Kendrick reuploads 'Not Like Us'

Kendrick Lamar didn’t drop a new diss. He did something weirder — and maybe smarter. On Monday, May 11, the official “Not Like Us” video vanished from his YouTube channel, then came back as a new upload with the old view total gone. “Luther” got the same treatment, and for a stretch even *GNX* disappeared from Apple Music before returning. All of that happened right as Drake heads into the final days of his *ICEMAN* rollout for a May 15 release. ### What actually changed on Kendrick’s pages? The concrete move is simple. Fans noticed “Not Like Us” was no longer available on Kendrick’s official YouTube page on May 11, then saw it reappear as a fresh upload rather than the original video page. Complex also noted that “luther” was reuploaded around the same time, which reset those videos’ visible counts, while “Squabble Up” stayed up with its original count intact. (complex.com) ### Why are people so fixated on the view count? Because “Not Like Us” wasn’t just any video. The original official upload was sitting at about 467.98 million views when it was last cached, so replacing it means erasing a giant public scoreboard number that had become part of the song’s mythology. In rap beefs, numbers are never just numbers — they’re evidence, trophies, and bait all at once. ### Was it only YouTube? (complex.com) No — and that’s why this got stranger fast. *GNX* briefly vanished from Apple Music on May 11, stayed available on Spotify, and was unavailable on Tidal for at least part of the day. Complex also noted that “Euphoria” briefly disappeared from services before returning. That wider pattern makes this look less like one random broken link and more like some kind of coordinated backend change, rights cleanup, or deliberate reset. That last part is inference — but it fits the cross-platform pattern. (youtube.com) ### So was this a stunt? Maybe, but nobody credible has publicly explained it yet. Kendrick’s camp hadn’t given a reason when outlets checked, and Apple Music hadn’t clarified the *GNX* disappearance either. The catch is that silence makes every explanation feel plausible — technical issue, catalog maintenance, metadata swap, or a very intentional piece of timing theater. (complex.com) ### Why does Drake matter here? Because the calendar makes the move impossible to separate from him. Drake’s final *ICEMAN* livestream episode is set for May 14, and the album is scheduled to arrive at midnight on May 15. So Kendrick’s most famous Drake diss suddenly getting reset this week reads, at minimum, like a reminder flare shot into the sky before Drake’s release window. (complex.com) ### Why “Not Like Us” specifically? Because that song is the center of gravity in the Kendrick-Drake feud. It’s the diss that escaped rap discourse and became a mass-culture event — the one with the biggest visual footprint, the biggest chant-along energy, and the clearest public win in the streaming era. Reuploading *that* video doesn’t just revive a song. It revives the whole storyline. ### Does a reupload help or hurt? (thesource.com) Short term, it hurts the visible stats because the giant number disappears. But it can also create a second wave of attention. Fans rush back, screenshots spread, and the platform itself becomes part of the plot. Basically, the missing views become the marketing. ### Bottom line? Even if this turns out to be a boring catalog-management issue, it landed like a message. (youtube.com) Kendrick’s biggest Drake record got pulled, reset, and put back into circulation four days before *ICEMAN*. In a rap rivalry where timing is half the art, that’s enough to make the week feel competitive again. (complex.com)