Kendrick Lamar Starstruck by Diana Ross at 2025 Grammys as He Accepts Song of the Year: ‘Respect the Artform’

The 2025 Grammy Awards have passed out the coveted gramophone for song of the year.

On Sunday, Feb. 2, Kendrick Lamar took home the award for his rap anthem, “Not Like Us.” The win came just minutes after the song cinched the award for record of the year!

Lamar faced serious competition in the category, which was dominated by fellow musical heavy-hitters Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Chappell Roan, Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, Sabrina Carpenter, Shaboozey, Taylor Swift and Post Malone.

Before he started his speech, Lamar bowed to the category presenter, Diana Ross. At the start of his second speech, he joked, “Whitney [Alford, his partner] in the video crip-walkin’ – we goin’ dedicate that one.”

He then gave a shout-out to “all the West Coast artists,'” including rappers Glasses Malone, Problem, Bad Luck, K-Boy, Daylyt and Mike Strode, ScHoolboy Q, Jay Rock and Ab-Soul.

“The cats that inspired me to be the emcee I am today,” Lamar said.

“This is what it’s about, man, because at the end of the day, nothing more powerful than rap music. I don’t care what it is. We are the culture that’s gonna always stay here and live forever,” Lamar said in his speech.

The 2025 Super Bowl performer continued, “And tell the young artists, like my man points out, I just hope you respect our fam. I saw a respect the art form, get you where you need to go, salute, I appreciate y’all, I love y’all.”

Lamar’s win comes amid his high-profile feud with Drake, which may have defined much of both artists’ last year in the public eye. “Not Like Us” is the latest diss track directed at the Canadian artist in Lamar’s discography. The song became one of the biggest hits of 2024, topping several charts in the U.S.

Check out all of PEOPLE’s full Grammys coverage here.

The song’s producer, Mustard, told PEOPLE “I have no idea what’s actually going on” in terms of the massive success “Not Like Us” has enjoyed.

“I only attribute it to God and because nobody could have told me two years ago or a year ago that me and Kendrick would have the biggest song together because I was trying to get him on my album,” Mustard said.

“Not Like Us” also won best rap performance, best rap song and best music video earlier in the night.

The 67th annual Grammy Awards was broadcast live from Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on CBS and Paramount+.