The Super Bowl has gone from a high-profile football game into a fully fledged pop-culture phenomenon – and this year was no different.
When Grammy award-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar was announced as the headline act for the half-time show, everyone wondered whether he would use his performance to further solidify his beef with Drake and boy, did he not disappoint.
Although his diss track to Drake, Not Like Us, has him facing a defamation lawsuit for branding the rapper a paedophile and sexual predator, Lamar kept teasing the song throughout his performance before finally performing it at the end.
"I want to play their favourite song, but you know they love to sue," he said a few minutes into his show. And as if that was not enough, Lamar brought out Drake's ex-girlfriend, Serena Williams, who made a cameo doing the crip walk dance to the controversial song.
While Not Like Us had fans in the stadium going crazy, Lamar managed to impress by fitting 11 of his songs into his 13-minute set. He performed Bodies, Squabble Up, Humble, DNA, Euphoria, Man at the Garden, Peekaboo, Luther and All the Stars with SZA, Not Like Us and TV Off.
His beef was not the only drama that the show brought. During his performance, one of the dancers who was part of the 400-member cast of the show, stood on a car and pulled out a combined Palestinian and Sudanese flag, before being tackled by security officers.
According to Sky News, the protester has since been detained because the act was not part of the production's plan for the show.
"The individual hid the item on his person and unveiled it late in the show. No one involved with the production was aware of the individual's intent," the publication reported.
In less than 24 hours of being uploaded, Lamar's half-time show has garnered over 10-million views on the NFL's YouTube channel.
Here are the top 10 most iconic Superbowl performances with the most YouTube views:
1. Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar (2022)
324,000,000 views
2. Shakira and Jennifer Lopez (2020)
320,000,000 views
3. Rihanna (2023)
257,000,000 views
4. Coldplay, Beyoncé and Bruno Mars (2016)
140,000,000 views
5. Lady Gaga (2017)
106,000,000 views
6. Katy Perry (2016)
101,000,000 views
7. The Weeknd (2021)
67,000,000 views
8. Madonna (2012)
50,000,000 views
9. Justin Timberlake (2018)
36,000,000 views
10. Usher (2024)
31,000,000 views
SowetanLIVE
Kendrick Lamar delivers punchy performance at Superbowl Halftime Show
Image: Geoff Burke
The Super Bowl has gone from a high-profile football game into a fully fledged pop-culture phenomenon – and this year was no different.
When Grammy award-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar was announced as the headline act for the half-time show, everyone wondered whether he would use his performance to further solidify his beef with Drake and boy, did he not disappoint.
Although his diss track to Drake, Not Like Us, has him facing a defamation lawsuit for branding the rapper a paedophile and sexual predator, Lamar kept teasing the song throughout his performance before finally performing it at the end.
"I want to play their favourite song, but you know they love to sue," he said a few minutes into his show. And as if that was not enough, Lamar brought out Drake's ex-girlfriend, Serena Williams, who made a cameo doing the crip walk dance to the controversial song.
While Not Like Us had fans in the stadium going crazy, Lamar managed to impress by fitting 11 of his songs into his 13-minute set. He performed Bodies, Squabble Up, Humble, DNA, Euphoria, Man at the Garden, Peekaboo, Luther and All the Stars with SZA, Not Like Us and TV Off.
His beef was not the only drama that the show brought. During his performance, one of the dancers who was part of the 400-member cast of the show, stood on a car and pulled out a combined Palestinian and Sudanese flag, before being tackled by security officers.
According to Sky News, the protester has since been detained because the act was not part of the production's plan for the show.
"The individual hid the item on his person and unveiled it late in the show. No one involved with the production was aware of the individual's intent," the publication reported.
In less than 24 hours of being uploaded, Lamar's half-time show has garnered over 10-million views on the NFL's YouTube channel.
Here are the top 10 most iconic Superbowl performances with the most YouTube views:
1. Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar (2022)
324,000,000 views
2. Shakira and Jennifer Lopez (2020)
320,000,000 views
3. Rihanna (2023)
257,000,000 views
4. Coldplay, Beyoncé and Bruno Mars (2016)
140,000,000 views
5. Lady Gaga (2017)
106,000,000 views
6. Katy Perry (2016)
101,000,000 views
7. The Weeknd (2021)
67,000,000 views
8. Madonna (2012)
50,000,000 views
9. Justin Timberlake (2018)
36,000,000 views
10. Usher (2024)
31,000,000 views
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