Kendrick Lamar fuels Drake feud with new diss track 'Not Like Us': What the rapper is saying
Revenge is not a game of patience, according to the beef philosophy of Kendrick Lamar.
Following a trio of recent diss tracks released against his hip-hop rival Drake, Lamar dropped another scathing track taking aim at the Canadian rapper on Saturday.
The four-and-half-minute song, titled "Not Like Us," seemingly skewers some of Drake's faux pas in the public eye, including the removal of his song "Taylor Made (Freestyle)." In April, Drake released the song featuring an AI-generated imitation of rap icon Tupac Shakur, only to later remove it after Shakur’s estate expressed disapproval.
"You think the Bay (gonna) let you disrespect Pac, (expletive)? I think that Oakland show (gonna) be your last stop," Lamar raps in the song.
"Not Like Us" follows the release of Lamar's previous diss tracks "6:16 in LA" and "Meet the Grahams" on Friday and "Euphoria" on Tuesday.
Drake's 'Taylor Made':Drake removes song after Tupac's estate threatens to sue over AI voice imitation
Kendrick Lamar appears to allude to Drake's grooming controversy on 'Not Like Us'
Lamar seemingly alluded to previous allegations of grooming against Drake in some of the lyrics on "Not Like Us."
"Say, Drake, I hear you like (them) young. You better not ever go to cell block one," Lamar raps. "To any (girl) that talk to him and they in love, just make sure you hide your (little) sister from him."
Drake received backlash in 2018 after "Stranger Things" star Millie Bobby Brown, then 14, revealed she considered the rapper "a great friend and a great role model," despite their 17-year age difference. Several people on social media accused the "Slime You Out" rapper of "grooming" Brown as a result of their texting relationship.
The "Poetic Justice" rapper also took shots at some of Drake's musical colleagues, appearing to reference R&B singer PartyNextDoor and rapper Baka Not Nice, both of whom are signed to Drake's record label OVO Sound.
"And Party at the party, playing with his nose now. And Baka got a weird case, why is he around? Certified Lover Boy? Certified pedophiles," Lamar raps.
Drake responds to grooming allegations:Rapper calls out 'weirdos' discussing Millie Bobby Brown friendship in 'For All the Dogs'
Listen to 'Not Like Us'
Listen to Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us" on YouTube and stream on Spotify.
Fans marvel at Kendrick Lamar's 'Not Like Us'
Fans took to social media to share their reactions to Lamar's diss track, with some praising the rapper's critique of Drake and others showing surprise at the song's quick release.
"Oh, he ate drake up 😭😭," one X user wrote.
X user @afrodope shared a clip of a Mtn Dew Rise ad featuring a dancing LeBron James to show their enthusiasm for the track. "Me with a margarita in hand at the fiesta on Cinco De Mayo when they play Kendrick Lamar’s diss song to Drake 'Not Like Us,' " the user wrote.
"Not another one, just drop an EP at this point 😭" @arianaunext wrote on X.
"Omg, we’re still digesting the song from yesterday. Can they relax?" X user @cliqueminaj wrote.
Why are Kendrick Lamar and Drake feuding?
Lamar and Drake's feud goes back more than a decade to 2013, when Lamar rapped on the Big Sean song "Control" about how he wanted to "murder" Drake and other prominent rappers.
Earlier this year, Lamar appeared on Future and Metro Boomin's "Like That" and rejected the idea of there being a "big three" in rap, declaring on the track, "It's just big me." The lyric was a response to J. Cole referring to himself, Drake and Lamar as the "big three" on Drake's 2023 track "First Person Shooter."
Drake and Kendrick Lamar diss tracks:Rappers escalate feud with 'Meet the Grahams' and 'Family Matters'
Drake subsequently fired back with two diss tracks directed at Lamar, "Push Ups" and "Taylor Made (Freestyle)," the latter of which was pulled from streaming services after Shakur's estate threated to sue. On follow-up diss track “Family Matters,” released Friday, Drake claimed Lamar "called the Tupac estate and begged (them) to sue me."
Lamar referenced this on "Euphoria" by rapping that Shakur is turning "in his grave."
Contributing: KiMi Robinson, Anika Reed and Naledi Ushe, USA TODAY