Kendrick Lamar takes another subtle dig at Drake in feud with Canadian tuxedo at Grammys

The Grammy Awards delivered a (gold-plated) nail in the coffin of the long-running feud between rappers Kendrick Lamar and Drake.

After trading diss tracks (and a lawsuit) Lamar snagged best song and record of the year Grammys for his critically acclaimed Drake diss, "Not Like Us."

If subtlety cuts like a knife, Lamar came with his blade sharpened Sunday, sporting denim-on-denim for his win. The combination, often called a Canadian tuxedo, seemed to be another dig at Drake, who is Canadian. Lamar's recent choice to collaborate with Drake's ex SZA, for his Super Bowl halftime show headlining performance and on both of their recent albums adds fuel to the fire.

How many Grammys did Kendrick Lamar win?

Lamar won five Grammys on Sunday, also taking home awards for best music video, best rap performance and best rap song for the diss track.

All Kendrick Lamar's disses against Drake in feud

Laced with double entendres, "Not Like Us" track accuses Drake and his associates of being predators, employing a play on one of the Canadian rapper's album titles with the lyrics, "Certified Lover Boy? Certified pedophile."

The cover art of "Not Like Us" showed a photo of Drake's house covered in red markers that are used to identify registered sex offenders. The "Not Like Us" music video opens with Lamar doing push-ups on cinderblocks in response to Drake's own diss track "Push Ups." He later uses owl symbolism in reference to the mascot for Drake's record label OVO Sound and makes it clear they're enemies. In one shot, Lamar smashes an owl piñata.

What does '6:16 in LA' mean? Fans analyze Kendrick Lamar's latest Drake diss

That Lamar took home not one, but two of the Grammy's most coveted awards may rub salt in the wound for Drake, who is currently suing both Spotify and Universal Music Group − which represents both him and Lamar − for allegedly inflating the streaming data for "Not Like Us."

A rap diss record getting a Grammy nomination (and win) isn't unprecedented. Drake's own Meek Mill diss record "Back to Back" was nominated for best rap performance at the 2016 Grammys. (You'll never guess who he lost to: Lamar, for his "To Pimp a Butterfly" single and modern-day protest anthem "Alright.")

LL Cool J's "Mama Said Knock You Out" was the first diss track to win a Grammy, taking home the award for best rap performance in 1991. The song is partly directed at rapper Kool Moe Dee, with whom LL Cool J had a long-standing feud.

A beef the magnitude of Drake vs. Kendrick has not shaken the rap world in some time, however. The roots of Lamar and Drake's feud go back more than a decade to 2013, though things quickly intensified this past spring as the two traded bars and barbs with shocking allegations.

Before "Not Like Us" and following a surprise drop of his brutal Drake diss track "Euphoria," the Compton, California, native released "6:16 in LA." The song title is an obvious reference to a timestamp song format Drake has popularized, including "6PM in New York" and "8am in Charlotte."

But fans also believed the "6:16" diss had multiple other meanings: June 16 is Father's Day in the U.S. and Canada; June 16 is also the birthday of late rapper Tupac Shakur, who Drake invoked using AI amid the feud; the first episode of TV drama "Euphoria," which is executive produced by Drake, debuted on HBO on June 16, 2019; and June 16 was the apparent date of a Kendrick Lamar concert in Toronto, among a few other possible meanings.

Lamar also hit the stage over the summer on Juneteenth for "The Pop Out – Ken & Friends" concert at the Kia Forum, performing "Not Like Us" five times, telling the crowd between the encore performances: "Y'all ain't gonna let anyone disrespect the West Coast, huh?"

Lamar's halftime performance is expected to draw from his latest album "GNX," which does not feature "Not Like Us"; however, given the track's popularity, Drake's nightmare may be far from over. The diss track may end up on music − and sport's − biggest stage.

Contributing: Brendan Morrow, Taijuan Moorman, KiMi Robinson, Anika Reed, Jay Stahl

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kendrick Lamar, Drake feud: 'Not Like Us' wins at Grammys