Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl show was one big tease

Minutes after the Super Bowl halftime show began, Kendrick Lamar said, "I want to play their favorite song...but you know they love to sue." He was clearly referring to the viral hit "Not Like Us" from last year, a scathing diss track aimed at rap rival Drake, which has garnered 1 billion streams on Spotify and won five Grammy Awards, including Song of the Year.

Prior to the performance, there had been speculation about whether Lamar would perform the song at the Super Bowl, or even be allowed to. This stemmed from a defamation lawsuit Drake filed over lyrics describing him as a sexual predator (which he denies). In the face of this predicament, Lamar continuously alluded to the song throughout the performance, eventually fulfilling the audience's expectations.

As the song played, Kendrick self-censored the most controversial lyric, namely his calling Drake a "certified pedophile." But he looked directly into the camera, shouting Drake's name with a mischievous grin, and retained the song's infamous pun: "Tryin' to strike a chord and it's probably _A minor_." This lyric reverberated through the Caesars Superdome in Louisiana, indicating that no legal action could diminish the song's popularity.

Lamar's performance was estimated to have drawn over 120 million television viewers who tuned in to watch the Kansas City Chiefs play the Philadelphia Eagles. Tennis star Serena Williams made a surprise appearance, performing the Crip Walk – a notorious Los Angeles dance move – while Lamar roamed the stage, further elevating the performance's atmosphere. Drake's lawyers are suing Lamar's record label, Universal Music Group, accusing it of attempting to "manufacture a viral hit" with a song that makes "false factual allegations" about the star.

Sunday marked the first time a solo rapper headlined the Super Bowl, and Lamar delivered a meticulously crafted stage show filled with dancers, pyrotechnics, and special guests. Lamar's lyrics have consistently explored the contradictions between ego and self-doubt, and his Super Bowl performance put this conflict in the spotlight. He performed on a giant tic-tac-toe board, alternating between introspective songs (often performed in the X zone) and crowd-pleasing hits (in the O zone). Actor Samuel L. Jackson, dressed as Uncle Sam, served as a host, scolding Lamar when he got too self-indulgent and praising his duet with R&B singer SZA. Jackson said after the two performed "All The Stars," an interlude from the Marvel film *Black Panther*, "That's what I'm talking about, that's what America wants, nice and peaceful."

Whatever Lamar performed, the energy in the stadium was electrifying. Early highlights included "Humble" and "DNA," both tracks from the rapper's Pulitzer Prize-winning album *DAMN*, whose hard-hitting rhythms shook the stadium. The set also included "Squabble Up," "Man At The Garden," and another Drake diss track, "Euphoria." Unlike most Super Bowl performers, Lamar isn't much of a dancer, but he moved in sync with his dancers, projecting a charismatic confidence; clever stage design also lent momentum to the performance, especially during tense and angular songs like "Peekaboo." SZA also added to the performance, her mellifluous vocals and incredibly fluid choreography helping to temper Lamar's more abrasive instincts.

"Not Like Us" was undoubtedly the climax, but Lamar took a victorious lap in the buoyant West Coast anthem "TV Off," in which he boasts, "_Yeah, somebody gotta do it_." The song's producer, Mustard, joined him, holding a football and wearing the world's baggiest jeans. Lamar then pointed an imaginary remote control at the camera and said, "Game over." For fans, it was a brilliant, easter egg-filled performance, including a snippet of an unreleased song, "Bodies." Casual viewers may have sided more with Samuel L. Jackson's plea for Lamar to keep it light; particularly as some of his more obscure lyrics were rendered unintelligible by the stadium's massive echo.

Notably, Lamar did not perform his civil rights anthem "Alright," and this year the NFL chose to remove the "End Racism" stencils from the end zones of the field. The phrase had appeared at the Super Bowl since the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, and "Alright" became its unofficial soundtrack. Many had expected Lamar to make a larger statement, especially with President Donald Trump in attendance, but the star's performance remained resolutely uncontroversial—unless your name is Drake.

Nevertheless, Lamar's performance was smooth and streamlined—as many fans anticipated, after an accompaniment track leaked on Thursday. The only disruption came during the 13-minute performance's climax, when a protester climbed atop Lamar's black Buick GNX car and unfurled a combined Palestinian and Sudanese flag before being subdued by security personnel. The NFL later said in a statement that the protester was one of the 400 performers involved in the show.