Kendrick Lamar added insult to injury as his Drake diss track “Not Like Us” hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The DJ Mustard-produced song debuted at the top of the chart thanks to 70.9 million streams, 5 million radio airplay audience impressions and 15,000 copies sold in the U.S. in its first week.
“Not Like Us” was Kendrick’s second Drake diss to reach No. 1. Future and Metro Boomin’s Kendrick-assisted “Like That,” the opening salvo in the Drake battle, spent three weeks at No. 1 in April. “Not Like Us” was the fourth No. 1 hit of Kendrick’s career. His other chart-topping entries included “Humble” and the Taylor Swift collaboration “Bad Blood.”
Kendrick quickly released “Not Like Us” after dropping “Meet the Grahams,” a response to Drake’s “Family Matters.” K. Dot called Drake a predator on “Meet the Grahams,” equating the Canadian’s alleged misdeeds to those of disgraced movie executive Harvey Weinstein. Kendrick doubled down on his accusations on “Not Like Us.”
“Say, Drake, I hear you like ’em young/You better not ever go to cell block one/To any b#### that talk to him and they in love/Just make sure you hide your lil’ sister from him/They tell me Chubbs the only one that get your hand-me-downs/And Party at the party playing with his nose now/And Baka got a weird case, why is he around?/Certified Lover Boy? Certified pedophiles/Wop, wop, wop, wop, wop, Dot, f### ’em up/Wop, wop, wop, wop, wop, I’ma do my stuff/Why you trolling like a b####? Ain’t you tired?/Tryna strike a chord and it’s probably A minor,” he rapped.
Kendrick’s “Not Like Us” was arguably the biggest blow in the battle with Drake. The song encouraged fans to chant lines like “freaky-ass n####, he a 69 God” and “OV-ho,” entering the pop culture zeitgeist in a much different way than Kendrick and Drake’s previous diss tracks.
Drake defended himself by releasing “The Heart Part 6.” Many fans deemed it to be too little, too late, declaring Kendrick the winner.