DeMar DeRozan was one of the many sports figures referenced in Kendrick Lamar’s latest smash hit, “Not Like Us.”
“I’m glad DeRoz’ came home, y’all didn’t deserve him neither,” the Compton native rapped as he jabbed at his longtime rival, Drake.
DeRozan recently signed a three-year deal with the Sacramento Kings, but he spent many of his formative years in the NBA with the Toronto Raptors. During his time in Ontario, he formed a bond with Toronto’s own Aubrey Drake Graham, who referenced him in several songs.
“For real, and my city love me like DeMar DeRozan,” he rapped on “Lemon Pepper Freestyle” with his friend-turned-foe Rick Ross.
After spending nearly a decade with the team, the Raptors traded DeRozan to the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for Kawhi Leonard, who would go on to lead the team to its first NBA Championship in 2019. As he attempted to make sense of the trade, he went to Drake’s house to discuss it further.
“I went to Drake’s house. Me and him sat and talked for a couple of hours,” he said.
“Not even on some hoops stuff. Just to hear the words that come from him being the person that he is in this world, especially in Toronto. What I meant to this city. It was what I needed.”
Given his relationship with Drake, many were unsure about how DeRozan would feel about being mentioned in a diss track aimed at Toronto’s biggest star. However, the NBA star embraced it, even agreeing to appear in the song’s official music video. During a recent interview with the Sacramento Bee, the Kings’ biggest free agency signing of 2024 explained his motivation for appearing in the video.
“It was fun to be a part of (‘Not Like Us’),” he said.
“For that moment, it was so much bigger than what people look at it as a beef between (Lamar) and Drake. It brought our whole city together in a different type of light where there wasn’t no issues, no violence. Everybody was coming together in a peaceful manner and that was the beauty out of those moments.”
Two weeks after its release, the “Not Like Us” video has amassed nearly 75 million views on YouTube. Meanwhile, DeRozan is preparing to make his regular season debut with the Kings in the fall.
