The rap beef between Kendrick Lamar and Drake is far from over.
Lamar took home five Grammys earlier this month for his smash hit song “Not Like Us.” He then performed it and a couple of his other hits during his highly anticipated Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show the following weekend. After the Super Bowl, Lamar’s streaming numbers saw an insane and unprecedented boost. Three hours after Lamar’s halftime performance, the Grammy Award-winning rapper’s diss tune-turned-global-phenomenon “Not Like Us” saw its largest jump of the evening, rising 430 percent.
The song was one of many that saw a resurgence in popularity; Lamar’s total streaming volume increased by 175 percent. His duet with SZA, “All the Stars,” increased by 290 percent, while “Humble” experienced a 300-percent boost. The number of streams for SZA herself has increased by 80 percent. So it wasn’t surprising at all last week when it came out that Lamar had passed Drake for most Spotify streams for a male rapper ever.
Drake drops Valentine’s Day album
But just in time for Valentine’s Day, Drake and PartyNextDoor released their eagerly anticipated new album $ome $exy $ongs 4 U on Friday, Feb. 14. It became the fastest album to reach No. 1 on U.S. Apple Music in 2025 after a huge first day. It even shattered the record for the most R&B/soul album streams on Apple Music’s first day. By the end of the weekend, we saw that Drake had taken back the crown for Spotify’s top spot. Unfortunately, that didn’t last long for Drizzy Drake.
By Sunday, Feb. 16, Lamar had once again toppled Drake as the most listened to male rapper in Spotify history. One can only assume Lamar gaining the top spot once again was due to high streams of “Not Like Us” and his latest album GNX. What will be really interesting is who finishes at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week. Last week, GNX returned to No. 1 on the list and obviously with the new Drake and PartyNextDoor album, there is great reason to believe the top spot will belong to one of those albums, again reigniting the competition between Drake and Lamar.
Whoever ends up on top of the Billboard Hot 100 will get to add another feather in his cap. Drake needs this win a lot more than Lamar. GNX is the reigning No. 1 and if it somehow streams better than new a Drake album that might be the wound that Drake cannot heal from. There are already a lot of people questioning not only the return of Drake but even question his ability to still make music. A No. 1 debut for Some Sexy Songs 4 U is a must. We will find out by Wednesday.
