Kanye West claims he's 'not allowed to mention' Drake 'or any of his family members'... before he praises the rival rapper's lyrics

He helped instigate a bitter feud with Drake via a series of diss tracks by Pusha-T tracks he produced in 2018.

Now Kanye West is opening up about his former friend, albeit indirectly.

During an interview with David Letterman set to air on Netflix next Friday, the 41-year-old rapper and producer refused to even refer to Drake by name. 

Mum's the word: Kanye West, 41, revealed that he's not allowed to refer to Drake on an upcoming episode of David Letterman's My Next Guest Needs No Introduction

Mum's the word: Kanye West, 41, revealed that he's not allowed to refer to Drake on an upcoming episode of David Letterman's My Next Guest Needs No Introduction

'An artist which I will not mention, because I’m not allowed to mention him or any of his family members…Well, we had a little beef last year,' Kanye reportedly says in his episode of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction.

He went on to reveal he was referring to Drake by quoting a line by the Hotline Bling rapper.

'He has this line that I love that says, "I told my story and made history" — like made his story and made history. That’s what we do, we tell our story and then people relate to that story.'

'I have a friend who told me that my power is my influence,' he continued. 'And I said my power is my ability to not be influenced.'

Lips sealed: 'An artist which I will not mention, because I¿m not allowed to mention him or any of his family members¿Well, we had a little beef last year,' Kanye reportedly says

Lips sealed: 'An artist which I will not mention, because I’m not allowed to mention him or any of his family members…Well, we had a little beef last year,' Kanye reportedly says

Praise: 'He has this line that I love that says, ¿I told my story and made history¿ ¿ like made his story and made history. That¿s what we do, we tell our story and then people relate to that story'

Praise: 'He has this line that I love that says, ‘I told my story and made history’ — like made his story and made history. That’s what we do, we tell our story and then people relate to that story'

Presumably Kanye's prohibition about mentioning Drake comes from his own publicity people, though the silence might be an attempt to avoid any fodder for a defamation lawsuit.

But by referring to their feud in the past tense and singling out one of the 6 God's lines for praise, Kanye seems to be suggesting he's gotten over his initial fury.

There were already signs earlier this year that Drake had cooled down a bit. He approached the Monster artist about clearing an instrumental sample from his track Say You Will, which he originally rapped over on his 2009 mixtape So Far Gone.

Drake had to clear the sample in order to put the tape on streaming services earlier this year, and Kanye gave him the thumbs up.

In an Instagram post for the 10th anniversary of So Far Gone earlier this year, Drake thanked his friend and mentor.

'@kanyewest a decade ago I rapped over your beat cause you just made the best shit and even though you stay wildin on twitter these days I will never forget what you contributed to the game and my career.'

Relaxed: Kanye's statement seems to imply he's cooled down on his feud with the 6 God

Relaxed: Kanye's statement seems to imply he's cooled down on his feud with the 6 God

Diss tracks: Kanye and Drake first started feuding after Kanye produced a series of disses for fellow rapper Pusha-T

Diss tracks: Kanye and Drake first started feuding after Kanye produced a series of disses for fellow rapper Pusha-T

The former friends and occasional collaborators damaged their relationship last year, when Kanye produced Pusha-T's critically acclaimed Daytona album, which featured multiple jabs at Drake.

After the Canadian rapper responded with his own Duppy Freestyle, Pusha released The Story Of Adidon, which publicly revealed the existence of Drake's lovechild.

He had reportedly played a track privately for Kanye earlier that year that revealed the existence of the child, leading Drake to reportedly believe Kanye had passed the information on to Pusha. (The information ultimately came from Drake's own longtime producer Noah '40' Shebib.)

Some fans even speculated that Drake might have hinted at an affair with Kanye's wife Kim Kardashian on In My Feelings.

The feud escalated in December, when Kanye claimed on Twitter that Drake had called and threatened him, though the two musicians seemed to halt any obvious communications after that point.

Getting into it: Letterman also chatted with Kanye about his Trump support and how he coped with his mother's death

Getting into it: Letterman also chatted with Kanye about his Trump support and how he coped with his mother's death

In addition to mention Drake, clips for the upcoming David Letterman special showed a touching story the Jesus Walks rapper told about desperately searching for a stuffed bear his mother gave him following her untimely death.

A teaser trailer for the entire season includes a clip of Kanye speaking about his struggles with bipolar disorder in a more straightforward way than he previously has.

Letterman, never a fan of Donald Trump, also chatted with the rapper about his support for the president.

Though he apparently steers clear of openly endorsing the politicians, he does defend those who support him, saying 'Liberals bully people who are Trump supporters!'

The second season of David Letterman's My Next Guest Needs No Introduction debuts Friday, May 31, on Netflix.

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Kanye West reveals he's 'not allowed to mention' Drake or his family in David Letterman interview

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