Kendrick Lamar has won all five Grammy Awards he was nominated for with his song Not Like Us, his attack against Drake in which he accuses him and part of his circle of sexual abuse and, literally, of being "certified pedophiles". The rapper from Los Angeles achieved this huge success at the gala held in Los Angeles where Beyoncé finally won the award for Album of the Year for Cowboy Carter.
Considered one of the best diss tracks in rap history and a massive success in the US, Not Like Us has won two of the four major Grammy Awards, for Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
The rapper from Los Angeles did not mention Drake in his speeches and instead focused on highlighting his city and, above all, his neighborhood, Compton.
Additionally, he won the awards for Best Rap Song, Best Rap Performance, and Best Music Video. "There is nothing more powerful than rap," he said after acknowledging dozens of West Coast rappers and dedicating one of his awards to Jay-Z, Beyoncé's husband. The winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize in Music was already considered the best rapper of this century before the gala and one of the best in history: tonight's resounding triumph is the recognition and endorsement of the music industry, traditionally so conservative.
Not Like Us is part of a series of songs that Lamar released in 2024 against Drake, one of the biggest stars in Anglophone music in the last decade. The cover art of the single could not be more explicit: an aerial image of Drake's mansion from Predator, an app used to locate alleged child predators. The Canadian artist retaliated, and the feud reached national proportions, with streaming numbers giving Kendrick the victory: Not Like Ushas now surpassed one billion streams on Spotify and 200 million views of its music video on YouTube.
With today's five awards, Kendrick Lamar now has 22 Grammy Awards, although until now, all of his wins were in rap categories, never in the so-called big four awards of the ceremony.
In the second most remembered line from Scarface, Tony Montana says: "I never fucked anybody over in my life who didn't have it coming." Kendrick Lamar has never been known for criticizing other rappers or engaging in beefs, but he went after Drake with the determination of Al Pacino's drugged-up drug lord in the movie.
Two weeks ago, the Canadian rapper sued Universal Records for alleged defamation in releasing and promoting the song, and many doubted whether Lamar would include Not Like Us in the setlist for his performance during the Super Bowl halftime show, the most-watched TV event of the year in the US. It could have serious consequences for his record label, not to mention the pressures that the NFL and the event's numerous sponsors may have exerted to avoid controversy.
Now, the industry's support signified by this Grammy triumph seems to dispel any doubts. And, in any case, Kendrick Lamar can always appeal to Tony Montana's most famous line: "All I have in this world are my balls and my word, and I don't break them for anyone." We will find out next Sunday.