Kendrick Lamar was at the peak of his powers during his performance during the Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show - enlisting guests like SZA, Samuel L. Jackson, Serena Williams and DJ Mustard for his well-deserved victory lap.
The set largely consisted of tracks from his newly released album GNX, as well as a few singles from his back catalog. With Jackson dressed as Uncle Sam serving as a master of ceremonies), Lamar led a team of backup dancers who slipped in and out of formation as fired off spectacular renditions of 'Luther', 'DNA', 'Peekaboo', 'Squabble Up' and 'Humble'.
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The biggest question going into Lamar's highly anticipated performance was: would he perform 'Not Like Us'? A provocative and controversial diss track aimed at Drake, accusing him of being a culture vulture and sexual predator. Despite the debate, we all knew he would. It was the most culturally important song of 2024, and just won five GRAMMYs.
“I want to perform their favourite song, but you know they love to sue,” Lamar stated on the football field, nodding towards the legal action that Drake took against Universal Music Group over releasing and promoting 'Not Like Us'.
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When K. Dot did launch into the West Coast banger, he turned the field into a block party as a plethora of dancers — plus Serena Williams — grooved to the tune. For context, Williams was rumoured to have dated Drake in the past.
Though he kept the word “pedophile” out of the track, Lamar let the crowd do the work for him as over 73,000 people vociferously shouted “A minor”. Lamar capped it all off with 'TV Off', smiling into the camera as “Game Over” illuminated the crowd behind him.
Watch the full performance on YouTube here.
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