What to know
- The LA Sparks captioned a post “Not Like Us” after defeating Toronto Tempo on Friday, shortly after Drake released “Iceman,” “Habibti” and “Maid of Honour.”
- Toronto Tempo fans responded online after Sunday’s 106-96 win by referencing Drake’s new song “Janice STFU.”
- The online reactions added another layer to the ongoing Drake and Kendrick Lamar discourse dominating Toronto social media this long weekend.
Toronto Tempo fans were quick to fire back online with a Drake-inspired clapback after the Los Angeles Sparks’ “Not Like Us” jab backfired following Sunday’s rematch which saw Tempo beat Sparks 106-96 in an away game.
Tempo’s win followed Friday night’s away loss to the Sparks which came less than 24 hours after Drake dropped his three albums: Iceman, Habibti and Maid of Honour.
The exchange quickly became another viral Toronto moment tied to Drake’s surprise three-album rollout, building on the momentum that continued dominating online conversations throughout the Victoria Day long weekend. What began as a result between the Toronto Tempo and the LA Sparks quickly turned into another chapter in the city’s ongoing online reaction to the Drake and Kendrick Lamar beef.
After the 99-95 win on Friday, the Sparks posted the result online captioned “Not Like Us,” which many Toronto fans interpreted as the team appearing to side with Kendrick Lamar in his ongoing feud with Drake, particularly given Drake’s perceived response album to the diss track, Iceman, dropped overnight.
Sunday’s rematch presented a perfect opportunity for the fans to respond with one of them reposting the Sparks’ “Not like Us” post with a “Janice STFU” quote post.
Another Toronto fan chimed in with a repost of Sparks Sunday night result, captioning it with “not like who?”
Tempo do not play their west coast rivals again until end of June. The timing of the two games, timing of which coincided with Drake’s surprise three-album drop, has already added extra intrigue ahead of the teams’ next matchup in late June.
The significance of ‘Janice Shut The F*ck Up’
The song titled “Janice STFU” features on the Iceman album by Drake and already sits at the top on multiple charts.
Fans of the track find the “Janice STFU” hook to be “catchy” and have been busy theorizing who Drake may be referring to in the song. Some speculations theorize about who or what “Janice” refers to with suggestions floating that it symbolizes media criticism while other connect it to pop culture references including Drake personifying Marvel’s Iceman aka Bobby Drake and The Sopranos’ Bobby Baccalieri.
The significance of ‘Not Like Us’
Lamar’s “Not like Us” is a diss track which was released amidst his highly publicized feud with Drake. The track became a defining moment in the Drake-Kendrick Lamar beef and sparked broader conversations online around authenticity, culture and influence in hip-hop.
