"Off one song" — Internet divided as Kendrick Lamar becomes the rapper with the 2nd most monthly Spotify listeners, surpassing Drake

Kendrick Lamar reportedly surpassed Drake and became the rapper with the second-most monthly Spotify listeners. The news was reported on Tuesday, July 16, 2024, when NFR Podcast shared a tweet with a side-by-side comparison.

Per their tweet, Lamar boasts 74,115,665 monthly listeners while Drizzy has 74,086,033. While the difference is less than 30,000 listeners, the update left some netizens divided.

Many believed Kendrick Lamar surpassed Drake thanks to his diss track, Not Like Us. The song received widespread acclaim both critically and commercially, even breaking several Spotify records.

"Off one song. Let’s talk about them albums though and how none of Dot albums have surpassed drake’s because no one gives af if it’s not 'Not Like Us,' an X user said.

A comment reacting to the news (Image via X/ @DailyRapFacts)

Individuals also claimed that Spotify was being biased and "constantly promoting Kendrick." Some even suggested that Kendrick Lamar wouldn't be able to retain his position on streaming charts in the long run.

"And Spotify is constantly promoting Kendrick. They have bias. Streams from every source Drake is the most streamed. Add Apple Music, Tidal, Pandora and others. Kendrick is behind,"a fan argued.

"Cole was right 'if he wasn’t dissin then we wouldn’t be discussin him.' He never disses Drake, he wouldn’t be in this spot. Kdot won the battle, but just saying,"wrote one individual.

"See how long this keeps up lol," another user added.

However, many also praised K. Dot's music, adding that he surpassed Drizzy despite the latter releasing new music after their beef.

"Kinda crazy since Drake has been releasing new music after the beef," a fan pointed out.

"once kendrick drops the album he'll be even higher," a fan added.

"It was bound to happen with the trajectory he’s been heading in the last few months," an individual wrote.

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Kendrick Lamar's Not Like Us beat Drake's previous record for the biggest single-day streams on Spotify

The feud between the two rappers reached a peak earlier this year, with both artists dropping diss tracks aimed at each other. This included Drake's Family Matters and The Heart Part 6 and Lamar's Euphoria and Meet the Grahams.

While the beef calmed down by early May, many believe Kendrick Lamar won the battle with his song, Not Like Us. In his song, he accused the Toronto-born rapper of allegedly exploiting Atlanta's hip-hop scene and culture for monetary gain.

The track debuted atop the Billboard Hot 100 Chart and then spent eight weeks in the top 10. It also topped Billboard's Hot Rap Songs for nine weeks.

On July 4, Kendrick Lamar released a video for the hit track on YouTube, and it has 60 million views as of this writing.

The track broke several streaming records on Spotify, many of which were previously held by Drake. As per ChartData, the song holds the record for the biggest single-day streams of a hip-hop song on Spotify in the US, surpassing Girls Like Girls by Drake and Lil Baby. It also became the fastest rap song on Spotify to reach 100 million streams (in 9 days).

While Kendrick Lamar currently has 74,115,665 monthly listeners and Drake has 74,086,033, Eminem, who has 84,162,305 monthly listeners on Spotify, ranks in first place.

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Neither Kendrick Lamar nor Drake have reacted to the news as of this writing.