Kendrick Lamar takes his victory lap against Drake in one of the most historic rap feuds in recent memory.
Kendrick Lamar Dances to Victory
In the video dropped on July 4th, Kendrick Lamar is seen repping the west coast hard via fashion, other west coast icons, and iconic west coast dance moves. Kendrick Lamar is seen sporting long white socks with hard bottoms which has been a staple of West Coast hip hop and fashion since N.W.A.
There is no denying that this is Kendrick Lamar’s victory lap over Drake. The subliminal and obvious shots at the “69 God” are scattered all over the video. In one part of the music video, Kendrick is seen beating up an owl piñata seemingly insinuating him beating Drake. Drake’s label, “OVO”, has a symbol of an owl. Drake also has his iconic OVO chain necklace. The OVO owl has become synonymous with Toronto and Drake’s image. The visuals in the video show Kendrick’s victory by literally beating Drake
The West Coast Triumphs
Kendrick also gathered a lot of recognizable West Coast natives and icons for this music video just like he did with his Pop Out show where he performed “Not Like Us” five times in a row. You can see artists such as Roddy Ricch , YG, Steve Lacy, and even Demar Derozan. DJ Mustard is heavily featured in the music video since he produced the beat for the song, and is one of the greatest West Coast producers this generation has seen by creating songs such as “Ballin” and “Big Bank”.
Demar Derozan being a central part in the music video is one of the biggest blows to Drake. Drake is an avid Toronto Raptors fan and Demar played with the team for 9 seasons. He was a beloved figure for the franchise in the 2010s. However, he was traded to the San Antonio Spurs back in 2018 for Kawhi Leonard. After the trade happened Drake was vocally heart broken by the news and even invited him over to his OVO mansion.
Simply Not Like Us
That friendship obviously didn’t compare to the ties and loyalty Demar has for his hometown of LA. Kendrick Lamar shows that Drake and his team are indeed not like Kendrick’s because of the greater pull TDE and Kendrick Lamar have on the culture. Even though Drake has sold more in recent memory, and is many people’s favorite artist. Kendrick proves that he is the most important figure in Hip-Hop and has been for almost two decades.
Can Drake Ever Recover?
Drake has been very silent since the dropping of “Not Like Us”. Apart from being on one of the worst songs this year “WagWan Delilah” and rapping over the BBL Drizzy beat on the song “U My Everything” which many see as one of the most corny things Drake has done, which is a hard thing to do if you are Drake. The Toronto rapper has seemingly cowered away from the beef as well as the spotlight in general. Many fans of music and Drake alike do not see how he can recover and are eager to see what his next big move is. For now however, Drake just has to sit in defeat.
