Yep, it’s me, andI’m writing about rap beef again. Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s massive internet feud culminated in Drake’s defensive surrender with The Heart Part 6 after Lamar released Not Like Us, one of the most brutal diss tracks the world has ever seen, in which he called Drake a “pedophile” and a “coloniser”. That diss track was also so catchy that it became the song of the summer – it’s been playing everywhere, from pool parties in Lamar’s home city of Los Angeles to the bar around the corner from my house in Singapore.
Well, it’s one of the songs of the summer.Have you all listened to Brat yet?
Not Like Us is a cultural touchstone at this point, and fans all over the world arestillthinking about it. It’s still all over social media, especially since there wasa music videoreleased earlier this month, and now there’s a game. You read that right – somebody has made Not Like Us: The Game.
Not Like Us: The Gameis pretty simple. You are a pixelated Kendrick Lamar, and you swing a bat at owls that pop up around you – whack-a-mole, essentially. Why? Well, Drake’s label October’s Very Own (better known as OVO Sound) has long been associated with owls. In the track, Lamar takes shots at OVO, calling out people associated with Drake as being predators, chants “OV-hoe”, saying “What is the owl? Bird n**s and bird btches”, and in one particularly hilarious line, asking if OVO stands for “the other vginal option”. In the music video, he beats an owl shaped pinata with a bat. It’s pretty obvious how he feels about OVO, and this game personifies that.
The game was developed by Richie Branson, a musician and game designer who has credits on Adult Swim, Rooster Teeth, Bleacher Report, andFortniteaccording to hisTwitter profile.In the credits, he calls it a “free love letter to video games and hip-hop”, and leaves his Venmo in case any of you want to throw him a couple of dollars for this hilarious time-killer.
The game is set to a chiptune cover of the eponymous song, and asks you to beat a score of 69, which is another reference to a repeated line in the song. I’ve played it on my laptop with my trackpad, and I’ve only managed to make it up to 22, which is incidentally the age at which a woman allegedly ages out of Drake’s dating pool. Apparently,the developer intentionally made the difficulty spike over 17, which is even funnier. I’m going to try again later on my phone, because you can play it on your web browser as well.
Apparently Branson himself hasonly made it to 35owls smacked down, which makes me feel a little better about myself.
The game does take forever to load up, probably because so many people are playing it right now, which is a testament to how much of an impact this beef has had on internet culture. Go smack some owls, and then listen to Not Like Us another ten times. That’s what I’ll be doing before bed tonight.
