Source: Michael Blackshire / Getty
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly where things went left between new age hip-hop kings Drake and Kendrick Lamar — some trace the beef back to over a decade ago with the latter’s near-mythical “Control” verse from 2013.
However, the situation surely hit a fever pitch earlier this year with a back-to-back lyrical spar that fittingly enough exploded this past Independence Day with the release of K. Dot’s highly-anticipated music video for his standout Drake diss track, “Not Like Us.”
RELATED: Kendrick Lamar Releases Official Video for “Not Like Us”
Let’s take a journey back real quick to see how we even got to this point.
Jumping to October 2023 with the cheap shots delivered on “First Person Shooter” by Drizzy and J. Cole, the third head on their proverbial Hip-Hop Mount Rushmore, the war of words has since become legendary. Bars like
“Like a kid that act bad from January to November, nigga, it’s just you and Cole,” and more specifically,
“Everybody steppers, well, fuck it, then everybody breakfast And I’m ’bout to clear up my plate,” were taken as sneak jabs at Kendrick in reference to his album titles for
good kid, m.A.A.d city (2012) and
Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers (2022)
, respectively.
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Kendrick took to collaborating with Future and Metro Boomin months later in March 2024 to officially respond on the track “Like That,” drawing a clear line in the sand with bars like
“Motherfuck the big three, nigga, it’s just big me,” and the direct shot,
“’fore all your dogs gettin’ buried That’s a K with all these nines, he gon’ see ‘Pet Sematary’” in reference to Drake’s 2023 LP,
For All The Dogs.
After J. Cole delivered his own response with the ill-received “7 Minute Drill,” so much so that days later he retracted the song from streaming platforms and
publicly apologized at his Dreamville Festival, Drizzy and K. Dot jumped in the ring for a fire round of disses that were enjoyed by the masses in real-time: Drake’s double-shot with “Push Ups” and “Taylor Made Freestyle,” Kendrick coming back ferocious with “Euphoria,” the ‘May 3rd Madness’ that resulted in “6:16 in LA,” “Family Matters”
and “Meet the Grahams” being released within hours of each other and finally the closing statements of “Not Like Us” and “The Heart Part 6.”
With “Not Like Us” however, things took an unexpected turn as the song has become a worldwide anthem since it was officially released back in May. Not only did it debut on top of the Billboard Hot 100, streaming success also made it Spotify’s biggest gainer for a hip hop song both in a single-day and in a week, two records once held by Drake ironically enough. Be it OVO haters finally having a reason to show off their distaste for The 6 God, or the undeniable catchiness of Mustard-on-the-beat, people simply can’t get enough of doing their best C-Walk to the song. It currently sits at #3 on the charts, and is expected to return back to #1 following yesterday’s visual offering.
Everyone will have their dog in the fight when it comes to any rap war, but numbers simply can’t lie: from chart performance to overall fanfare, Kendrick Lamar is the clear winner here. Based on reactions to his new video for “Not Like Us,” it appears the masses agree.
Source: Michael Blackshire / Getty
Source: Michael Blackshire / Getty
Source: Michael Blackshire / Getty
Source: Michael Blackshire / Getty
Source: Michael Blackshire / Getty
Source: Michael Blackshire / Getty
Source: Michael Blackshire / Getty
Source: Michael Blackshire / Getty
Take a look below at how people are reacting on social media to the “Not Like Us” music video by Kendrick Lamar. Sorry, Drake: