Kendrick Lamar isn’t done with his Drake shakedown. In fact, he’s come for the Toronto rapper’s song of the summer trophy. On July 4, Lamar released the music video to his Drake diss track “Not Like Us” — a pointed release date after calling his adversary a “colonizer.” The music video, directed by Lamar and Dave Free, celebrates California culture from dance to landmark locations and has visual responses to some of the disses in Drake’s tracks “Push Ups” and “Family Matters.” As Lamar warned in “Euphoria,” he’s the “biggest hater.” The “Not Like Us” music video opens with him doing push ups on cinderblocks in response to Drake’s “Push Ups.”
He later uses owl symbolism in reference to the mascot for Drake’s record label OVO Sound and makes it clear they’re enemies. In one shot, Lamar smashes an owl piñata, while a disclaimer on the bottom of the screen reads: “No OVHoes were harmed during the making of this video.” As the final victory lap, Lamar ends the video dancing with his partner Whitney Alford and their two children to the catchy tune. Drake alleged in “Family Matters” that the Compton rapper abused Alford and that Free is the father of one of their kids. Everyone wanted a Drake 2016 summer. Now he’s ‘Not Like Us.’
“Not Like Us” released on May 4 as a catchy clapback to Drake, who has insulted Lamar’s ability to make a radio hit. The DJ Mustard-produced song calls Drake a “certified pedophile” and has everyone from children to adults drawing out the incendiary lyric: “Tryna strike a chord and it’s probably A-Minor.” Lamar also comes for Drake’s industry friendships, his appropriation of certain aspects of Black American culture and shoots his lyrics back at him saying it was “God’s plan to show y’all the liar.”
Ironically, Drake once owned the song of the summer. “One Dance,” “Controlla” and “Too Good” from his 2016 album “Views” created a holy trinity of sorts for summer anthems. There wasn’t a party without them. For a while it was Drake vs. Drake. In 2017, he came back with songs “Fake Love” and “Passionfruit.” In 2018, he managed another song trifecta with “God’s Plan,” “In My Feelings” and “Nice For What.” In 2020, he had a brief comeback with “Laugh Now Cry Later” and “Life Is Good” by Future. However, Drake’s summertime success waned with his follow-up albums “Certified Lover Boy,” “Honestly, Nevermind” and “For All the Dogs” leaving the gap open for a new successor.
Drake effectively became the victim of the music expectations he set with Lamar’s “Not Like Us” becoming the millennials’ “Hit ‘Em Up” by 2Pac (a vicious diss to Biggie Smalls). Kendrick Lamar performs Drake diss ‘Not Like Us’ 5 times at Juneteenth ‘Pop Out’ concert. “Not Like Us” (in addition to Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso”) has replaced the yearning for summer 2016. We are finally living in the present, with a diss track calling the Toronto rapper a pedophile that has united different gang affiliations. The culture driven by Lamar’s diss track rollout from “Euphoria” to “6:16 in LA” to “Meet the Grahams” to “Not Like Us” has proved that hateration in this dancerie is winning in summer 2024. Will Drake win back his song of the summer title? He’s got two months to try.
The Kendrick Lamar victory lap continues. The Compton rapper finally released the music video for “Not Like Us,” his now-legendary Drake diss track, on Thursday. The video, which comes after Lamar performed the song six times in a row at his joyous “The Pop Out” concert last month, could be described as the cap on Lamar’s definitive victory over Drake in the beef between the two rappers that dominated pop culture for much of this year.
The video features several references to Drake and his OVO label, and shows Lamar celebrating with West Coast hip-hop luminaries, as well as containing several subtle and not-so subtle references to the feud. Directed by the Lamar and Dave Free, the video features several cameos from prominent West Coast figures, including “Not Like Us” producer Mustard, who is also wearing a Toronto Blue Jays cap in one of the more obvious jabs at Drake. Also featured are Tommy the Clown, Compton-born NBA star (and former Toronto Raptors player) DeMar DeRozan, as well as Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith, CEO of Top Dog Entertainment label.
The video begins with the rapper doing push-ups on cinder blocks in a room accessed by Tommy the Clown. The scene is a reference to Drake’s “Push Ups,” during the release of which Drake referenced a photo of Lamar doing push-ups. Also featured are Lamar’s partner Whitney Alford and their two children. The Drake song “Family Matters” alleged that Free fathered one of Lamar’s children with Alford. In a very clear shot back at Drake, Alford, Lamar and the children are seen dancing together in the video.
The video features several visual references to owls, the bird associated with Drake’s OVO label. There are shots of an owl resting on Lamar’s arm, shots of an owl in a cage, as well as a scene of Lamar smashing an owl piñata, while a disclaimer flashes across the screen reading, “no OVHoes were harmed during the making of this video.” There are several location references in the video, too, including Tam’s Burgers and the Compton courthouse.
The conflict between Drake and Kendrick Lamar took the world by a storm in May, with each musician releasing multiple diss tracks against each other. Every song, as The Hollywood Reporter‘s Shaheem Reid wrote, had more “excellence, pettiness as well as some ingenious combat zone strategy” than the last. Many feel Lamar won the feud — “Not Like Us” is statistically the most popular song, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 — with the sure-to-be viral music video the cherry on the top.
Drake and Kendrick Lamar secretly feuded for years before their beef escalated in April. Kendrick Lamar has released a music video for his commercially successful Drake diss track, “Not Like Us.” The song was originally released during his diss track war with Drake in May. Kendrick Lamar seems to be mocking Drake again with his new music video for his diss track “Not Like Us.” The two major hip-hop stars were embroiled in a diss track war in April and early May after Lamar publicly called out Drake and J. Cole in a verse on “Like That” for Future and Metro Boomin’s album “We Don’t Trust You” in March. Neither rapper has released a new diss track since May 5, but Lamar is still fueling the beef. On Thursday, the “Not Like Us” video became the first music video Lamar released for his Drake diss tracks. The video is filled with cameos, including his longtime partner Whitney Alford and their two children. The video seems to be Lamar’s second victory lap after he performed four of his five diss tracks and rapped “Not Like Us” five times in a row at his Juneteenth concert last month.
At first, hip-hop fans were excited about Lamar and Drake’s rap beef, believing it was a friendly competition between some of the genre’s most notable stars. Rap beef can help artists boost streams and sales and prove they are worthy of acclaim in the hip-hop world. But Drake and Lamar’s beef soon turned vicious when both stars made unverified allegations of sexual assault, pedophilia, and domestic abuse against each other. After a week of back-to-back diss tracks, Drake seemed to drop out of the beef after the release of “The Heart Part 6” on May 5. But Lamar just keeps going. Here are all the moments in the “Not Like Us” music video that seems to reference the rap beef.
The Compton Courthouse makes multiple appearances in “Not Like Us.” The “Not Like Us” music video features multiple shots of the Los Angeles County Superior Court in Compton, California, and scenes of Lamar and fans outside the court. In the first verse of the song, Kendrick calls Drake a pedophile, and showing the courthouse could be a nod to that. In May, Variety reported that the cover art for “Not Like Us” was an aerial view of Drake’s mansion near Toronto with pins on the building, resembling those used on sex offender maps. Drake denied the pedophilia allegations in “The Heart Part 6,” saying he’s “too famous” to have sex with underaged women and he would be arrested for it.
Before the “Not Like Us” beat begins, a new track plays where Lamar raps about reincarnation. Could this be another track directed at Drake, or is Lamar teasing a song for an upcoming album, indicating that he is moving on from the beef?
Tommy the Clown, DeMar DeRozan, and Black Hippy rap group members Ab-Soul, Schoolboy Q, and Jay Rock are some of the many cameos in the music video. They also appeared onstage during Lamar’s Juneteenth concert last month and are figures of the West Coast hip-hop community. In the diss track “Taylor Made Freestyle,” released in April, Drake uses AI-generated vocals of Snoop Dogg and the late Tupac Shakur to question Lamar’s position as a representative of the West Coast rap scene. Lamar challenged this idea by getting figures from the West Coast community to publicly support him in the video. Lamar likely filmed “Not Like Us” in Compton landmarks, such as Tam’s Burgers, for a similar reason.
Early in the video, Lamar hits a piñata shaped like an owl, the logo of Drake’s record label, OVO. A caption at the bottom of a screen reads, “Disclaimer: No OVhoes were harmed in making this video.” “Ov-ho” is a term Lamar uses in “Not Like Us” to mock Drake and his label. This scene seems to be a direct reference to Lamar and Drake’s diss track fight. At the end of the video, Lamar stares at a real-life owl and puts it in a cage, suggesting that Lamar thinks he has defeated Drake. The cage could symbolize Lamar’s attempt to ostracize Drake from the hip-hop community with the rap beef.
In Drake’s first diss track, “Push-ups,” the rapper uses the exercise as a metaphor to mock Lamar’s alleged deal with his former label, Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE). Drake claimed the label took 50% of profits from Lamar’s songs. Lamar and TDE never responded to this allegation. A representative for Lamar and TDE did not immediately respond to a comment request from Business Insider. In one scene of the “Not Like Us” music video, Lamar is seen doing push-ups on cinder blocks, appearing to reference the track. Lamar may also be suggesting that Drake should be in prison. The layout of the room, the small bed, and Lamar’s tracksuit outfit all seem to reference a prison cell. At this point of the song, Lamar also makes the pedophile allegations.
Partway during the video, Lamar stands next to Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith, the CEO of TDE, and later hugs him. This may be another way of Lamar addressing Drake’s allegations that TDE exploited the “Humble” rapper. When the pair hug, they prove there’s no beef between Lamar and TDE. Mustard, the producer of “Not Like Us,” makes a cameo alongside Lamar when they drive to Tam’s Burgers.
Whitney Alford, Lamar’s longtime partner, and their two children are the final major cameo in the “Not Like Us” music video. In his diss tracks “Family Matters” and “The Heart Part 6,” Drake claims that Lamar domestically abused Alford. Drake also claimed that Dave Free, the cofounder of Lamar’s company PGLang, is the biological father of one of Lamar’s kids. Lamar has not directly addressed either allegation. But Alford and his two children appear in the music video, and Free got a director credit at the end of the video. Lamar seems to suggest there is no drama between him and Alford or Free.
Kendrick Lamar put a cap on his months-long feud with Drake by releasing a music video for his hit song “Not Like Us,” which dissed the Canadian rapper. Lamar released the video on Independence Day. He previously held a concert called “The Pop Out” on Juneteenth, where he performed “Not Like Us” six times. Many fans viewed the timing of these events as digs toward Drake, whom Lamar accuses of stealing Black American culture in his diss tracks. The “Not Like Us” music video had received over 13 million views as of Friday morning. Many fans online praised the video and viewed it as a celebration of Compton, California, where Lamar is from, and the West Coast. Others delighted in Lamar’s continued jabs at Drake. The video appears to make several references to Drake, including the inclusion of an owl piñata and a live owl in a cage. The owl is a mascot for Drake’s label October’s Very Own, or OVO. While Lamar was hitting the piñata, the music video flashed the disclaimer: “No Ovhoes were harmed during the making of this video.” There are also references to Toronto, where Drake is from, in the video. Mustard, the producer who made the “Not Like Us” beat, is featured in the music video wearing a Toronto Blue Jays hat. NBA player DeMar DeRozan, who is from Compton but previously played on the Toronto Raptors, also makes a cameo in the video. Lamar gave DeRozan a shout out in “Not Like Us” while dissing Toronto through the line: “I’m glad DeRoz’ came home/Y’all didn’t deserve him neither.” Lamar also seemingly made fun of some of the claims set forth in Drake’s diss tracks against him. He is seen doing pushups on cinder blocks in the video, which people interpreted as a reference to Drake’s diss against Lamar, “Push Ups.” Lamar also featured his fiancée Whitney Alford and kids, whom Drake claimed were estranged from Lamar. The two rappers have been embroiled in a rap beef since earlier this year. While many fans stuck by their favorite artists, it is broadly believed that Lamar won the battle because of how popular and pervasive “Not Like Us” has become. Some said that “The Pop Out” concert on Juneteenth was Lamar’s “victory lap” in his lyrical fight with Drake. Lamar also teased an unreleased track at the beginning of the “Not Like Us” video, which fans speculated hinted at a new project from the rapper.
Kendrick Lamar just dropped the next bomb in his ongoing feud with Drake — and he may have ended the beef without having to release a new song. The rapper released the highly anticipated video for “Not Like Us,” his massively popular Drake diss track widely regarded as one of 2024’s songs of the summer — and used the opportunity to take a few more shots at the Canadian musician.
The video opens with a snippet of unreleased music, which fans speculated may be a track from Lamar’s next album. Lamar knocks on a door, and Tommy the Clown — the dancer who appeared at the rapper’s Los Angeles “Pop Out” show on Juneteenth — slides open an eye hole and asks for the password. That’s when the video transitions into “Not Like Us,” as Lamar responds with the song’s opening whisper: “I see dead people,” which is both a reference to The Sixth Sense and the suggestion that Drake has lost the beef so spectacularly that he’s dead.
The video features a plethora of symbolically charged imagery solidifying Lamar’s confidence in his position as the winner of the feud. The two most overt visual digs at Drake involve an owl, which the “God’s Plan” musician uses as a logo for his music label, OVO Sound. About a minute and a half into the video, Lamar beats an owl-shaped piñata with the caption, “Disclaimer: No OVHoes were harmed in the making of this video.” (Lamar also repeatedly mocks the record label in the song’s lyrics, as he raps about “OVHoe.”)
The other owl moment comes at the conclusion of the video, when Lamar stands menacingly in front of a real barn owl, which is then revealed to be trapped in a cage. Another detail bound to get Drake in his feelings is a cameo that occurs around halfway through the video: a cameo from NBA star Demar Derozan, who used to play for Drake’s beloved hometown team, the Toronto Raptors.
The video also allows Lamar to put two allegations that Drake lobbied against him to rest. In “Family Matters,” Drake insinuated that Dave Free, who is Lamar’s lifelong friend and frequent collaborator, secretly fathered one of Lamar’s children. The “Not Like Us” video ends with a bombshell credit that should dispel rumors of any tension between the childhood friends: “Directed by Dave Free and Kendrick Lamar.”
Additionally, “Family Matters” suggested that Lamar was physically abusive with his fiancée Whitney Alford. Lamar never responded to these claims — until the release of the “Not Like Us” video, where Alford and their children are prominently featured, dancing and celebrating together.
Kendrick Lamar has put a definitive stamp on his feud with Drake, and with the release of the “Not Like Us” music video, it seems clear that Lamar has no intention of backing down. The video, filled with symbolic imagery and direct references to Drake, serves as a powerful statement in their ongoing battle. As fans continue to dissect every frame, one thing is certain: Kendrick Lamar has made his mark, and the summer of 2024 belongs to him.
Source: USA Today, The Hollywood Reporter, NBC News, Entertainment Weekly
