Kendrick Lamar's video shoot for “Not Like Us” is at the center of a dispute between the city of Compton, local businesses and DJ Akademiks.
on the weekend, the Los Angeles Times was mentioned that local businesses in the city of Compton lost money because officials did not give them enough notice that Lamar's music video was to be shot in the area.
Corina Pleasant, who runs soul restaurant Alma's Place with her mother, told the Times that “it's been really frustrating to have the electricity and the gas…I'm just running everything and not making any money.” Pleasant ultimately blamed city officials, saying the business lost about $2,000 thanks to the lack of warning.
DJ Akademiks then posted a snapshot of the story on his Instagramwith a section of the report written as a caption. As fans began to criticize Lamar for what happened in the comments section of the post, the official account for Alma's Place strongly disagreed. “THIS ENTIRE POST IS 3D WRONG AND PROMOTES A NARRATIVE THAT WE DO NOT REPRESENT,” the comment read. “People, please don't believe everything you read. The words are distorted and it's not right.”
The comment continued, once again putting the blame on the city and not K. Dot. “The city should have made better decisions in notifying business owners who pay taxes,” he said. “We, under no circumstances, have any negative comments about Kendrick. This was a town thing! And @akademiks you better watch out for misspellings and twisting words. WE NEVER TALKED TO YOU, so how do you misquote ramblings as fact!?'
In a statement to LA Timesthe city of Compton said it will try to better communicate with local businesses in the future. “Compton businesses, especially small businesses, are the backbone of our city,” the statement said. “We want to continue to maintain an open line of communication and do what we can to support economic growth.”
While some businesses were hurt by the video's download, another benefited from being part of a scene. According to the owners, Tam's Burgers No. 21 saw an approximately 40 percent increase in sales following the release of the video. Lamar was also credited with helping Toronto Chinese restaurant New Ho King with new business after he featured the restaurant in “Euphoria.”
See Akademiks' post and Alma's Place's response in its comments section, below:
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/kendrick-lamar-compton-restaurant-not-like-us-video-shoot-1235776345/
