Kendrick Lamar has been reaching new heights in recent weeks. Last Sunday, “Not Like Us” brought him five Grammy awards. Tonight (February 9), he performed the hit song as part of the Super Bowl LIX Halftime show.
Fans across the country were waiting to see if Lamar would perform the diss track during his halftime performance and weren’t disappointed. However, some may have been surprised to hear that he changed the lyrics. In the recorded verse, K Dot says Certified Loverboy? Certified pedophiles, referencing the Canadian rapper’s 2021 studio album and launching some serious accusations at Drake and his crew. During the halftime, he exchanged the final word of the line for a scream.
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Later in the performance, he left the more veiled line, Tryna strike a chord and it’s probably A-minor, unchanged.
Why Did Kendrick Lamar Change the “Not Like Us” Lyrics?
There are several reasons why Kendrick Lamar may have decided to change the lyrics to “Not Like Us” during the Super Bowl Halftime show.
Lamar’s lyrics had to go through censors from Fox and the NFL. The network or the league may have been uncomfortable with the use of the word “pedophile” in general. After all, K Dot chose to omit harsh language from the rest of his bars during the Halftime show.
It could be a little deeper than that, though. After “Not Like Us” became a viral hit, Drake filed a defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group, the label to which both artists are signed. The suit claimed that by promoting the song, the label was pushing an untrue and defamatory narrative against him.
Legal teams for Fox or the NFL may have wanted to avoid drawing Drake’s legal ire and pushed Lamar to change the lyrics. However, some legal experts say that the Canadian superstar’s legal case is weak.
For instance, Samatha Barbas, a legal historian and expert in defamation law at the University of Iowa’s College of Law told Billboard Canada that Drake doesn’t have a “strong case” against UMG. “In the context of a rap battle, [the] average listener is going to know that the allegations aren’t to be taken seriously,” Barbas explained. “Taunts and wild exaggerations are par for the course,” she added.
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