Fans Think Drake’s ‘Nokia’ Video Is Packed With Kendrick Disses

Drake has finally dropped the much-anticipated video for his standout track “Nokia” from $ome $exy $ongs 4 U, and let’s just say—fans are reading between the lines. Or rather, the frames. A bunch of scenes seem to throw some sly shots at Kendrick Lamar.

Now, if you’ve been keeping up, you know that Kendrick is widely seen as the winner of their high-profile rap feud. But instead of coming back with straight-up diss tracks, Drizzy has been taking a different approach—dropping party anthems instead. (“F--- a rap beef, I’m tryna get the party lit,” he rapped on “Gimme a Hug.”)

Directed by his longtime collaborator Theo Skudra, the IMAX-sized “Nokia” video takes that energy to another level, and fans are convinced there are some hidden (or not-so-hidden) jabs at Kendrick sprinkled throughout.

Kendrick’s “Not Like Us” video had him casually showing off some rare dance moves—a little two-step here, a little groove there. But in Drake fashion, “Nokia” seems to answer that said one fan, with some dad-style dance moves of his own, possibly poking fun at Kendrick’s attempt at breaking it down.

And then there’s the owl moment. Kendrick’s “Not Like Us” video ended with him staring down an owl in a cage—a not-so-subtle dig at Drake’s OVO brand. But Drake flips the script in “Nokia,” closing with not one, but six owls perched on a phone mast. The message? He’s still on top of the world and definitely not caged in by Kendrick’s diss, according to one fan.

The only cameo in “Nokia” comes from Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who just so happens to be in the middle of an MVP-caliber season. But could his appearance also be a strategic move in Drake’s ongoing game of rap chess? See the fan theory here.

Remember, Kendrick’s “Not Like Us” video featured Compton’s own DeMar DeRozan, a former Toronto Raptor and once-close friend of Drake. But that friendship seems rocky now. Drizzy even appeared to call out DeRozan on “Fighting Irish Freestyle”:

“The world fell in love with the gimmicks, even my brothers got tickets / Seemed like they loved every minute / Just know this shit is personal to us, and it wasn’t just business.”

So, putting Shai—a Toronto native who once played in Kendrick’s hometown of L.A.—in the video? That might just be Drake’s way of flipping Kendrick and DeRozan’s alliance on its head.

If you ever played Snake on an old Nokia phone, you might catch this clever little detail. In one scene, Drake is surrounded by LED screens subtly displaying the classic mobile game. Given how he’s been feeling about the industry lately—betrayed by former friends, feuding with his own label (Universal Music Group) over Kendrick’s “Not Like Us”—this might be his way of calling out the “snakes” in his circle, as pointed out by a fan.

So, is “Nokia” just a stylish music video, or is it Drake’s latest move in the never-ending chess match against Kendrick? Either way, the fans are eating it up.