Kendrick Lamar and Drake - Rap Beef - Not Like Us
- welchconcannon
- Jan 5
- 10 min read
Updated: Jun 14
Audio version of the blog is located at the bottom of the page!
Did we miss some things said and/or shown in the music videos and/or songs released by K-Dot during the great "beef" of 2024?
First I would like to mention this lyric below:
Wop, wop, wop, wop, wop, Dot, fuck 'em up
Wop, wop, wop, wop, wop, I'ma do my stuff
So, the website Genius has an explanation for it that I don't entirely agree with. If you want to see what it is, check out their website. I could be reaching here with what I think this is but when I originally heard this I told my guy right out, "Meg Thee Stallion".
Why I say this? I truly think, in how it was worded and said, that Meg may have contacted Dot for all we know and told him literally "Fuck 'em up" or "Fuck that crew up" or whatever on some lyrical shit and Kendrick replied back he would. "Wop" is most likely "WAP", which is the title of the song Meg Thee Stallion and Cardi B created, which was a huge hit in 2020. Meg did release a song called "Hiss" dissing Drake at the top of 2024 (I don't like genderizing, but she was the only woman to confront him) and I wouldn't be surprised that Kendrick and Meg had a conversation about Drake and Kendrick paid homage to and/or mentioned Megan in arguably one of the greatest diss tracks of all time. (Any of K-Dot's songs during the battle is up for debate, hence why I said arguably). Kendrick even shined a light on RIhanna with the lyrics "Man Down, call an amberlamps, tell him, "Breathe bro"". "Man Down" is a song from RIhanna's "Loud" album, which, to me, is one of her best songs ever. (I'm Caribbean American and love reggae and I think Rihanna did an amazing job on that song). Anyways, Meg did a great job calling out Drake on "Hiss".
Too bad Nicki thought that song was solely about her.
Another reason/scenario could be that it's still "WAP", still paying homage to Meg but the conversation never happened. I mean, we know "WAP" mean "Wet Ass Pussy". However it can be a combination of "Wop" in the first line and "WAP" in the second line. That's just my take on it.
Not Like Us music video:
I think it's obvious that one is supposed to see an owl or some kind of resemblance to a face when seeing this set up. I saw an owl. I haven't seen anyone mention this, though. At least not in the spaces I frequent. I did also notice (I could be reaching here as well) that this could also resemble Drake (eyebrows could be the horizontal slash in the speaker). I think this could have been Dot's play on a "Rorschach test" for the viewers. I also believe Tommy, Kendrick and the dancers are all in a shipping container, btw.
Now here the above picture is interesting, and I saw no one commenting on this. Tommy the Clown presses play on the record player. However, there is no record there. What does this mean? I see no grooves of a record.
The combination of photos have led me to believe that this set up is supposed to be Drake and the record player may be Drake's brain... that has no musical talent, or something to that effect in it. Tommy just presses a button and the player spins. Mind you, a clown is pressing a button on this record player in a room that resembles a shipping container or Conex box. If I'm right, this is truly a diabolical visual diss. I guess the lack of hair makes it even worse.
Now this maybe a "schizo" sighting on my part but no one has said anything about it, and I noticed it the first time I watched the video. I told my guy, "Are those eyes?" He didn't see them at first. I had to pause the video a few times for him to see it. The more I did that, the more I was like "these look like owl eyes".
Everything K-Dot does is intentional. I've watched this video so many times. This was in full view and not hidden. I tried looking up other shipping containers that may have this kind of logo and nothing showed up. It made me wonder if this is a stamp/logo that Drake allegedly has on his shipments so that other companies know what to pick up/ship.
If you watch this part of the music video, which you can watch on YouTube, Kendrick doesn't hide this logo/whatever this thing is at all. I feel like there is something to this, but I may be wrong. There are also other numbers and identifiers on these containers people in the Kendrick reddit community (y'all know who you are😉) researched on this. I'll leave it at that and let y'all find that on your own.
I watched the video without sound a few times while researching for the blog and realized something while putting this together. What if this music video is created with K-Dot literally in Drake's head? Is this Drake's living nightmare and/or nightmare/Drake having a dream? Like Dot is supposed to be Drake's nightmare? (Which he is😁)
Look at the beginning of the video. Kendrick shows up, adlibs similar to Friday the 13th btw, and is moving through a dimly lit hallway wearing white, flicking lighters (a signature to Lil' Wayne, which could signify some things, one of which I think is Lil Wayne was the one who put Drake "on" in the first place but Lil' Wayne shows up in Drake's "nightmare" in the form of Kendrick Lamar. In the beginning of the video, we all know it is Dot but he's indiscernible initially) while the lights are also flickering on and off. It almost seems like Kendrick shows up as a Boogeyman... and a God. The opening alone seems to have layers.
You then see the next scenes which are the photos above with Tommy the Clown. Dot did say "I see dead people" on the track and in the video. When Dot says this... is he saying this as Drake or as himself? Or both? I say this because Drake has been allegedly accused of XXXTentacion's and possibly other's demise. Drake may be haunted. I can see this meaning more, of course, the obvious being Dot obliterating Drake in this rap battle. Tommy the Clown's next line is "You're late..."which can mean many things:
You're late - You should've been axed out a long time ago, allegedly, for the demise of important figure(s) in music and our culture
You're late - You should've been called out for your fake gangsta ass a long time ago and many people should have appropriately checked you for that and those people are just as questionable
You're late - You should've been called out for every fucking lie you've been caught in and there's been many...
You're late - G.O.A.T.? Really? Not when you have ghostwriters, which have been made painfully obvious after the battle. (Even before the battle, let's be forreal. J Cole can hold you up only so much)
You're late - Let's add to the last one: Using a phone in a freestyle at Hot97 in 2009 and stupid ass Funk Master Flex allowed that shit? I'm from BKLYN. No respect for that. Not-a-one.
You're late - You should've been kicked down uneven, jagged steps many times for disrespecting women, especially of color and artists with solid families because you're a broken, unhappy man-child.
You're late - Allegedly stealing your own artists music as well as independent artists on Soundcloud, etc. Pathetic.
You're late - Consistently being a bully on social network platforms and in music and then love playing victim
You're late - There is probably more. However, for those who may have been victims, allegedly. Lastly, for the little ones who have yet to know about a DNA test and learn of their lineage. Fill in the blanks.
Lastly, "You're late" - For the rap battle (which was the most obvious), via Drake's perspective.
It may not mean any of this, but this is my interpretation. Drake should’ve been gone a long time ago and should've never been as big as he was before the beef. Before social media, he would have been called out. I would delve into my thoughts of Drake in another blog, probably.
I digress. I'm still figuring out why Tommy the Clown looked shocked after Kendrick said what he said at the door and why he stepped away from the record player with his hands up a little later in the video. Is the camera supposed to symbolize Drake's eyes on everything? Or Kendrick's? Or is Kendrick and the amazing dancers facing Tommy and the record player set up? I must add that when Kendrick flips the bird the next shot is the one above. The latter question makes more sense. 12 people facing Tommy the Clown, operating a simple digital record player with no record that looks like an owl or a person (whatever you may interpret it) is interesting. Does 12 people represent a potential "jury"? Possibly. Very cheeky of Dot, btw, if that is the case. Drake on trial, figuratively.
I won't go into much detail here because this is one of the quickest edits/shots of the entire video and is one of the most controversial. I will say this: Dot and Free is clearly doing a familiar "handshake" that OVO does. Now, what led up to this rapid-fire series of edits is Dave, who is seen on a cell phone with a jacket over his forearm and a young lady next to him (who resembles one of the dancers). "Business" is being conducted, shall we say, with a deal being closed with Dot, wearing a suit, is now on the phone. I'm assuming the "handshake" is really, allegedly, some OVO "mafia" type shit that Drake may think he originated. When I see the OVO handshake or the "OK" sign, it makes me think of white supremist’. (I will come back to this in a later blog)
When the family appears, the way the camera changes is interesting. It looks as if someone is watching them. My thoughts on this are I think this is supposed to be Drake watching Dot with his family enjoying themselves, living their life... and subsequently celebrating and dancing over his "grave".
Drake supposedly thinks he knows K-Dot and his life when he doesn't at all. Super dope for Whitney to get her lick back, though. But, let's face it, Drake comes off like he wants to know more about Dot's life. A bit "Peep Freakish" if you think about it...
Near the end of the video Kendrick is seen with 3 clear reflections of himself. I liken it to him seeing himself (and he said it on the song, "Like That") as the number 1 MC in the rap game thus far, the G.O.A.T...and "Big Me". No more Cole or Drake on that list.
One Last Thing
"Girls Don't Cry". Just like some things I pointed out I haven't seen yet mentioned, this is also one of them. I'm going to be careful with this one. I remember listening to a “live” of a content creator and one of the members commented about the tattoos saying some were fake and the rest were real. I never forgot that. So, I fixated on the "Girls Don't Cry" one (I won't touch the '444' one) because I know I saw the design before. (I have no idea if the tattoos are fake, btw)
The design. Now... fast forward a few months later I decided to finally research this and this may be the most well-hidden piece so far.
When you search for this phrase, you will see t-shirts with this phrase printed on them with this exact design. Verdy, a Japanese designer, is the owner/creator. He isn't the point of this but once you click on the link (which is very obvious, as you will see girlsdon'tcry.shop link) you will see a word that stands out as it stood out for me which was Harajuku.
This made me think immediately of "Tanea", a lady who, allegedly, was invited to one of Diddy's "parties" and stated she saw younger females dressed as Harajuku girls on a program (I don't need to explain in detail what I mean by "younger females". Watch the interview on YouTube) who was interviewed on a YouTube program called "Soft White Underbelly", which the interviewer speaks to different people with different and relatable issues and problems, ranging from mental, abuse, drug abuse, etc. The initial interview with Tanea was in 2022. The next one that mentioned the Harajuku girls was in October 2024.
I feel only a few people would know what that tattoo REALLY meant, and Dot made sure this was in full view. This message was loud and clear, and Dot may know some things about Drake. Some may wonder what does this have to do with the Boy?
Well, since Drake had partied and had been at Diddy parties (assumedly, as well as Dennis Graham), allegedly, he could have known and been in the presence of young people who shouldn't have been there in the first place. With that being said...
FInal Thoughts
Diddy's trial starts on 5/5/2025. There will be A LOT of revelations, and it won't be pretty. Drake must know this. I also think this is why of all the songs released in the beef, NLU needs to go, according to the Boy. In fact, if Drake gets his way, all of those songs he would make sure they are banished because they reveal way more than some of us even realize, allegedly (and some of us have already) and he's stressed and stressing over it.
Oh well. Don't be a bully and there won’t be any problems.
Some of these findings may be something or maybe nothing. They were on my mind, and they feel like they fit somewhere in the jigsaw puzzle that is this "beef". The real ones must know by now it is bigger than a rap beef. If you know, you know. I'll leave at that.
"Not Like Us" music video is one of the greatest music videos created for a rap battle, layered and, not only catered only to the Boy but for our people, who continue to forget who they are and prioritize money, attention and status over education, mental health and strength, empathy and culture.
Disclaimer: (Um, oh yeah, so these are my thoughts and opinions, and these thoughts and opinions are ALLEGED so, if you think this weighs more than 300lbs, I can't hold you.)
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