There are exceptions, however battle raps aren’t supposed to be hit information. Certain, they’re designed to get consideration, however by nature, they’re coarse diatribes conceived for the aim of their targets’ destruction; loud shouts, sickle cell jokes and taunts to enemies who aren’t alive to listen to them. Harnessing hyphy’s kinetic vitality, a decade of animosity, and the instincts of a true grasp manipulator, Kendrick Lamar pushed the idea of a industrial diss tune to its higher excessive for “Not Like Us,” an astute character assassination packaged in all of the infectiousness of “Began From the Backside.” It’s “Hit Em Up” and “Sicko Mode” on the similar time; a venomous barrage of insults rendered with the stickiness of a Drizzy Drake sing-a-long. It’s as a lot a technical marvel as a paradox: A diss monitorreceived a Grammy for Music of the Yr. Report of the Yr, Greatest Rap Efficiency, Greatest Rap Music and Greatest Music Video, too. When Kendrick performs at Caesars Superdome for Tremendous Bowl LIX this weekend, will probably be the punctuating victory lap in a yr crammed with them. By turning into the most effective battle rapper, the most effective hitmaker, and being acknowledged for each concurrently, Kendrick has loved essentially the most dominant rap peak of the millennium.
Kung Fu Kenny’s opening act was almost as cinematic as his finale. Coming out for a totally sudden visitor verse on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That,” he sniped would-be rivals Drake and J. Cole in a scathing response to their 2023 collab, “First Particular person Shooter.” Everybody got here to play right here. Metro Boomin’s “Eternal Bass” and Eazy-E flip have been masterful. Hendrix’s hook was indelible. And but Kendrick’s sneering warning shot was apex theater. It was the most effective sort of show-stealing. The outcome was rap historical past — or somewhat, a rewriting of it. With a barrage of jittery syllables, Kendrick defiled a rap continuum that stretched again to the weblog period: “Motherfuck the Massive 3, nigga, it’s simply massive me.” The proclamation turned “Like That” right into a second somewhat than only a nice tune, and predictably, it debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Sizzling 100 Chart. And that was simply scene one.
Whereas it’s onerous to keep in mind that the battle was initially aggressive, subsequent acts performed out with the identical sense of drama. A couple of weeks later, Drake countered with “Push Ups,” a virtuosic flip that noticed the 6ix God disarm and dismember enemies with all of the icy precision of The Equalizer. His follow-up, the questionable, if humorous, “Taylor Made Freestyle,” noticed Drake use 2Pac and Snoop Dogg AI results to topic Kendrick to a condescending lecture from his personal West Coast heroes. Two weeks later, Kendrick clapped again with “Euphoria,” solely to observe up with “6:16 in LA” just a few days later. Shifting between playful and pensive, Kendrick warned Drake to maintain issues mild. Along with his ferocious Kendrick diss, “Household Issues,” Drake ignored Kenny’s recommendation. After which, because the sky turned pitch black, Kendrick grew darker, nonetheless.
Moments after Drake’s diabolical assassination try, Kendrick responded with “Meet The Grahams,” a soul-skinning exorcism that might solely come from the hearts of the actually sinister. Wielding trembling vocals and sick intent, Kendrick painted Drake as an alcoholic intercourse addict with out the upbringing to be a superb father, framing the primary verse as a letter to Drake’s son Adonis. Then he left letters to Drake’s mother and father. After which, a daughter that possible doesn’t exist. This wasn’t under the belt as a lot because it was beneath the Earth. This wasn’t a critique; it was cosmic condemnation. Then, Kendrick determined it was time to occasion.
Launched lower than a full day after “Meet The Grahams,” “Not Like Us” was the real-life model of, “I’ll kill you, commit suicide, then kill you once more.” It was Alex Murphy getting shot the fuck up in Robocop. It was grotesque as grotesque will get. It was additionally an simple and indestructible slap — modernized Cali bounce Kendrick turns right into a funhouse. Every succeeding couplet is extra searing than the following, and the twitchy cadences make calling Drake a pedophile a phonetic journey. Kamala Harris used it at certainly one of her marketing campaign rallies. Black grandmas rapped it at household cookouts. White grandmas, too.
Thus far, it’s received over 1 billion Spotify streams. It debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Sizzling 100. It did numbers. Other than that, it proved an almost inconceivable mastery of craft. Nominally, “Meet The Grahams” and “Not Like Us” are each rap songs. However shifting from Alchemist manufacturing to a Mustard soundscape — from long-winded private messages to jumpy Instagram captions — Kendrick would possibly as nicely have been working in two fully totally different genres. He made The Godfather and Prime Gun: Maverick. He created them each simply days aside.
And someway, these parts won’t even be essentially the most spectacular elements of the songs. The true success of “Not Like Us” lies in its existential irritation. The hook is symbolic sufficient to be appropriated by anybody who needs to name one other Drake — their Drake, your Drake, my Drake, Kendrick’s Drake — a tradition vulture. Because the world, and veteran Drake enemy Pusha T observe, it was sufficient to spur some unprecedented authorized motion that was… nicely, unprecedented.
“I believe what Kendrick was doing was actually speaking to his soul,” Push defined to Ari Melber. “I imagine that will trigger you to faucet out, that will trigger you to sue, that will trigger you to do a number of issues. It’s loopy.”
As Push alludes to, Drake ended up submitting a lawsuit towards Common Music Group, accusing the label, which stays dwelling to himself and Kendrick, of utilizing bots to artificially inflate numbers for “Not Like Us.” Drake would possibly by no means say he misplaced this battle, however the lawsuit is extra emphatic than any hole concessions. Not solely did he lose badly within the precise battle. He was additionally a poor sport. He was the worst sport. All of us laughed about Drake turning Meek right into a meme. However Kendrick completed one thing much more extraordinary: He turned Drake right into a Karen.
That feat of alchemy solely punctuated one chapter of his world-conquering saga, which, after all, carried by the remainder of 2024 and past. His L.A. Pop Out live performance turned a Drizzy funeral right into a gang peace summit. “Not Like Us” mainly made JAY-Z give Kendrick a slot because the Tremendous Bowl halftime present headliner. Then Kendrick dropped the most effective rap album of the yr.
Launched in November, GNXnoticed Kenny triple-down on the bangers, an underrated specialty his opponents someway instructed he wasn’t able to. For “Hey Now,” Kendrick threads traditional hyphy with Drakeo The Ruler-inspired vocal inflections and a hook that’s concurrently playful and menacing. This wasn’t a ready-made anthem, both. Mustard advised Folks he made the beat 5 years in the past, and he provided it to YG and Quavo lengthy earlier than Kendrick even knew it existed. However Kendrick made it a top-five single. Ditto for the Debbie Deb-sampling “Squabble Up” and “TV Off,” the latter of which is sort of a “Not Like Us” half two. They went No. 1 and No. 2 on the Sizzling 100 respectively. Each tune on the LP landed on the chart, giving native acts like Jody6, Hitta J3, AzChike Sizzling 100 placements they may have by no means dreamed about. Critics like me liked the album, too. For Selection, I gave it a 92/100. In accordance with music assessment aggregator Metacritic, the LP sits at a median rating of 87, indicating common acclaim. All that. Kendrick received massive — greater than every other rapper has in 25 years.
To be clear: different superstars have additionally owned hip-hop. Some for years at a time. However nobody’s ever commandeered it so comprehensively. With deft lyricism, dexterous flows, and chameleonic musicality, Drake dominated 2011, 2015 and 2018. However in his first actual run, he was tormented by cornball allegations. Then, in 2015 and 2018, he confronted ghostwriting accusations, with the latter yr seeing him take his second-biggest loss up to now. Even when he ensnared followers and critics, that underground fan base was at all times going to be past his attain. After redefining the mixtape creativeness between 2005 and 2007, 2008 Lil Wayne had a No. 1 hit and a number of different high 10 singles as he continued eviscerating any and each monitor he approached. However, nice as Tha Carter III was, many heads (wrongfully) thought “Lollipop” was the sound of a company sellout somewhat than an progressive traditional. And although just a few folks dissed him, he was by no means offered a worthy sufficient opponent for a legendary battle.
2010 ’Ye had arguably the most effective album of the group, however he didn’t battle anyone, and none of his My Stunning Darkish Twisted Fantasy singles even reached the highest 10 of the Sizzling 100. As proficient as Drake and Nicki Minaj have been, their types hadn’t matured sufficient to be his competitors. In 2003, 50 Cent had a traditional No. 1 album and two No. 1 singles. And but, he nonetheless misplaced Greatest New Artist to Evanescence on the 2004 Grammy Awards. Tracks like “In Da Membership” and “21 Questions” proved an unquestioned — nearly unnatural — hitmaking mastery. He additionally beat up on then thug love tune king Ja Rule with a barrage of diss tracks. However Ja isn’t the spitter Drake is, and when 50 accompanied Roc-A-Fella information for his or her Roc The Mic tour, he wasn’t even the headliner. Kendrick is headlining the Tremendous Bowl.
50’s boss couldn’t fairly sustain, both. In 2002, Eminem had a fringe-classic No. 1 album and a No. 1 single. Kendrick had a No. 1 album and 3 times as many No. 1 singles. Eminem, rap’s final rap battler, additionally had an superior biopic about battle rap. Kendrick received the largest battle rap ever.
If Kendrick’s 2024 needed to be described as a film title, it might be The whole lot, In every single place, All At As soon as. He was the final word spitter to underground heads on each coasts, but he had the largest tune of the yr. He started 2024 with the No. 1 single solely to shut it out with a No. 1 album. And one other No. 1 single. And several other different high 10 singles. And an invitation to have a good time his wins on the world’s greatest stage.
When he takes centerfield for the Tremendous Bowl halftime present this Sunday, his efficiency will double as a reminder. There’s no hyperbole with regards to describing the dominance of his final 11-and-half months within the music business. He’s “like that,” however not like us — not like Em, not like Drake, not like Kanye or anybody else earlier than him.
