(Toronto) Kendrick Lamar is getting into another battle with Drake.
The Compton, California native marked American Independence Day by releasing a music video for his song Not Like Usthe final chapter of his critique of the Toronto rapper.
In the video, Lamar throws more jabs at Drake and leans heavily on owl motifs, a reference to Drake’s circle of friends and their fashion brand October’s Very Own (OVO).
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One of the most striking scenes shows Lamar crushing an owl-shaped piñata. In another, Lamar lingers in front of a birdcage with a live owl trapped inside.
Lamar also directly references Drake’s past visuals. At one point, he raps in a dimly lit room that evokes a scene from the music video Family Matters Drake. An anonymous figure approaches from behind, wearing a balaclava similar to the one Drake wears in the video Toosie Slide.
Lamar’s video also makes several nods to the city of Toronto. There’s an appearance by former Raptors star DeMar DeRozan, who was traded for Kawhi Leonard in 2018 by the team Drake is a global ambassador for.
DeRozan shakes Lamar’s hand in an apparent exchange of allegiance after years of being considered one of Drake’s friends. His appearance comes during the line: “I’m glad ‘DeRoz’ came home, you didn’t deserve it.”
Meanwhile, Mustard, producer of Not Like Ussports a Toronto Blue Jays cap in a more subtle attack on the city.
Lamar’s video also attempts to dispel some of the claims Drake has piled up in recent months.
Not Like Us is co-directed by Dave Free. According to Drake, he may be the father of one or both of Lamar’s children. Their partnership on this project and Free’s appearance in the video suggest that there is no bad blood between them.
Whitney Alford, Lamar’s partner and the mother of his children, also appears in a clear rebuttal to Drake’s lyrics that suggested their relationship had fallen apart.
This all comes after the long-running feud between the two hip-hop powerhouses came to a head this spring, with the two men trading increasingly personal insults in their songs.
In May, a security guard outside Drake’s Toronto home was seriously injured in a late-night shooting, while police investigated other trespassing incidents in the days that followed.
Although police have not linked the shooting to the musical dispute, the two rappers have been on a downward spiral for several weeks, with popular consensus suggesting that Lamar was the victor.
Lamar held a three-hour concert in Los Angeles on June 19, a holiday that commemorates the emancipation of slaves in the United States. During the show, Lamar performed Not Like Us no less than four times.