Compton crowds back up Kendrick Lamar in long-awaited music video for ‘Not Like Us’

compton-crowds-back-up-kendrick-lamar-in-long-awaited-music-video-for-‘not-like-us’
Compton crowds back up Kendrick Lamar in long-awaited music video for ‘Not Like Us’

Kendrick Lamar has finally dropped the highly anticipated music video for his viral diss track aimed at Drake, ‘Not Like Us’. Released on July 4, the art piece was co-directed by Lamar and Dave Free, who was also dissed by Drake in ‘Family Matters’ music video. The video features a spread of prominent West Coast figures, including notable appearances from Tommy the Clown, producer Mustard, and former Toronto Raptor DeMar DeRozan.

In ‘Not Like Us’, Lamar takes aim at Drake’s OVO label with a clear reference to the label’s owl logo. The video ends with Lamar staring down an owl in a cage before walking away in the dark, sending out a hard-hitting message to Drake.

At the end of the video, Lamar also dances with his partner Whitney Alford and their two children, seemingly pushing back against Drake’s accusations of infidelity and family mistreatment against Lamar. The Compton MC opened the diss track with a new set of bars namedropping Kamasi Washington, collaborating with Lamar on his album ‘To Pimp A Butterfly’.

The video shows Lamar working out in a sparsely furnished room surrounded by only speakers and canvases. Lamar also delivers an electric performance alongside Crip-Walking dancers, visits Tam’s Burgers and brings out a massive crowd onto Compton’s streets to jam along to the track. Anticipation for the video grew after photos and clips of Lamar filming the video spread on social media earlier last month.

Since its release earlier in May, ‘Not Like Us’ has become Lamar’s fourth Billboard Hot 100 Number One single, following his feature on Future and Metro Boomin’s song, which ignited his feud with Drake this year. There has been strong speculation that the song would be nominated for the Grammy Awards, with Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, saying that while diss tracks were not commonly nominated, Kendrick Lamar’s huge success with the awards in the past makes it a strong possibility

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