KENDRICK Lamar was swiping left, right and centre at Drake during his Super Bowl performance.
The superstar rapper, 37, wowed fans when he took to the stage at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans for the game’s famous halftime show – and he used it as an opportunity to slam his rival.
Kendrick Lamar performs during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl 59[/caption]
Kendrick didn’t hold back in his Super Bowl show, with fans loving every single minute of it.
The rapper was chosen to perform on the world’s biggest stage, which was watched by 120 million fans at home.
He used the opportunity to let off some steam, with his rival Drake, 38, certainly feeling the heat.
Here The U.S. Sun takes you all the times the rapper swiped at his nemesis in his highly talked about halftime show.
THE DISS TRACK
First up, the song Kendrick performed was the biggest swipe at Drake.
He performed his scathing diss track Not Like U, despite his rival taking legal action to put a stop to the performance.
In front of 80,000 NFL fans in the stadium, he belted out the infamous lyrics that are allegedly about Drake.
In first verse of the track, Kendrick rapped: “Say, Drake, I hear you like ’em young. You better not ever go to cell block one.
“To any b***h that talk to him and they in love. Just make sure you hide your lil’ sister from him.”
TAKING AIM AT DRAKE’S ALBUM
In the released track, Kendrick takes a shot at Drake’s 2021 album Certified Lover Boy in the line: “Certified Lover Boy? Certified pedophiles.”
However, he removed the word “pedophile” from his Super Bowl performance.
Kendrick went onto rap: “Wop, wop, wop, wop, wop, I’ma do my stuff. Why you trollin’ like a b***h?
“Ain’t you tired? Tryna strike a chord and it’s probably A minor,” he added – with the last word extra emphasized in the song.
Fans couldn’t get enough of Kendrick’s halftime show[/caption]
GETTING FANS ON BOARD
Thousands of fans in the stadium could then be heard singing along to the “A Minor” line.
Social media then lit up, with fans calling this an extra “gut punch” to Drake.
One tweeted: “Drake needs to leave the country after watching Kendrick perform Not Like Us in front of the whole world.”
While another added: “THIS MAN KENDRICK LAMAR JUST SMILED IN THE CAMERA AFTER COOKING DRAKE LMFAOOOOOO.”
“OMG…..OMG…… @kendricklamar did it. Not only did he rock the beat of “Not Like Is”……he sang the lyrics.
“He did it. Mentioned “Drake” by name too. Awwwww Damn! Helluva halftime show. The brother showed out.#Salute,” this fan wrote.
Kendrick rocked a massive “a” chain during his Super Bowl halftime show[/caption]
KENDRICK’S CHAIN
During his performance, Kendrick wore a large chain necklace that had a hidden meaning, that fans quickly worked out.
The rapper took to the stage wearing a massive silver and diamond chain featuring a giant “a.”
At first it was unclear what the lowercase letter was referring to, but eagle-eyed fans came up with a theory.
Many said Kendrick was further slamming his enemy Drake by referencing the lyric: “Trying to strike a chord and it’s probably A minor.”
“Kendrick Lamar wearing a lowercase A (a minor) chain is diabolical work,” one fan wrote on X/Twitter.
This person added: “Kendrick Lamar said all he had to with that ‘a minor’ chain.”
Another tweeted: “Kendrick wearing a lowercase ‘a’ diamond chain for ‘a minor?’ My kind of hater!”
DRAKE’S EX
One of the biggest swipes had to be when Drake’s ex Serena Williams took to the stage with Kendrick.
The tennis superstar briefly dated Drake in 2011 and has reportedly remained on bad terms in the years since.
In a brutal dig to Drake, Serena was seen happily dancing on the stage to the diss track.
Drake’s ex Serena Williams also joined Kendrick in the performance[/caption]
DRAKE TRIED TO BAN THE SONG
Kendrick performed Not Like U at the Super Bowl despite Drake trying to do everything he could to prevent it.
He is currently suing his own label Universal Music for defamation after labelmate Kendrick insinuated he is a pedophile in the song.
Drake – who has denied all claims of misconduct – alleged in the complaint that the record label put his life and reputation at risk by releasing and promoting the song.
The One Dance rapper stated in the docs that the label played a role in ensuring Lamar headlined the upcoming Super Bowl halftime show.
He claimed the reason behind the big game slot is for Kendrick to perform the diss track on the massive stage, which he called “one of the most significant (and viewed) cultural events of the year.”
The lawsuit stated that UMG’s campaign was allegedly “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.”
Universal Music Group [UMG} has already responded to Drake’s lawsuit saying he has successfully used the record label to “distribute his music and poetry” to engage in “rap battles” himself.
“Not only are these claims untrue, but the notion that we would seek to harm the reputation of any artist, let alone Drake, is illogical,” UMG said in a statement to The U.S. Sun.
DRAKE & KENDRICK FEUD TIMELINE
On October 6, 2023, Drake and J. Cole released First Person Shooter, in which J. Cole claimed that himself, Drake, and Kendrick are the “big three” of hip-hop.
On March 22, 2024, Kendrick responded to the claim of a “big three” in his verse on Metro Boomin and Future’s song Like That, where he instead stated, “It’s just big me,” and accused both rappers of sneak dissing.
On April 5, 2024, J. Cole dropped his Kendrick diss track, 7 Minute Drill, in which he fired “warning shots” at the rapper as he accused the good kid, m.A.A.d city artist of seeking “attention” and slammed his latest music releases as “tragic.”
But on April 7, 2024, two days after releasing the Kendrick diss, J. Cole retracted his statement and backed out of the feud, as he stated he felt pressured to respond because “the world wanna see blood.”
On April 13, 2024, Drake responded to Kendrick with Push Ups, which had lyrics ridiculing Kendrick’s height and his mainstream collaborations with Taylor Swift and Maroon 5.
The track also dissed rappers Future and Rick Ross and producer Metro Boomin.
On April 19, 2024, Drake dropped another diss track, Taylor Made Freestyle, that used AI-generated voices of Snoop Dogg and the late Tupac Shakur to pressure Kendrick to respond.
On April 30, 2024, Kendrick dropped Euphoria, a six-minute diss track, in which he criticized Drake’s biracial identity, questioned the rapper’s ability as a father, and claimed that Drake is a “scam artist.”
On May 1, 2024, Drake responded to Kendrick’s diss by posting a clip from the 1999 film 10 Things I Hate About You on his Instagram Story in which Julia Stiles’ character Kat lists the reasons she hates Heath Ledger’s character Patrick – mirroring a Euphoria bar where Lamar provides reasons he hates Drake.
On May 3, 2024, Kendrick dropped a second Drake diss track, 6:16 in LA in which Kendrick alleges Drake’s own team is working against him as he rapped, “Everyone inside your team is whispering that you deserve it,” and stated Drake “can’t Toosie Slide up out of this one.”
After Drake responded with his diss track Family Matters, where he called accused Kendrick of infidelity, the Humble hitmaker would release Meet the Grahams, his fourth diss track against the Canadian rapper.
