Kendrick Lamar is slated to headline Super Bowl LVIII, and the rapper has certainly left his mark on the hip-hop genre.
Lamar was raised in Compton, California and has released 10 albums throughout his career with ‘DAMN.’, ‘To Pimp a Butterfly’, and ‘good kid, m.A.A.d. city’ being among his most notable.
Jasmin Jordan, a sophomore journalism student expressed her feelings about Lamar’s impact.
“Kendrick Lamar is going to leave behind a multifaceted legacy in the hip-hop world. His storytelling through lyricism has elevated the craft of rap,” Jordan said. “His ability to unite listeners from diverse backgrounds speaks volumes of the lasting impact he will leave.”
Within his music, Lamar strives to educate audiences on how faith, self-identity, hope, and racial politics shape how people within black and brown communities view the world. Hip-hop fans, young and old, regard Kendrick Lamar as “one of the greatest to ever do it”.
Lamar’s catchy lyrics and trendy beats unite “hip-hop heads” across generations and fans are excited to watch him perform at the Super Bowl.
“It doesn’t shock me that they picked him because of how popular ‘Not Like Us’ became over the summer and pretty much became a national anthem, [although] it’s still a diss track,” Jordan said. “I’m excited to see what songs he performs, if he brings out any guests, and the creativity he always brings to the stage.”
Aside from Lamar’s history within the music scene, audiences have the rapper’s feud with Drake on the tip of their tongues.
To outsiders, it seemed like Lamar and Drake’s feud began in March 2024, but the relationship between the rappers started in 2011 with the beginning of their first collaborations.
March of 2024 is when tensions started to run high. When Kendrick Lamar was featured on ‘Like That’, J.Cole stepped in with his own single, ‘7 Minute Drill’, which warned Lamar to be alert and prepare himself for the Pandora’s box he had opened by mentioning him on ‘Like That’.
The song ‘7 Minute Drill’ was the closer for J. Cole’s mixtape, ‘Might Delete Later’, and the title eventually rang true when the rapper apologized and later deleted the song from all streaming services. Cole absolved himself from the argument, leaving Drake and Kendrick Lamar to fight amongst themselves.
Drake came out swinging with two diss tracks titled ‘Push Ups’ and ‘Taylor Made Freestyle’, which was taken down after complaints from Tupac Shakur’s Estate for unauthorized usage of Tupac’s likeness.
Lamar dropped ‘Euphoria’ on April 30 and ‘6:16 in LA’ on May 3, with ‘Family Matters’ by Drake coming in hours later. Drake accused Lamar of being abusive and claimed that Dave Fee (former president of Top Dawg Entertainment) was the true father of one of his children.
Shortly after, Lamar responded with ‘Meet The Grahams’, calling Drake a sexual predator, sex trafficker, and accused him of hiding a secret child. Lamar’s viral record ‘Not Like Us’ came out and continued to drive home the idea that Drake is destroying the rap genre.
“When it came to the “Big Three” rap beef between J. Cole, Kendrick, and Drake, I only paid attention to the Drake beef. J. Cole apologized and went about his business,” said Ryen Evans, a sophomore marketing student.
“Both [Drake and Kendrick] are class A rappers but when I think of Kendrick, I think of his lyricism. Drake’s disses were very good, but after hearing ‘Meet the Grahams’, I knew that Kendrick had won.” Evans added.
Media outlets have recorded Kendrick Lamar as the winner in the battle, but there are still foggy details being discussed.
Whether you are a Kendrick fan, a Drake enthusiast, or somewhere in between, Super Bowl LVIII is sure to be one that satisfies audiences and earns a place in the history books.
