Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us”: A Lyrical Juggernaut Shatters Streaming Records
Kendrick Lamar has dropped a sonic atomic bomb on the music world by releasing “Not Like Us.” As well as immediately reviving his long-running beef with sworn enemy Drake, this scathing diss track has exploded on to the scene.
Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’ becomes the fastest rap song EVER to surpass 100m streams on Spotify (9 days) 🔥🤯
It breaks the record previously held by Drake’s ‘Gods Plan’. PIC.TWITTER.COM/R8OIAX8ETW
— Hip Hop All Day (@HipHopAllDayy) MAY 14, 2024
“Not Like Us” shattered streaming records and reset the rules of hip-hop success, from its opening days to the present.”… “At 100 million plays on Spotify, Lamar arrived with a searing lyrical earthquake,” available in a mere nine days. That performance is now the gold standard for streaming era hegemony. COVID-19Rap Tracks This is the quickest rap tune to hit the mark; even Drake is left in his dust this year.
He wasn’t just topping the streaming platforms, either. Not Like Us skyrocketed to the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Aside from changing his place in rap history, being the first Compton-raised rapper to achieve the feat.
Lamar’s catapult to the top of the charts removed all remaining concerns that he wasn’t a legitimate heavyweight. Many people have spent weeks arguing about the song, but the flames of “Not Like Us” soon spread far beyond the business of record sales. This thing is a lyrical missile that detonates the Cold War with Drake and raises critical concern in the hip-hop industry.
Fire doesn’t even stop at the U.S. borders. Across the globe, Not Like Us broke the record as the rap song with the most single-day streams in the history of Spotify.
And so, while Lamar celebrates his record-breaking accomplishments, the world eagerly awaits Drake’s response. This is the high-octane thrill of a rap battle, where every song is a chess move, and every verse a calculated strike to assert dominance. Lamar has opened the match with “Not Like Us”, and fans everywhere are now buzzing in the expectation of Drake’s rebuttal. But while the back and forth between two of the genre’s biggest stars keeps the audience engaged, the real beneficiaries are the fans.
Because of these lyrical duels, they are privy to cutting-edge of skinny fashion rap styles as artists are inspired to explore new directions enabled by their talent and dexterity. What the pair both know, however, is that the battle has just begun.
