Vice President Kamala Harris referenced the Kendrick Lamar-Drake beef with fiery one-liner at the 2024 BET Awards on Sunday night.
Harris appeared in a pre-taped skit at the awards ceremony with the show’s host, actor Taraji P. Henson. In the bit, the vice president talks to Henson on a video call about the upcoming presidential election.
The “Color Purple” actor tells Harris that she’s concerned about reproductive health access and potential future Supreme Court vacancies.
“Our basic freedoms are being tested, Madam VP. I know you’ve been traveling across the country, what are you hearing?” Henson asked.
“Yeah, girl I’m out here in these streets, and let me tell you — you’re right, Taraji, there is so much at stake in this moment,” Harris responded. “The majority of us believe in freedom and equality.
“But these extremists, as they say — they ‘not like us.’”
It was Harris’ interpretation of Lamar’s acclaimed new song, “Not Like Us,” which came out of his much talked-about rap beef with Drake.
Elsewhere in the skit, Harris said Republicans want to “turn back the clock on our hard-fought progress,” and called on people to get registered to vote.
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Lamar and Drake’s feud has spurred a lot of excitement and endless debates among hip-hop fans over the past several months, with both rappers leveling some serious allegations at each other in a series of songs.
Last month, Lamar dropped “Not Like Us,” his fourth diss track against Drake. Drake responded with “The Heart Pt. 6,” but that response was quickly drowned out by a star-studded Juneteenth concert hosted by Lamar earlier this month. During the Los Angeles show, which was livestreamed on Amazon, Lamar played “Not Like Us” five times in a row.
Henson had also paid homage to Lamar’s “Not Like Us” on Sunday by dressing up as the rapper and performing her own rendition of the song to open the show.
