US Vice President Kamala Harris referenced Kendrick Lamar’s sensational diss track “Not Like Us” in a recorded campaign video shown at the BET Awards last night.
In the video, Harris chats with the show’s host, Taraji P Henson, quoting the song, which was released at the height of Lamar’s ongoing feud with “Hotline Bling” artist Drake.
“The majority of us believe in freedom and equality, but these extremists, as they say, don’t like us,” Harris said before looking into the camera.
The quote “They don’t like us” is a reference to Lamar’s hit, which was the last song in a series of releases by the two rappers.
Due to the commercial success of “Not Like Us,” rap fans unofficially crowned Lamar the winner of the ongoing rivalry between the two, and the song shot to number one on the Billboard Top 100.
After alluding to Lamar’s song, Harris struck a more serious tone before commenting on the upcoming election: “There is a full-scale attack on our fundamental freedoms, the freedom to vote.”
“The freedom to love who you love. The freedom to be safe from gun violence.”
“The freedom for a woman to make decisions about her own body without her government telling her what to do,” she told the camera.
After Harris’ conversation with Henson, The color purple The star then delivered her own parody of Lamar’s hit.
Henson called for unity at the BET Awards, rapping “This is about us, this is about us” instead of Lamar’s original line “They don’t like us.”
“DRAKE TURN OFF THE TV,” one user wrote of the parody on X/Twitter. “Drake can’t even watch the BET Awards in peace,” another added.
In May, Drake and Lamar clashed and hurled accusations at each other during several songs. Drake’s bombshells ranged from accusations that Lamar was domestically abusive to claims that Lamar’s children were actually the children of his manager, Dave Free.
Lamar’s allegations focused on Drake’s behavior toward young women. He called him a “certified pedophile” and compared him to Harvey Weinstein. He also claimed that Drake was hiding a secret daughter.
Drake vehemently denied all allegations and stated that he gave Lamar false information for his diss recordings.
