Kendrick Lamar Declares ‘Game Over’ in Drake Battle With Triumphant Super Bowl Halftime Performance

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Kendrick Lamar showed out during his performance during the Super Bowl Halftime Show, enlisting SZA, Samuel L. Jackson, Serena Williams and Mustard for an ode to Compton on the biggest stage in the world.

The set, with its American flag color palette, largely consisted of tracks from his freshly released album “GNX” as well as a few loosies from his deeper catalog. With Jackson serving as a master of ceremonies (dressed as Uncle Sam, naturally), Lamar led a robust team of backup dancers who slipped in and out of formation as he toured his discography, giving renditions of “DNA,” “Peekaboo,” “Squabble Up” and “Humble.”

The million-dollar question leading into the Super Bowl: Would he, or wouldn’t he, perform “Not Like Us,” the song where he accuses his foe Drake of pedophilia, on the biggest stage in the world? Counterpoint: Why wouldn’t he? “Not Like Us” was the most culturally important song of 2024, with continued dominance into this year after winning five Grammys including song and record of the year.

And thus, he did, and then some. Prior to ripping through “Not Like Us,” the massive hit from last year’s back-and-forth with Drake, he stood in an X on the field and stated, “I want to perform their favorite song, but you know they love to sue,” gesturing towards the legal action that Drake took against Universal Music Group over releasing and promoting “Not Like Us.”

Which led to the victory lap, the moment to solidify the conclusive winner in the ongoing war of words with Drake, turning the Super Bowl field into a block party as scores of dancers — plus Serena Williams — moved to the tune. (The implication, of course, being that Williams was rumored to have dated Drake in the past.) Though he left out the word “pedophile” during the track, Lamar let the crowd ring out as they shouted “A minor,” adding insult to injury. To conclude? Lamar signed off with “TV Off,” grinning into the camera as “Game Over” illuminated the crowd behind him.

Though the beef has largely dominated much of the cultural conversation over the last year, it was only a piece of the larger pie of Lamar’s Halftime Show, a ceaseless, finely executed performance. The focus largely stayed on Lamar — in the past, musicians have turned the Super Bowl stage into a parade of surprise guests — as he set off the show with an unreleased song featured in a teaser posted to YouTube just hours before “GNX” dropped.

Lamar continued by holding steady in the center of dancers to form the American flag during “Humble.” He made his way across the stage, a long rectangular block dotted with lamposts, for “Man at the Garden” and “Peekaboo,” rapping in front of a group of men perched around one of the posts. SZA soon emerged for “Luther” and “All the Stars” before Lamar hit his slide toward the end zone.

This isn’t Lamar’s first Super Bowl rodeo, as he appeared during the 2022 Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show alongside a coterie of hip-hop and R&B legends. During the 15-minute performance, he graced the stage alongside Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, 50 Cent and Anderson Paak, making for a widescreen spectacle that bridged generations.

Lamar’s performance at the Super Bowl comes on the heels of a year-long hot streak that started after his culture-shifting verse on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That,” which released last March. On the track, he took Drake and J. Cole to task for including him in the “big three” of hip-hop, a designation that he rebuffed and in turn set off a war of words between the trio.

While J. Cole swiftly bowed out of the line of fire, Lamar and Drake went tit-for-tat in the months that followed, releasing increasingly scathing diss tracks that lobbed accusations of infidelity and pedophilia. It all cumulated in May with the release of Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” the Mustard-produced track that swiftly became both a West Coast anthem.

With the sole hit from his tussle with Drake, Lamar became the arguable victor of the spar as “Not Like Us” was an immediate smash, breaking streaming records and earning his first solo record to hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Earlier this month, he took a victory lap at the Grammy Awards where he took home both song and record of the year for “Not Like Us,” as well as three other wins in genre categories.

Amid the run-on success of “Not Like Us,” Lamar surprise-released his latest album “GNX” in November following rumors that he had been hard at work on a new project. “GNX” bowed atop the Billboard 200, becoming his fifth consecutive number one album, and all 12 songs debuted on the Hot 100 including five in the top positions.

All of this is setting the table for Lamar’s upcoming “Grand National Tour” with SZA, kicking off on Apr. 19 in Minneapolis, MN. The trek will make stops in Atlanta, East Rutherford and Los Angeles before wrapping up at Washington, DC’s Northwest Stadium on June 18.