Kendrick Lamar brought his now Grammy-winning trolling of Drake to the most important stage conceivable on the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show on the Caesars Superdome in Latest Orleans.
After months of speculation about his setlist, Lamar, 37, included “Not Like Us” in his performance, meaning that greater than 73,000 fans got to scream along as he rapped, “And it’s probably A minor.”
Lamar teased a snippet of the song early within the show, jokingly asking whether he should perform “their favorite song.” After the track’s intro began, nonetheless, he pivoted to a special song, leaving viewers to ponder whether “Not Like Us” had been omitted from the setlist. (Prior to the halftime show, rumors circulated that Lamar wouldn’t be allowed to perform the song.)
Later within the set, nonetheless, Lamar delivered, launching into “Not Like Us” as Serena Williams danced on stage. While he didn’t say the word “pedophile” within the famous line, “Certified lover boy, certified pedophile,” he did include, “Tryna ring a bell and it’s probably A minor.”
Lamar’s set also featured tracks from his latest album, GNX, including “Squabble Up” and “Luther.” SZA joined him for the latter song in addition to “All of the Stars” from the Black Panther soundtrack.
Since Lamar was announced because the halftime show performer in September 2024, fans have wondered whether he would come with “Not Like Us” in his set. Released in May of last yr, the song is stuffed with blistering digs at Drake, 38. The 2 rappers have traded barbs on and off for greater than a decade, but their feud hit a fever pitch last spring once they exchanged a series of diss tracks.
While each musicians released several songs concerning the other, many observers declared Lamar because the winner of the feud, given each the lyrical content and recognition of “Not Like Us.” The No. 1 hit memorably accused Drake of pedophilia in lines like “Say, Drake, I hear you want ’em young” and “Tryna ring a bell and it’s probably A minor.”
Drake denied the pedophilia accusations in “The Heart Part 6,” however the track did little to stop the virality of “Not Like Us,” which has soundtracked the whole lot from sporting events to the Democratic National Convention.
Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s rap feud is so heated that it could burn the hip-hop world to the bottom. Lamar, 36, and Drake, 37, have been waging lyrical war with increasingly personal diss tracks released over the past several days. Drake’s “Family Matters” song accused Lamar of being a “make-believe” activist, claimed Lamar got physically […]
After Lamar was announced because the halftime show headliner, reports circulated that Drake had sent his rival a cease-and-desist to stop him from performing “Not Like Us” on the Super Bowl, but a rep for the Canadian-born artist later denied it. “The rumors are completely false,” a rep for Drake told Us Weekly in October 2024.
One month later, Drake filed a legal grievance alleging that Lamar’s record label, Universal Music Group (which can be his own record label), conspired with Spotify to artificially inflate the recognition of “Not Like Us.” UMG vehemently denied the allegations, as did Spotify.
Drake later withdrew the grievance but filed a federal lawsuit against UMG in January, accusing the label of defamation and harassment, claiming that the corporate “selected corporate greed over the security and well-being of its artists.”
UMG again denied his allegations, telling Us in a press release: “Not only are these claims unfaithful, however the notion that we’d seek to harm the status of any artist — let alone Drake — is illogical. Now we have invested massively in his music and our employees around the globe have worked tirelessly for a few years to assist him achieve historic industrial and private financial success. Throughout his profession, Drake has intentionally and successfully used UMG to distribute his music and poetry to have interaction in conventionally outrageous back-and-forth ‘rap battles’ to precise his feelings about other artists. He now seeks to weaponize the legal process to silence an artist’s creative expression and to hunt damages from UMG for distributing that artist’s music.”
The statement continued: “Now we have not and don’t engage in defamation — against any individual. At the identical time, we’ll vigorously defend this litigation to guard our people and our status, in addition to any artist who might directly or not directly turn into a frivolous litigation goal for having done nothing greater than write a song.”
Earlier this month on the Grammys, “Not Like Us” swept all five categories by which it was nominated: Song of the Yr, Record of the Yr, Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song and Best Music Video.
