After months of waiting, the time is finally here. Kendrick Lamar is about to take the Super Bowl stage and continue to run victory laps around Drake. However, there are still plenty of loose ends that fans are beginning to theorize about. Is he going to be able to perform “Not Like Us?” What other special guests can we expect? Is a Black Hippy reunion coming?
The rapper shed more light on the intent behind his battle with Drake and the making of “Not Like Us” during his pre-Super Bowl interview with Apple Music on February 6.
We will hear “Not Like Us”
According to sources, despite Drizzy’s petty lawsuit, TMZ reported that the song will be on Lamar’s Sunday setlist. However, “the lawyers have to decide whether to broadcast the lyrics that allegedly defame Drake and risk a potential lawsuit.” Thanks to the two censors that the NFL and CBS have (and the broadcast’s five-second delay), they could make sure that nothing too harsh about the Toronto native is heard worldwide.
Time will tell if the song in full appears at halftime, but “Not Like Us” was MIA off of GNX.
TDE’s Punch offered some clarification on X, stating that the song was left off because of “integrity. That record was for the battle. The album was a separate thing. Could have put it on there to boost overall sales but choose to leave it for what it was. Integrity.”
During his Apple Music interview, Lamar shared what creating the surprise album was like.
“I wanted to go back to the bite and just the grit of rap … I thought about, ‘Damn, what did I use to like as a kid?’ Hard raps, good beats, that’s smackin’…” he explained.
Of course, he also had to speak on the historic feud that he had with Drake last year.
“From day one, [my intent] was to keep the nature of it as a sport. I don’t care how motherf****** look at it as far as a collaborative effort. That’s cool too, but I love when artists grit their teeth. I still watch battle raps … This has always been the core definition of who I am,” he said.
Taking a turn from the drama of 2024, Lamar also spoke on his historic Grammys win, taking home five awards for “Not Like Us.”
“When people talk about rap, man, the conversations I hear, they think it’s just rap and not an actual art form. When you put records like that at the forefront, it reminds people that this is more than just something that came fifty years ago … I love to see that it gets that type of recognition for just straight raps,” he said.
It has already been confirmed that SZA will be a special guest at the show, but fingers crossed for even more of K. Dot’s collaborators like Rihanna, Black Hippy, and more. Regardless of whether or not “Not Like Us” makes it or if there are minimal surprise appearances, fans (and even the players) are already excited for what’s to come.
