A full breakdown of Kendrick’s Drake takedown track, 2024’s Record of the Year.

Estimated reading time: 16 minutes.

“Not Like Us” is the song of 2024. It dominated charts and won both Song and Record of the Year at the Grammys. Is served as Kendrick Lamar’s significant  return to the center culture.

And yet, I didn’t really get it. I like the song, but I don’t feel like I fully understand it. I know he and Drake are in a feud consisting of rap battle-style diss tracks.

The only part I feel like I get is the verse where Kendrick says, “I hear you like ‘em young. You better not go to cell block one…trying to strike a chord and it’s probably A-minor—” I understand what that means, I think, but why? What is the story? Also, is he actually using an A minor chord?

My feeling right now: it’s fine. Catchy but repetitive. It grabs your attention, but it’s too jittery to “groove” to. I often feel that way about new hip hop songs, though. I need to go in depth with the lyrics, since the meaning makes or breaks this type of song.

Let’s go into a deep analysis-mode.

Lyrical analysis

Psst, I see dead people

Mustard on the beat, ho

Mustard is music producer DJ Mustard, Dijon McFarlane. Mostly he produces mainstream West Coast Hip Hop tracks. He has worked on full albums by hip hop artists YG and Ella Mai and many individual songs. I am not sure how much he contributed to the song, but he likely at least found the sample, which is the other half of the music. Just Kendrick and a Sample and beat

Deebo, any rap nigga, he a free-throw

Deebo is a character from the movie Friday (1995). He was strong, dominant, and was always stealing people’s stuff.  He was the bully of the story and first fights Craig, Ice Cube’s character, and loses.

In this analogy, Drake is Deebo and Kendrick is Craig. Kendrick is saying he is going to take out Drake (in a fair fight).

Man down, call an amberlamps, tell him, “Breathe, bro”

Nail a nigga to the cross, he walk around like Teezo

Teezo is Teezo Touchdown. He is a rapper known for being a “rockstar Jesus” and his aesthetic (gimmick?) is wearing a lot of spikes in his hair mimicking an industrial hedgehog, let’s say.

So he is saying, “You might want to sit down because I’m going to crucify you.”

What’s up with these jabroni-ass niggas tryna see Compton?

The industry can hate me, fuck ’em all and they mama

The audience not dumb, shape the stories how you want

Jabroni is a term associated with The Rock on WWE, meaning loser or poser.

There is a trend in hip hop of rappers that, for some reason, are trying to pretend to have roots in Compton. Either they say they’re from there or they try to pretend to spend time there. Kendrick is saying why, “why is a super rich celebrity from Canada trying to say he wants to live in Compton? Why Compton? Most people would move away from Compton if they had the money. To move *to* Compton?”

The industry relies on these types of unlikely image shifts (lies) to keep the biggest stars looking like authentic, viable artists. But how many rap acts are actually doing this? Is it mostly just Drake?

How many opps you really got? I mean, it’s too many options

I’m finna pass on this body, I’m John Stockton

John Stockton is a point guard from the Utah Jazz, known for having the best passing record in NBA history.  Kendrick wants to give everyone else the ability to take Drake down.

Drake is apparently always at odds with all types of people, rappers or otherwise. He has had public feuds with Meek Mill, Pusha T, Kanye West, Joe Budden, Tony Lanez, The Weeknd, Diddy, Common, XXXTentacion, Mo-G, Quentin Miller, Charlemagne Tha God, Rappin’ 4-Tay, and others. The question is: why? Kendrick is supposing he intentionally lets misunderstandings get out of control as a way to look tough and credible in the rap industry.

So Kendrick maybe able to absolutely murder Drake for any one of these feuds, but he is choosing not to. Others can finish him off.

Beat your ass and hide the Bible if God watchin’

Sometimes you gotta pop out and show niggas

Even those that fear God should get in on this. When it comes to someone who is acting a fool, you have to make a point in some way, even if extreme.

Certified boogeyman, I’m the one that upped the score with ’em

Put the wrong label on me, I’ma get ’em dropped, ay

From Alondra down to Central, nigga better not speak on Serena

Walk him down, whole time I know he got some ho in him

Drake has contributed more to these feuds than Drake will ever know. Kendrick is the boogeyman, always out to get Drake without him realizing it’s coming.

Kendrick is walking up to Drake to  confront him because he knows he will back down. You’re either a gangster or a ho, and Drake is a ho.

Pole on him, extort shit, bully the flow on him

Prison language. A call to action. “Pull a gun on him, force him to give in, use your harshest rhymes if you have to.” Make him give up what he values. 

Say, Drake, I hear you like ’em young

You better not ever go to cell block one

To any bitch that talk to him and they in love

Just make sure you hide your lil’ sister from him

This is the easy verse. Anyone who listens to this song more than twice will catch this and be certain what it means. “Lock up your daughters. Don’t let them in the same room with this man.” Drake is apparently charming, which is nice of Kendrick to mention, though he uses the term “bitches”, so maybe not an actual compliment.

He likes girls so young he will get murdered if he ever goes to prison. That is very young, though I don’t believe he is into girls under 15, the line that seems to matter to vengeance killers.

EDITED: Actually, there are accusations of him texting Millie Bobby Brown when she was only 14.

This is a blunt accusation:  Drake’s behavior around young girls is predatory. 

They tell me Chubbs the only one that get your hand-me-downs

And PARTY at the party, playin’ with his nose now

To understand these lines it is important to know what OVO is. This stands for October’s Very Own, which is the name of Drake’s brand and record label. Why October? That’s his birth month. He appears to be saying, “I’m the most important person who has ever had a birthday in October.” I don’t quite follow the logic, but what else could it mean?

Chubbs is one of Drake’s oldest friends and appears as the muscle of the OVO crew. He is big and intimidating and “handles” situations for Drake. Kendrick is saying Chubbs gets the privilege of sleeping with girls after Drake has. 

PARTYNEXTDOOR is an R&B producer and songwriter who is signed to the OVO record label. The rumor is that PARTY is now a cocaine addict and Kendrick implies that it is Drake’s fault.

Kendrick is going after Drake’s brand, not necessarily the people in it. Mostly Drake’s role is the problem.

And Baka got a weird case, why is he around?

Certified Lover Boy? Certified pedophiles

Baka is Baka Not Nice, a rapper on Drake’s OVO label. No one seems to like his music. No one seems to have *heard* his music. He has one album, which was released in 2018 and only has one major review listed on critic aggregate websites. In 2014, Baka was convicted for assaulting a woman and forcing her human trafficking. He spent approximately 13 months in prison. You might ask: Aren’t these very serious charges? Why such a short prison term? He made a plea bargain, cooperated with authorities, and was a first time offender. 

So what possible reason would there be in keeping a rapist/extortionist in your crew? He even appears to stick up for him on his 2017 song “Gualchester”. Drake gave a shout out: “Baka not nice, still fucking with him”. Drake seems to say he is still messing around with him to seem tough and dangerous, maybe.

Certified Lover Boy is the name of Drake’s (very poorly named) 2021 album Certified Lover Boy. Maybe he is only a lover boy to 12 year old fans that adore him.  “Certified pedophile” is maybe not literal, but Drake is using a well known term and giving us a reason to rebrand Drake’s image. A certified *what*, did you say? Drake?

Wop, wop, wop, wop, wop, Dot, fuck ’em up

Wop, wop, wop, wop, wop, I’ma do my stuff

Hyping up the crowd. Dot is short for K-Dot, Kendrick’s nickname for himself. 

Why you trollin’ like a bitch? Ain’t you tired?

Tryna strike a chord and it’s probably A minor

Drake is now known largely for petty squabbles online and behind the scenes. Mike Mill accused him of using ghost writers for his raps and taking full credit. Drake proceeded to write diss tracks about Mill and mocked him onstage at live performances and on social media.

Subtle disses to each other with Pusha T led to Pusha unveiling “The Story of Adidon”, which was an accusation that Drake had a secret child. The feud was handled delicately by PR reps, but behind the scenes, it was very tense and led to a longstanding cold war between their respective camps.

Now the big question. What chord is this? The verse chord progression is this:

Am – F – C – G

So, Kendrick is literally singing about a minor over the chord of A minor, bringing the notion a hint of melancholy. This is the type of detail that wins Grammys.

They not like us, they not like us, they not like us

They not like us, they not like us, they not like us

Kendrick Lamar is actually from Compton, L.A. The music video was shot in various locales around Compton, featuring huge crowds dancing and singing along to the chorus. Kendrick is the home town hero here, and is hoping to get everyone onboard. He fills every frame with imagery of good people having the time of their lives.

Kendrick Lamar

You think the Bay gon’ let you disrespect Pac, nigga?

I think that Oakland show gon’ be your last stop, nigga

The Bay is the San Francisco Bay area, 2Pac’s spiritual home.

So, how did Drake disrespect 2Pac?

In his feud with Kendrick, Drake wrote a diss track named “Taylor Made Freestyle”, which began with a full verse rapped by an AI generated synthesis of 2Pac’s voice. Drake used this without any permission. The AI generated text is giving Kendrick material to use in his battle with Drake, such as Drake’s reputation for liking young girls, which 2Pac probably believes because he heard it on the Budden podcast. How is 2Pac listening to podcasts?

Drake is likely trying to minimize the biggest possible criticisms against him, which to me is him admitting actual guilt.

Did Cole fouI, I don’t know why you still pretendin’

What is the owl? Bird niggas and bird bitches, go

See, a third popular rapper, J. Cole, is also included in this rap battle. Media touts a big three in hip hop (Drake, Kendrick, and J. Cole) and in March 2024, Kendrick rapped, “Actually it’s just me.”

J. Cole responded on a track on his April 2024 mixtape entitled Might Delete Later. True to his word, he deleted the song a week later. Basically, it was a pretty weak response, basically saying “Ni***s” only like his stuff…sometimes.”

OVO’s mascot is an owl. “Bird Ni**as” are likely foolish and “bird bitches” are likely superficial. This seems to apply to Drake’s most forgiving fans as well as him.

At this point, Kendrick is just checking off boxes. “J. Cole reference? Check. Line about Drake’s fans? Check.”

Hey, Drake, they’re not slow

Rabbit hole is still deep, I can go further, I promise

Ain’t that somethin’? B-Rad stands for bitch and you Malibu most wanted

Ain’t no law, boy, you ballboy, fetch Gatorade or somethin’

He is basically saying, “Shape the media narrative all you want, audiences will see through eventually.”

He then references Alice in Wonderland (“Rabbit Hole”), the 2003 Jamie Kennedy movie Malibu’s Most Wanted (“B-Rad”), and possibly Jack Harlowe (“Ain’t No Law”), to imply that Drake is a fraud so obvious there is an endless treasure trove of tidbits that he could expose him for. Drake should be working as an assistant whose job is to get drinks for the musicians who  are doing real work.

Since 2009, I had this bitch jumpin’

You niggas’ll get a wedgie, be flipped over your boxers

“This bitch” is the rap game, in general. That was about the time when Kendrick’s mixtapes were creating buzz before his 2011 debut, Section.80, was released.

And then some cartoonist wedgie imagery.

What OVO for? The “Other Vaginal Option”? Pussy

Nigga better straighten they posture, got famous all up in Compton

Kendrick emasculates Drake, calling him a “pussy”, or possibly secretly gay. Drake is famous in Compton, but not for the reasons Drake wants. Perhaps his feminine posture is his strangest and most notable attribute.

Might write this for the doctorate, tell the pop star quit hidin’

Fuck a caption, want action, no accident

Ok. On with the main attraction. “This next section is going to be my dissertation on why Drake’s nothing but a pop star in hiding.”

And I’m hands-on, he fuck around, get polished

Fucked on Wayne girl while he was in jail, that’s connivin’

Then get his face tatted like a bitch apologizin’

He now says Drake’s actions have affected Kendrick’s world directly. Lil Wayne was Drake’s mentor and signed him to his Young Money label. Lil Wayne went to jail in 2010, and Kendrick is claiming Drake abused his trust and slept with his girlfriend.

He then got a tattoo of Lil Wayne’s face on his left tricep. Is it admiration? Or is he saying, “I slept with your girlfriend. Does this make it ok?”

I’m glad DeRoz’ came home, y’all didn’t deserve him neither

And your homeboy need subpoena, that predator move in flocks

That name gotta be registered and placed on neighborhood watch

I lean on you niggas like another line of Wock’

DeMar DeRozan was a Compton native who played for the NBA team the Toronto Raptors. He became a good friend of Drake’s. By the time “Not Like Us” was released, he had just gotten released from his contract (He ended up becoming a member of the Sacramento Kings).

Kendrick then references streets in Harlem. Drake better leave Harlem native Serena Williams out of this.

The image that comes up for “Not Like Us” is an aerial image of Drake’s estate in Toronto, a giant walled mansion known as “The Compound.” Then are 13 person markers that resemble the symbols on registered sex offender websites.

“Lean on wock” is, for me, the most complicated concept in the song. Kendrick is leaning on Drake’s crew, putting pressure on them. But lean is also a drink popular in hip hop communities and is often spiked with Wock, which causes euphoric sedation.

Yeah, it’s all eyes on me, and I’ma send it up to Pac, ay

Sweet Chin Music, and I won’t pass the aux, ay

How many stocks do I really have in stock? Ay

This is Kendrick at his silliest and I would argue best. We have:

A reference to 2Pac, respecting him but also using the name of an album as being about him now 

A statement: if you talk bad about him he is going to get you dropped from your record contract

“Sweet Chin Music”: a reference to WWE, Shawn Michaels’ finishing move that involves a powerful kick to the jaw. The aux mic is something used to have a second person talk while a rapper holds the main mic. No one else is getting in on this next part. He wants to relish the finishing move all for himself.

Also, can Kendrick get away with this? Is he actually worth as much as he thinks he is? Let’s find out 

One, two, three, four, five, plus five, ay

Devil is a lie, he a 69 God, ay

Freaky-ass niggas need to stay they ass inside, ay

Roll they ass up like a fresh pack of ‘za, ay

City is back up, it’s a must, we outside, ay

5+5=10, all toes on the ground. Meaning to hold steady.

Drake is a devil posing as a god, a 69 God (Toronto is the 6), so he is perverse and untrustworthy. His crew are all very warped.

Za is an exotic weed. Think Drake incinerating them and using the ashes in a joint he will smoke.

“The city” is LA, and it will finally return to light as a true metropolis of hip hop. Thanks, largely, to Kendrick.

This song is mostly an ode to the integrity of his home, turning what could just be a standard diss into a regional anthem.

They not like us, they not like us, they not like us

They not like us, they not like us, they not like us

Once upon a time, all of us was in chains

Homie still doubled down callin’ us some slaves

Atlanta was the Mecca, buildin’ railroads and trains

Bear with me for a second, let me put y’all on game

It is no joke that black people were slaves not at all that long ago. But was this a good idea? On his 2023 track, “Since You Out” (featuring SZA), Drake included this line:

“You got my mind in a terrible place / Whipped and chained you like American slaves.” 

Why “American” slaves? Why not just slaves? I suspect it was just the right number of syllables, but Kendrick seems to think Drake is saying Americans are in some way slaves currently. I think he is giving Drake too much credit as a lyricist.

For those in the South that actually have family members that were enslaved recently, Kendrick wants to pay homage to them and give them credit. This is what they need to know to be in on this take down.

The settlers was usin’ town folk to make ’em richer

Fast-forward, 2024, you got the same agenda

You run to Atlanta when you need a check balance

Let me break it down for you, this the real nigga challenge

When slavery was legal in Atlanta, the rich people who owned the land exploited the people to live a lives of luxury. Cut to 2024, and this is still the case. The people of Atlanta are having their talent exploited by the record industry. It makes fake stars like Drake seems much more credible and authentic than he actually is. Atlanta musicians Future, Lol Baby, Young Thug, Quavo, 2 Chainz, and 21 Savage have all collaborated with Drake, likely in a bid to make it give him street cred

Kendrick is asking, “How far will Drake go with this?”  He is painting Drake as a hip hop colonist. For instance, colonial Britain for hundreds of years took over many different countries and forced them into working and then taxed them and took away their resources. Colonialism is really bad and led to some of the largest famines in history. How much does the term colonialist apply to Drake?

Next is a laundry list of Drake’s Atlanta collaborators. Why does a Toronto native have this many collaborators from Atlanta, specifically?

You called Future when you didn’t see the club (ay, what?)

Future is the king of club anthems, so when Drake realized he didn’t have any songs that played well in clubs, he put Future on the track and had him sing the hook

Lil Baby helped you get your lingo up (what?)

An accusation: Drake had Lil Baby coach him on his vocabulary.

21 gave you false street cred

21 Savage has a very tough image and seems to have been paid by Drake to make him look very street and credible.

Thug made you feel like you a slime in your head (ay, what?)

Young Thug leads a (maybe) criminal organization named YSL (Young Stoner Life). “Slime” is a term within YSL that means brotherhood. You use it to reference someone who has earned your respect.

Quavo said you can be from Northside (what?)

Drake was allowed to collaborate with Quavo”s rap group Migos, which is made up exclusively of Atlanta based rappers.

2 Chainz say you good, but he lied

2 Chainz has collaborated with Drake many times, seemingly vouching for his credibility. Kendrick is saying that can’t possibly be the case, possibly inferring that 2 Chainz has suggested that he was paid to say such things.

You run to Atlanta when you need a few dollars

No, you not a colleague, you a fuckin’ colonizer

The family matter, and the truth of the matter

It was God’s plan to show y’all the liar

Kendrick has won me over. Why is Drake always collaborating with people from a city 800 miles away and pretending he is one of the gang? 

Kendrick is a little kid alerting everyone of an imposter like he was an imposter in John Carpenter’s The Thing or Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The second he puts all of the red flags together, he runs around the room doing only what a helpless little kid can do to help: chant “Not like us! Not like us!” — to get everyone’s attention.

And a little dig at Drake’s most popular song, “God”s Plan”, where he tries to prescribe his success as part of God’s plan, that he “can’t do this all his own.” Thus, of all the people in the world, he was chosen as the one to represent every person interested in the culture. Celebrities are always thanking God, which is fine, but to specifically say it is God’s plan when you are the biggest name in music? That is a concept that is bound to come back and bite you eventually.

Mm, mm-mm

He a fan, he a fan, he a fan (mm), he a fan, he a fan, he a

Freaky-ass nigga, he a 69 God

Freaky-ass nigga, he a 69 God

Hey, hey, hey, hey, run for your life

Hey, hey, hey, hey, run for your life

Freaky-ass nigga, he a 69 God

Freaky-ass nigga, he a 69 God

Hey, hey, hey, hey, run for your life

Hey, hey, hey, hey, run for your life

Let me hear you say, “OV-ho” (OV-ho)

Say, “OV-ho” (OV-ho)

Then step this way, step that way

Then step this way, step that way

Are you my friend?

Are we locked in?

Then step this way, step that way

Then step this way, step that way

A list of Chants one can use in Drake’s company to shame him away when he gets too close.

He’s a fan, not a rival.

He’s a sexual deviant.

He will exploit you so run.

He is like his label, an OV-hO.

And finally some dance steps to make new friends and fans.

The Music

The song is built around a sample of Monk Higgins’ “I Believe To My Soul” , a 1968 cover of a Ray Charles song. Ray’s original lyrics were about sensing betrayal in a relationship and walking away before being humiliated. Monk Higgins made the song dramatic and mournful, replacing the piano with an orchestra and the vocals with his subtle but expressive tenor saxophone lead.

The sample is sped up slightly, probably so DJ Mustard could provide Kendrick with a requested A minor chord. I would imagine DJ Mustard had some samples ready to go, and Kendrick cycled through them until he found one he found some inspiration in. 

I thought the only sample was the section right before the chorus, with an orchestra and flute sample, but the main part is also a sample from the same track. “I Believe To My Soul” has an extended introduction that sets the stage for a sad farewell. I thought the main “doo-doo-DOO-doo” part was being played on a synthesizer, but it’s actually strings.

I don’t believe there is another instrument here, other than a drum machine part that uses exactly two bass drum pitches to provide a rhythm in the low end. It is very simple, efficient production.

I was expecting the lyrics to be about how Drake uses ghost writers, primarily. But Kendrick already went there with his 2015 masterpiece, To Pimp a Butterfly. On “King Kunta”, he sings:

“I can dig rappin’, but a rapper with a ghostwriter? What the hell happened?”

It turns out rappers using ghostwriters isn’t as taboo as I would have thought. Drake  claims to be authentic. In 2015, Meek Mill (a rapper from Philadelphia known for intense delivery) accused Drake of having a ghost lyricist but  he claimed he didn’t. Kendrick “can dig rappin’,” which seems to mean throwing out raps while not being a real rapper. This seemed to be a pointed jab at Drake even back then.

True Kendrick fans (and hipsters) loved To Pimp a Butterfly. It is the highest rated album of all time on the music website RateYourMusic, just ahead of heavy hitters like Radiohead ‘s OK Computer, Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon , and David Bowie ‘s Ziggy Stardust, but in the mainstream and populist communities, it was labeled “a bore.” It fused experimental hip hop with jazz and beat poetry in a way that was admirable but seriously pretentious. It had the air of a college student that won’t shut up about Martin Luther King plagiarizing his “I have a dream” speech and not giving the writers any credit.

On Kendrick’s follow-up, DAMN., he changed gears and focused more on his authenticity over his rapping authority. He wanted to prove he could make a mainstream rap record. He took the criticism of To Pimp a Butterfly (“he is so full of himself”) to heart and came back with a song about being “Humble”, which went on to go 7x platinum.

So which Kendrick are we getting now? The artistic Kendrick or the mainstream Kendrick? I would like to say both, but no. Kendrick is not pimping any butterflies at here. He is out for Drake’s job. To quote Todd in the Shadows in his review for “God’s Plan”:

“Why is this popular? But more important than that, I think the question I have about ‘God’s Plan’ by Drake is…why is Drake popular?…To be clear, this is the Drake decade.” 

Todd’s thought was that Drake was a good guy and deserved to be successful. But…this successful?

Kendrick is going after Drake on both fronts. After collaborating with him on two songs by 2012, Kendrick made a list of his direct competition and Drake was on it.  This made Drake…uncomfortable. They had a cold war for years: Kendrick would show up for collaborations and Drake wouldn’t mention Kendrick in his “best of” lists. One of the feud’s most escalating tracks was his guest spot on the song  “Like That”, and Kendrick didn’t even mention Drake by name. He said “There is no big 3, there is just me” in 2024, he was slapping Drake with a white glove. And you know what? It’s a bit like Matt Damon asking the snooty guy at the bar if he likes apples. I feel kind of bad for him. He was not equipped to handle this. “Not Like Us” is Kendrick’s “How do you like them apples.”

Rap battle songs don’t typically become number one hits or win Record of the Year. So why did this track really click with both hip hop and mainstream audiences? 90% of listeners can not say what most of the lyrics are about. The references are hidden in codes and if this was a rap battle in a club, the audience would collectively go, “Hug? What did he say?” But it is distinctive and has enough of an unusual rhythm for Kendrick to really play with rhythm, incorporating his signature flow amongst repetitive schoolyard chants. 

Kendrick’s time is now, as he is still riding a career high peak from his divisive Super Bowl performance. He did not perform “Not Like Us”, which I thought was a mistake and seemed like a missed opportunity. He didn’t sing his most Acclaimed song? How would middle America know who this is?

After studying the lyrics, Kendrick was right to leave the song off of his setlist. Why would he want to include Drake in his Super Bowl moment?  By leaving his dragon poking stick off of the stage, he has just proven he doesn’t need Drake at all.