L.A. Public Library Debates Retiring Its Owl Puppet After Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’ Video
Written by djfrosty on July 8, 2024
Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” has permeated different avenues of pop culture, and now, even libraries are feeling the impact of the Drake diss. The Los Angeles Public Library went viral over the weekend when it posted a video to TikTok and Instagram over the weekend, debating whether its owl puppet needed to say farewell for good following the arrival of the diss track’s video on July 4.
In the visual, the rapper “wop wop wop wop wops” a giant owl piñata while the screen notes “NO OVHOES WERE HARMED DURING THE MAKING OF THIS VIDEO.” The visual ends with a scene of an owl in a cage.
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“Do we need to retire our owl puppet,” the library asks in the clip, which features “Not Like Us” booming in the background. “Let us know,” the Instagram caption also said. The library’s raccoon puppet wraps the owl — synonymous with Drake’s OVO brand — in a blanket and closes the storage bin’s lid on him in a ceremonial burial of sorts.
West Coast fans loved to see the L.A. Library enter the feud and most found the skit to be funny. “THE LIBRARY! I thought it was done done when Duolingo got in on the beef, but I think this does it,” one person wrote on TikTok.
“LA standing on business,” a fan replied.
Another person joked about how this made them want to pay their late fees on books, but it turns out the library doesn’t even have late fees anymore.
The momentum of “Not Like Us” doesn’t look to be waning anytime soon with Kendrick’s victory lap taking over the summer on the West Coast.
The Mustard-produced anthem may receive another boost on the charts with the arrival of the track’s music video. On last week’s Billboard Hot 100, “Not Like Us” held strong in the No. 3 slot in its eighth week on the chart.
Kendrick delivered the live debut of “Not Like Us” on Juneteenth during his Pop Out concert at L.A.’s Kia Forum, which made for a memorable hip-hop moment with mentor Dr. Dre kicking off the performance alongside K. Dot on stage.
Watch the Los Angeles Public Library’s clip about its owl below.