Kendrick Lamar
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.
