Today (July 15), “Not Like Us” reclaimed the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100. It marked Kendrick Lamar’s first record to sit atop the chart for multiple weeks, albeit not continuously.
According to the publication, the track saw a 20 percent increase in streams at 53.8 million and a 16 percent uptick in sales at 8,000 copies from July 5 to 11. “Not Like Us” initially came out in May as a part of the Compton MC’s fiery back-and-forth with Drake.
In addition to the chorus, lines like “And Baka got a weird case, why is he around? / Certified Lover Boy? Certified pedophile” and “Why you trollin’ like a b**ch? Ain’t you tired? / Tryna strike a chord and it’s probably A minor” reigned the internet. The Toronto native hit back at the allegations on “THE HEART PART 6,” which admittedly didn’t fare as well as its preceding releases.
The reason for “Not Like Us” returning to the No. 1 position on the Hot 100 can largely be attributed to Lamar’s Juneteenth concert, “The Pop Out — Ken and Friends,” and the song’s accompanying visuals, which debuted on July 4.
The video boasted cameos from Punch, Ab-Soul, Tommy the Clown, YG, Roddy Ricch and Mustard. The last-mentioned artist lent production to the smash hit.
“I heard the song when everyone else heard it. I never heard it before. I wasn’t in the studio with him,” Mustard told Billboard. “When I was making it, in the back of my head, [I was thinking], ‘What would Dr. Dre do if Lil Jon was in the studio and they [were] collabing on a beat?’”
Lamar’s first No. 1 of 2024 came from “Like That,” a collaboration with Metro Boomin and Future. His previous chart-toppers include “HUMBLE.” and Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood (Remix),” in 2017 and 2015, respectively.