KENDRICK Lamar has thrown out a sly dig at Drake as the bitter legal and personal feud between the two embroiled rappers continues.
Kendrick opened up about his smash hit Not Like Us ahead of his Super Bowl halftime show performance this Sunday.
Days after his Drake diss track swept the Grammy Awards with five wins including record of the year and song of the year, Kendrick spoke about the song’s creation in an interview with Apple Music.
The rapper said he went through trial and error while writing the song.
The fiery record sparked Drake to file a defamation lawsuit against him and Universal Music Group last month.
“I love to see that it gets recognition,” Kendrick said of the diss track on stage at the Apple Music event in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Thursday.
“I feel accomplished.”
When asked what people should expect from his halftime show on Sunday, Kendrick teased that there will be “storytelling.”
“I’ve always been very open about storytelling,” the rapper said.
“And I’ve always had a passion for bringing that on whatever stage I’m on.”
Kendrick described his feud with Drake as a “sport” rather than a “collaborative effort.”
“I love when artists grit their teeth,” he said.
Drake’s lawsuit ‘can’t stop’ Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show and ‘hurtful’ diss track
“This has always been the core definition of who I am.”
He said this year’s beef came from rappers sitting on the back burner and not having any “bite.”
WHAT TO EXPECT DURING KENDRICK’S SHOW
The U.S. Sun has already revealed there is nothing legally stopping Kendrick from performing Not Like Us at the Caesars Superdome on Sunday.
A source close to the rapper told The U.S. Sun that Kendrick is “pumped” to perform the song, which accuses Drake of being a pedophile, after its glorious run at the Grammy’s.
DRAKE & KENDRICK FEUD TIMELINE
On October 6, 2023, Drake and J. Cole released First Person Shooter, in which J. Cole claimed that himself, Drake, and Kendrick are the “big three” of hip-hop.
On March 22, 2024, Kendrick responded to the claim of a “big three” in his verse on Metro Boomin and Future’s song Like That, where he instead stated, “It’s just big me,” and accused both rappers of sneak dissing.
On April 5, 2024, J. Cole dropped his Kendrick diss track, 7 Minute Drill, in which he fired “warning shots” at the rapper as he accused the good kid, m.A.A.d city artist of seeking “attention” and slammed his latest music releases as “tragic.”
But on April 7, 2024, two days after releasing the Kendrick diss, J. Cole retracted his statement and backed out of the feud, as he stated he felt pressured to respond because “the world wanna see blood.”
On April 13, 2024, Drake responded to Kendrick with Push Ups, which had lyrics ridiculing Kendrick’s height and his mainstream collaborations with Taylor Swift and Maroon 5.
The track also dissed rappers Future and Rick Ross and producer Metro Boomin.
On April 19, 2024, Drake dropped another diss track, Taylor Made Freestyle, that used AI-generated voices of Snoop Dogg and the late Tupac Shakur to pressure Kendrick to respond.
On April 30, 2024, Kendrick dropped Euphoria, a six-minute diss track, in which he criticized Drake’s biracial identity, questioned the rapper’s ability as a father, and claimed that Drake is a “scam artist.”
On May 1, 2024, Drake responded to Kendrick’s diss by posting a clip from the 1999 film 10 Things I Hate About You on his Instagram Story in which Julia Stiles’ character Kat lists the reasons she hates Heath Ledger’s character Patrick – mirroring a Euphoria bar where Lamar provides reasons he hates Drake.
On May 3, 2024, Kendrick dropped a second Drake diss track, 6:16 in LA in which Kendrick alleges Drake’s own team is working against him as he rapped, “Everyone inside your team is whispering that you deserve it,” and stated Drake “can’t Toosie Slide up out of this one.”
After Drake responded with his diss track Family Matters, where he called accused Kendrick of infidelity, the Humble hitmaker would release Meet the Grahams, his fourth diss track against the Canadian rapper.
While there’s no question that Kendrick will perform the song on Sunday, it’s now a matter of whether Fox, which is broadcasting the Super Bowl live, will censor the show as Drake’s lawsuit looms.
NFL and Fox bosses will have to decide if they want to risk legal action from Drake for airing Kendrick’s controversial lyrics.
NOT LIKE US COULD BE BLEEPED
Officials with both brands could bleep out content to prevent Kendrick from saying the words “pedophile” or “minor” in front of the estimated 100 million people expected to watch the game.
The show will all be broadcast on a five-second delay, making the censorship possible.
During the interview, Apple Music reps Ebro Darden and Nadeska Alexis told Kendrick they expected him to drop “Easter eggs” during the performance, which caused the rapper to laugh.
Kendrick said he’ll physically prepare for the show by doing sprints and push-ups.
He added that he listens to music like the Isley Brothers to “calm his nerves” before a big performance.
