During the Super Bowl halftime show, Kendrick Lamar wowed the audience by bringing out surprise guest Serena Williams, who joined him onstage and even performed a crip walk.
Though Kendrick hails from Compton, California, the same city Serena Williams moved to during her childhood, she was originally born in Michigan.
Her appearance onstage is particularly notable given her past relationship with Drake, adding an intriguing layer to the event.
Serena Williams, while hosting the 2024 ESPY Awards, spoke about Kendrick after dancing to ‘Not Like Us’: “If I’ve learned anything this year, it’s that none of us should ever pick a fight with Kendrick Lamar.
“He will make your hometown not like you, the next time Drake sits courtside at a Raptors game, they’re gonna Forest Gump him, seats taken.”
On Threads, one user commented: “The fact the Serena Williams used to date Drake and Kendrick got her up there crip walking, I will never recovererrr. Super Bowl Halftime Show.”
Another person replied: “Ngl I saw her, loved her, had no idea what she was doing there until I heard her and Drake used to date. Loved the pettiness.”
The halftime show provided Kendrick an opportunity to subtly jab at Drake, coinciding with the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles facing off once again, reminiscent of their 2023 matchup where the Chiefs emerged victorious.
Meanwhile, Drake is in the midst of a legal battle with UMG, the parent company of both his and Kendrick’s record labels, over the song ‘Not Like Us’, claiming it’s defamatory.
The longstanding feud between Drake and Kendrick escalated last year as both artists released diss tracks targeting each other.
Kendrick’s ‘Not Like Us’ was released on May 4, following Drake’s ‘Push Ups’, which dropped a few weeks earlier.
In terms of streaming, Kendrick’s track came out on top, amassing over a billion streams on Spotify compared to ‘Push Ups’, which garnered around 170 million.
The lyrics for ‘Not Like Us’ include: “Say, Drake, I hear you like ’em young/ You better not ever go to cell block one/To any b**** that talk to him and they in love/Just make sure you hide your lil’ sister from him/They tell me Chubbs the only one that get your hand-me-downs.”
“And Party at the party playin’ with his nose now/And Baka got a weird case, why is he around?/Certified Lover Boy? Certified p**ophiles/Wop, wop, wop, wop, wop, Dot, f*** ’em up/Wop, wop, wop, wop, wop, I’ma do my stuff.”
“Why you trollin’ like a b****? Ain’t you tired?/Tryna strike a chord and it’s probably A minor.”
Notably, Kendrick omitted the words ‘A minor’ while performing at the halftime show.