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LAST UPDATE | 10 Feb
KENDRICK LAMAR COMMANDED one of the world’s most high-profile stages as the Super Bowl’s halftime headliner, yet another feather in the cap of the rap laureate who has ascended to new heights of pop stardom.
Lamar performed a string of his classics while toying with his audience who had one major question: would he perform “Not Like Us,” the searing diss track that served as the knockout blow in his eyebrow-raising rap battle with Drake?
In a word? Yes.
Kendrick Lamar's Full Super Bowl Halftime Show performance #SuperBowl pic.twitter.com/OxZED0YXDn
— popculture (@notgwendalupe) February 10, 2025
The wildly infectious hit released in May 2024 hears the Pulitzer Prize-winning Lamar – the first solo rap artist to helm a halftime show at the Super Bowl, which this year saw the Philadelphia Eagles pummel the Kansas City Chiefs – use his punchlines to accuse Drake of paedophilia.
“I wanna perform their favourite song,” he said at one point during the 13-minute set – the Grammy-winning track’s ubiquitous, instantly recognizable bass line resounding – “but you know they love to sue.”
He offered his classics like “Humble” and “DNA” as well as tracks from his most recent album “GNX” – he began the set atop the Buick Grand National it’s named for - including “Squabble Up” before sending fans into a frenzy in delivering the goods, a knife-twisting rendition of “Not Like Us.”
Lamar cut the profanity and the word “paedophile” but didn’t stop short of the money line, rapping “tryna strike a chord and it’s probably A-minoooooor” on live television in front of tens of thousands of spectators and an estimated 100 million viewers.
In delivering the lyric “say, Drake, I hear you like ‘em young,” Lamar stared right into the camera while sporting a chain with a massive pendant – a lower-case a.
The performance is all but sure to kick off more legal wrangling: Drake, the reigning highest-grossing rapper, recently filed a bombshell defamation suit against his own record label Universal Music Group, which also represents Lamar.
Drake is notably suing UMG and not Lamar himself, but questions abounded leading into the Super Bowl set over whether performing the song on one of the top global stages could open the door to further litigation.
“Not Like Us” dominated the set but it was also a performance that paid homage to the 37-year-old rapper’s expansive oeuvre.
Born in Compton, California, the artist is renowned as one of contemporary music’s most impactful writers, with his verses offering personal insights that take on systemic issues such as race relations and structural poverty.
His poignant lyricism soundtracked the Black Lives Matter movement and compelled many to call him the voice of a generation.
Lamar brought some of that energy to the Super Bowl stage, which included set narrator, the actor Samuel L. Jackson, dressed as Uncle Sam, a character emblematic of American patriotism that has frequently appeared in military propaganda.
Lamar didn’t make any direct references to Donald Trump – who several weeks into his second go at the presidency attended the game – but rather used the platform to offer a more symbolic critique of the marginalized treatment of both hip hop and Black Americans at large.
“No, no, no, no, noooo. Too loud, too reckless, too ghetto. Mr Lamar, do you really know how to play the game? Then tighten up,” the costumed Jackson jeered at one point.
Troupes of dancers dressed in red, white and blue at one point coalesced into an American flag formation.
Before his climactic delivery of “Not Like Us” – which just one week ago scored Lamar five Grammys – the artist brought SZA, who he’s due to tour with, onstage.
Their duet included a performance of “All the Stars,” their hit off the “Black Panther” soundtrack.
Another notable cameo came from Serena Williams, the tennis legend who also hails from Compton – and who is thought to have briefly dated Drake.
The set was also punctuated by a protestor who unfurled a flag in support of Gaza and Sudan during the performance, a moment production company Roc Nation told AFP was not rehearsed.
The show continued without interruption and it did not seem as though the person was shown on the broadcast of Lamar’s performance.
“The individual hid the item on his person and unveiled it late in the show,” said the NFL, who added the protestor was part of the 400-member field cast and that “no one involved with the production was aware of the individual’s intent”.
The New Orleans Police Department said in a statement that “law enforcement is working to determine applicable charges in this incident.”
The protestor was seen in photos standing atop Lamar’s centerpiece car, wielding the flag emblazoned with images of heart and a fist as well as the words “Gaza” and “Sudan.”
The person was later tackled and escorted out by security.
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As someone who actually watched the half time show let me confirm it was the worst superbowl show ever. Absolute crap. Neither a rap crowd or a rap audience
@mickey mac: So, you weren’t the target audience is what you’re saying.
@John Murphy: what a sh!t town that must be.
Every time I hear that song which is basically Kendrick calling Drake a pedo I just remember back in secondary school when the school decided to decorate the walls in the main hall with famous quotes from famous people and asked students to suggest celebrities. Loads of people asked for a Drake quote and they said no he’s too current he might not age well. What crystal ball did they have in my school
@Macho Movie Man: I have a tweet saved from Sept 2018 basically saying that Drake is severally problematic. That man has made me VERY uncomfortable for a LONG time. I suspect someone in your schools administration might have been thinking the same thing as me.
@Tricia G28: Nah this was back in around 2010/2011 years before Drake’s behaviour was noticed
This type of petty squabbling wouldn’t be at all out of place on a schoolyard playground, but it’s somehow acceptable to have grown men “dissing” one another like this, and giving them the number one platform in all of America to do it. He’s held up as a role model for millions of young black Americans and not ones who have worked hard and have achieved genuine success in life. Realise I sound like a grumpy old man and while I do recognise some musical talent there, it’s a sad state of affairs unfortunately.
@Longlin: battling is an intrinsic part of hiphop culture and always has been.
@Longlin: Yeah, you do sound like a grumpy old man, I’m afraid. I’m not young either, but at least understand that diss tracks are part of the game. Some of the best rap has come from diss tracks. And it’s what the people want to see. Lamar has worked hard and achieved genuine success in life. The lad came from nothing and has won The Pulitzer Prize for Music. He’s a very, very talented, articulate, and creative individual. I think you really are out of touch.
@Longlin: it’s nothing new Johnny Thunders (London Boys) and Johnny Rotten (New York )were at it in the seventies.
@Karl Keane: And John Lennon with the song ‘How do you sleep’ about McCartney.
That’s good to know!
@Jonn: yes
Awful shxte, I’d nearly prefer Samantha Mumpa
Worst half time show in years but it probably appealed to the baggy trousers lot.
Worst show in centuries
The same nation that loves to give us the grand spectacles . Superbowl , Oscars night ( who are you wearing tonight ) .. is of course the same nation that thinks Genocide is ok . We get get to see footage , thanks uncle Sam …. And now their wonderful president is telling the world that America will ” own ” Gaza , and remove its population . Strange days indeed . What a confused nation , to say the very least .
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