TORONTO — Kendrick Lamar is jumping into another round of the Drake diss battle.
The Compton, Calif., native marked U.S. Independence Day by unleashing his music video for "Not Like Us," the latest chapter in his pointed takedown of the Toronto rapper.
The video has Lamar throwing further metaphorical punches at Drake and leaning heavily into owl motifs, a reference to Drake's circle of friends and their fashion brand October's Very Own.
One of the most prominent scenes features Lamar smashing a piñata shaped like an owl, and the video nears its close as Lamar lingers in front of a birdcage with a live owl locked inside.
Other nods see Lamar directly referencing past Drake visuals.
At one point, he raps in a dimly lit room that evokes a scene from Drake's "Family Matters" music video. An anonymous figure approaches from behind, dressed in a balaclava similar to how Drake looks in the "Toosie Slide" video.
Lamar's video also makes several pokes at Toronto with the help of notable California names.
There's an appearance by former Toronto Raptors all-star DeMar DeRozan — who was traded for Kawhi Leonard in 2018 from the team where Drake serves as the global ambassador.
The basketball player shakes hands with Lamar in an apparent swap of allegiances after years of being considered one of Drake's friends. His appearance comes during the line: "I'm glad DeRoz' came home, y'all didn't deserve him neither."
Meanwhile, "Not Like Us" producer Mustard, born Dijon McFarlane, sports a Toronto Blue Jays cap in a more subtle jab at the city.
Lamar's video also attempts to dispel some of the claims Drake piled into various diss tracks in the late spring.
"Not Like Us" is co-directed by Dave Free, a music video creator who Drake once suggested could be the father of one or both of Lamar's children. Their partnership on this project, and Free's appearance in the video, suggests there's no bad blood between them.
Whitney Alford, Lamar's partner and mother of his children, also shows up in a clear refute of Drake's lyrics that suggested their relationship had fallen apart.
All of this comes after the long-simmering feud between the hip-hop superstars reached a boiling point this spring as the pair traded increasingly personal insults on a succession of diss tracks.
In May, a security guard outside Drake's Toronto home was seriously injured in an overnight shooting, while police investigated other trespassing incidents in the days that followed.
Although police did not link the shooting to the musical spat, both rappers scaled back on their attacks for several weeks, with the popular consensus suggesting that Lamar was the victor.
Lamar then took a victory lap on June 19 — the Juneteenth holiday to commemorate the emancipation of enslaved people in the U.S. — by holding a three-hour concert in Los Angeles.
The show, packed with 17,000 fans and appearances by an array of fellow hip-hop stars, saw Lamar perform "Not Like Us" no fewer than four times.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 5, 2024.
David Friend, The Canadian Press
