Kendrick Lamar's Drake diss track debuts at number one in the US

Kendrick Lamar has emerged victorious in the highly publicized rap feud with Drake, at least in terms of Billboard chart success, with his diss track "Not Like Us" debuting at No. 1 on the US Hot 100.

The track, which accuses the Canadian artist of being a "certified pedophile," marks Lamar's fourth No. 1 hit, following his collaboration on Future and Metro Boomin's "Like That" earlier this year, "Humble" in 2017, and his feature on Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood" in 2015, reports Guardian. 

Another of Lamar's tracks in the rapid-fire exchange of diss songs with Drake, "Euphoria," entered the chart at No. 3 after debuting at No. 11 the previous week. Meanwhile, Drake's response track, "Family Matters," sits at No. 7 on the singles chart.

This chart-topping success is just the latest development in the headline-grabbing feud, which escalated from long-standing tension between two of the world's most prominent artists into a full-blown lyrical battle, drawing in other musicians such as Rick Ross and The Weeknd.

The feud traces back to Lamar's verse on "Like That" in late March, sparking a flurry of diss tracks in quick succession from both sides – including "Euphoria," "6:16 in LA," "Meet the Grahams," and "Not Like Us" from Lamar, and "Push Ups," "Taylor Made Freestyle," "Family Matter," and "The Heart Part 6" from Drake.

The feud took a deeply personal turn in the past two weeks, with both artists targeting each other's personal lives and families. Drake, whose real name is Aubrey Graham, alleged that Lamar, a Pulitzer Prize winner for his 2017 album "Damn," was involved in domestic abuse, while Lamar accused Drake of engaging in relationships with minors and hiding a child from the public eye, intensifying the public hatred.

"Say Drake, I hear you like 'em young / You better not have to go to Cell Block One," Lamar raps in "Not Like Us," accompanied by cover art depicting Drake's Toronto mansion labelled as a "registered sex offender."

The release of "Not Like Us" prompted Drake to publicly refute the allegations of underage relationships and concealing a child.

The verbal sparring also spilt over into real-world violence when one of Drake's security guards was shot and seriously injured outside the rapper's Toronto home last Tuesday. Subsequently, a man was arrested for attempting to break into Drake's residence in a separate incident, among other trespassing attempts.

This marks the second time this year that a rap feud has resulted in a No. 1 song, as noted by Billboard. In February, Megan Thee Stallion achieved her first solo No. 1 hit with "Hiss," amidst her ongoing feud with Nicki Minaj.