Jermaine Dupri Says “Impact” No Longer Goal In Rap After Steph Curry & LeBron James Spark “Not Like Us” Debate 

Jermaine Dupri is sharing his perspective after Steph Curry and LeBron James debated whether Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us’” is played out. 

On Wednesday (July 17), footage went viral of Team USA basketball players warming up for their game against Serbia ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics later this month. The chart-topping Drake diss played in the background, but Curry was tired of hearing it.  

“It’s not the only song in America,” he joked before James chimed in. “I love it,” he replied with a shrug before seemingly saying he was ready to hear “something else.” 

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Their conversation prompted a discussion about whether it was time for the hype surrounding the song to die down.  

Jermaine Dupri weighed in with his take, sharing insight he gained after attending a recent LL COOL J show.  According to the producer, “Not Like Us” made an impact that hasn’t been achieved by this generation of rappers.  

“The reason why it’s no male stars in Hip-Hop anymore that have the impact that LL COOL J has and had, is because the goal in Hip-Hop used to be impact,” he said in a video. “Not sales, not charts; impact. How hard (pause) you could impact the streets. That’s no longer the goal, and to me, is the sole reason why rap is not what rap used to be. Because n##### don’t care about impacting the streets no more.” 

Jermaine Duper Brands Steph Curry’s “Not Like Us” Reaction “Ironic”

He doubled down in the caption, saying he found Steph Curry’s reaction “ironic.” 

“Because what he is feeling (Pause) is a record impacting the streets,” he added. “This new generation is not use to that.” 

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The debate continued in his comment section. While some agreed with Dupri, others backed Curry, insisting the discussion isn’t that deep and the song is played out.  

DJ Jazzy Jeff shared his opinion among the responses. “I think what the issue is we used to have a few songs with this impact at the same time to spread it out alil more,” he said. “Because we haven’t had a Lean Back or a In Da Club in so long.” 

Another person said, “I love Kendrick but I mean it’s a diss song not a motivational song. That’s not a song I wanna hear everyday all day either. I listen to diss song a couple times then after that I’m tired of hearing it. It served it purpose. Just my personal opinion.”