The 2025 Super Bowl is set: the Kansas City Chiefs will defend their title against the Philadelphia Eagles. What’s yet to be determined, however, is Kendrick Lamar’s (and SZA’s) setlist for the halftime show. A new ad, though, has some thinking they’ve been given a hint.
During the Eagles’ and Washington Commanders’ NFC Championship game yesterday, a brief promo spot for Lamar’s performance played during the broadcast, and it was set to “Not Like Us.”
On one hand, it wouldn’t be surprising to see “Not Like Us” make the setlist, given it was a No. 1 hit for Lamar last year. On the other hand, the song is currently at the center of a defamation lawsuit Drake recently filed against Universal Music Group, Drake’s own label. The suit attests “Not Like Us” — a diss track aimed at Drake, of course — calls him a pedophile, and that by promoting the song, UMG hoped to devalue Drake’s music, so as to make future contract negotiations more advantageous for the label. The suit alleges the label boosted the song with tactics including hiring a bot farm to increase streaming numbers and payola with at least one radio station.
The game, and Lamar’s performance, is now just days away, on February 9, so we’ll soon know for sure whether “Not Like Us” makes the setlist.
