The Kendrick Lamar/Drake Beef, Explained

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On "Family Matters," Drake dismissively rapped that he was headed on a long overdue post-tour vacation now that he unleashed his big guns on Kendrick and the rest of the Sinister Six. If that's true then hopefully they have studios in Turks because Kendrick just followed up his macabre open letter to the Graham family with another diss track—hitting Drake with two replies in less than 24 hours.

"Not Like Us" is an impressive strategical feat on several fronts. Most obviously, it applies back-to-back pressure on Drake—turning the tide in Kendrick's favor, suffocating all of the oxygen before "Family Matters" even had a chance to breathe, and aggressively putting the ball in Drake's court to hit back. But perhaps more crucially, it's a much-needed exhale after "Meet the Grahams" that also showcases Kendrick's range.

Rap fans spent the last month asking Drake and Kendrick to skip the round 1 dancing stage and get to the actual haymakers, and when they actually delivered last night, it was a case of "be careful what you wish for" for some. Kendrick's track is the more outright uncomfortable listen, but Drake harmonizing that Kendrick "beats his queen" is just as ugly. Still, even Pusha T mocking Drake's friend's poor health was an easier pill to swallow because of his delivery; "Meet the Grahams" is just joyless.

Just as Kendrick was in danger of losing the audience, and being that kid at the lunch table who takes things too far, he invites everyone to a good ol' fashioned LA block party with "Not Like Us," which finds him dancing over a Mustard beat that both sets can hit their walks to.

To be clear: He's still alleging Drake is a sex pest who keeps the company of bad dudes—the single art is an image mocking up Drake's Toronto mansion as being on the sex offender registry—but with Kendrick writing to Mustard's bounce, it's just a more compelling listen than "Grahams." This song won't travel as far up the charts as "Like That," but it's built to work in the same functions, down to the call-and-response "O-v-Ho" refrain.

And even more so than "Euphoria," Kendrick reasserts that for all the conscious-minded, poet laureate narratives that surround him, he can crack a good sophomoric joke with the best of them. Take your pick between the likes of "tryin to strike a chord, and it's probably A minor," bastardizing Drake's album title to call OVO "certified pedophiles," or flipping the 6ix God moniker to "69 God" because he's into "freaky shit." With an opening line that references the viral classic "call the amberlamps," Kendrick makes it clear from the outset that the content of his disses, notwithstanding, this one will at least have some levity.

Although the track is quintessentially LA, Kendrick carves out time for a whole verse dedicated to Atlanta. Specifically, the argument that Drake is a "colonizer" vamping on other cities for their style and swag, methodically listing out the various rappers he's gotten close to for street credibility, from Future and 21 Savage to Young Thug and 2 Chainz.