Kendrick Lamar‘s multiple Drake disses have secured spots on to the 2025 Grammys ballot, though there was one surprising track left off the list.
Ahead of the official nominations being announced on November 8, The Hollywood Reporter has unveiled some of the choices that The Academy will be voting on to make the final cut.
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K.dot appears a whopping 10 times, often twice in the same category for both “Not Like Us” and his appearance on Metro Boomin and Future’s “Like That.”
Both songs appear on the ballot for Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year, Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song. “Not Like Us” is also on the ballot for Best Music Video and Best Arrangement, though the latter award would go to the arrangers and not Kendrick himself.
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Many were expecting “Euphoria” to be submitted for at least one award, namely Best Rap Performance. Kendrick’s longtime producer Sounwave even once indicated that “Euphoria” would be considered for the Grammys in a recent social media post, but it looks like his team decided not to submit it.
In related news, Kendrick Lamar recently broke down is definition of “not like us” in his first interview since defeating Drizzy in their long-simmering feud that erupted this past summer.
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The Los Angeles native spoke to friend and former TDE labelmate SZA for Harper’s Bazaar magazine, whose November issue he covers.
Although the conversation focused more on spirituality and vulnerability than rap beef, the SOS singer did ask the Compton native what “Not Like Us” means to him.
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“Not like us? Not like us is the energy of who I am, the type of man I represent. Now, if you identify with the man that I represent,” Kendrick replied.
“This man has morals, he has values, he believes in something, he stands on something. He’s not pandering. He’s a man who can recognize his mistakes and not be afraid to share the mistakes and can dig deep down into fear-based ideologies or experiences to be able to express them without feeling like he’s less of a man.”
He added: “If I’m thinking of ‘Not Like Us,’ I’m thinking of me and whoever identifies with that.”
SZA then asked Kendrick how he makes such combative songs considering he is not an angry person.
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“I don’t believe I’m an angry person. But I do believe in love and war, and I believe they both need to exist,” he explained.
“And my awareness of that allows me to react to things but not identify with them as who I am. Just allowing them to exist and allowing them to flow through me. That’s what I believe.”