2011, when Abel was still an up-and-coming artist and Drake was already a star. They collaborated on Drake's album "Take Care," and Abel even went on tour with him. However, things turned sour when Abel decided not to sign with Drake's OVO label, instead going with Republic Records. The two continued to collaborate, but there was tension, and Abel revealed in a 2015 interview that he had given up half of his own songs to Drake.
The two artists seemed to have a reunion in 2017, but things turned sour again when Drake was rumored to be dating Abel's ex, Bella Hadid. The two have since traded disses in their music, with Abel seemingly dissing Drake on his 2019 track "Lost in the Fire" and Drake seemingly extending an olive branch on his 2020 track "War".
Until recently, Drake mentioned Abel three times in "Family Matters":
- Knew it was smoke when Abel hit us with "Serenade".
- Weeknd music getting played in all the spots where boys got a little more pride.
- Abel run your fucking bread need to buy some more chains for some more guys.