Over the last month, each has released several diss records aimed at one another starting with Lamar’s jabs on Metro Boomin and Future’s song, “Like That.” Although Drake’s multiple responses including “Family Matters” were valiant efforts, Lamar’s “Not Like Us” has been crowned the unwavering winner by the masses, which includes Uproxx‘s hip-hop editor Aaron Williams.
Today (May 11), Drake somewhat agreed by seemingly conceded to Lamar via his Instagram Stories. After taking a moment to celebrate his mom Sandra for Mother’s Day, the “First Person Shooter” rapper closed out his string of posts with a subtle message to Lamar.
The photographer featured a Japanese Samurai surrounded by an army of hundreds captioned: “Good times. Summer vibes up next.”
If you were waiting for a white flag to be waved, this is the closest thing to it because Lamar sure isn’t going to bow out anytime soon.
Drake put up a good fight. But he simply can’t win everything. At least he still has the vicious win from his spat with Meek Mill under his belt.
Kendrick Lamar’s Drake diss “Not Like Us” continues to rack up stream after stream, and it seems more likely than ever that folks will be ringing this song off for the whole summer. Moreover, it now officially holds the records for the most single-day streams for any rap song in global Spotify history, with around 12.809 million streams presumably on Friday (May 10). This officially dethrones Drake and Lil Baby’s Certified Lover Boy collab “Girls Want Girls,” which held this record ever since 2021 with 12.385 million streams. This newest diss track had gotten very close to breaking this record the previous day, so this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.
However, if we’re talking numbers, neither artist should really see this as anything less than an overall net positive for them. Drake is still breaking records and seeing similar commercial success to Kendrick Lamar with his own diss tracks, even if there is a winner in this tight race. But perhaps this is the only metric we’ll be able to use to compare the two now that the battle seemingly died down. At least, that’s what Top Dawg himself suggested in a recent tweet, claiming K.Dot’s victory over the 6ix God.
Kendrick Lamar Surpasses Drake’s Spotify Record By Dissing Him
But is this really the end? Drake may have recently re-listed his Beverly Hills property, but there are still plenty of theories and rumors going around that he could want revenge with another drop. Also, Kendrick Lamar himself did not claim victory in this battle, which rings especially true when you consider his promise that he could still go further down the rabbit hole. As such, perhaps we’re in for a different kind of beef to anything we’ve ever seen in the genre: a war with multiple battles, differently timed engagements, and no guarantee of decisive, eternal glory.
Alas, more likely than not, that’s just a speculative fantasy. But Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s battle was about as ugly as people wanted, even uglier than they expected, and highly entertaining for at least a brief moment for even the most hardened skeptic. Now Twitter die-hards are coming up with excuses to fight each other’s claims and others are calling to attention the more troublesome and exploitative aspects of this feud as it relates to female trauma, the culture, the music industry, and entertainment/celebrity culture at large. As for the actual back-and-forth, we’ll have to see if the battlefield remains quiet until we get an official stand-down.
DJ Vlad, real name Vladislav Lyubovny, is best known for his website, VladTV, where he holds interviews with celebrities from all spheres of entertainment. Vlad however, is no stranger to controversy. The Ukrainian-American personality is quite a polarizing figure in culture, and frequently receives backlash for his content. Recently, he earned the backlash of the Black community following his comments on the ongoing beef between rappers Kendrick Lamar and Drake. His comments led to a heated Twitter exchange with Princeton University professor, Morgan Jenkins. With this, many claimed DJ Vlad attempted to weaponize his white privilege unlike ever before.
The rap beef between Kendrick Lamar and Drake has spanned a few weeks now, with each blasting the other via diss tracks. Kendrick Lamar’s latest entry to the battle, “Not Like Us,” was released on May 4, on the heels of his previous entry, “Meet The Grahams.” As expected, “Not Like Us” went viral immediately for its catchy beat and lyrics. But what stood out the most was Kendrick doubling down on all his allegations against Drake.
However, somewhere in the heat of the viral moment was DJ Vlad. He took to Twitter to share his criticism of K-Dot’s latest entry. “Kendrick’s “Not Like Us” needed a better mix,” he began. “It takes away from the song.” It didn’t take long for his tweet to garner a pile of backlash. DJ Vlad’s comments were deemed “unnecessary,” as well as an attempt to put the spotlight on himself.
Among the backlash was a tweet from Princeton University professor, Morgan Jenkins who simply responded, “You are WHITE. This is a BLACK FOLK AFFAIR.” This sentiment has been shared by several against non-Black people who have attempted to leave commentary on the diss tracks. Vlad responded negatively to Jerkins’ post and began to tag Princeton, her employer, in his subsequent responses.
DJ Vlad Pulls A Karen
DJ Vlad tagged the institution in multiple tweets against Jerkins, seemingly attempting to get her fired from her position. In one of his tweets, he said, “Wait, so a professor at @Princeton is telling me that a white person shouldn’t be allowed to voice their opinion about Hip-Hop? Is that how you interact with your students?” Jerkins, who is the niece of Hip-Hop icon Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins eventually clarified that the semester was over and her current contract with Princeton was completed, but that didn’t stop Vlad from continuing to tag the institution.
In his tweets, he seemingly urged the university to fire Jerkins, claiming that her comments were “ignorant and bigoted.” In a tweet to Jerkins, he said, “Good luck being a professor at @Princeton again. I doubt the university supports their faculty telling non-black students to shut the fuck up about anything Hip-Hop related because of their skin color.”
Following the exchange, Jerkins received an outpour of support online. Many people accused DJ Vlad of weaponizing his whiteness against a Black woman, something that he has been accused of in the past. Furthermore, social media users were also quick to point out that Vlad’s initial tweet got multiple disagreeing responses from men of all races, many of whom shared the same sentiment as Jerkins. The fact that he chose to double down on hers, and immediately escalated it to the point of including her place of work, led to him getting slammed on Twitter.
Things were quiet over the weekend for Vlad, but other Twitter users continued to fire at him for his comments. Unsurprisingly, he was also labeled a “Karen.” Furthermore, it led to users digging deeper into Vlad’s history of involving himself with Black culture. On Monday, May 6, however, Vlad attempted to take back his statements.
He tweeted, “Since it’s Monday, let me clear the air and state that I never had any intention of filing a complaint to Princeton for former professor Morgan Jerkins saying that white people aren’t allowed to comment on Kendrick Lamar’s music. She trolled me and I trolled back.” Jerkins responded to this tweet stating that DJ Vlad was lying, as he had already tagged Princeton multiple times. Moreover, he had even allegedly tried to contact her family.
On Wednesday, May 8, DJ Vlad took to his Twitter once more. However, this time was to issue a public apology to Jerkins. The apology stated, “After considerable reflection, I would like to apologize to @MorganJerkins for tagging her job in my replies during our Twitter exchange last weekend.” Unsurprisingly, the apology rang hollow to many. Vlad also deleted all his tweets from the exchange with Jerkins before publicly apologizing.
The whole world is playing “Not Like Us” like wild, and Kendrick Lamar continues to not only stake his claim of victory in his battle against Drake, but get the charts on his side in the process. Moreover, there is now another metric in which this diss track exhibited staggering commercial success, a tight race to get the crown for considering how well all of these tracks are streaming. “Not Like Us” topped various streaming charts in the 6ix God’s home country, including Apple Music’s Top 100: Canada chart and Spotify’s Daily Top Songs Canada chart. Among the top five and top ten in these lists are “Family Matters” and “Euphoria” (the second-most streamed song in Drizzy’s home city of Toronto, with “not Like Us” at number three), as well as previous officially streamable diss tracks like “Meet The Grahams” and “Push Ups” that traveled the charts over time.
Furthermore, this is all very impressive and it would almost be an objective win for Kendrick Lamar… if numbers mattered at all in rap beef. There’s still plenty of debate between pgLang die-hards and OVO soldiers over who truly won the battle, but both sides are conceding some pretty unreasonable points from their own camp. For example, DJ Akademiks thinks that people claiming K.Dot stole his “Not Like Us” bars from Twitter are reaching too far. On the other hand, many Kendrick fans refuse to give Drake the proper credit for being a very formidable lyrical opponent, and dishonestly claim it was more of a blowout than it was.
Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” Tops Canadian Streaming Charts
Of course, this battle is technically not over yet, although if it isn’t, we hope that it manifests in bars and music rather than the real life direction that recent occurrences in Drake’s Bridle Path neighborhood have suggested (with no confirmed connection to this beef). That should never be the result of rap feuds no matter who it’s coming from, so maybe it would be best if it ended here. Kendrick Lamar and The Boy had an incredible tit-for-tat, albeit one that spread a lot of misinformation and has compromised both of their public images in exploitative and potentially harmful ways as far as women’s trauma is concerned. But such is the ugliness of hip-hop beef, a formula that we can hopefully keep away from these extremes as we reckon with it in a social media age.
Meanwhile, do you still think we’re on the battlefield or do you have a winner to crown? What’s been your favorite song to come out of all this? Whatever the case, let us know down in the comments section below. Also, check back in with HNHH for the latest news and updates on Kendrick Lamar and Drake.
Kendrick Lamar is currently in a feud with Drake, and for now, he has the lead. Thanks to songs like “Meet The Grahams” and “Not Like Us,” Lamar has taken a comfortable lead. Overall, this has been made clear thanks to the surrender that was Drake’s “The Heart Part 6.” As it stands, “Not Like Us” is on track to be the number-one song in the entire world come next week. It is pretty wild to think about, especially since “Euphoria” may end up becoming the number two track.
Having said all of that, Drake fans are doing everything they can to discredit Kendrick and his most recent track. Enter King Jared on Twitter. If you have been keeping tabs on the beef through X, you have certainly seen this account. The person behind the account moves as though they are Drake’s personal assistant. An OVO soldier tasked with finding anything they can to make K. Dot look bad. Well, last night, they came through with some old tweets that contain similar punchlines to what Lamar says on “Not Like Us.”
At first glance, it all looks pretty damning. After all, how could Kendrick steal punchlines? Doesn’t that go against the core tenets of rap? However, when you do a bit of critical thinking, you realize that these punchlines aren’t even the hardest-hitting bars on “Not Like Us.” Furthermore, these jokes and punchlines aren’t exactly original thoughts. It doesn’t take hours upon hours of brainstorming to come up with some of this stuff. Not to mention, it would be almost impossible to find these tweets if you searched “Drake” on Twitter. You have to really dig deep with the keywords to find these, and that’s clearly what King Jared did. However, this kind of accusation plays well amongst Drake fans on Twitter, and now, they are running with it. Is it possible that Kendrick did steal these punchlines from Twitter? Sure. That said, we will probably never know, and it’s ultimately up to the listener to decide where they stand on this.
Let us know what you think of this accusation, in the comments section down below. Do you really believe that Kendrick Lamar was scouring Twitter to find some punchlines against Drake? Do you think Drake fans are coping a bit too hard when it comes to this feud? Additionally, stay tuned to HNHH for the latest news and updates from around the music world. We will continue to keep you informed on all of your favorite artists and their upcoming projects.
Naomi Osaka has slid over to the Kendrick side in the beef with Drake. Speaking ahead of the Italian Open, Osaka states, “Not Like Us” put Dot over the top.
“Kendrick dropped some heat. That last song,” Osaka said. “That last song is amazing. And I played it walking onto the court. Currently, I think Kendrick’s doing another song.”
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a banger. Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” has bounced Drake out of holding a Spotify record. According to ChartData, “Not Like Us” has the biggest single streaming day for a Hip-Hop song in history, surpassing Drake’s “Girls Like Girls” featuring Lil Baby.
“Not Like Us” has hit the top of the Global Spotif chart with 10.986 million streams. “Girls Like Girls” was at 6.593.
Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” rises to #1 on the global Spotify chart with a new daily high of 10.986 million streams, up 41%.
All you have to do is mention Sweet Chin Music, and WWE icon Shawn Michaels will be right around the corner. Kendrick Lamar mentioned the wrestling finishing move on “Not Like Us,” prompting Michaels to offer his services to the duo to settle the differences.
“Put the wrong label on me, I’ma get ’em dropped/Sweet Chin Music and I won’t pass the aux,” Kendrick Lamar rapped.
“A little Sweet Chin Music goes a long way,” Michaels wrote. “@kendricklamar, you and @Drake are formally invited to #WWENXT to settle this thing. I’m even offering my services to mediate.”
Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s lyrical feud continues to have a chokehold on hip-hop fans everywhere, and it looks like K-Dot is coming out on top, at least in terms of streams. According to a new Tweet by Kurrco, the Compton-born performer’s diss track “Not Like Us” got three times the amount of streams on Spotify than Drake’s “Family Matters” yesterday. It earned a whopping 12.2M, while Drizzy’s garnered 4.2M.
“Not Like Us” is what many would consider the most hard-hitting song of the entire beef. On it, Kendrick accuses Drake of being a “pedophile” and more. Kendrick’s other disses, including “Euphoria,” “Like That,” and his Future and Metro Boomin collab “Like That,” were also streamed more than any of Drake’s yesterday.
Kendrick Lamar & Drake Beef Results In Massive Streaming Numbers
While this is certainly unfortunate for Drake’s camp, it doesn’t necessarily come as a surprise. Ultimately, many have decided that Kendrick Lamar washed Drake, though it’s not exactly clear if the battle is over. Yesterday, DJ Akademiks hopped online to reveal that he’s “waiting on a few records,” which led fans to speculate that new diss tracks are on the way. Whether or not anything could outshine what’s already been released, however, remains to be seen. As for where Drake’s at with all of this, he recently shared a cryptic post on his Instagram Story, highlighting a scene from the series “A Man In Full.”
In the scene, the main character lies dead on the ground, delivering a dramatic posthumous monologue. “I don’t mean this as a criticism,” he begins. “Maybe I do. But when you die, will people notice? When I go, there are gonna a lot of memories of me by a lot of people, many who hate me. Even so, a person needs to live with vigor. Otherwise, what’s the point?” What do you think of Kendrick Lamar continuing to out-stream Drake? Who do you think came out on top amid their feud? Share your thoughts in the comments section down below, and keep an eye on HNHH for more updates.
Questlove is not feeling the Kendrick Lamar-Drake beef. On Instagram, Questlove said the battle was not about skill.
“Nobody won the war,” Questlove wrote. “This wasn’t about skill. This was a wrestling match level mudslinging and takedown by any means necessary – women & children (&actual faacts) be damned. Same audience wanting blood will soon put up ‘rip’ posts like they weren’t part of the problem. Hip Hop Is Truly Dead.”
A rumor is running rampant online, stating Universal Music Group is looking to step in and host a group Zoom, with Kendrick Lamar and Drake included. The rumor alleged Lamar is doing damage to Drake’s reputation with pedophile allegations.
TMZ hopped in and stated the rumor was “totally unfounded,” and no one asked Lamar to put out a statement that would backtrack his statements in the diss records. Furthermore, there was no Zoom meeting and no ask of a Zoom meeting. Additionally, UMG would never interject in the feud.
Also, why should UMG want it to wrap up? More music, more beef, more streams, more dollars.
This might be the wildest Zoom call in corporate history: Drake’s team, UMG and Nike reps asking Kendrick to stop the rap beef because allegations are costing everyone involved “a lot of money” pic.twitter.com/pGw7dEjEax
According to ChartData, “Not Like Us” has the biggest single streaming day for a Hip-Hop song in history, surpassing Drake’s “Girls Like Girls” featuring Lil Baby.
“Not Like Us” has hit the top of the Global Spotif chart with 10.986 million streams. “Girls Like Girls” was at 6.593.
Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” rises to #1 on the global Spotify chart with a new daily high of 10.986 million streams, up 41%.
Kendrick Lamar released “Not Like Us,” on May 4, as the latest in a number of lyrical onslaughts that target Drake. The tensions between Kendrick Lamar and Drake seem to have escalated after J. Cole referred to them as the “big three” of modern Hip Hop. However, it’s become increasingly evident that Kendrick has a bone to pick with Drizzy. In fact, one would say that he absolutely despises the Toronto rapper, and Kendrick is airing Drake’s alleged dirty laundry on the track. As a result, their back-and-forth disses have continued to evolve from playful jabs to personal shots. It looks like Kendrick is currently at an edge over Drake though, as the public has been leaning in his favor following the back-to-back disses on “Meet the Grahams,” and now, “Not Like Us.”
While Kendrick’s lyrics about Drake definitely steal the show, the production on “Not Like Us” does deserve a few points as well. The instrumental is a collaboration between producers Mustard and Sounwave. The track’s tempo is relentless, creating an urgent atmosphere that features pronounced snares and bass, emphasizing the aggressive tone. Nonetheless, Kendrick Lamar’s vocal performance takes center stage, with the instrumentation allowing his words to cut through.
Sex Offense Allegations
The song opens with a haunting line, “Pss, I see dead people,” referencing M. Night Shyamalan’s Sixth Sense (starring Haley Joel Osment) before diving into a barrage of insults aimed at Drake. Kendrick calls him a “free throw,” an easy target and continues with a series of accusations and metaphors that paint Drake as weak, untrustworthy, and worse, a predator. Throughout “Not Like Us,” Kendrick accuses Drake of having inappropriate sexual relationships with minors. This is also a topic Drake has had to debunk in the past. However, Kendrick doesn’t shy away from blowing up the rumors surrounding Drake’s personal life with his lyrics like, “Say, Drake, I hear you like ’em young / You better not ever go to cell block one / To any b**ch that talk to him and they in love / Just make sure you hide your lil’ sister from him.”
Accusing Drake of being sexual with underaged women has become a recurring topic in Kendrick’s diss tracks. However, K. Dot found new, creative ways to hurl these heavy allegations at Drizzy, but that’s not all. Another standout moment in “Not Like Us” comes when Kendrick hits Drake with the line, “Why you trollin’ like a b*tch? Ain’t you tired? Tryna strike a chord and it’s probably A-Minor.” With this, Kendrick is referencing all of the memes and online insults Drake posted on social media last month in order to goad Kendrick into responding.
The predator accusations on “Not Like Us” don’t stop with Drake, as Kendrick moves on to accuse the entire OVO crew. The cover art for the track is in fact an aerial view picture of Drake’s mansion, allegedly dotted with sex offender location tags. Kendrick alleges that Drake’s close friend Chubbs, gets his “hand-me-downs;” a metaphor for the women Drake has sexual relations with. He also accuses PartyNextDoor of having a drug addiction before moving on to address Baka Not Nice, Drake’s former bodyguard and rapper who has had a history of run-ins with the law. “They tell me Chubbs the only one that get your hand-me-downs / And Party at the party, playin’ with his nose now / And Baka got a weird case, why is he around? Certified Lover Boy? Certified pedophiles,” he raps. Later, he doubles back on these allegations, rapping, “And your homeboy need a subpoena, that predator move in flocks / That name gotta be registered and placed on neighborhood watch.”
J. Cole & Lil Wayne Relationship
One of the most striking lines on “Not Like Us” is “Led a n*gga to the cross, he walk around like Teezo.” Here, Kendrick doesn’t just stop at suggesting that Drake’s actions have always been hypocritical. He follows up with names of those who have allegedly been subjected to Drake’s wiles, starting with J. Cole and Lil Wayne. “Did Cole fouI, I don’t know why you still pretendin’ / What is the owl? Bird n***as and bird b***hes, go. The J. Cole lyric is perhaps referencing the fact that Drake keeps mentioning Cole in a beef he does not want to be a part of anymore. Evidently, this comes off as an attempt to goad a reaction out of him too.
“Fucked on Wayne girl while he was in jail, that’s connivin’ / Then get his face tatted like a bitch apologizin’,” he continues. The second lyric is much more explicit in its meaning and is as on-the-nose as can be. Kendrick references Drake getting intimate with Lil Wayne’s girlfriend while Wayne was in prison. Wayne confirmed the rumor in his 2016 memoir Gone Til November. Drake subsequently tattooed Lil Wayne’s face on his arm in 2017, which Kendrick claims was a way to apologize.
Kendrick Questions Drake’s Authenticity On “Not Like Us”
Kendrick also lists other names within the industry on “Not Like Us,” specifically rappers from Atlanta, whom Drake allegedly leveraged to get his street cred. However, first, he opens the second verse condemning Drake for using A.I vocals of rap legend 2Pac in his diss track “Taylor Made Freestyle.” “You think the Bay gon’ let you disrespect Pac, n***a? / I think that Oakland show gon’ be your last stop, n***a.”
The social climbing accusations are also consistent with his lyrics on “Meet The Grahams.” Summarily, K. Dot reminds listeners about how Drake allegedly only embraces his Blackness when it’s convenient. Kendrick gives a history lesson about how slaves built the city of Atlanta on their backs. White settlers eventually exploited these slaves. He then infers that Drake, who is biracial and Canadian, is a white settler in Hip-Hop. Altogether, he believes these Atlanta rappers have helped Drake get his reputation in the industry.
“Atlanta was the Mecca, buildin’ railroads and trains / Bear with me for a second, let me put y’all on game / The settlers was usin’ town folk to make ’em richer / Fast-forward, 2024, you got the same agenda/ You run to Atlanta when you need a check balance / Let me break it down for you, this the real n***a challenge / You called Future when you didn’t see the club / Lil Baby helped you get your lingo up / 21 gave you false street cred / Thug made you feel like you a slime in your head / Quavo said you can be from Northside / 2 Chainz say you good, but he lied,” he raps on the third verse.
Drake Responds To Kendrick’s “Not Like Us”
Drake’s previous diss tracks, including “Push Ups,” released in April, took direct aim at Kendrick Lamar. On the track, Drake referred to Kendrick as a “pipsqueak.” He also questioned his stature in the industry. How the f*ck you big steppin’ with a size-seven men’s on?
This was in response to Kendrick’s verse on Metro Boomin and Future’s “Like That,” where he dismissed the notion of the “big three,” which included himself, Drake, and J. Cole. No one expected that those lines would lead to a series of songs that serve as character assassinations. However, 24 hours after “Not Like Us,” Drake followed with “The Heart Part 6.” On the track, he made sure to address Kendrick’s pedophilia accusations while also claiming Kendrick was working with false information about him.
“I never been with no one under age but now / I understand why this the angle that you really mess with / Just for clarity, I feel disgusted I’m too respected / If I was fucking young girls, I promise I’d been done arrested / I’m way too famous for this shit you just suggested, but that’s not the lesson, clearly there’s a deeper message,” he raps. Though it marked the first time
A rumor is running rampant online, stating Universal Music Group is looking to step in and host a group Zoom, with Kendrick Lamar and Drake included. The rumor alleged Lamar is doing damage to Drake’s reputation with pedophile allegations.
TMZ hopped in and stated the rumor was “totally unfounded,” and no one asked Lamar to put out a statement that would backtrack his statements in the diss records. Furthermore, there was no Zoom meeting and no ask of a Zoom meeting. Additionally, UMG would never interject in the feud.
Also, why should UMG want it to wrap up? More music, more beef, more streams, more dollars.
This might be the wildest Zoom call in corporate history: Drake’s team, UMG and Nike reps asking Kendrick to stop the rap beef because allegations are costing everyone involved “a lot of money” pic.twitter.com/pGw7dEjEax
According to ChartData, “Not Like Us” has the biggest single streaming day for a Hip-Hop song in history, surpassing Drake’s “Girls Like Girls” featuring Lil Baby.
“Not Like Us” has hit the top of the Global Spotif chart with 10.986 million streams. “Girls Like Girls” was at 6.593.
Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” rises to #1 on the global Spotify chart with a new daily high of 10.986 million streams, up 41%.
All you have to do is mention Sweet Chin Music, and WWE icon Shawn Michaels will be right around the corner. Kendrick Lamar mentioned the wrestling finishing move on “Not Like Us,” prompting Michaels to offer his services to the duo to settle the differences.
“Put the wrong label on me, I’ma get ’em dropped/Sweet Chin Music and I won’t pass the aux,” Kendrick Lamar rapped.
“A little Sweet Chin Music goes a long way,” Michaels wrote. “@kendricklamar, you and @Drake are formally invited to #WWENXT to settle this thing. I’m even offering my services to mediate.”