Kendrick Lamar Scores Yet Another "Not Like Us" Milestone As Drake Tries To "Win Game 2"

BYGabriel Bras Nevares23.8K Views
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The 2023 Met Gala Celebrating "Karl Lagerfeld: A Line Of Beauty" - Inside
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 01: Kendrick Lamar attends The 2023 Met Gala Celebrating "Karl Lagerfeld: A Line Of Beauty" at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 01, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Arturo Holmes/MG23/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue)
At this point, Kendrick Lamar can live off this song quite comfortably.

Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us" continues to keep up some momentum, even if many Drake fans and some haters alike are already tired of it. Moreover, it's now officially eligible for five-times Platinum certification, as it has now sold over 5 million units in the United States alone. This is very impressive considering that the song has only been out for almost four months, but not surprising at all when you consider the massive impact of the Drake battle. Pretty much everyone agrees that, for better or worse, it was the song of the summer. And it will probably continue to shine throughout the rest of 2024.

Furthermore, this is partly due to the fact that Drake wants to "win Game 2," as he stated on his IG burner account. We still don't know if this actually means a full second battle with Kendrick Lamar, as his lyrical material as of late definitely references his various beefs this year. The more likely scenario is that the 6ix God will target his other opponents and try to win "the long game" with continued commercial and critical success.

Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us" Sells Over 5 Million Units

Nevertheless, we doubt that Kendrick Lamar will stay quiet for long, despite DJ Hed pushing back on new album speculation. Maybe it's not a full-on project, but we can't imagine that he won't follow up this material with something big either this year or the next. Maybe that's just wishful thinking, but considering the success of "Not Like Us," it sounds like more of just a no-brainer business move. Yet K.Dot's never been one to overtly succumb to commercial pressures, or to release music just for the sake of it.

As such, we have to be patient and see what he planned for his next move, as well as whether or not he will revisit Drake. Elsewhere, Kendrick Lamar also got some unrelated commercial achievements under his belt this year, such as the Diamond certification of "goosebumps" with Travis Scott. But no matter what goes down with this beef in the near future, the status of "Not Like Us" is one that fans can't deny.

About The Author
Gabriel Bras Nevares is a staff writer for HotNewHipHop. He joined HNHH while completing his B.A. in Journalism & Mass Communication at The George Washington University in the summer of 2022. Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Gabriel treasures the crossover between his native reggaetón and hip-hop news coverage, such as his review for Bad Bunny’s hometown concert in 2024. But more specifically, he digs for the deeper side of hip-hop conversations, whether that’s the “death” of the genre in 2023, the lyrical and parasocial intricacies of the Kendrick Lamar and Drake battle, or the many moving parts of the Young Thug and YSL RICO case. Beyond engaging and breaking news coverage, Gabriel makes the most out of his concert obsessions, reviewing and recapping festivals like Rolling Loud Miami and Camp Flog Gnaw. He’s also developed a strong editorial voice through album reviews, think-pieces, and interviews with some of the genre’s brightest upstarts and most enduring obscured gems like Homeboy Sandman, Bktherula, Bas, and Devin Malik.
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