Photo Credit: Kendrick Lamar – “Not Like Us” (@kendricklamar / YouTube)
Kendrick Lamar’s album GNX disappeared from Apple Music, while the music videos for “Not Like Us” and “Luther” also mysteriously vanished from YouTube. All were restored hours later.
Kendrick Lamar seems to be making moves, but no one is sure what they mean just yet. On Monday, Kendrick Lamar’s 2024 album GNX and track “Euphoria” mysteriously vanished from Apple Music. At the same time, the music videos for “Not Like Us” and “Luther” were suddenly unavailable on YouTube. As of this publication, everything appears to have been restored. So what happened?
In the case of “Not Like Us,” there’s been some speculation online that some of the credits were changed to omit UMG, as the company remains locked in legal limbo against Drake over the song. But if that were true, it seems that the track would have been removed from other DSPs, not just the video being pulled from YouTube. And it still begs the question of what happened to GNX on Apple Music, Tidal, Qobuz, and other DSPs.
Strangely, “Not Like Us” was re-uploaded—meaning its view count would have to start again from scratch. But just a couple of hours later, the re-uploaded version was removed, and the original was restored. “Luther” was also restored on YouTube around this time, while “Euphoria” and GNX were back up on Apple Music.
The rumor mill is running rampant, particularly since Drake is gearing up to drop his new album, ICEMAN, later this week. Fans on both sides of the aisle are speculating everything from hackers to legal settlements (though it’s worth mentioning that Kendrick was never named in Drake’s lawsuit against UMG).
Some have even suggested that Kendrick was pulling his Drake disses in order to ally with his rival and appear as a guest on ICEMAN. Though that one sounds far-fetched, it apparently has some merit: according to DJ Akademiks, Lamar recently said that he was looking forward to Drake’s new album and was “tired of being a hater.”
But now that the music is restored, it’s even harder to say what actually transpired.
Meanwhile, UMG is presumably still sitting on its proverbial hands while Drake attempts to appeal the court’s decision to side with the label in his lawsuit over “Not Like Us.” Numerous parties have submitted amicus briefs on the matter. However, no filing in the case has indicated any grounds for Lamar to have removed or changed his material—especially since he wasn’t even named in Drake’s lawsuit.
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