Diss respect: Kendrick Lamar turns up the Super Bowl 2025 halftime show with Not Like Us, SZA and more review

Last year, Kendrick Lamar legendarily performed “Not Like Us” five times in a row at his Juneteenth Pop Out concert at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles.And he probably could’ve done it at least three times in a row for the whole 13 minutes of his Super Bowl halftime-show set — and everybody would’ve been happy.That’s the kind of hype energy that “Not Like Us” brought to the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans midway through the Super Bowl LIX showdown between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday night.After all, attendees were all Serena Williams — bopping along to her fellow Compton-native as a surprise backup dancer.Although there had been some talk that Lamar might not perform the controversial Drake diss track that even had the “God’s Plan” rapper sue Universal Music Group — the umbrella record company that he and Lamar share — really there was just about as much of a chance of him not doing the battle rap classic as Taylor Swift not showing up to cheer on Travis Kelce.Lamar didn’t shy away from taking aim at Drake, as he even rocked a blinged out “a” chain for the mic-drop lyric “Try to strike a chord and it’s probably A minor.” But he did avoid the single most damning word where he calls him a “pedophile.”On this night, “Not Like Us” had come to symbolize more than the epic Drake beef, with a universal appeal — and a sickeningly infectious beat by DJ Mustard — made for Super Bowl-sized consumption.Of course, Lamar is bigger than one song.And with Samuel L.

Jackson opening the proceedings and presiding over the festivities like a pseudo Uncle Sam, he and his army of dancers were in red, white and blue formation as they took the stage from his signature GNX to his recent No.1 hit “Squabble Up.” It was as appropriate of a theme as you could have for the Super Bowl.“The revolution about to be televised,” he said.

Dressed down in a bomber, baseball cap and jeans — this may go down as t...