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Many fans speculated about Drake's whereabouts as Kendrick Lamar electrified the Caesar Superdome with his headlining performance at the Apple Music Super Bowl LIX halftime show on February 9. The two titans of the hip-hop industry were embroiled in one of the most infamous diss track feuds in 2024, which produced chart-topping songs like Meet the Grahams, 6:16 in LA, and Not Like Us
Drake was on the other side of the world during Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl performance. The One God hitmaker is currently on his Anita Max Win Tour and was performing at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia, on the day of the Super Bowl. His show concluded just hours before Kendrick Lamar took the stage for the halftime show.
The 38-year-old rapper launched his tour on February 4, just days after Kendrick Lamar won five Grammys for his Drake diss track Not Like Us. The tour is named after Anita Max Wynn, a character introduced by Drizzy in December 2023 during his Kick live streams. According to the Independent, the name references the popular gambling phrase, "I need a max win."
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Here is the full schedule of the tour:
- Feb. 4 – Perth, AU – RAC Arena
- Feb. 5 – Perth, AU – RAC Arena
- Feb. 9 – Melbourne, AU – Rod Laver Arena
- Feb. 10 – Melbourne, AU – Rod Laver Arena
- Feb. 12 – Melbourne, AU – Rod Laver Arena
- Feb. 13 – Melbourne, AU – Rod Laver Arena
- Feb. 16 – Sydney, AU – Qudos Bank Arena
- Feb. 17 – Sydney, AU – Qudos Bank Arena
- Feb. 19 – Sydney, AU – Qudos Bank Arena
- Feb. 20 – Sydney, AU – Qudos Bank Arena
- Feb. 24 – Brisbane, AU – Brisbane Entertainment Centre
- Feb. 25 – Brisbane, AU – Brisbane Entertainment Centre
- March 4 – Brisbane, AU – Brisbane Entertainment Centre
- March 7 – Sydney, AU – Qudos Bank Arena
- March 15 – Auckland, NZ – Spark Arena
- March 16 – Auckland, NZ – Spark Arena
Drake has yet to address Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl performance, which also featured him singing Not Like Us.
Exploring the longstanding feud between Kendrick Lamar and Drake
Kendrick Lamar and Drake began their respective careers on favorable terms, even collaborating on tracks in 2011 and 2012. K Dot served as the opening act for Drizzy's Club Paradise Tour in 2012.
The first hint of friction between the two rappers occurred when K Dot dissed Drake on Big Sean's Control (2013). However, the Compton rapper downplayed the move by referring to it as "friendly competition."
Fast-forward to 2023, Drake and J. Cole released First Person Shooter. In the song, J. Cole referred to himself, Drizzy, and Kendrick Lamar as part of the "big three." Lamar responded in March 2024 with the song Like That, in which he claimed it was "just big me."
In April, Drizzy countered by releasing Push Ups and Taylor Made Freestyle. K Dot dissed Drake in his tracks Euphoria (April 30) and 6:16 in LA (May 3). The feud escalated when Drake accused K Dot of domestic abuse and alleged that one of his children was fathered by his long-time collaborator, Dave Free, in Drizzy's track Family Matters.
Within twenty minutes, Kendrick released Meet the Grahams, accusing the One God rapper of s*xual predation and claiming he fathered an anonymous child.
The next day, he released Not Like Us, which expanded on the claims made in Meet the Grahams and further accused Drake of p*dophilia. Drizzy responded on May 5 with the track The Heart Part 6. In the song, he denied Lamar's allegation and asserted that his team provided false information to the Compton rapper to undermine him.
In November 2024, Drizzy filed pre-action petitions against Universal Music Group (UMG), accusing the label of trying to artificially inflate the streaming numbers of Not Like Us.
According to the BBC, Drake's lawyers accused the label of orchestrating an artificial campaign to make a "viral hit" out of a song that made the "false factual allegation that Drake is a criminal p*dophile, and to suggest that the public should resort to vigilante justice in response. However, representatives from UMG labeled the allegations as untrue and illogical.
Before K Dot's Super Bowl Halftime show, there were several questions regarding whether he would sing Not Like Us because of the ongoing legal skirmish. Two minutes into the show, the Compton rapper said:
"I want to play their favourite song... but you know they love to sue."
Kendrick Lamar sang the song but ended up self-censoring the controversial bits. However, he looked into the camera while calling out Drake's name and didn't leave out the viral double-entendre, "Tryin' to strike a chord and it's probably A minor."
