Kendrick Lamar, Not Like Us | Song Review

Kendrick Lamar continues to fire shots at Drake. Once more, on the banger, “Not Like Us,” K-Dot delivers a knockout punch.

“Isee dead people.” And so, begins another Kendrick Lamar diss directed toward Drake, “Not Like Us”. “Not Like Us” contrasts “euphoria” and the utterly scathing “meet the grahams”. How so? The sound is more commercial – clubbier – which seems intentional. Given a sound readymade for radio and atypical of Kendrick, K-Dot seems to further clown Drizzy post- “Family Matters”. “Not Like Us” was produced by Mustard, Sounwave, and Sean Momberger. “They not like us, they not like us, they not like us.” Phew!

With the sleekness of the instrumental noted, let’s dive right into the bars – those directed to Drake, of course! Early on, Kendrick spits, “What’s up with these jabroni-ass niggas tryna see Compton?” Ooh-wee! He adds, “Beat your ass and hide the Bible if God watchin’.” So, K-Dot will set aside his Christianity to F him up. Noted.  There’s more, in the first verse: “Certified Lover Boy? Certified pedophiles,” and, “Why you trollin’ like a bitch? Ain’t you tired? Tryna strike a chord and it’s probably A minor.” Gah-day-um! Verse two finds Lamar continuing to eat Drake TF up, bringing up skeletons in the closet: “Fucked on Wayne girl while he was in jail, that’s connivin’ / Then get his face tatted like a bitch apologizin’.” He characterizes him as a pedophile (again), clowning his moniker as the 6 God: “Devil is a lie, he a 69 God, ayy / Freaky-ass niggas need to stay they ass inside, ayy.” In the third verse, he criticizes Drizzy’s artistry, accusing him of using others for clout, including Future, Lil Baby, 21 Savage, and Young Thug. One of the best jabs by K-Dot: “Let me hear you say, ‘OV-ho.’” “Meet the grahams” is the Kendrick Lamar diss to beat, but “Not Like Us” marks another red-hot joint where he destroys his adversary.

Kendrick Lamar // “Not Like Us” // Kendrick Lamar // 5.4.24

[📷: Brent Faulkner/The Musical Hype; Kendrick Lamar; Clker-Free-Vector-Images, Królestwo Nauki, OpenClipart-Vectors, Pete Linforth, Tumisu from Pixabay]