Fans waited for months with bated breath for Kendrick Lamar’s highly anticipated Apple Music Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show — and the Compton MC surely did not disappoint.
On Sunday, Lamar, 37, hit the Caesars Superdome stage in New Orleans during the matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles. Just days earlier, he’d swept the Grammys, winning five awards for “Not Like Us” — the tune that famously finished off his collaborator-turned-arch-nemesis, Drake, amid the rappers’ viral beef.
Lamar’s performance was ushered in by none other than actor Samuel L. Jackson, who appeared dressed as Uncle Sam.
Lamar brought his infectious energy and knack for melodic storytelling to the stage, running through some of his top tracks. Though K. Dot has a lengthy discography, he fit a number of songs into his 15-minute set, including “DNA,” “Squabble Up,” and “Humble.”
He also performed several of his hits with SZA, including “All the Stars” and “luther.”
Considering the 22-time Grammy winner has collaborated with music titans like Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, social media users couldn’t help but speculate who else might join him as a special guest.
Those guessing games came to an end when DJ Mustard took the stage with him to perform “TV Off,” another song from “GNX.” Tennis legend Serena Williams, who was rumored to have dated Drake, also appeared on stage during Lamar’s performance.
Lamar’s tune “Not Like Us” gave him the win last year in his long standing rift with Drake. But given the song’s explicit lyrics and Drake’s previous threats of legal action, fans were eager to see if he would actually perform “Not Like Us” at the show.
He gave them exactly what they wanted, delivering the iconic song on national TV.
“I want to perform their favorite song, but you know they love to sue,” Lamar said before launching into the tune.
Social media users on X, formerly Twitter, quickly hit the platform to rave over Lamar’s performance, with many poking fun at Drake’s loss in their infamous diss battle.
While Lamar and Drake have been in a long-brewing rivalry, their quarrel gained worldwide attention last spring after the pair exchanged blows through several diss tracks, including Lamar’s “Not Like Us” and Drake’s “Family Matters.”
In January, Drake filed a lawsuit claiming the label allowed Lamar to make “inflammatory and shocking allegations” against him, specifically pointing to lyrics calling Drake a “certified pedophile.”
“The recording was intended to convey the specific, unmistakable, and false factual allegation that Drake is a criminal pedophile, and to suggest that the public should resort to vigilante justice in response,” Drake’s attorneys said.
UMG denied the allegations.
Drake’s legal team also accused UMG and Spotify of “artificially” inflating streams of “Not Like Us,” which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, though they withdrew that petition.
Though Sunday marked Lamar’s first time as the headlining act at the Super Bowl, the rapper previously blessed the halftime stage during a cameo alongside Dr. Dre, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Snoop Dogg at Super Bowl LVI in Los Angeles in 2022.