Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” became the de facto song of 2024 when dropped in May, and now it’s a Grammy Award winner.
The diss track aimed at rapper Drake topped the Billboard singles charts and crowned Lamar as the victor of the long-simmering beef between the two artists. Lamar is a double Grammy nominee in two categories thanks to another song that fueled the feud: “Like That” by Future and Metro Boomin, which features Lamar. Through his verse in the March track, Lamar rejected the idea that he, Drake and J. Cole were on the same level. Cole had implied this in a verse in Drake’s 2023 song “First Person Shooter.”
Lamar was nominated for five awards for “Not Like Us”: record of the year, song of the year, rap song, rap performance and music video.
During the Grammys Premiere Ceremony Sunday afternoon, the song picked up awards for rap song, rap performance and music video.
Lamar and “Not Like Us” took home the award for rap song, besting several artists, including himself. He also was nominated for his collaboration with Future and Metro Boomin for “Like That.” GloRilla, Rapsody with Hit-Boy, Kanye West and Ty Dolla Sign under the artist name ¥$, and Rich the Kid with Playboi Carti were also nominated.
Lamar beat Eminem, Common, Pete Rock and Posdnuos to win the Grammy for rap performance. Lamar was also nominated alongside his collaborators Future and Metro Boomin for “Like That.” Eminem was nominated for “Houdini”; Common, Pete Rock and Posdnuos were nominated for “When the Sun Shines Again”; Cardi B was nominated for “Enough (Miami)”; and newcomers GloRilla and Doechii were nominated for “Yeah Glo!” and “Nissan Altima,” respectively.
For the video he shot in his hometown of Compton, Lamar took home the Grammy for music video. Fellow rappers Eminem and ASAP Rocky were nominated for “Houdini” and “Tailor Swif.” And Taylor Swift herself was also nominated, as was Charli XCX, for “Fortnight” and “360,” respectively.
Before Sunday, Lamar already had 17 Grammys. The artist is gearing up for his performance at the Super Bowl halftime show in just one short week. Although it’s unclear whether he’ll be performing “Not Like Us” on the field, his Juneteenth show at the Kia Forum might be some indication: He performed it there six times in a row to raucous applause.