Say, Drake -- Kendrick Lamar/"Not Like Us"
Kendrick Lamar performed at Super Bowl LIX this past weekend. Being the most viewed Super Bowl as well as having a successful album stemming from his beef with Drake; it’s safe to say that Kendrick won the debate.
The 37-year-old rapper, born in California, is a multi-time Grammy award winner for songs such as “Humble” and “Not Like Us.” As everyone knows by now, rappers Kendrick Lamar and Drake have had some problems with each other which caused Kendrick and Drake to release songs dissing each other. Kendrick has been seen as the winner in this battle because of his song “Not Like Us” which won 5 Grammys in the latest Grammy Awards selections. Because of Kendrick’s latest album's success and the legendary song “Not Like Us,” the NFL decided to give him the honor of performing at Super Bowl LIX.
Drake and Kendrick had been throwing shots at each other ever since Kendrick came onto the scene in 2012. When Kendrick was still up and coming, he was offered a spot on Drake's album “Take Care” as well as a setlist with Drake's Club Paradise tour. After the release of Kendrick's hit album “m.A.A.d City,” Drake made his ambitions clear. He started saying in an interview “I got love for y'all, but I'm trying to murder you.” He then went on to go in-depth on his views on Kendrick and how he would never be able to “murder” him in the rap game.
Looking at the current state of music and how Kendrick's latest album has taken over social media and led to a Super Bowl appearance, it's hard to think that Kendrick hasn't been charged with homicide against the rap game.
Kendrick Lamar performed 11 of his top songs during the Super Bowl LIX halftime show. Kendrick started the performance with an unreleased teaser that people have been calling “Bodies.” It was an unexpected start to the show. Kendrick then sang “Squabble Up” which is one of Kendrick’s most popular newer songs.
This is when the show started to get entraining as dancers came out and set the tone. Then Kendrick played “Humble” and “DNA” which are some of his best work from when he started to get big in the rap genre. Then Kendrick performed his first Drake diss track with “Euphoria.” “Euphoria” was Kendrick’s very first diss track on Drake. Kendrick then played “Man At The Garden” and “Peekaboo” which then led to “Luther” with another famous rapper, SZA. Kendrick and SZA would continue to perform with each other as they would sing “All Of The Stars” next. Then Kendrick played and performed his biggest song right now, “Not Like Us” which caused fans to go crazy. Kendrick had a surprise guest as a dancer, Serena Williams. Williams is the very iconic tennis player who dated Drake a while back. Kendrick then ended the halftime show with “TV Off” which is another one of Kendrick’s newer songs that are doing well on rap charts right now.
Spanning through the set list, Kendrick was caught showing his activist side. The show itself had much symbolism stemming from the black “Ghetto” rhetoric that's been throughout America since its creation. The show started with Uncle Sam being played by Samuel Jackson--who throughout the show was throwing shots at Kendrick calling his performance “too ghetto.” The backup dancers were dressed in the colors of the flag, which could be represented as the African Americans who “built” the country. During his transition of songs, he mentioned “40 acres and a mule,” a promise made to formerly enslaved people of the Civil War that was to ensure African Americans would thrive for the centuries to come. That which, was obviously never fulfilled.
