Current:Home > ScamsKendrick Lamar owns the summer with 'Not Like Us' music video, continues Drake diss -ProfitQuest Academy
Kendrick Lamar owns the summer with 'Not Like Us' music video, continues Drake diss
View
Date:2025-04-18 04:54:42
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."
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
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."
A breakdown:All 9 Drake and Kendrick Lamar 2024 diss songs, including 'Not Like Us' and 'Part 6'
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.
veryGood! (93)
Related
- Jamaica's Kishane Thompson more motivated after thrilling 100m finish against Noah Lyles
- Officers’ reports on fatal Tyre Nichols beating omitted punches and kicks, lieutenant testifies
- Ballerina Michaela DePrince Dead at 29
- North Carolina absentee ballots release, delayed by RFK Jr. ruling, to begin late next week
- New Orleans mayor’s former bodyguard making first court appearance after July indictment
- Should Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa retire? Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez advises, 'It might be time'
- Bill would ban sports betting ads during games and forbid bets on college athletes
- Asteroid Apophis has the tiniest chance of hitting earth in 2029 – on a Friday the 13th
- Retirement planning: 3 crucial moves everyone should make before 2025
- Ballerina Michaela DePrince Dead at 29
Ranking
- Paris Olympics live updates: Quincy Hall wins 400m thriller; USA women's hoops in action
- Rachel Zoe and Rodger Berman, Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen and More Who Split After Decades Together
- Dogs bring loads of joy but also perils on a leash
- Chad McQueen, 'The Karate Kid' actor and son of Steve McQueen, dies at 63
- Immigration issues sorted, Guatemala runner Luis Grijalva can now focus solely on sports
- Nicole Kidman speaks out after death of mother Janelle
- Lil Tay Shown in Hospital Bed After Open Heart Surgery One Year After Death Hoax
- Anthropologie’s Extra 40% Off Sale Includes the Cutest Dresses, Accessories & More, Starting at $5
Recommendation
Working Well: When holidays present rude customers, taking breaks and the high road preserve peace
Should Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa retire? Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez advises, 'It might be time'
50,000 gallons of water were used to extinguish fiery Tesla crash on California highway
Bomb threats close schools and offices after Trump spread false rumors about Haitians in Ohio
How to watch new prequel series 'Dexter: Original Sin': Premiere date, cast, streaming
Should Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa retire? Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez advises, 'It might be time'
Score Designer Michael Kors Crossbodies for Only $79 and Under From Their Outlet Sale & More Luxury Finds
The Flash’s Grant Gustin and Wife LA Thoma Welcome Baby No. 2