Buddy Is Latest Cali Rapper To Turn Up To "Not Like Us" At A Show

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Rolling Loud Southern California
SAN BERNARDINO, CA - DECEMBER 16: Rapper Buddy performs onstage at the Rolling Loud Festival at NOS Events Center on December 16, 2017 in San Bernardino, California. (Photo by Scott Dudelson/Getty Images)
Buddy repped the west onstage.

"Not Like Us" has become the anthem of the year. Kendrick Lamar's number one single has taken over the airways and the parties, much to the chagrin of its target: Drake. Nowhere is K. Dot's victory more apparent than the West Coast. Dozens of Los Angeles rappers have played the song at their shows, to the point where it's become a trend. Buddy recent appeared at an L.A. festival, and the talented emcee decided to bring the house down by dancing to the diss record onstage.

Buddy's music has a laid back, contemplative feel. This is what made his decision to switch it up such a surprise. The rapper decided to throw on "Not Like Us" in the middle of his show, and the crowd lost its collective mind. Everybody in the audience sang along to the diss, and Buddy loved every moment if it. He can be seen egging the crowd on. At one point, he abandoned rapping and starting dancing on the stage. The only time he used the mic was to join the crowd in chanting the "A minor" punchline that Lamar levels at Drake. The rapper had an absolute blast.

Buddy Sang Along To Kendrick Lamar's Electric Diss

Buddy has been a longtime admirer of Kendrick Lamar. He secured a feature from Lamar on his 2014 mixtape, Idle Time, and has repeatedly credited him as an inspiration. "I'm a big Kendrick fan and that sh*t happened so damn early in my career," he told The Fader. "Even in Kendrick's career. He wasn't the Kendrick he is today when I got the feature. But I was still fully aware of the talent so I was super gung-ho. I figured out my first Backwood and I got a Kendrick feature. It was like a combo." The rapper has remained close with the other members of Top Dawg Entertainment, as well.

Buddy met Lamar through Pharrell Williams, the artist he signed to back in 2009. Despite maintaining reverence for Pharrell, Buddy has made it clear that Lamar and the entire TDE roster has had a bigger impact on his musical style. During a 2022 interview with Billboard, the rapper revealed that he borrowed a line from Ab-Soul to make his song "Ain't Fair." "He said that in a rap back in the day so that was like a little homage to Ab-Soul," he noted. "Shoutout Ab-Soul."

About The Author
Elias Andrews is a music and entertainment writer for HotNewHipHop. He joined HNHH in 2024 as the lead night shift contributor, which means he covers new music releases on a weekly basis. In the year since joining, Elias has covered some of the biggest and most turbulent stories in the world of music. He covered the Drake and Kendrick Lamar battle, and the release of the disses “Family Matters” and “Meet the Grahams,” in particular, in real time. He has also detailed the ongoing list of allegations and criminal charges made against Diddy. Elias’ favorite artists are Andre 3000, MF Doom, pre-808s Kanye West and Tyler, The Creator. He loves L.A. hip-hop but not L.A. sports teams. The first album he ever bought was Big Willie Style by Will Smith, which he maintains is still a pretty good listen.
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