Kendrick Lamar posed in front of a massive American flag for the halftime show announcement. Photo courtesy of pgLang.
ALEX MCCARTY | STAFF REPORTER | armccarty@butler.edu
On Sept. 8, 2024, rapper Kendrick Lamar announced that he would perform at the Super Bowl LIX halftime show. This makes him the first solo rap artist to perform for a Super Bowl halftime show. He previously made an appearance at the Super Bowl LVI show alongside Dr. Dre and a collection of other iconic rappers. Lamar was the newest rapper to appear during that show since his first studio album was only released in 2011. He has become not only one of the biggest contemporary rappers in the world but one of the biggest artists in general. According to Spotify, Lamar ranks as the 18th most popular artist in the world.
This year was far from the first time Lamar dominated the charts and discussions among rap fans. He dominated the 2010s with albums like “good kid, m.A.A.d city” and “To Pimp a Butterfly” which both received universal acclaim from critics and fans alike. His record “DAMN.” won a Pulitzer prize, making Lamar the first hip-hop artist to do so. He is also a 17-time Grammy winner — and for good reason.
He is known for his conceptual and thought-provoking lyrics, often addressing racial issues and gang violence. Even while tackling these serious topics, he has made some of the catchiest and most popular rap music of the twenty-first century. The song “Humble” was impossible to escape in 2017 and has over two billion streams on Spotify, while earlier songs like “Money Trees” have gained popularity due to social media. If that wasn’t enough of a reason for him to lead the halftime show, then his eventful and historic 2024 most certainly is.
As far as this past year goes, Lamar is as big as ever. That fact may initially seem surprising since he has not released a new album this year. However, something much bigger came out of 2024: The Drake versus Kendrick beef. It all started on March 22 when he appeared as a feature on the song “Like That” alongside Future. In his verse, Kendrick went off against Drake and J. Cole and declared his dominance over the rap game. Drake responded with the diss song “Push Ups” on April 19 and from there, both parties released several diss tracks that waged various allegations against each other.
Manon Voice, a lecturer for Butler’s Hip-Hop History, Music and Culture course, expresses the significance of the beef within hip-hop culture and its impact on the community.
“I think there was such an important cultural and moral debate in what we were experiencing and feeling,” Voice said. “There were these important conversations about [what authenticity is]. What is real music? What is real art? I think there were these universal themes that were actually present in the beef that everybody can relate to. What is more important? Is it commercialism or is it authenticity?”
The beef came to a head on May 4 when Kendrick released the song “Not Like Us.” This was the final track Kendrick released for the rivalry with Drake and it quickly became a worldwide sensation. The combination of the song’s catchy beat and chorus along with the bitingly petty lyrics made “Not Like Us” one of the most popular songs of the year and did immense damage to Drake’s reputation. It hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and currently has over 750 million streams on Spotify. Kendrick states in the halftime show announcement video, “There’s only one opportunity to win a championship. No round 2’s.” Many fans speculate that this line is directed at Drake, considering Kendrick’s victory in the beef.
Sophomore entrepreneurship and innovation major Ben Adler discusses what he thinks the legacy of the beef will be and how Kendrick should move forward.
“I feel like Kendrick needs to use this as a leaping board to drop a new album,” Adler said. “It needs to be something … outside of the beef. You don’t just want to be remembered for the beef. You want to be remembered as the best.”
Kendrick did a live performance called “The Pop Out: Ken & Friends” on June 19 in Inglewood, California. The show was streamed on Prime Video and Twitch, where it broke the record for the most minutes watched of any Amazon music video production. Alongside Kendrick, twenty-five other West Coast artists performed and many other celebrities attended the show. The concert ended with Kendrick performing “Not Like Us” five times in a row while more and more people got on stage to dance and celebrate with him, from music artists to members of different Los Angeles gangs. Everyone joined on stage afterward and took a group photo to commemorate this moment of unity.
Samantha Gadomski, a sophomore sports media and journalism major, has been a Kendrick Lamar fan since she first heard the song “Humble” back in sixth grade. She commented on the irony of Kendrick making a diss track that unified people from all walks of life.
“I think it’s really ironic … how we can tear people down and then at the same time, still bring people together,” Gadomski said. “People seeing Kendrick’s side [resulted in them] coming together and realizing how impactful music is.”
From the beef to “The Pop Out” live performance to the hundreds of millions of streams his most recent songs have been getting, it’s clear that Kendrick isn’t going away anytime soon. All of this momentum has put Kendrick at an all-time high, which made the halftime show announcement even more exciting.
Super Bowl LIX will be held in New Orleans on Feb. 9, 2025.
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