"It just sounded like an ambitious thought to me," he says of Lamar's incendiary "Control" verse. "That's all it was"

In the new Billboard cover story, Drake says he's made it a habit to ignore all commentary about him online, positive or negative. On any of the numerous occasions when another rapper tries to goad him into a public contest, he's trying to let it roll off his shoulders.

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So after hearing West Coast peer Kendrick Lamar's instantly incendiary verse on Big Sean's recent single "Control,"  in which Lamar goes for the jugular of every rapper he deems a threat, including Drake, the latter says he "went about my day, went and got dinner and kept it moving."

"I didn't really have anything to say about it," Drake says of the verse, which has so far inspired responses from A$AP Rocky, Joey Bada$$, former Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson and too many others to count. "It just sounded like an ambitious thought to me. That's all it was. I know good and well that Kendrick's not murdering me, at all, in any platform. So when that day presents itself, I guess we can revisit the topic."

Lamar has been making his rounds in the news circuit this week, finally speaking on his "Control" verse. The rapper told Power 105 that he "didn’t know there would be so much speculation, I just want to rap." He continued to say that calling himself the "King of New York" was misunderstood by many.

"The irony of that line is that the people who actually understood it and got it were the actual kings of New York, you know, me sitting down with them this past week, and them understanding, it’s not actually about being the king of whatever coast, it’s about leaving a mark as great as Biggie, as great as Pac," he said.

• Read more in this week's Billboard Cover Story featuring Drake.

Listen to "Control" below: