Us | 5 Gems

Reading Time: 11 min read

Us: 5 Gems No. 25 (2026) features songs by Captain & Tennille, Gracie Abrams, FLETCHER, Jack Harlow, and Kendrick Lamar.

“Look in my heart / And let love keep US together.”

Isn’t it hard to believe that that Captain & Tennille classic is a cover 🤯?! As for Gracie Abrams, assisted by Taylor Swift, “Do you miss US, US? / I felt it, you held it, do you miss US, US?” And last but not least, what about Kendrick Lamar, who informed the world, “They not like US, they not like US, they not like US.” Between the three musicians and their respective songs, US is the keyword. Us: 5 Gems No. 25 (2026) features songs by Captain & Tennille, Gracie Abrams, FLETCHER, Jack Harlow, and Kendrick Lamar. So, without further ado, let’s embrace the first-person plural pronoun, us!

~ Table of Contents ~

1. Kendrick Lamar, “Not Like Us”

2. Gracie Abrams,, “us.” (Ft. Taylor Swift)

3. FLETCHER, “Eras of Us”

4. Jack Harlow, “Just Us” (Ft. Doja Cat)

5. Captain & Tennille, “Love Will Keep Us Together”

5 Gems (2026)

1. Kendrick Lamar, “Not Like Us”

“Not Like Us” » Kendrick Lamar / Interscope » 2024

“I see dead people.”

And so, begins the Kendrick Lamar diss directed toward Drake, “Not Like Us”. The sound is intentionally clubby and commercial. Atypical of him artistically, Kendrick clowned 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.” The sleekness of the instrumental is a selling point, but the bars ‘take the cake.’ Early on, K-Dot spits, “What’s up with these jabroni-ass niggas tryna see Compton?” He adds, “Beat your ass and hide the Bible if God watchin’.” He’s willing to compromise his Christianity to F him up. 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’…” He clowns 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 his artistry, accusing him of using others for clout. One of the best jabs by K-Dot: “Let me hear you say, ‘OV-ho.’” “Not Like Us” is the third of three red-hot joints where Kendrick destroys his adversary.

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2. Gracie Abrams, “us.” (Ft. Taylor Swift)

The Secret of Us » Gracie Abrams / Interscope » 2024

“You’re twenty-nine years old / So how can you be cold 🥶 when I open my home?”

According to Gracie Abrams, he was the older, more mature one in their relationship, so how is it that he seems less invested, etc.? Notably, Abrams was only 24 when “us.” was released, appearing as the fifth track from her 2024 sophomore album, The Secret of Us. Abrams receives a big-time assist from a pop superstar: Taylor Swift. Besides her vocal contributions supporting Gracie, Swift penned “us.” With Abrams and Aaron Dessner. Jack Antonoff joins the three songwriters as a producer on the track.

The rhythmic plucked strings that recur throughout are a nice touch – one of the finer instrumental moments of “us.” Gracie Abrams handles most of the vocals and sings in an undertone initially. She is cool, calm, and collected, never forcing things. “I know your ghost / I see her through the smoke,” she sings in the first verse, and continues, “She’ll play her show / And you’ll be watchin’.” Abrams goes on to sing the first pre-chorus, before Swift provides minor contributions during the chorus. As “us.” progresses, it gradually builds into something grander beyond the striking, minimalist plucked strings. The production is fuller by the first chorus, and even fuller beyond it.

“Do you miss us, us?

I felt it, you held it, do you miss us, us?

Wonder if you regret the secret of us, us

Us (Us), us (Us), us (Us).”

Once more, Abrams does the heavy lifting during the second verse, excerpted earlier. Swift performs the second pre-chorus, asserting, “And if history’s clear, the flames always end up in ashes,” and adds, “Babylon lovers hangin’ missed calls on the line.” What more can you say but, word. From there, Swift mostly contributes to Abrams’s lead, with the duo joining forces for a pair of lines in the final chorus. Before the final chorus, the bridge separates itself from the rest of the song. “That night, you were talkin’ false prophets and profits / They make in the margins of poetry sonnets,” Gracie asserts, with Swift adding, “You never read up on it, shame, could’ve learned somethin’.” All told, “us.” Marks one of the more accomplished moments from The Secret of Us. There have been more collaborative duets, but Abrams and Swift put in work.

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3. FLETCHER, “Eras of Us”

In Search of the Antidote » Snapback Entertainment LLC / UMG Recordings, Inc. » 2024

“Sometimes I re-run those sixteen seasons for the rush.”

You can always depend on FLETCHER (Cari Fletcher) for an awesome, love-driven, relationship-oriented gem. “Eras of Us”, the sixth track from her 2024 album, In Search of the Antidote, gives us that. The excerpted line specifically references her previous four-year relationship with Shannon Beveridge. Fletcher co-wrote “Eras of Us” with Jennifer Decliveo, Jeremy “Kinetics” Dussolliet, and One Love (Timothy Sommers). Decliveo and One Love produced it.

“Eras of Us” begins with a cool, guitar ostinato. FLETCHER sings in her lower register initially, in an undertone. “I’ve been practicing this moment for like twenty-somethin’ years in my head / ‘It’s nice to meet you’,” she sings in the first verse, adding, “That’s what I said / You said, ‘Baby, this is gonna be some movie shit we’ll never forget.’” Word. FLETCHER ascends higher during the chorus. Expectedly, the chorus benefits from tunefulness:

“These are the eras of us

A story of love

Stealin’ the air right from my lungs

Girl of my dreams

Forever we’re young

Remember it just the way it was

The eras of us.”

The second verse has more oomph compared to the first. Specifically, the production is more driven with heavier, pummeling drums. At the end of the second verse, she delivers some of the song’s best lyrics: “I told every one of my friends / You won’t get a lyric again / But goddamn here I fuckin’ am / Stuck in the eras of us.” Later, the bridge distinguishes itself from the other sections. The energy here is incredibly high as FLETCHER proclaims, she’s “just an adrenaline slut” that has “been tryna kill the memory of you in my mind / It’s a cross I’m gonna bear until the day that I die.” She brings things down in the final chorus, admitting, “I miss the eras of us,” and takes responsibility (“I fucked it up”). FLETCHER’s pain is our listening pleasure in “Eras of Us”. Her experience is universal, hence making it relatable whether you are a member of the LGBTQ+ community or hetero AF.

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4. Jack Harlow, “Just Us” (Ft. Doja Cat)

“Just Us” » Generation Now / Atlantic Recording Corporation » 2025

“I wish it was just us in this bitch / but they can’t trust us in this bitch / ‘Cause I’m tryna bust nuts in this, huh.”

It does not take long for Grammy-nominated rapper Jack Harlow to ‘reveal his cards’ on “Just Us”. He gets ‘nasty’ early on in the chorus. Sometimes, his sexually charged lines feel, um, clumsy – would not be the first time. He collaborates with Grammy-winning rapper/singer Doja Cat. Hollywood Cole, Tay Keith, Angel Lopez, Ojivolta, and Dylan Graham produced “Just Us.” The musical backdrop is warm on this sexy, hip-hop song. Notably, it samples the 2021 song “NOTE TO THE CITY. (INTERLUDE)” by Boslen featuring Rascals.

Busting nuts is the only ear-catching, slightly WTF moment from Harlow. He censors their rendezvous in the chorus, where “clutchin’” and “adjusting” happen, comments on her huskiness, and admits, “I know it sounds like Zack and Cody / This life’s sweet, I mean high key.” That is all before the first verse, where Jack admits, “I’m all on you, falling out my seat.” I enjoy Doja Cat’s aggressive tone, whether or not all of the rhymes land. She delivers some memorable, eyebrow-raising lyrics, regarding sex, of course. “Two hands on my ‘fro, starin’ into my soul / Leg up on the chair, hand on that arm, tongue in that throat,” she spits early in the second verse, adding, the likes of “Insatiable, I’m like Pac-Man / We go back further than Backgammon,” and “You mad cute, I wan’ fuck / Don’t ice box me, let’s touch.” In the outro, Harlow makes numerous music/song references to Musiq Soulchild (“Just Friends”), Bobby V. (“Slow Down”), and The Temptations. While “Just Us” is enjoyable enough, it is not game-changing, groundbreaking, or innovative. It is what it is.

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5. Captain & Tennille, “Love Will Keep Us Together”

Love Will Keep Us Together » A&M Records » 1975

“Love / Love will keep us together / Think of me, babe, whenever / Some sweet-talking girl comes along.”

Former husband and wife duo Captain & Tennille – Daryl Dragon (1942 – 2019) and Toni Tennille (b. 1940) – thrived on the pop charts. Their biggest hit, without a doubt, is “Love Will Keep Us Together”, which peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. “Love Will Keep Us Together” is the opener from the 1975 album of the same name. Neil Sedaka (1939 – 2026), who originally recorded “Love,” and Howard Greenfield composed the iconic pop song. Shout out the harmonic progression! Daryl Dragon produced the C&T cover.

“Love Will Keep Us Together” is a ray of sunshine from the get-go! The musical accompaniment is bouncy, funky, and playful. I love the brightness of the instrumentation – exuberant, honky tonk-ish keys, an active bass line, and heavy-handed, pummeling drums. The musical riffs are EVERYTHING. Also, everything is the playful vocals by Tennille. While the Captain (Dragon), holds it down on the instrumental and production end, Tennille convincingly brings those melodies and unforgettable lyrics to life. “You / You belong to me now,” she sings in the second verse, and adds, “Ain’t gonna set you free now.” I love the addition of background vocals singing (“doo(s)”) during the second verse. The background vocals accentuate, adding to the overall vibrance. The chorus marks another high-flying moment from “Love.”

“Just stop

‘Cause I really love you

Stop, I’ll be thinking of you

Look in my heart

And let love keep us together.”

The bridge (“Young and beautiful / Someday your looks will be gone…”) marvelously distinguishes itself from the verses and chorus, using a different harmonic progression and stepping outside of the original key. I like the prominence of the keys during this section. There is also a great instrumental section, with background vocals intact. So much could be said about how elite “Love Will Keep Us Together” is. This is a special, special pop song that never grows old. Captain & Tennille, you did that!