Not Like Us


"Not Like Us" is a diss track by the American rapper Kendrick Lamar released amidst his highly publicized feud with the Canadian rapper Drake. It was released on May 4, 2024, through Interscope Records, less than 20 hours after Lamar's previous diss track "Meet the Grahams". A music video, directed by Dave Free and Lamar, was released on American Independence Day.
Primarily produced by Mustard, with additional work from Sounwave and Sean Momberger, "Not Like Us" is a hyphy-influenced West Coast hip-hop song composed of a prominent bassline with lively strings and finger snaps. Lyrically, it continues the themes introduced in "Meet the Grahams". Lamar doubles down on allegations of Drake's sexual interest in adolescents and sexual misconduct. He also criticizes his cultural identity and relationships with artists based in Atlanta, Georgia, accusing him of exploiting them for street credibility and financial gain.
"Not Like Us" received acclaim from critics, who praised the production, songwriting, and Lamar's performance; they felt it solidified Lamar's victory. It is widely regarded as the feud's best track and one of the greatest diss tracks of all time. "Not Like Us" broke numerous records on the streaming platform Spotify and peaked at number one in ten countries, while charting in the top ten in over 20 additional countries. Drake responded to "Not Like Us" with "The Heart Part 6", in which he denied Lamar's accusations, on May 5. In January 2025, Drake filed a lawsuit against Interscope's parent Universal Music Group, alleging that "Not Like Us" defamed him and that UMG and Spotify artificially inflated its popularity; the lawsuit was dismissed in October 2025.
"Not Like Us" won all five of its Grammy nominations at the 67th ceremony: Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song, and Best Music Video. It is tied with the 5th Dimension's "Up, Up and Away" as the most-awarded song in Grammy history. Lamar first performed "Not Like Us" live on Juneteenth 2024 during The Pop Out: Ken & Friends, where he played it five consecutive times. In February 2025, he performed it when he headlined the Super Bowl LIX halftime show and throughout his Grand National Tour.

Background and release

American rapper Kendrick Lamar and Canadian rapper Drake have been engaged in a rap feud since August 2013. Tensions escalated in March 2024, following Lamar's surprise appearance on Future and Metro Boomin's single "Like That", which was perceived as a diss aimed at Drake and J. Cole over their track "First Person Shooter". Drake responded to Lamar's verse with the single "Push Ups" and the since-removed song "Taylor Made Freestyle". Lamar fired back with the songs "Euphoria" and "6:16 in LA".
Hours after "6:16 in LA" was released, Drake responded with the single "Family Matters", in which he accused Lamar of abusing his romantic partner, Whitney Alford, and alleged that one of his two children was fathered by his creative partner, Dave Free. Less than an hour later, Lamar responded with "Meet the Grahams", depicting Drake as an alleged sexual predator who runs a sex trafficking ring inside of his Toronto mansion, known as the Embassy, while fathering a secret daughter. "Not Like Us" was unexpectedly released on May 4, 2024, less than 24 hours after "Meet the Grahams" was published. The only prior marketing that the song received came from Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith, the head of Lamar's former record label Top Dawg Entertainment, who posted, "Dot, I see dead people" on Twitter approximately two hours before its premiere.
Like Lamar's previous releases during the feud, "Not Like Us" was initially released as a YouTube exclusive before Interscope Records serviced it to music streaming platforms several hours later. He reportedly removed the copyright claims for a limited time, effectively allowing the public to freely use the song even for commercial purposes. Universal Music promoted the song on radio airplay in Italy on May 10, 2024. A blended version of the studio recording with the live performance from the Pop Out: Ken & Friends impacted radio stations in California on July 11, 2024.

Cover art

The single's cover art shows a bird's-eye-view of Drake's Toronto mansion from a Google Maps screenshot with 13 red markers placed on its roof, symbolizing the presence of registered sex offenders. Following the song's release, the mansion's Google Maps view was vandalized, with users creating landmarks on the mansion with names such as "Owned by Kendrick", "Kendrick's dog" and "A-Minor". Neighboring houses were similarly vandalized, with titles such as "Zesty Drake", "CertifiedKidLover" and "ChildMOE-Lester". A forest near the mansion was renamed to "Money Trees", referencing Lamar's 2012 song of the same name.

Composition

"Not Like Us" is a "club-friendly" West Coast hip-hop track with strong hyphy stylings. Several elements of its production, including the "stirring" violins, piano and brass instruments, were taken from samples of Monk Higgins's 1968 rendition of "I Believe to My Soul", a cover of Ray Charles's 1961 composition. Despite speculation, the song does not include a sample of Nas's diss record "Ether". On "Not Like Us", Lamar employs a "comically exaggerated" cadence that elicited comparisons to Drakeo the Ruler's signature flow.
Mustard, the song's primary producer, wanted to work with Lamar for years and would send him about five beats a day for three months. He was inspired to compose the beat after imagining what Dr. Dre would create if he was in a recording studio with Lil Jon. With contributions from Sounwave and Sean Momberger, Mustard produced "Not Like Us" in about 30 minutes by speeding up the sample's tempo to create a "relentless" and "urgent" atmosphere. Its additional bassline, snare drums, and finger snaps heightened its "aggressive" tone. On April 6, 2024, Mustard sent the finished production to Lamar while attending his manager's birthday dinner. He received a complimentary text message from Lamar later that evening, but was unaware Lamar used it until the song came out.

Lyrics

"Not Like Us" begins with Lamar whispering "psst, I see dead people", a reference to The Sixth Sense, which he previously referenced on "Euphoria". Lamar then makes a series of allusions to his hometown of Compton, California, before accusing Drake of sexual behavior with minors. Lamar references Drake's album Certified Lover Boy when labeling him and his label OVO Sound as "certified pedophiles", specifically naming Chubbs, Drake's head of security; PartyNextDoor, the first artist signed; and Baka Not Nice, who had been in prison for human trafficking before signing.
Lamar also attacks Drake's personal relationships, alleging that Drake had sex with Lil Wayne's girlfriend, saying he "did Cole foul", and warning him to "not speak on Serena", referencing the fact that Drake and Serena Williams – who also grew up near Compton – were romantically involved in 2015 and that Drake dissed her husband in "Middle of the Ocean".
Lamar challenges Drake's cultural identity throughout the track. In the second verse, Lamar accuses Drake of disrespecting the memory of rapper 2Pac by artificially recreating his voice on "Taylor Made Freestyle". In the third verse, Lamar accuses Drake of exploiting Black artists from Atlanta for street credibility and financial gain in the same way that colonizers in the city exploited slave labor, using his collaborations with Future, Lil Baby, 21 Savage, Young Thug, Quavo, and 2 Chainz as examples. The chorus, which consists solely of the phrase "they not like us", has been interpreted as a message that Drake and his associates "are unlike own caliber, one that organically abides by the given morals of Black culture".
Lamar himself explained the personal meaning of the track in an interview with SZA:

Critical reception and analysis

"Not Like Us" was met with widespread critical acclaim for the contagious production, Lamar's vocal performance, and scathing songwriting. GQ's Frazier Tharpe dubbed the track a leading contender for the "song of the summer". He praised how the "banger" summoned Mustard's "raucous, party-starting homegrown energy" to deliver Lamar's "haymaker" that both out-strategized Drake and celebrated their West Coast upbringings. Stereogum editors found the song to be not only an "ultra-effective" diss record but a hit filled with "vicious" allegations and history lessons. Professional wrestler Shawn Michaels appreciated that his Sweet Chin Music finisher was mentioned in the song and invited Lamar and Drake to settle their differences at a WWE NXT program. Two other individuals referenced in the song, Serena Williams and M. Night Shyamalan, the writer and director of The Sixth Sense, praised it. Harvey Mason Jr., chief executive officer of the Recording Academy, praised the song's artistry and relevance.
Journalists described "Not Like Us" as a cultural touchstone, a clarion call for the West Coast, and one of the biggest diss tracks they have witnessed in their lifetimes. They considered the timing of its release and content an effective strategy in capturing the zeitgeist before listeners grew tired of the feud. Jordan Rose of Complex declared "Not Like Us" as the best track released during Lamar and Drake's feud due to its electric tone and "contagious" production, although many of the lyrics are "very questionable". Rose believes that "time will tell" if the song marked the "end conclusion" of their war, but it has already proven itself to be "the stone that stunned Goliath." Vibe's Armon Sadler ranked "Not Like Us" as the second-best track of the feud, praising the "undeniable bop" as a "masterclass" in execution. Mark Elibert from Billboard, who named it the fourth-best song, shared similar sentiments. Canadian outlets such as CBC News and Exclaim! opined that "Not Like Us" has grown into an anti-Canadian anthem reminiscent of "Blame Canada" from South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. Uproxx's Wongo Okon noted it helped Lamar become a more appealing figure for Generation Z and Generation Alpha listeners.
The song has also been examined in the context of race and cultural appropriation. Salamishah Tillet of The New York Times opined that while the message of "Not Like Us" may seem to attack Drake's biracial identity, its popularity has inspired a broad assortment of interracial interpretations. Rolling Stone Andre Gee believes the song is a "rally against perpetrators who shifted hip-hop from a Black and brown community with culturally understood modes of being into an at-times parodic circus." Mark P. Braboy of The Triibe expanded on Gee's sentiments, applying the song's message to "culture vultures" in hip-hop journalism who have built their platforms by exploiting Black trauma.
Pitchfork named "Not Like Us" as the third-best song released in the 2020s so far. In his accompanying excerpt, Alphonse Pierre declared the line "Certified Lover Boy? Certified pedophiles" as the "defining" lyric of the decade, in ways that are "unsettling and amazing and troubling and funny." Other publications such as Complex, HipHopDX, The Ringer, and The Root ranked "Not Like Us" as one of the greatest diss tracks of all time.
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