Famed music producer and record label executive, Dr. Dre has publicly spoken about Kendrick Lamar‘s ‘Not Like Us’ for the first time, revealing why he sided with Lamar over Drake.
Last year, during the heated rivalry between Drake and Kendrick Lamar, the latter delivered his final blow in the form of the chart-topping ‘Not Like Us’, which has gone on to be nominated for several Grammys including Record of The Year and Song of The Year.
In June last year, Kendrick Lamar hosted the one-night-only concert, ‘The Pop Out’ in Los Angeles, which featured a myriad of special guests. During the show, he performed nearly every song he released during his beef with Drake.
To end the concert, Dr Dre rolled up onstage to perform bits of ‘Still D.R.E’ and ‘California Love’, before introducing Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’, delivering the now-iconic whispered opener “Pssst, I see dead people”. Kendrick would then go on to perform the song a whopping five times.
Dr Dre has also famously been a mentor figure to Kendrick Lamar, singing the ‘HUMBLE.’ rapper to Aftermath and Interscope in 2011. The legendary rapper-producer recently joined the debut episode of The Unusual Suspects With Kenya Barris and Malcolm Gladwell, where they spoke about Kendrick’s ‘Pop Out’ concert.
During the conversation, Dre took the opportunity to share that while he doesn’t like getting involved in rap beefs or taking sides, he felt the need to show his support for his protege after Drake started taking shots at Kendrick’s family.
Dre told Barris and Gladwell: “I love that record. I’ma say this on camera. I don’t want to get negative. My whole shit is about being positive and moving forward and all that shit, but the fact I heard Drake say something negative about Kendrick’s wife and his kids, that made me say, ‘Ah, adios!’”
Dr. Dre says Drake made a mistake speaking on Kendrick Lamar’s family & he loves ‘Not Like Us’
“I love the record… but the fact I heard Drake say something negative about Kendrick’s wife & his kids, that made me say, ‘Ah, adios!’”
“That was a big mistake.” pic.twitter.com/ho89CktsOk
— NFR Podcast (@nfr_podcast) January 30, 2025
Kendrick will headline the 2025 Super Bowl Halftime Show on February 9. So far, the rapper has only confirmed SZA as a special guest performer, though it might be possible for Dre to make an appearance.
It would mark the second time the two of them play the Halftime Show together after Kendrick was a guest performer for Dre’s headlining slot in 2022.
‘Not Like Us’ was crowned NME’s second Best Song of 2024, with Fred Garratt-Stanley writing: “‘Not Like Us’ packaged intelligent, intensely researched character assassinations into a fierce, booming DJ Mustard-produced club hit. Though his savage, accusatory wordplay grabbed the headlines, it was Lamar’s dissection of Drake as a “coloniser” that truly underlined his pure vitriol