Kendrick Lamar is back.
The rap superstar has, unofficially, dropped his first song since “Not Like Us” exclusively via social media, and not on streaming platforms.
The song dropped on Sept. 11. The track comes days after Lamar said “no round twos” in his Super Bowl halftime announcement, a response to Drake posting Rasheed Wallace yelling, “We will win Game 2!” on his second Instagram page.
The track begins with a somber sample that loops for the entire 5 minutes and six seconds.
“I think it’s time to let the party die,” Lamar said in his first line.
On the hook, Lamar asks God for forgiveness for taking his rap back and forth with Drake too far. In the memorable battle, Lamar mentioned how Drake is allegedly hiding an 11-year-old daughter, he hangs out with predators and he’s a drug addict who spends a great deal of money on women in Turks and Caicos because he has a toxic addiction.
Lamar also addresses his online critics on the track who don’t like his music because he delivers a profound message in his bars instead of partying. He calls out the men of this generation who glorify partying more than women, when they don’t have anything to celebrate and how women are more serious about their business nowadays than a lot of men — intended as a dig when traditionally, the stereotype is men are the breadwinners of the household to provide for their women.
Lamar outright asks himself what he would do if he were in the shoes of Christian rappers like Dee-1 and Lecrae.
Love you Dot….Always here. 🙏🏾
— Lecrae (@lecrae) September 12, 2024
i appreciate the shoutout brother. @kendricklamar ❤️
More than you’ll ever know.A shift is happening. The time is now! 🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/DNBHYM0V39
— Dee-1 (@Dee1music) September 12, 2024
In fact, the untitled track has the cover art of beaten-down black Air Force 1s. The meme online is that Air Force 1s represent violence, and it was discovered the picture he used is a random Ebay user’s photo selling the used pair of sneakers.
KENDRICK LAMAR
NEW SONG
🚨OUT NOW🚨 pic.twitter.com/3H4cU6vM12
— NFR Podcast (@nfr_podcast) September 12, 2024
After performing on Juneteenth, releasing the “Not Like Us” music video on July 4 and announcing he was performing next year’s Super Bowl halftime show in New Orleans in front of an American flag, Lamar has made it clear to Drake — a Canadian who was born on American soil but mostly grew up in Canada — is a product of that country’s culture and is an outsider who assimilated to his surroundings for personal gain. This was an angle Lamar frequented in his back-and-forth with Drake.
“Not Like Us” has been a smash hit since it was released in May. It is the rare hip-hop track of 2024 that has stayed near the top of the Billboard charts consistently for months. On Juneteenth, Lamar hosted “The Pop Out: Ken & Friends” concert, streamed on Amazon, where he brought out just about the entire living West Coast hip-hop scene to showcase their talents at The Forum in Inglewood, California. Vince Staples was on tour and The Game declared his loyalty to Drake, but every other prominent rapper from California performed that night, including Tyler, The Creator. Los Angeles Lakers star, and Drake’s longtime public friend, LeBron James, was even in attendance.
Lamar ended his set by performing “Not Like Us” five times in a row, with it playing a sixth time in the arena as everyone exited the venue. The last couple of times Lamar played the single, he invited all of the celebrity guests from Los Angeles to get on the stage with him. He ended up pausing between performances and had everyone on stage pose for a photo with him. Lamar claimed that every gang in the L.A. area was represented on the stage and that’s the first time in the 37-year-old artist’s life he’s seen all sets from the city get along in one setting. As he played the song again, it became more of a celebration, as he took breaks from reciting his lines to greet others on the stage and hype up a child who danced to the infectious beat, produced by DJ Mustard. If you had to describe the ideal Juneteenth cookout, you would point them directly to a video of one of the five times Lamar performed “Not Like Us” on stage in 2024.
