Kendrick Lamar, a 20-time Grammy champ, is set to possibly boost that count later tonight. His track “Not Like Us” already snagged wins for Best Rap Song, Best Rap Performance, and Best Music Video at the 2025 Grammy Premiere Ceremony, just ahead of the main show.
Kendrick Lamar was able to accept the awards but Dj Mustard who produced the viral song, spoke with Variety and revealed what he texted Kendrick after the big news. “That’s three n****a!,” the producer revealed.
With his 20th win, K. Dot joins an elite club as only the third rapper ever—right up there with Ye and Jay-Z—to snag over 20 Grammys.
Lamar, who co-directed the “NLU” visual with pgLang’s Dave Free, took home the award for Best Music Video, beating out heavy hitters like A$AP Rocky’s “Tailor Swif,” Charli XCX’s “360,” and Eminem’s “Houdini.” And in the Best Rap Song category, his Mustard-produced Drake diss track came out on top, outshining Rapsody’s “Asteroids,” Ye and Ty Dolla $ign’s “Carnival,” and his other nomination with Future and Metro Boomin for “Like That.”
When it comes to Best Rap Performance, “Not Like Us” took the crown, beating out heavyweights like Cardi B’s “Enough,” Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That” (featuring Lamar), Doechii’s “Nissan Altima,” GloRilla’s “Yeah Glo!,” Eminem’s “Houdini,” and Common and Pete Rock’s “Where the Sun Shines Again.”
The Compton native is looking to add even more hardware to his collection, with nominations in both Song of the Year and Record of the Year, bringing his total to seven nominations.
“Not Like Us” dropped in May during the heat of Kendrick’s beef with Drake and turned out to be a game-changer in that clash. The track debuted at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and even broke the record previously held by “Old Town Road” for the most weeks at No. 1 on the Hot Rap Songs chart back in October. Up next, Lamar is set to headline the Super Bowl halftime show, bringing special guest SZA along for the ride, just a week from Sunday, February 9.