"Cinematography dissing" — Fans react to "Dark Lane” Drake lookalike being pulled into darkness in Kendrick Lamar's Not Like Us MV

Kendrick Lamar released the music video for his diss track Not Like Us on July 5, 2024. Directed by the rapper alongside Dave Free, co-founder of Lamar's creative communications company PGLang, the lyrics of the diss track make a direct reference to Drake.

Throughout the music video, there are multiple instances of Kendrick dissing Drizzy. One such is a monochromatic frame where K-Dot stands still while Drake's lookalike from his 2020 Dark Lane album approaches the rapper from behind. But he gets whisked away and drawn into the darkness.

Drake's Dark Lane album cover featured the rapper with only his eyes showing through a black outfit covering his face. The same outfit, along with the second part of the Family Matters video, was seemingly recreated in Lamar's Not Like Us music video, which garnered a lot of attention online.

Explaining the Dark Lane reference, a netizen wrote on X (formerly Twitter),

"Not only did they recreate the second part of the Family Matters video in this shot, he had Dark Lane Demo Drake sneak behind him and get blasted away 😂😂 Cinematography dissing >>>"

"WHY IS NO ONE TALKING ABOUT THE “DARK LANE” DRAKE LOOK ALIKE BEING PULLED INTO THE DARKNESS WHILE KENDRICK WAS CHILLIN with the spirit of COMPTON" an X user tweeted.

"Whew. I ain’t never seen this level of hatred in music in my life my gawd." another X user tweeted.

Additionally, fans also praised the direction of the music video.

"This is unprecedented. Diss records being taken to new heights. New levels of hatredd being unlocked. I love it" a fan tweeted.

"Him and Dave Free are too good when it comes to directing" another fan tweeted.

"Can't Toosie Slide your way outta this one" a fan made a reference to a track from Drake's Dark Lane album

"the goat for a reason" a fan tweeted praising Kendrick.

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Kendrick Lamar dances with fiance and kids in Not Like Us music video

Kendrick Lamar's diss track Not Like Us, originally released on May 4, 2024, takes shots at Drizzy's record label OVO, references s*xual allegations against Drake, and also talks about the Canadian rapper's authenticity as a rapper. The track has garnered a lot of traction since its release, and Lamar recently performed the track six times at The Pop Out: Ken & Friends on June 19, 2024.

The newly released Not Like Us music video begins with Kendrick Lamar doing push-ups, which is a reference to Drake's track Push Ups. Additionally, the video also takes digs at Drake's label OVO by including multiple owl shots that allude to the label's logo.

The bird is seen resting on Kendrick Lamar's arm, in a cage, and in a still, one can see an owl piñata with a disclaimer on the screen stating:

“no OVH*es were harmed during the making of this video.”

The Not Like Us music video also featured Lamar's partner, Whitney Alford, along with the duo's two children. This was a reference and response to Drake's track Family Matters, wherein Drizzy made domestic violence allegations against Lamar and also claimed that Dave Free was the father of one of Lamar's children.

However, the newly released music video puts the allegations to rest and features Whitney Alford, Lamar, and their children dancing together.

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Kendrick Lamar's music video also features DJ Mustard, NBA star DeMar DeRozan, and Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith. Fans have constantly been sharing their observations and the Drake references they spot in the newly released music video.