To anyone who missed this last Super Bowl halftime show, Kendrick Lamar graced the stadiums as the star performer. He was joined by SZA and a surprise guest star appearance from Serena Wiliams. However, that was not the most surprising part of his performance.
To those who are unaware, Kendrick Lamar has been in a long, heated battle with another celebrity whom many know, Drake. The fight between the two artists has lasted over many years since 2013. Recently, Lamar released an entire diss track unbeknownst to Drake. This track sparked conflict between the two artists, as Drake continued to argue that Lamar is simply spreading spiteful misinformation. As a response, Drake released his diss track, which did not gain as much attention as Lamar’s. A popular song included in Lamar’s track was Euphoria. Euphoria attacked Drake’s public image by calling him a “degenerate” and “mass manipulator,” and also accused Drake of cultural appropriation. Lamar suggests that Drake is profiting off of Black culture without having a genuine understanding of or being part of it.
One of the most popular songs that have appeared on Kendrick Lamar’s diss track includes “Not Like Us”, a song that hints to Drake’s rumored romantic preferences for particular young partners. This was also the song that Lamar performed on national television at the Super Bowl. “Not Like Us” was also played at the Grammy’s when Lamar earned not one, not two, but five Grammy awards. It can be assumed that Lamar deliberately played the song on live television in hopes of getting a reaction out of Drake and out of spite of the current lawsuit against him.
That’s right, Drake is suing Kendrick Lamar. Drake has a lawsuit against Lamar for defamation of character and harassment. According to Drake, Lamar created his diss track without his knowledge. Drake stated that the comments said by Kendrick in his track were false and malicious and made to turn the public against him by painting him in a bad perspective.
This brings us to Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl performance. A majority of the older audience or individuals who do not listen to Lamar’s music weren’t very intrigued or entertained by his performance. Those who have kept up with the drama between Drake and Lamar noticed the choices made by Lamar during his performance.
Aside from the obvious choice of songs to perform, he had Serena Williams, an Olympic gold medalist and also Drake’s former partner, come out and dance to the song “Not Like Us”. What took the cake during Lamar’s act was during his performance of “Not Like Us”, where Lamar looks directly at the camera and says, “say Drake…”. Despite being sued for defamation, Lamar still went headfirst into his performance clearly prepared to face whatever consequences thrown at him. Current media sources have no response from Drake except current updates on the lawsuit. The current update is that Drake has withdrawn his lawsuit. Why did he do this? Does he admit defeat? At the moment we do not have more information, but only time will tell.
