Fresh off his triumphant sweep at last week's Grammy Awards, Kendrick Lamar took centre stage at the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show, performing his 2024 diss track "Not Like Us" with signature energy.

The Compton lyricist opened the set with a striking lineup, performing hits like "Squabble Up", "Humble", "DNA", "Euphoria", "Man at the Garden", and "Peekaboo". 

Midway through, he teased the possibility of performing "Not Like Us", his explosive 2024 track, remarking, "I know they want to hear it, but lawsuits got them feeling a way." 

Opting to sidestep the controversy, he pivoted into "Luther" before teaming up with Grammy-winning songstress SZA for a stirring rendition of "All the Stars".

Speculation had been swirling for weeks over whether Kendrick Lamar would bring his explosive diss track to the NFL's grandest stage. 

While the 37-year-old rapper remained tight-lipped about specific details during Thursday's pre-Super Bowl press conference, he did hint that his performance would centre around "storytelling."

Lamar enlisted Hollywood icon Samuel L Jackson for a dramatic introduction before welcoming longtime collaborator Mustard to the stage. 

As previously confirmed, Grammy-winning artiste SZA also joined him for a special segment of the set.

Then came the moment fans had been waiting for—Lamar launched into "Not Like Us", the chart-topping track that shook the hip-hop world amid his ongoing feud with Drake. 

The song, hailed by critics as one of the most scathing diss records in recent memory, was part of a string of lyrical blows aimed at the Certified Lover Boy artiste. Earlier in the set, Lamar also performed "Euphoria", another pointed track from the highly publicised rivalry.

Staying true to the song's original lyrics, Kendrick Lamar directly name-checked Drake during the performance. However, he deliberately omitted the controversial "pedophiles" line, instead letting the crowd take over with a deafening chant of "Tryna strike a chord and it's probably A minor." 

Among the notable audience reactions, tennis legend Serena Williams was caught on camera enthusiastically dancing along. Later, in a video posted to X, she quipped, "I did not crip walk like that at Wimbledon. I would've been fined. It was all love."

"Not Like Us" dominated 2024, spending two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and an impressive 20 weeks atop the Hot Rap Songs chart. 

The track swept all five Grammy categories it was nominated for, including Song and Record of the Year, solidifying its impact far beyond a diss track. 

As The Hollywood Reporter's Janeé Bolden described it, the recent accolades mark yet another "FAFO moment" for the song's intended target. The track recently surpassed a billion streams on Spotify, earning a coveted spot in the platform's Billions Club.

Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us" remains at the centre of an ongoing legal battle, with Drake filing a defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG), the label representing both artistes. 

In the lawsuit, Drake alleges that UMG "orchestrated, promoted, and capitalised on a rap track designed to falsely depict him as a criminal and incite public outrage." 

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The filing further claims that the song was deliberately pushed to become a viral sensation, reinforcing what he describes as "dangerous and defamatory narratives."

In November, Drake's entertainment company, Frozen Moments, escalated the dispute by submitting a petition in a New York court. 

The filing accuses UMG of "artificially inflating the song's reach through streaming manipulation, bot-driven plays, and pay-for-placement tactics" to ensure "Not Like Us" dominated digital platforms. 

Both Spotify and UMG swiftly denied the allegations, with the record label calling the claims "baseless and offensive."

In response to the lawsuit, Spotify firmly denied any involvement in boosting "Not Like Us" through manipulated promotion. In an official statement, the streaming giant asserted, "There has never been an agreement in which UMG received a 30% discount on licensing rates for 'Not Like Us' in exchange for preferential algorithmic promotion, including recommendations to users searching for other songs or artistes."

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This wasn't Kendrick Lamar's first time on the Super Bowl stage. He previously made his halftime show debut in 2022, sharing the spotlight with rap icon Dr Dre alongside a star-studded lineup featuring Eminem, Snoop Dogg, and Mary J Blige.

Meanwhile, on the field, the Philadelphia Eagles delivered a dominant performance, securing a 40-22 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs to claim the Super Bowl LIX title.