Fresh off his five Grammy wins a week ago, Kendrick Lamar completed another career milestone on Sunday: headlining the Super Bowl halftime show.
Lamar’s performance at New Orleans’ Caesars Superdome during the 2025 Super Bowl featured some of his most popular songs and surprise appearances from stars like Samuel L. Jackson and Serena Williams.
Aside from the overt references to American culture, Lamar included subtle details that alluded to his music and, of course, his beef with Drake.
Here are the biggest details you might have missed in Lamar’s performance.
Lamar’s viral bootcut jeans were designed by Celine.
Lamar’s flared jeans were the breakout star of the halftime show, with fans praising the style and fit.
The rapper was styled by Taylor McNeill and Vogue reported that bootcut jeans are designed by the French luxury brand Celine.
His jacket, designed by Martine Rose, was emblazoned with the name Gloria as a nod to his most recent album.
“Gloria” is the final track on Lamar’s 2024 album “GNX.” The song features SZA, Lamar’s frequent collaborator, who joined him on stage at the halftime show to perform “Luther” and “All the Stars.”
Lamar’s varsity-style jacket had a bunch of other references, too.
The back of the jacket had a logo for pgLang, the communications company that he co-founded with record producer Dave Free, and the phrase “I Deserve It All” stitched below it, which is a nod to the “GNX” track “Man at the Garden.”
Lamar’s track “Peakaboo” was hand-stitched on the right sleeve and a “G.National” patch appeared on the left sleeve in reference to his album “GNX.”
His lowercase “a” necklace was a standout accessory with two different interpretations from fans.
Many fans assumed it was a nod to his “a minor” lyric aimed at Drake in “Not Like Us.” But others suggested that it could be symbolic of his company pgLang, which has been using a logo that features a lowercase letter a.
Lamar made a reference to Drake’s legal battles while teasing “Not Like Us.”
Halfway through his performance, Lamar teased “Not Like Us” by telling backup dancers, “I wanna perform they favorite song, but you know they love to sue,” while looking directly at the camera and putting one hand on his hip.
Then, a few notes of “Not Like Us” played before Lamar pivoted to “Luther” featuring SZA.
This comment was seemingly in reference to Lamar’s ongoing beef with Drake and Drake’s lawsuits filed in response.
In November, Drake’s company, Frozen Moments, filed a pre-action petition against Spotify and Universal Music Group (UMG), the record company that owns Lamar’s label Interscope and Drake’s label Republic Records.
The petition accused the music streaming service and record company of inflating streams of “Not Like Us” through inorganic methods, like bots.
In another filing, Drake’s team accused UMG of conspiring with iHeartRadio as part of a “pay-to-play” tactic to boost airplay for “Not Like Us.”
A spokesperson for UMG denied the accusations in a statement to BI.
Drake also went on to file a defamation lawsuit against UMG in January, saying the record company “approved, published and launched a campaign to create a viral hit out of a rap track” that was “intended to convey the specific, unmistakable and false factual allegation that Drake is a criminal pedophile, and to suggest that the public should resort to vigilante justice in response.” UMG said it is fighting the case.
Lamar omitted the scathing Drake-directed line “certified pedophile” from “Not Like Us.”
In “Not Like Us,” Lamar raps, “Certified Lover Boy? Certified pedophile.” At the Super Bowl, Lamar recited the “Certified Lover Boy” lyric but stopped short of calling Drake a pedophile on national TV, omitting the word.
“Certified Lover Boy” is the title of Drake’s 2021 album.
Although Kendrick didn’t include the aforementioned lyrics in his performance, he took other opportunities to criticize Drake.
Serena Williams’ surprise cameo during “Not Like Us” was interpreted as another jab at Drake.
One of the biggest surprises of the halftime show was tennis legend Serena Williams popping up and crip-walking during “Not Like Us.”
Williams’ choice of dance moves was significant. She was previously criticized for crip-walking in celebration of defeating Maria Sharapova and winning the gold medal at the London Olympics in 2012. At the time, Williams was accused of glorifying gang violence.
“Man I did not crip walk like that at Wimbledon,” Williams said in a video posted on X following her appearance during the Super Bowl halftime show. “Oh, I would’ve been fined.”
“It was all love,” she added after laughing.
Williams showing up for “Not Like Us,” the song in which she’s name-dropped, seemed to be yet another dig at Drake.
Drake and Williams were linked between 2011 and 2015, though it was never confirmed that they ever had a romantic relationship. The rapper was sometimes photographed watching Williams’ tennis matches, and was seen sitting front row at her Fashion Week show in 2015.
He also confirmed that his song “Too Good” was about Williams.
“When I make songs about women, I also make songs for them,” he said. “So, I know what kind of song to make. If I’m gonna talk about them, I’ll at least do them the justice of making them a song that they like. So, I know Serena very well, and I know that she’ll hear it loud and clear, but she’ll also not hate me for it because it’s lighthearted.”
In 2015, a source told People magazine that they were “just friends” and “never dated.”
Williams married Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian in 2017 and the couple welcomed two daughters, Alexis Olympia and Adira River. Drake dissed Ohanian in his track “Middle of the Ocean,” calling the entrepreneur a “groupie.”
Lamar topped off his halftime show with an appearance from “Not Like Us” producer DJ Mustard.
DJ Mustard, who recently got a shout-out during Trevor Noah’s opening monologue at the 2025 Grammys, joined Lamar onstage during “TV Off.”
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