On May 4, 2024, Kendrick Lamar Duckworth not only shook up the Hip-Hop game, but he delivered a single that will live on in the music history books for decades to come. Without warning, he released a track called “Not Like Us” aimed at the chart-topping star Aubrey Drake Graham. Fueled by a soulful sample of Marko Higgins’ “I Believe to My Soul,” “Not Like Us” became an anthem that extended far beyond his back-and-forth with Drake and stretched its way into other venues as song of identity. During a recent conversation with SZA for Harper’s Bazaar, the Compton native explained what the song means to him.
“Can I ask you a hypermasculine question? You can also tell me to shut the fuck up. What does “Not Like Us” mean to you?” SZA asked.
“Not like us? Not like us is the energy of who I am, the type of man I represent. Now, if you identify with the man that I represent?,” Lamar answered.
“This man has morals, he has values, he believes in something, he stands on something. He’s not pandering. He’s a man who can recognize his mistakes and not be afraid to share the mistakes and can dig deep down into fear-based ideologies or experiences to be able to express them without feeling like he’s less of a man. If I’m thinking of ‘Not Like Us,’ I’m thinking of me and whoever identifies with that.”
From Janet Jackson to Isaiah Rashad, artists in all genres at all points in their career with varying relationships to Lamar have incorporated the hit record into their live performances. Keith Murphy for Andscape called it the “next great sports anthem.” Not to mention, Hip-Hop DX called it the third best diss track of all time and it is expected to perform well with The Recording Academy during the upcoming GRAMMY Awards.
