On February 9, Kendrick Lamar will take to the sector at New Orleans’ Caesars Superdome because the Tremendous Bowl’s halftime performer. And, in fact, the one query on all people’s thoughts is: Will he carry out “Not Like Us”?
Sure, the track that solidified his win towards Drake throughout their feud final 12 months could or could not make an look in his setlist. Positive, there are the plain causes it must be: it’s successful and is extraordinarily (not less than beat-wise) sports-friendly, serving as a track that quite a few HBCU bands have performed throughout video games and different occasions. However there’s additionally clear the explanation why possibly it gained’t, notably in regard to Drake’s federal lawsuit towards Common Music Group (Lamar just isn’t listed as a defendant), which accuses the rapper’s longtime label of defamation for selling “Not Like Us.” As everyone knows, the monitor declares that Drake is a “licensed pedophile,” a declare that Drake argues has put him and his household in peril.
So, if Lamar decides to carry out “Not Like Us” — and really get to the lyrics the place he refers to Drake as a pedophile — throughout essentially the most watched TV broadcast yearly, will he be in bother?
Effectively, in accordance with the Los Angeles Instances, which spoke to a First Modification litigator and legal protection legal professional forward of the West Coast rapper’s efficiency, it’s extremely unlikely as a result of, even in his lawsuit, he’s blaming UMG quite than Kendrick himself.
“All he would be capable of do is say, ‘UMG promoted this track on the Tremendous Bowl, their palms acquired Kendrick Lamar the gig.’ It doesn’t appear to extend Lamar’s menace profile a lot. It’s already a extensively recognized track, so the stance Drake appears to take is, ‘I’m going to go after type of the unpopular defendant nobody likes, an enormous file label.’”
And what in regards to the NFL or Fox, the TV community that’ll be internet hosting the Tremendous Bowl recreation and its halftime present?
“It will increase the damages in concept. However does center America listening to Kendrick on the Tremendous Bowl actually injury Drake’s popularity greater than it’s already been broken? Most likely not,” White stated. “It does doubtlessly usher in different people who find themselves liable for serving to to publish what he says are false statements. I’m certain the NFL and the community and all have thought of that. It wouldn’t shock me in the event that they’re making an attempt to cease it from being achieved on the Tremendous Bowl.”
“I’m a protection lawyer, so in fact I’m going to say, ‘Guys, don’t do that. It’s simply going to provide me a headache,’” he added. “I’m certain each common counsel with the community or the NFL is saying, ‘No, for the love of God, don’t do it.’ However the halftime present has all the time been prepared to showcase stuff that’s considerably edgy. So I don’t actually know the way they’ll play it, but when I have been an in-house counsel, I’d be telling them to not do it.”
It’s price noting that the NFL apparently doesn’t intend to cease Lamar from performing “Not Like Us” — not less than, in accordance with creator and media persona Marc Lamont Hill. Throughout a latest episode of The Joe Budden Podcast, Hill stated that he requested an NFL government if the soccer group was going to “block” the GNX artist from going enjoying the diss monitor.
“What they stated was, ‘Kendrick can do no matter he needs on the Tremendous Bowl. The NFL doesn’t management what he does. … We requested Snoop to not crip stroll or throw up gang indicators. He did it anyway, no person died,’” Hill stated.
But additionally — and as this piece has hinted towards already — even when Lamar does “Not Like Us,” there’s a chance that he skips over the Drake pedophile lyrics solely, or figures out a method to allude to them with out being overt (which is the chess-level strategy to lyrical warfare one would anticipate from Lamar).
Regardless, the second Sunday of February goes to be an attention-grabbing one, as we await and see if Lamar will carry out “Not Like Us,” in addition to what the remainder of his set will embrace.
