Was Kendrick Lamar's Grammys Canadian tuxedo a nod to Drake?
Did K-Dot bring politics to the awards?
Words: Zak Maoui
At last night's Grammy Awards Kendrick Lamar came out as the biggest winner, scooping hardware for Record of The Year and Song Of The Year, while he also took home the Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song gongs, and a further award for Best Music Video. His big wins were all for his single "Not Like Us", which was released in July 2024, and was a diss track towards Drake, with whom he has been beefing for the past year.
The Lamar-Drake high magnitude dispute was made public in early 2024, after what appeared to be years of friendship as the duo had collaborated on each other’s records during the early stages of their careers. Appearing on Future and Metro Boomin’s We Don’t Trust You album, Lamar spat daggers at Drake, which resulted in retaliation diss tracks from the rapper, such as “Taylor Made Freestyle".
A back and forth of expletive-laden tracks led to Lamar eventually topping the Billboard 100 in July with the now five time Grammy Award-winning "Not Like Us". The music video followed, and featured an owl piñata and an owl locked in a cage - both shots in Drake's direction (he has used the owl symbol since the early years of his career). Drake has since filed a defamation lawsuit against the Universal Music Group for Kendrick’s “Not Like Us”.
Simply put, the duo don't get on, and it has accumulated in a constant back-and-forth of bar spitting.
And it seems that Lamar, who next weekend will be filling the Super Bowl Halftime Show slot for a second time and had the likes of Taylor Swift and Beyoncé on their feet as he accepted award after award (and performed), isn't backing down.
While he didn't mention the back-and-forth dispute, he seemingly made a dig at his fellow rapper by wearing a double denim outfit. Now you might be wondering how on earth a pair of jeans and a matching denim jacket could in any way be shaped as an insult to Drake, but hear us out...
Lamar opted to wear a Canadian tuxedo (a term that originates from 1951 after singer Bing Crosby was denied entry to a hotel in Vancouver for wearing denim). Where's Drake from? Toronto, Canada. Lamar chose to wear a get up named after Drake's home country to scoop the most awards of the night, for a song and video that is aimed at his nemesis.
Adds up, right? Sporting denim on denim, Lamar seemingly only sharpened his blade.
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