Photo Credit: Charlamagne Tha God by The Hollywood Social Lounge / CC by 3.0
Charlamagne Tha God chimes in on Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show, calling it too Drake-heavy of a performance.
Despite shattering records with his Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show performance, Kendrick Lamar focused too much on his beef with Drake during the show, according to Charlamagne Tha God. The radio veteran shared his thoughts on the show with his co-hosts on The Breakfast Club the day after the Super Bowl.
According to Charlamagne, Kendrick Lamar is much more than a diss track; he has so many other hits he didn’t need to play his Drake-destroying hit, “Not Like Us.” That’s in spite of the fact “Not Like Us” was a monster hit in 2024 and won Kendrick all five of the Grammy Awards for which it was nominated.
“I still wouldn’t have done ‘Not Like Us’ if I was Kendrick,” said Charlamagne. “Kendrick is bigger than ‘Not Like Us.’ ‘Not Like Us’ is a moment in time for Kendrick; it does not define him or who he is.”
“At the end of the set it said ‘game over.’ And I really hope it is at this point,” he added. “You should never go past the mark you aim for in victory. […] I just wouldn’t give my opp and his minions that kind of love on that big-ass stage.”
But Kendrick Lamar was undoubtedly playing to the crowd, who expected the massive hit during the set — even as lawyers from Drake’s camp threatened further litigation against Universal Music Group if the song made it to the Super Bowl. He referenced the feud repeatedly during his 13-minute performance, teasing that “Not Like Us” was coming about halfway through the set. “I want to perform their favorite song, but you know they love to sue,” he said in a back-and-forth with his backup dancers.
When the song finally arrived in the set list as the penultimate track, Kendrick censored the use of the word “pedophile.” But he notably left intact every other reference to Drake in the song’s lyrics, including “Say Drake, I hear you like ‘em young,” “Just make sure you hide your lil’ sister from him,” and the song’s most memorable line, “Tryna strike a chord and it’s probably A minor.”
The show also included a duet with singer SZA, with whom Lamar is going on tour, and who is also a notable Drake ex-girlfriend. A surprise cameo from another Drake ex, tennis legend Serena Williams, delighted the crowd as she crip walked on an elevated stage.
Viewership for the show peaked at 135.7 million during the second half of the game, when Kendrick Lamar took the stage for his halftime performance. The game overall broke records for viewership, but Kendrick’s performance specifically broke the record for the biggest halftime show in history — shattering both Usher’s record last year, and Michael Jackson’s legendary 1993 performance.