Kendrick Lamar earns first UK number one with Drake diss Not Like Us

BBC News

21-02-2025

Nine months after it was originally released, Kendrick Lamar's Not Like Us has earned the rapper his first number one single in the UK.The song's popularity was boosted by Lamar's record-breaking Super Bowl half-time show earlier this month, in which the track was one of the set's biggest talking points.Not Like Us, the diss track that became the knockout blow in his feud with fellow rapper Drake, was streamed 6.4 million times in the UK in the last week. Luther and All The Stars, Kendrick's collaborations with SZA, have both also re-entered the top five.Drake has also made his way into the official charts this week, with three songs from his joint album with PARTYNEXTDOOR, $ome $exy $ongs 4 U, entering the top 40.
The album itself, which was released on Valentine's Day, sits at number three in this week's UK album chart.
Kendrick still appears to have the upper hand over Drake in the US charts, with Not Like Us and Luther at numbers one and two respectively.Earlier this week, Kendrick made history by becoming the first rapper to have three albums in the Billboard top 10.His latest release GNX climbed from number four to number one, 2017's DAMN. is at nine, and 2021's good kid, m.A.A.d city reached number 10.Kendrick's rise to chart domination came after his Super Bowl performance was the most-watched halftime show ever with 133.5 million viewers, according to the NFL.The Los Angeles native also won five Grammys earlier this month, including record and song of the year for Not Like Us.His difficult relationship with Drake is set to continue as Drake is currently suing the pair's record label Universal for for defamation and harassment over Not Like Us.
Elsewhere in the UK charts, Messy by Lola Young has been knocked off the singles top spot and now sits in second place, with Chappell Roan's Pink Pony Club climbing to third.Sabrina Carpenter's Short N' Sweet has returned to the top of the albums chart, boosted by the release of a new deluxe edition including a collaboration with Dolly Parton.The Manic Street Preachers' Critical Thinking entered at number two, making it their 15th top 10 album.There has also been success for London singer-songwriter Louis Dunford, whose debut album Be Lucky has charted at number eight.Dunford, who is best known for his song The Angel (North London Forever), which has been adopted by Arsenal football club, said he was "absolutely buzzing"."I never dreamed of getting into the top 10, thank you so much for all the support," he added.