Kendrick Lamar Hits Top Of Billboard Hot 100 With “Not Like Us”

Kendrick Lamar and his war of words with Drake was largely expected to be a war of words but has transformed into a huge cultural moment that transcends the battle. K-Dot’s blistering “Not Like Us” landed the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 charts and gave DJ Mustard his first No. 1 debut.

Kendrick Lamar, 36, threw the first of the most current shots in the direction of Drake (and J. Cole) on the relatively tame “Like That” track from Future and Metro Boomin’s WE DON’T TRUST YOU collaborative album. From there, the stakes were raised when J. Cole fired back but retracted his diss track “7 Minute Drill” in the name of friendship.

Drake then leaked the track “Push Ups” before officially releasing the song and egging on the beef by daring Lamar to respond. Upping the ante, the Canadian superstar then released the “Taylor Made Freestyle” using AI-generated 2Pac and Snoop Dogg voices aimed at Lamar, which the estate of the late Tupac Shakur later took down.

Lamar returned the volley with “euphoria” which is also in the top 10 of the Hot 100 and just days later with “6:16 in LA” which prompted Drake to drop “Family Matters,” a track that is currently charting in the Hot 100 top 10 along with “Not Like Us” and “Like That.”

It all went left with Lamar’s creepy “Meet The Grahams,” which sits at No. 12 on the Hot 100, and “Not Like Us” came immediately after. It was an effective one-two punch as “Meet The Grahams” is sonically darker than “Not Like Us” with the latter now becoming the song of the summer.

Drake’s final salvo, “The Heart Part 6,” was seen as him waving the white flag and moving on from the battle. And as far as fans go, Kendrick Lamar is decidedly the winner of this feud.

—

Photo: Getty