War
"War" closes Dark Lane Demo Tapes on its most combative note, but its history predates the mixtape: it was first released December 24, 2019 as part of Drake's manager Oliver El-Khatib's El-Kuumba Tape Vol. 1 SoundCloud project, a collaboration with Japanese retailer Kuumba International, with a Theo Skudra-directed video shot on the ski slopes of Ontario's Blue Mountain Resort. Produced by London's AXL Beats — who described it to Complex as a calmer 'mid-trap and mid-drill' beat suited to Drake's vibe — the track is a hookless, single-verse UK-drill freestyle on which Drake adopts a British flow and accent. Lyrically it touches on betrayal, relationships and his gripes with social media, and is widely read as acknowledging that he and fellow Canadian The Weeknd had moved past their feud, though the singer is never named. Drake framed the song as an act of love for Toronto and a spotlight on buzzing rappers; critics like The New York Times' Jon Caramanica called AXL's production 'full of mellow menace.' As the mixtape's final statement it leaves the project on a hard, unresolved edge rather than a resolution.
Sources & verification
Citations below were matched specifically to "War" and Dark Lane Demo Tapes. Drake Universe catalogs songs by album placement, verified collaborators, producers, samples, and themes, and avoids unsupported lyric-level claims.
- Dark Lane Demo Tapes — WikipediaWikipedia · 2026-05-18 — Primary reference for full track-by-track producer credits (adapted from Tidal/BMI), features, samples/interpolations, release date (May 1, 2020), recording history, critical reception and chart performance. Source of the producer corrections replacing the fabricated 'Vinylz' placeholder on all 14 tracks.
- Stories From the Making of Drake's 'Dark Lane Demo Tapes'Complex · 2026-05-18 — Producer-sourced making-of detail cited via Wikipedia: Plain Pat co-produced 'Deep Pockets' (originally a Scorpion cut) with 40; MexikoDro co-produced the 2017 plugg-music 'From Florida with Love' with 40; Foreign Teck on the secluded LA sessions that produced 'Gold Roses' and 'Losses'; Southside's 2017 origin of 'D4L'; JB Made It producing 'Demons.'
- Every Producer Who Worked on Drake's 'Dark Lane Demo Tapes'Variety · 2026-05-18 — Corroborating per-track producer roster (Shirley Ju, May 3, 2020), cross-referenced against the Tidal/BMI credits to confirm replacement of the fabricated 'Vinylz' placeholder.
