When the history books are written about Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s beef, the narrative will begin years before Drake and J. Cole’s “First Person Shooter.” And yet, that song is arguably what changed everything and that’s what crossed the line for Kendrick. In that song, Drake said: “Big as the what? Big as the what? Big as the what? (Ayy)/Big as the Super Bowl.” That was just before he called himself, Cole and Kendrick “the big three.” Kendrick responded with a feature on Metro Boomin and Future’s “Like That” and the rest is history… “Euphoria,” “6:16,” “Meet the Grahams” and the song of the summer, “Not Like Us.”
Kendrick won the rap battle, then further cemented the win by organizing The Pop Out concert on Juneteenth. Then on Independence Day, he dropped the (amazing) music video for “Not Like Us.” Since he’s choosing specifically American holidays to make a point, do you think we’ll get an album on Thanksgiving? He’s got an album coming, right?? Well, in any case, Kendrick has chosen another uniquely American holiday for another “pop out” – he’s just been announced as the headliner for the 2025 Super Bowl Half-Time show in New Orleans. That man is going to have millions of people chanting “they not like us” at the biggest televised event of the year.
.@KendrickLamar. Super Bowl LIX. New Orleans. February 2025. #AppleMusicHalftime@AppleMusic @RocNation @NFLonFOX pic.twitter.com/1XmZWutsWl
— NFL (@NFL) September 8, 2024
This is why no one – especially Drake – should ever beef with a Gemini. A Gemini will f–k your sh-t up forever. Kendrick wasn’t lying when he said “headshots for the year, you better walk around like Daft Punk.” Now, that being said… while Kendrick is truly the pettiest king to ever walk this earth, let’s not pretend that his discography isn’t amazing past his Drake-specific disses. Two years ago, Kendrick was part of the Halftime show which featured Snoop, Dr. Dre, Mary J. Blige and Eminem. Kendrick did a medley of “m.A.A.d. City” and “Alright.” He has plenty of songs to perform which will bring the house down. But yeah, we’re absolutely getting “Not Like Us.” Probably “Like That” as well.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images, screencaps from ‘Not Like Us’.