On May 11, 2026, Kendrick Lamar’s two biggest recent videos vanished from YouTube. Hours later they came back as new files. The view counters started at zero.

“Not Like Us” had been sitting on more than 400 million views. The still on this graphic is the Compton court scene from that video: Kendrick in the white jacket and inverted Dodgers hat, dancers in the “Not Like Us” shirts. Under the player it shows the reset in real time: 4,227 views, 51 minutes old, official channel. That is what a 400-million video looks like when you delete it and post it again.

“Luther,” the SZA record from GNX, got the same treatment. Same day, GNX and “euphoria” blinked off Apple Music and other stores, then came back.

Nobody from pgLang or Interscope put out a statement. YouTube’s message during the gap was “removed by the uploader.” That means the channel pulled the files. It was not a copyright strike from Drake’s side, at least not one that was announced.

The timing did the talking. Drake’s Iceman was four days away. Fans treated the takedown like a reminder that the diss was still live. Others thought it was a metadata or rights cleanup. A few noticed the copyright line on the restored file looked different. Then the original versions appeared again in some regions and the reupload theory got messier.

A reupload is not a small thing on YouTube. Comments, likes, and the public view count die with the old URL. Playlists break. Embedded links go dark. For a song that became a Super Bowl moment and a cultural punchline, wiping 400 million is either a mistake or a choice. Kendrick’s camp has not said which.

The videos are back. The old numbers are not, unless the originals were restored in your country. The screenshot on this graphic is the version of the story that spread first: new upload, new clock, same song.