Dr. Dre Recounts Supporting Kendrick Lamar After Hearing Drake’s Negative Remarks About His Family

Dr. Dre Talks About Kendrick Lamar

Dr. Dre publicly spoke about the “not such” Kendrick Lamar “not so us” – look that he mentioned below.

Kendrick Lamar’s Performance and Support from Dre

Last year, during the heated rivalry between Drake and Kendrick Lamar, the latter made a significant move with “not like us”, which earned several Grammy nominations, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

In June last year, Kendrick Lamar hosted a one-night concert titled “The Pop Out” in Los Angeles, featuring numerous special guests. During the event, he performed nearly every track released amid his dispute with Drake. At the concert’s conclusion, Dr. Dre joined him on stage for performances of “Still Dre” and “California Love” before introducing Lamar’s “Not Like Us”, which included the iconic whisper of “PSST, I see dead people.” Kendrick then went on to perform the song an incredible five times.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qapzcrqhvi

Dr. Dre has also been a mentor to Kendrick Lamar, supporting the rapper since 2011 through Aftermath and Interscope. Recently, he appeared on the debut episode of Unusual Suspects with Kenya Barris and Malcolm Gladwell, discussing Kendrick’s concert.

During the conversation, Dre expressed that, although he typically refrains from participating in rap biographies or taking sides, he felt compelled to stand by his protege after Drake made disparaging remarks about Kendrick’s family.

Dre shared with Barris and Gladwell: “I love this record. I say this on camera. I don’t want to be negative. I’m all about being positive and moving forward, but hearing Drake say something negative about Kendrick’s wife and children made me say: ‘Ah, adios!’”

On February 9, Kendrick is set to perform during the halftime show of the 2025 Super Bowl. As of now, he has only confirmed SZA as a special guest, although a appearance from Dre is anticipated. This marks the second time they will perform together for a halftime show, following Kendrick’s appearance during Dre’s headline spot in 2022.

“Not Like Us” was crowned by NME as the second-best song of 2024. Fred Garratte Stanley noted: “Not Like Us” is densely packed with intellectual, intensely studied character kills, encapsulated in a fierce, rapidly evolving DJ club hit. While its savage, indicting words made headlines, it also provided a profound dissection of Lamar Drake as “Colonizer“, emphasizing his raw talent.”