Will Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’ Become the First Diss Track to Win Big at the Grammys?

variety.com:

Steven J. Horowitz Senior Music Writer Among the glut of diss tracks lobbed between Kendrick Lamar and Drake earlier this year, one reigned truly victorious: Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” which swiftly became an inescapable summer smash after it dropped in May.

Since its release, the anthem has gone from a scathing shakedown to a hip-hop rallying cry, earning Lamar his first-ever No.

1 solo single on the Billboard Hot 100 and topping the Hot Rap Songs tally for 14 weeks. But just as swiftly as “Not Like Us” emerged as a commercial juggernaut came questions about its viability as a 2025 Grammy Awards contender: Could a diss record with accusations of pedophilia compete with less-pointed potential candidates? “I think the voting members of the academy appreciate greatness,” Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr.

told TMZ a month after the release of “Not Like Us.” “They appreciate what’s hot, what’s going on. That’s a relevant record that’s impacting on so many levels.