“Then step this way, step that way…”
The kids set a lot of the trends these days, so when a whole room of them catches up to what the adults are bumping, these pop culture moments reach another level of recognition. Ironically enough, this just happened to the Kendrick Lamar and Drake beef, as a clip recently went viral of a children’s party singing and dancing along to “Not Like Us’ quite fervently. A lot of folks will obviously point out how this isn’t a very appropriate song for grade schoolers to bump, whether in terms of the lyrical content or the absolutely vicious intent behind it. Regardless, you can’t do much to slow down what’s viral.
Of course, this has zero bearing on the battle’s public perception as a whole, and is more indicative of the massive success that “Not Like Us” has experienced individually. As for Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s current situation, we’re definitely in a more retrospective and speculative place right now where all folks can do is recap, analyze, theorize, and try to paint the picture in a more detailed fashion now that we have some distance from the onslaught. For example, one alleged detail we received via Compton artist JasonMartin was K.Dot’s reaction to Drizzy’s “Family Matters” diss, or at least the reaction he allegedly shared with Martin. As you might expect, it’s quite a dismissive one.
These Kids Love Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us”
Not the kids singing “Not Like Us” bar for bar 😭
It’s gonna be a long summer… pic.twitter.com/aqAfoGX6ND— Pweetty_b ⁷ (@Pwettybanz) June 13, 2024
Elsewhere, though, Drake’s recent social media moves shading Kendrick Lamar and other new releases music-wise have fans chronicling the post-beef fallout with a lot of fervor, too. Whether it’s using the “BBL Drizzy” beat with Sexyy Red, insinuating the former TDE MC is a “one-trick pony,” or going full Toronto with “Wah Gwan Delilah,” people have a lot to say about his current movement, and of Kendrick Lamar’s role in it. For both good and bad reasons, it seems like The Boy is feeling the aftermath of what he wrote down.
Meanwhile, Kendrick Lamar will pop out next week for his concert with friends in Los Angeles, following his commencement speech at Compton College. No one really knows what’s coming, although alum rumors are obviously rampant. But this show alone has folks incredibly excited, as we could be closing one era with a bang or entering a new one. We’ll have to wait and see what he has in store.
