Kendrick Lamar performs Drake diss at Super Bowl and swipes at legal action
Kendrick Lamar provided the halftime entertainment at the 2025 Super Bowl in America
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Super Bowl: Kendrick Lamar performs during half time show
Rapper Kendrick Lamar had the Super Bowl crowd rapping along as he performed his diss track aimed at Drake.
Ahead of the song, Kendrick teased playing the rap track but cited Drake's ongoing lawsuit over the song. However, ignoring any potential backlash from Drake, Kendrick went on to perform the song.
Not Like Us, released was released in May last year at the height of Lamar and Drake's feud and sees Kendrick accuse his Canadian rival of sexual misconduct, describing the Hotline Bling hitmaker of being a "certified paedophile". The song became the most decorated song in Grammy Awards earlier this month thanks to the diss track winning Kendrick five gongs.
Ahead of Kendrick's performance at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana this evening, there had been speculation the Pulitzer Prize winning rapper wouldn't perform the hit track at the 2025 Super Bowl due to legal concerns and broadcasting regulations.
In January this year, Drake decided to head to a lawyer's office rather than the studio and began legal action regarding Kendrick's diss tracks. The dad-of-one, 38, launched a federal defamation lawsuit against his music label over Kendrick's Grammy Award winning hit.
The Canadian rapper is taking Universal Music Group to court, alleging they are part of spreading a "false and malicious narrative" that he is a paedophile. According to the court documents, Drake asserts that the label was aware that Kendrick's track would feature lyrics and visuals in a music video that made this accusation against him.
He accuses UMG of permitting "'inflammatory and shocking allegations" because the song was a lucrative opportunity for them. Drake also contends that the label promoted "Not Like Us" knowing it would diminish the value of his own music and strengthen their position in future contract talks.
The lawsuit claims UMG paid a third party to artificially inflate Lamar's song's streams by at least 30 million using bots. Furthermore, the company is accused of engaging in a "pay for play" scheme with at least one radio promoter and dubbing the track a "chart topper" based on fraudulent figures.
However, the lawsuit clarifies that it is not targeting Lamar himself. "This lawsuit is not about the artist who created Not Like Us," the suit declares. "It is, instead, entirely about UMG, the music company that decided to publish, promote, exploit, and monetize" a song containing untrue allegations.
Drake has expressed concerns over his safety, citing the numerous shootings near or at his Toronto mansion since the release of a controversial song. The track, Not Like Us, dominated the charts for 21 weeks on the Billboard Hot Rap songs and 22 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, hitting the number one spot twice and racking up over 914 million plays on Spotify.
A spokesperson for UMG dismissed Drake's claims as "offensive and untrue", stating: "The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue. We employ the highest ethical practices in our marketing and promotional campaigns. No amount of contrived and absurd legal arguments in this pre-action submission can mask the fact that fans choose the music they want to hear."
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