Kendrick videos briefly removed, reuploaded

Kendrick Lamar’s YouTube page turned into a mini mystery this week. “Not Like Us” and “luther” disappeared, then came back a few hours later. That sounds small, but these are two of his biggest recent videos — and the timing landed right in the middle of Drake’s Iceman rollout, which is set for May 15. So the internet did what it always does — it treated a platform hiccup like a possible new chapter in a rap war. ### What actually disappeared? The two missing videos were the official uploads for “Not Like Us” and “luther” on Kendrick Lamar’s YouTube channel. While they were down, some users saw YouTube’s “removed by uploader” message, which matters because that points people toward an intentional takedown, not just a broken link. (thesource.com) ### How long were they gone? Not very long. Reports from May 11 and May 12 describe the videos disappearing and then returning the same day, with fans tracking the whole thing in real time through screenshots and reposts. The short window is part of why nobody has a clean explanation — there wasn’t enough time for a formal statement before the videos were back. (thesource.com) ### Why did people fixate on “Not Like Us”? Because “Not Like Us” is not just another Kendrick single. It’s the diss record that became the loudest symbol of the Drake feud, and one report said the video had accumulated nearly 500 million views before the disruption. When a video that big vanishes, even briefly, people assume it means something. (tmz.com) ### What changed when the videos came back? At first, fans noticed what looked like new uploads with view counts reset to zero. That was the big visual tell. One report also said observers spotted a description change on “Not Like Us,” with a copyright line reading “© 2024 Kendrick Lamar” and no Interscope mention. Later, the original versions appeared to be restored. Basically, the whole thing looked messy rather than neatly planned. (thesource.com) ### Was it only YouTube? No — and that’s why the story got bigger. Around the same time, Kendrick’s 2024 album GNX briefly disappeared from Apple Music and TIDAL, and “euphoria” was also reported missing on some services before returning. Once the removals spread across both video and streaming platforms, fans stopped treating it like a random upload error and started reading it as a catalog or rights issue. (thesource.com) ### So was this a Drake move? There’s no evidence for that. The timing — days before Drake’s May 15 Iceman release — made the theory irresistible, but none of the reports surfaced confirmation from Kendrick’s camp, Drake’s team, YouTube, or the labels. That leaves three boring possibilities still on the table: a technical glitch, a metadata cleanup, or some temporary licensing adjustment. (thesource.com) ### Why does the reset matter so much? Because on YouTube, the upload itself is part of the asset. Views, comments, embeds, and search history all become social proof. If a giant video gets reuploaded from scratch, it looks like someone deliberately wiped the scoreboard. That’s why fans were staring at the counters — not because view totals are everything, but because a reset feels like a clue. (thesource.com) ### What’s the bottom line? The real news is simple: Kendrick’s “Not Like Us” and “luther” briefly disappeared from YouTube, then returned, while GNX also flickered off some streaming platforms. The bigger story is the vacuum around it. No one has explained the removals, so a short-lived platform disruption has been absorbed into the larger Drake-Kendrick saga — whether it belongs there or not. (thesource.com)