Kendrick Lamar‘s Super Bowl Halftime Show performance had one particularly special surprise for his fans and viewers around the world.
Lamar, a native of Compton, California, put the punctuation mark on his performance by inviting a fellow native of his hometown: Serena Williams.
Williams showed up and started dancing while Lamar was performing his song ‘Not Like Us’ – a diss track from his beef with Canadian rapper Drake.
She wasn’t seen up close, but a tweet from the tennis icon after the game showed her in the exact same outfit as the performance.
‘Let’s go Super Bowl halftime??! I died a little!,’ the star tweeted.
The sight of Williams c-walking on a stage as big as this sent social media into hysterics.
Serena Williams dances during Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Halftime Show performance
Lamar performed his hit single ‘Not Like Us’ – which was released during his beef with Drake
Williams is a native of Compton, California – the same part of Los Angeles Lamar is from
‘Serena been waiting to get that lick back,’ Jemele Hill of The Atlantic posted to Twitter.
One fan joked, ‘Kendrick getting the entire Super Bowl screaming ‘a minor’ with Serena Williams dancing has to feel like a shot gun blast to Drake’s chest.’
‘Drake watching Serena his ex Crip Walking to a viral diss song about him That’s legendary,’ another post read.
Another user said, ‘Every time I watch Kendrick I get inspired to be a bigger hater. Him having Serena Williams dancing to a diss track of drake knowing Serena history with drake is diabolical . Truly inspiring stuff.’
Back in 2015, rumors of an alleged romance between Serena and Drake began circulating.
The rapper even mentioned Williams in many songs – while also appearing at multiple tennis tournaments that she was participating in.
TMZ added more fuel to the fire by publishing photos of the two of them at a Cincinnati restaurant having a romantic dinner after she had won the Western and Southern Open.
But in spite of these rumors, Williams appeared to move on – marrying Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian in 2017 and having a child together.
Williams was allegedly in a rumored relationship with Canadian rapper Drake years ago
Drake and Kendrick both engaged in a highly-publicized rap beef in the summer of 2024
Drake once attacked Williams’ husband, Alexis Ohanian, in a song back in 2022
Drake took things to the next level by attacking Ohanian on a song, ‘Middle Of The Ocean’ off his 2022 album ‘Her Loss’.
In the song, he raps, ‘Sidebar, Serena, your husband a groupie / He claim we don’t got a problem but / No boo, it is like you coming for sushi.’
Ohanian responded with a tweet saying, ‘The reason I stay winning is because I’m relentless about being the absolute best at whatever I do – including being the best groupie for my wife [and] daughter.’
Kendrick returned fire on her behalf in ‘Not Like Us’, rapping, ‘From Alondra down to Central / N**** better not speak on Serena.’
In the midst of their beef, Serena delivered a jab of her own at the 2024 ESPYS, which she hosted: ‘If I’ve learned anything this year, it’s that none of us – not a single one of us, not even me – should ever pick a fight with Kendrick Lamar.’
She added, ‘He will make your hometown not like you. The next time Drake sits courtside at a Raptors game, they’re gonna Forrest Gump him, “seat’s taken”.’
Born in Michigan, Williams spent her childhood in Compton before moving to Florida to focus on her tennis career. She only went on to be the greatest women’s tennis player of the Open Era – if not all time.
As for Lamar, he managed to get not one, but two of his diss tracks against Drake into the halftime show – performing ‘Euphoria’ earlier in his set.
Lamar performed his halftime show set with an appearance by frequent collaborator SZA
Samuel L. Jackson (left) seen onstage with Lamar (R) at the Super Bowl Halftime Show
DJ Mustard (L), a frequent collaborator of Lamar’s, performs with the rapper at the show
Lamar teased playing ‘Not Like Us’ earlier in the set, but momentarily backed out while singing to a group of female vocalists.
‘Ladies / I wanna make a move / I wanna perform they favorite song / But you know they love to sue,’ Lamar rapped before the beat to the song momentarily played.
That was referencing the lawsuit that Drake has filed against his record label, UMG (the same label as Lamar) for failing to prevent the release of ‘Not Like Us’ and claiming it contained defamatory content.
But Lamar did eventually play the song. He rapped the words ‘Certified Lover Boy, certified…’ and then didn’t say the word ‘pedophile’.
Moments later, the crowd did sing the words ‘Tryna strike a chord / and it’s probably A-Minor’.
Lamar mostly played songs from his recently released album ‘GNX’. He also played two songs off his 2017 release ‘DAMN.’ – those being Humble and DNA.
The halftime show also featured two songs performed with SZA: ‘luther’, which is off ‘GNX’, and ‘All The Stars’ from the soundtrack to the Marvel movie Black Panther.
In addition to SZA and Williams, the show featured two surprise guests: Samuel L. Jackson as the show’s narrator and DJ Mustard – a hitmaker and longtime Lamar collaborator.
