We’ve all been waiting for Kendrick Lamar to drop the music video for his hit Drake diss song “Not Like Us.” On Thursday evening, as we were all wrapping up our July 4 meals with family, Kendrick finally fed us.
Clocking in at nearly six minutes, the video featured a handful of folks that were present at Lamar’s Pop Out concert on Juneteenth, including DJ Mustard, DeMar DeRozan, Storm DeBarge, Ab-Soul, Schoolboy Q, Jay Rock, Top Dawg Entertainment’s Moosa and Tommy the Clown.
In less than an hour, the video amassed over 1.5 million views and is currently sitting at nearly 15 million views on YouTube after 17 hours.
In the video, Lamar subtly (and unsubtly) responded to many of Drake’s bars during their now-legendary rap battle last May, such as the commentary about the “Backseat Freestyle” rapper’s kids not being his; pointed disses against Drake’s OVO label owl mascot and more.
There were many references and easter eggs that others on X/Twitter flagged and called out:
“Drake watching Kendrick do the Pop Out on Juneteenth and drop the Not Like Us video on Independence Day,” wrote one user on X/Twitter.
“WHY IS NO ONE TALKING ABOUT THE “DARK LANE” DRAKE LOOK ALIKE BEING PULLED INTO THE DARKNESS WHILE KENDRICK WAS CHILLIN with the spirit of COMPTON,” wrote another.
“This is intentionally the hardest part of the “Not Like Us” video. Didn’t even acknowledge any of Drakes claims just showed you he was a liar,” another said.
Others commended Lamar for his dedication to his hatred for Drake.
“Kendrick’s dedication to bullying this man is so inspiring,” wrote one user.
“The only person Drake fans should be mad at is Drake. He made yall think bars about height and small feet would be enough to win the biggest battle in Hip Hop history. Kendrick out rapped him, outsmarted him, out-lied him, and outright beat him at his own game,” said another.
“kendrick dropping a music video on independence day to call a canadian a pedophile is the most american shit ive seen all day,” wrote one user.
“Hitting a mean two-step with your wife in a video for a diss song has to be what Shakespeare was talking about when he wrote his sonnets,” said another.