Photo credit: Kendrick Lamar – Not Like Us
Kendrick Lamar’s highly anticipated music video “Not Like Us” is on track to hit 20 million views on YouTube in 24 hours, but the numbers are far lower than fans had expected.
Yesterday, on the 4th of July, Kendrick Lamar released the highly anticipated music video for his smash hit Drake diss “Not Like Us,” which debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Co-directed by Lamar and Dave Free, the video features appearances by DJ Mustard, DeMar DeRozan, Tommy the Clown, Lamar’s partner Whitney Alford, and their two children.
The video had 1.5 million views on YouTube an hour after it was released, and is now approaching 20 million in the first 24 hours, sparking celebrations among fans online, with countless tweets and posts slamming Drake and commenting that Lamar “cooked” the Toronto rapper.
Meanwhile, some Drake fans are claiming that many of these numbers are fake, and that bots helped “Not Like Us” reach over 1.5 million plays in the first hour. While bots can’t be completely ruled out, when you compare Lamar’s numbers to the record-holder for the most plays in a 24-hour period of all time, the claims seem completely ridiculous.
As of 2024, the record for the most views on YouTube in 24 hours is held by the music video for the hit song “Butter” by popular Korean pop star BTS. Released in 2021, “Butter” recorded an astounding 108.2 million views on its first day. This record surpassed the previous record set by “Dynamite,” which had 101.1 million views in the 24 hours after its release.
In fact, most of the most-viewed videos in the first 24 hours are K-pop hits, including songs by BTS and girl group BLACKPINK. But Taylor Swift’s 2019 song “ME!” with Brendon Urie had the most daily plays, with 65.2 million in the first 24 hours. The song broke the previous VEVO record set by Ariana Grande’s “Thank U, Next,” which had 55.4 million first-day plays.
Another Swift track, “Bad Blood,” featuring Kendrick Lamar, racked up 20.1 million streams on its first day, making Ken’s “Not Like Us,” which now has over 17 million streams 20 hours after its release, seem a bit underwhelming in comparison.
Especially considering the uproar surrounding the release of the diss track’s music video, it seems like “Not Like Us” should have done better, especially if naysayers want to make a strong case for bot involvement. As the video’s first 24 hours approach, the actual numbers, while impressive in their own right, feel a bit underwhelming when compared to its contemporaries.
