Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’ could be the next great sports anthem

On an early May evening, Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Gavin Lux made his way to the batter’s box in the third inning against the Florida Marlins as rapper Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” blasted from the speakers. As walk-up music goes, the acclaimed Compton, California, lyricist’s KO of Drake — which was punctuated by a deeply personal battle — was eyebrow-raising. Lanier “DJ Severe” Stewart, the Dodgers’ musical director in charge of song placement, was initially apprehensive about playing the bruising song.

“I’m a fan of both Drake and Kendrick. I wanted to tread lightly because I didn’t know how controversial ‘Not Like Us’ was going to get in terms of the lyrics,” Stewart told Andscape. “But the song kind of built up on its own because now that Gavin and other players [around the league] have requested it, I have free license to play it.”

Yet hardly anyone imagined “Not Like Us,” a show-no-mercy diss track, being tapped as the next omnipresent sports anthem, potentially joining such beloved jock jams as Queen’s “We Will Rock You,” Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train,” Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock’s “It Takes Two” and Usher’s “Yeah!”

In just a month, Lamar’s song, which was produced by DJ Mustard, has already become a go-to crowd-pleaser for Stewart. Dodgers resident DJ Fuze has used the track to get fans fired up during pregame warmups. Even acclaimed Dodgers organist Dieter Ruehle added the chart-topping song to his traditional playlist.

Lamar has long been embraced by the Dodgers faithful. Now the Pulitzer Prize-winning artist, who is as well known in LA’s culture as Pink’s Hot Dogs, lowriders, and Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, scored a mainstream hit that has gone beyond the late Dodgers sportscaster Vin Scully’s sacred baseball cathedral.

TNT used “Not Like Us” during its NBA playoff broadcasts. The song has been played in arenas across the NBA, from TD Garden in Boston to the Target Center in Minnesota (shout-out to Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards). The Las Vegas Aces, the WNBA defending champs, have added the anthem to their playlist, as have the Chicago Sky and the Seattle Storm.

The Michigan Wolverines, the 2023 College Football Playoffs champions, seemingly took sides when they used “Not Like Us” as the soundtrack to their 2023 season. And overseas, Lamar’s song was played during the Feyenoord Rotterdam soccer match in the Netherlands.

“‘Not Like Us’ works at every level,” Stewart said. “Sports are very competitive. People like to talk crap to the opposing side. Everybody is going to take hold of that ‘they not like us, they not like us‘ chorus. It’s a very direct song. It’s basically declaring to the other team, ‘You ain’t on my level.’ “

And it’s not just the pros. On social media, followers of marching bands at historically Black colleges and universities have been abuzz over potential arrangements for “Not Like Us” in the upcoming football season. Fans have even posted potential drum major choreography and marching band sheet music.

For Jana Lynn Walker, Florida A&M graduate and former piccolo player in the universities’ famed Marching “100” band, “Not Like Us” has all the makings of an HBCU game-day staple. Walker co-hosts the X Spaces series After Hours, which breaks down The Joe Budden Podcast and envisions Lamar’s song becoming a homecoming favorite.

“From the beginning fanfare that would be emblazoned by the brass and woodwind sections, supported by the backbone beat by the percussion to the sousaphones driving that bass line, the song has the ability to turn a crowd into a community,” Walker explained. “HBCU bands uniquely keep the spirit of the Black culture experience alive through music, and with Kendrick’s ‘Not Like Us’ showing its cultural relevance as well as being a smash hit, playing it is not only a no-brainer, but a welcomed gift to the repertoire.”

Sports anthems date back to “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” the seminal baseball sing-along first penned in 1908. Fast-forward to 1977, when Chicago White Sox organist Nancy Faust heard fans at Comiskey Park singing the chorus of the 1969 hit “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye,” after a four-game sweep of the Minnesota Twins. After that, she began playing the song when an opposing pitcher was removed from the game and soon, “Na, na, na, na, hey hey hey, goodbye!” became a familiar chant at sports events. The modern-day sports anthem was born.

Today, it’s unimaginable not to hear Guns N’ Roses’ “Welcome to the Jungle” roar throughout NFL stadiums, whipping fans into a frenzy amid kickoff, or witnessing NBA revelers wave their arms from side to side as Naughty by Nature’s celebratory “Hip Hop Hooray” fills up arenas. There’s a communal element to great sports anthems, as the best often transcend generations. Frankie Beverly and Maze’s 1981 classic “Before I Let Go” is just as popular as Juvenile’s 1998 jam “Back That Azz Up” on the HBCU marching band playlist.

Then there are the evergreen songs, Metallica’s “Enter Sandman,” and the White Stripes’ moderate hit turned global soccer stadium battle cry “Seven Nation Army,” which have become so synonymous with sports that you forget they had a previous life. This is why “Not Like Us” is so different from what Stewart described as the “low-hanging fruit” of jock rock spectacles.

“I try to find songs that are different from the norm,” said the veteran Dodgers DJ, whose playlist includes everything from 1960s guitarist Jimi Hendrix’s “Fire” and Cameo’s 1976 funk jam “Rigor Mortis” to tejano singer Selena’s classic “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom” and rapper Skee-Lo’s self-effacing gem “I Wish.” “I like to pull the older crowd in first, but I don’t want to make it so easy for them. I want the fans to pay attention even when a team is getting cooked,” Stewart said.

It remains to be seen if “Not Like Us” will inspire the sports anthem delirium of, say, Tag Team’s 1993 “Whoomp! (There It Is),” a surprise crossover for the group, peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. With more than 4 million copies sold and several high-profile television commercial placements, Cecil “DC the Brain Supreme” Glenn and Steve “Rolln” Gibson have lasted well beyond the duo’s one-hit wonder status.

“Our bread and butter is performing at halftime shows, NBA arenas, NFL stadiums, first pitches at the MLB, and now we are working on NHL third-period performances and the upcoming World Cup,” Glenn said. “Because ‘Whoomp! (There It Is)’ is worldwide universal.”

As for “Not Like Us,” Tag Team is rooting for Lamar to join them in the pantheon of sports anthem royalty. “It’s right in your face: it’s catchy,” Gibson said. “Whatever key ‘Not Like Us’ is in, it’s exciting. When you hear that sound it triggers something like the House of Pain’s ‘Jump Around.’ There’s something magical between Kendrick and that beat.”