KENDRICK Lamar’s Super Bowl performance last Sunday set a new record as the most watched halftime show ever.
The rapper’s star-studded production was watched by an average audience of 133.5 million.
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This beats the previous record of 133.4 million set by Michael Jackson in 1993.
Lamar’s performance was actually watched by a higher average viewership than the game itself.
Per Front Office Sports, the game averaged 127.7 million viewers.
Although it peaked at 137.7 million during the second quarter, as the Philadelphia Eagles routed the Kansas City Chiefs.
Lamar, 37, performed hits such as HUMBLE, DNA and All the Stars.
But it was his rendition of “Not Like Us” which drew the most attention.
The diss track, allegedly about Lamar’s rival Drake, has attracted legal action from the Canadian artist.
It features the lyrics, “Say, Drake, I hear you like ’em young. You better not ever go to cell block one.
“To any b***h that talk to him and they in love. Just make sure you hide your lil’ sister from him.”
The song also nods to Drake’s 2021 album Certified Lover Boy in the line: “Certified Lover Boy? Certified pedophiles,” however, Lamar removed the word “pedophile” from his highly-anticipated Super Bowl performance.
Lamar performed alongside SZA, who he is set to tour alongside this summer.
While superstar actor Samuel L. Jackson and tennis legend Serena Williams were also involved in the performance.
Not Like Us won Song of the Year at the Grammys last week.
It is the fifth diss track by Lamar to have been allegedly directed at Drake, who denies all claims of misconduct.
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.
The 38-year-old filed a lawsuit against Universal Music Group, Lamar’s label, back in January.
Drake has also released diss tracks about Lamar during their feud, including Push Ups and Taylor Made Freestyle.
The Eagles had gone into the halftime break with a commanding 24-0 lead.
They went on to defeat the Chiefs 40-22 in New Orleans.
This ended Andy Reid’s hopes of achieving a historic three-peat as head coach of Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Co.
It also saw the Eagles avenge their 2023 Super Bowl loss to the Chiefs.
