Watch Kendrick Lamar perform Drake diss track ‘Not Like Us’ at Super Bowl
This year’s Super Bowl saw the Philadelphia Eagles take on the Kansas City Chiefs at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, and there was much speculation about the halftime show’s setlist. Following the announcement that Kendrick Lamar would be the headline performer, fans began wondering whether or not the emcee would perform his chart-topping Drake diss, ‘Not Like Us’, which, of course, he did.
Usually, people wouldn’t speculate. However, following the track’s release, Drake decided to hit Kendrick Lamar’s record label with legal action. Although the Compton native had performed the song live many times, most notably at his Pop Out: Ken & Friends concert at Inglewood’s Kia Forum Stadium, some were under the impression that the lawsuit filed by Drizzy was sure to deter Universal Music Group and Lamar from publicly performing ‘Not Like Us.’
‘Not Like Us’ has been a rap music phenomenon and Lamar even won ‘Record of The Year’ at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards for the track. In fact, over the course of the night, Kendrick Lamar and DJ Mustard earned themselves three in the categories of ‘Best Rap Performance’, ‘Best Rap Song’ and finally ‘Best Music Video.’
However, fans were still unsure whether or not Lamar would perform the track due to the nature of Drake’s lawsuit. Last year, on January 15th, Drake filed a federal lawsuit in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. He accused Universal Music Group (UMG) of prioritizing “corporate greed over the safety and well-being of its artists”. He claimed that the release of ‘Not Like Us’ was a defamatory act.
As a result of this filing, many believed that by green-lighting the performance of ‘Not Like Us’ in front of millions of viewers, UMG would be putting itself in further legal trouble. However, it was evident from Lamar’s Super Bowl performance that the record label had no qualms with Lamar performing his biggest hit, and it appears they are more than happy to fight Drake in court over the defamation case.
Although there was a sense of uncertainty, hip-hop fans were mostly convinced that the Scorpion creator had successfully thrown a wrench in the works by filing a defamation lawsuit. Still, the doubters were wrong, to say the least.
Kendrick’s performance was stellar. However, regarding his performance of ‘Not Like Us’ due to the number of families watching and US federal law concerning broadcast television, the DAMN creator couldn’t curse or include certain lines from the original diss track.
One line he was allowed to include was his rhyme, “Tryna strike a chord, and it’s probably A-minor” which was the ultimate punch in the face for Drake, but if the defamation case goes ahead, it could be something that comes back to hurt UMG.