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Kendrick Lamar made a statement at Super Bowl LIX, not just with his performance but with his ongoing feud with Drake. During his halftime show, he teased his hit diss track Not Like Us multiple times before finally performing it. The crowd at Caesars Superdome erupted as he delivered some of the song’s most scathing lines, including the now-famous, “tryna strike a chord, and it’s probably A minor.” One of the most talked-about moments came when tennis legend Serena Williams made a surprise appearance, dancing on stage during the song. Williams, who was rumored to have dated Drake years ago, added another layer of intensity to the already heated rivalry.
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Lamar did hold back in one area, likely due to FCC regulations. In the original track and previous performances, he directly calls Drake a pedophile. But at the Super Bowl, he cut the line short, replacing the accusation with a scream effect. Even with that small adjustment, the performance made it clear that the bad blood between the two rappers is far from over.
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Their feud started back in October 2023 when Drake and J. Cole released First Person Shooter, where Cole referred to himself, Drake, and Lamar as “the Big Three” of modern hip-hop. Lamar initially stayed quiet but responded in March 2024 with a verse on Future and Metro Boomin’s Like That, dismissing the idea of a “Big Three” and declaring that he stood alone. J. Cole responded with 7 Minute Drill but quickly regretted it, later apologizing and calling it “the lamest thing” he had ever done. Drake, however, fired back aggressively. On April 19, he released Push Ups, mocking Lamar’s past collaborations with pop artists like Maroon 5 and Taylor Swift. That same day, he also dropped Taylor Made Freestyle, controversially using AI-generated voices of Tupac and Snoop Dogg, which sparked major backlash.
Lamar escalated things on April 30 with Euphoria, where he insulted Drake’s style, attitude, and credibility. Three days later, he followed up with 6:16 in LA, suggesting that even people within Drake’s inner circle were turning against him. The situation got even more personal on May 3 when Drake released Family Matters, accusing Lamar of abusing his fiancée, Whitney Alford, and claiming their child was actually fathered by Lamar’s close friend and bodyguard, Dave Free. In just 20 minutes, Lamar responded with Meet the Grahams, shifting the focus to Drake’s personal life and alleging that he had multiple secret children.
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The biggest moment of the feud came on May 4, when Lamar dropped Not Like Us. The track accused Drake of predatory behavior and quickly became a cultural phenomenon, breaking streaming records and dominating the charts. It later won five Grammys, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Drake attempted to respond with The Heart Part 6, but after deleting his Instagram post promoting the track, many saw it as a sign that he had conceded defeat.
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By the time Lamar performed Not Like Us at the Super Bowl, the song had already cemented itself as one of the most impactful diss tracks in hip-hop history. His halftime show, complete with Serena Williams’ surprise appearance, was the final exclamation point on a rivalry that had already been decided. Kendrick Lamar walked away from this feud as the clear winner.
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