He didn't just win. He deleted the competition.
When the dust finally settled on the 2024 rap wars, one song remained standing like a monolith in the middle of a desert. We're talking about Not Like Us. It wasn't just a diss track. It was a funeral. It was a West Coast holiday. Honestly, it was a spiritual purge that nobody—especially not Drake—saw coming.
By the time May 4 rolled around, the beef had already reached a fever pitch. We had "Euphoria," "6:16 in LA," and the haunting "Meet the Grahams." But those were psychological thrillers. They were dark, dense, and meant to be picked apart in dark rooms. Then, less than 14 hours after dropping a track accusing Drake of running a sex trafficking ring, Kendrick decided to go outside and dance.
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The 30-Minute Masterpiece
The beat is pure West Coast. DJ Mustard, the king of the "New West" sound, actually whipped up the instrumental in about 30 minutes. He wasn't even in the studio with Kendrick. He was just sending packs over, hoping for a collab. Mustard told Billboard later that he wanted to imagine what it would sound like if Dr. Dre and Lil Jon sat down to make a hit.
The result? A "club-friendly" monster built on a sped-up sample of Monk Higgins’ 1968 cover of "I Believe to My Soul." It’s urgent. It’s relentless. It’s got that signature Mustard "Hey!" that makes you want to move, even while Kendrick is leveling some of the most heinous allegations in music history.
Why Not Like Us Hits So Different
Most diss tracks have a shelf life. You listen to "Ether" or "Hit 'Em Up" when you're feeling aggressive, but you're probably not blasting them at a 6-year-old's birthday party. Kendrick flipped the script. He made a song about pedophilia allegations and cultural appropriation into a "song of the summer."
Think about that for a second.
You’ve got thousands of people in a stadium screaming "A-minorrrrrrrrr" at the top of their lungs. It’s a terrifying level of psychological warfare. By making the song a "bop," Kendrick ensured that Drake would have to hear his own downfall every time he walked into a club, a grocery store, or a sports arena.
- The A-Minor Chord: This is the line that broke the internet. Kendrick holds the note for five full seconds. It’s a double entendre—referencing both the musical key and the age of the girls Drake is rumored to associate with.
- The "Culture Vulture" Narrative: Kendrick basically argues that Drake is a colonizer. He calls out Drake’s relationships with Atlanta artists, suggesting he uses their "street cred" like a costume.
- The West Coast Rebirth: For years, people said West Coast rap was stagnant. This track put Compton back at the dead center of the map.
Breaking the Numbers
The stats are actually stupid. In early 2025, Apple Music announced that Not Like Us was still the most-streamed rap song on the platform—over a year after it dropped. It broke Drake's own Spotify record for the most streams in a single day for a rap song. It spent 21 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot Rap Songs chart, officially snatching the crown from Lil Nas X’s "Old Town Road."
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By January 2025, the song hit the one billion stream mark on Spotify. It’s the first diss track in history to do that. It didn't just top the charts; it stayed there through a Super Bowl performance and a Grammy sweep.
The Fallout That Won't Quit
Even now in 2026, we’re seeing the ripple effects. Drake actually tried to sue Universal Music Group (UMG) recently, claiming they used "illegal tactics" and bots to boost the song's popularity. The lawsuit was basically laughed out of court, but it shows how much this song still gets under his skin.
It’s not just about the lyrics. It’s about the gatekeeping. Kendrick used this track to draw a line in the sand. He’s saying there’s a difference between being "in" the culture and just "using" it for profit. Whether you agree with him or not, you can't deny the impact. The song has become a chant at college football games and a staple for the LA Dodgers.
What You Can Actually Do With This
If you're an artist or a creator, there’s a huge lesson here about brand positioning. Kendrick didn't just rap better; he out-maneuvered Drake's entire public image.
- Own your backyard: Kendrick leaned into his roots so hard that he made Drake's "global" sound feel homeless and disconnected.
- Weaponize the "Pop" factor: If you want a message to stick, put it in a melody people can't stop humming.
- Wait for the opening: Kendrick didn't rush. He waited for Drake to drop "Family Matters," then stepped on his throat 20 minutes later with "Meet the Grahams," followed by the knockout blow of "Not Like Us" the next day.
The era of the "King of Pop-Rap" might not be over, but the crown definitely looks a bit crooked. If you haven't revisited the lyrics lately, go back and look at the third verse. It’s basically a thesis statement on the history of Black American music and why some people are simply "not like us."
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To really understand the technical side of why this worked, you should look into the Mustard "Hyphy" production style. It’s the secret sauce that turned a dark accusation into a global anthem. Check out Mustard's 2024 album Faith of a Mustard Seed to see how he evolved that sound even further after the Kendrick win.