American corporate brands have joined in the mockery of Canadian rapper Drake following Kendrick Lamar’s much-hyped set at the Super Bowl halftime show on Sunday (9 February).
As part of his set, Lamar performed the chart-topping 2024 diss track “Not Like Us”, the lyrics of which accuse Drake of being a “certified paedophile”. The song was released last year, as part of a musical tête-à-tête between the two artists, which saw both Lamar and Drake put out multiple tracks criticising each other.
Drake has denied the accusations from Lamar and is currently suing Universal Music Group (UMG), who released “Not Like Us”, over allegations that the company artificially inflated streams of Lamar’s song at the expense of his own music.
In the wake of Lamar’s Super Bowl performance, a number of American brands and celebrities made jokes at the apparent expense of Drake.
The official X/Twitter account for educational language app Duolingo was among those to chime in, alluding to the most famous line in “Not Like Us”, the double entendre: “Tryna strike a chord and it’s probably A minor.”
Linking out to the company’s new music course, Duolingo wrote: “Learn A minor in our music course #SuperBowl.”
The official account of streaming service Apple Music also piled on with enthusiastic tweets, including one that simply repeated the refrain “They not like us,” 48 times in a row, before the hashtag “AppleMusicHalftime”.
Celebrities also aired their thoughts on Lamar’s performance, with rapper Flavor Flav honing in on a moment Drake was unlikely to appreciate.
“The way the WHOLE stadium just yelled “A MINOOOOOOOOOORRRRR,” he wrote.
Broadcaster and ESPN host, Stephen A Smith wrote: “OMG…..OMG……@kendricklamar did it. Not only did he rock the beat of “Not Like Is”……he sang the lyrics. He did it. Mentioned “Drake” by name too. Awwwww Damn! Helluva halftime show. The brother showed out.#Salute!”
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Actor and Severance producer Ben Stiller simply called it the “best halftime show ever.”
Meanwhile, Sesame Street’s Elmo was full of praise for Lamar’s co-star, SZA writing: May Elmo just say, Ms. @sza, YOU WERE FANTASTIC!!!”
With the legal battle between Drake and UMG still ongoing, the controversy surrounding “Not Like Us”, and the two rappers’ protracted feud, is unlikely to abate.
In the legal filings against UMG, Drake’s representatives wrote: “Before it approved the release of [’Not Like Us’], UMG knew that the song itself, as well as its accompanying album art and music video, attacked the character of another one of UMG’s most prominent artists, Drake, by falsely accusing him of being a sex offender, engaging in paedophilic acts, harbouring sex offenders, and committing other criminal sexual acts.
“Specifically, the song calls Drake a ‘certified paedophile,’ a ‘predator,’ and someone whose name should ‘be registered and placed on neighbourhood watch.’”
Responding to the filing, UMG said in a statement: “The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue.
“We employ the highest ethical practices in our marketing and promotional campaigns. No amount of contrived and absurd legal arguments in this pre-action submission can mask the fact that fans choose the music they want to hear.”
