Kendrick Lamar’s victory lap continues.
The Compton rapper finally dropped the music video for his now-iconic diss track “Not Like Us” on Thursday. The video, released after Lamar sang the song six consecutive times at last month’s fun-filled “The Pop Out” concert, may be seen as the culmination of Lamar’s final victory over Drake in the feud between the two rappers that has dominated the pop world. For much of this year, mainstream culture has been.
The video includes several references to Drake and his label OVO, and shows Lamar partying with some of the West Coast hip-hop greats. Plus, it includes some subtle and not-so-subtle references to the feud.
Directed by Lamar and Dave Free, the video features cameos from West Coast notables, including “Not Like Us” producer Mustard, who in one of Drake’s most obvious digs also wears a Toronto Blue Jays cap. Also making appearances are Tommy the Clown, Compton-born NBA star (and former Toronto Raptors player) DeMar DeRozan, and Top Dawg Entertainment CEO Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith.
The video begins with the rapper doing push-ups on a cinder block in a room with Tommy the Clown inside. The scene is a reference to Drake’s “Push Ups,” and at the time of the video’s release, Drake had referenced a photo of Lamar doing push-ups.
Lamar’s partner, Whitney Alford, and their two children are also seen. Drake’s song “Family Matters” claims that Flea gave birth to one of Lamar’s children with Alford. There are vivid flashbacks in the video of Drake, Alford, Lamar, and their children dancing together.
The video contains several visual references to owls, a bird associated with Drake’s label, OVO. There are shots of an owl perched on Lamar’s arm, an owl in a cage, and Lamar smashing an owl piñata, while a disclaimer flashes on the screen stating “no OVHoes were harmed during the making of this video.” The video also contains references to several locations, including Tam’s Burger and the Compton Courthouse.
The feud between Drake and Kendrick Lamar took the world by storm in May, with each musician releasing multiple songs dissing the other. As The Hollywood Reporter’s Shaheem Reed wrote, each song was “excellence, pettiness as well as some ingenious combat zone strategy” than the last. Many believe Lamar won the feud. Statistically, “Not Like Us” is his most popular song, peaking at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, with the added bonus of a music video that’s sure to go viral.