Kendrick Lamar’s Halftime Show: Celebration or A Final Shot at Drake?
Rapper Kendrick Lamar is headlining the 2025 Super Bowl along with R&B artists, SZA. Photo by Apple Music.
This Sunday, the world stops turning and civilization comes to a halt. The holiest day of the year, or as others would call it, the Super Bowl. It doesn’t matter if the viewers’ home team is playing or not, fans’ eyes will be glued to the screen as the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs battle it out to take home the Lombardi Trophy and the pivotal Super Bowl rings.
To compliment the renowned occasion, Grammy-winner Kendrick Lamar has been selected to headline the Halftime Show along with R&B artist, SZA, and with that title comes great responsibility.
The Halftime Show announcement came with a polarizing response, from fans and the music industry. Lil Wayne spoke out after the announcement, incredibly disappointed in their decision, especially since the Super Bowl was taking place in New Orleans, his hometown. On an Instagram Live stream on September 2024 he said, “It hurt a whole lot. I thought that there was nothing better than that spot, on that stage, in that platform, in my city.”
Rapper Lil Wayne was disappointed that he wasn’t chosen to be the headliner for the 2025 Super Bowl in his hometown, New Orleans. Photo by Julia Beverly/Getty Images.
Kendrick Lamar’s career has skyrocketed over the past year due to his new releases and his returning rap feud. Lamar surprised the audience with a diss track titled, “Not Like Us” targeted at another well-known rapper, Drake, in May 2024.
While Lamar and Drake’s rocky relationship was spotlighted in 2024, sparks of controversy began back in 2013 when Lamar boldly declared his dominance over multiple rap artists in the business, including Drake in a collaboration with Big Sean on his song, “Control”. Since then, numerous diss tracks have been released between the two about each other, with “Not Like Us” achieving top streaming numbers and swept the Grammys winning five awards.
Big Sean came out with single, “Control” featuring Kendrick Lamar and Jay Electronica on August 14, 2013. Photo by GOOD Music and Def Jam Recordings
Lamar’s song, “Not Like Us” talks about the man that he is, with morals and values he doubles down on, and on the opposite spectrum, everything that Drake is not. Lamar comments on allegations of Drake being a “sex offender,” rapping bars like, “Say Drake? I hear you like ‘em young. You better not ever go to cell block one,” and “Certified lover boy? Certified pedophiles.”
Lamar doesn’t hold back in this diss track, and beyond the feud, the track opens up the topic about the pressures of conforming to the music industry and cultural appropriation. Fans ate up the public feud and stayed for the social commentary.
With Lamar’s performance around the corner, fans speculate what his performance will look like. Will he perform his high-charting hit, “Not Like Us?” The question is not that simple.
For artists, the Super Bowl is a tremendous marketing campaign that pays for itself due to its opportunities of widespread exposure to a multitude of demographics. With those opportunities, however, comes the acceptance of the censorship due to the National Football League’s (NFL) strict performance guidelines, which could limit an artist’s creative freedom.
The NFL may not even allow him to perform the song, or Lamar might not want to. While “Not Like Us” was his awarded song of the year, he has a multitude of other songs from his discography that could be implemented into his set list for the show.
Tune into the Super Bowl on February 9th which will be televised on FOX at 6:30 PM EST. , and for those of us that aren’t interested in football or music, there’s always the Puppy Bowl streaming on multiple platforms at 2 PM EST.
