Kendrick Lamar headlined the Apple Music Half-time Show at the 59th Super Bowl last night. He is the first ever solo rapper to do so.

The 22-time Grammy winner appeared on the stage atop a 1987 Buick Grand National GNX, the vintage automobile after which his last album is named. He began his performance with an unreleased track included in the trailer to this album: a statement possibly meaning his performance was going to be more focused on his artistry—which led him to win a Pulitzer Prize for Music—than on playing crowd-pleasers.

Hence, some of his most anthemic songs, like 'Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe,' 'Money Trees,' or 'Alright,' were missing from the tracklist. The show was, however, imbued with strength and political messages—like an all-Black dance crew dressed in red, white, and blue forming the US flag.

"Too loud, too ghetto, too reckless!" screamed a Samuel L. Jackson dressed as Uncle Sam to Lamar across the stage, possibly hinting at how the show would be perceived by some of the at-home audience. To this the rapper replied by performing 'HUMBLE,' one of his grittiest tracks, making his irreverent persona also a big part of the night.

The show kept going with performances of 'DNA,' 'Euphoria,' 'Man at the Garden,' and 'Peekaboo,' but perhaps the most important part of the performance were the references to Lamar's long-standing public beef with Canadian rapper Drake.

The Compton hip hop artist's show had begun with Jackson appearing before the camera, saying "Salutations, it’s your uncle, Sam, and this is the great American game!” This was the first of many references to 'games' during the show—for instance, the stage was delimited by the four shapes of the buttons on a PlayStation controller.

What the word 'game' was alluding to here, more than this being the biggest night for American football, is possibly the battle Lamar has been fighting—and, arguably to a majority of the public, winning—against Drake.

“Ladies, I want to make a move… I wanna perform their favourite song, but you know they love to sue…” Lamar said to a group of four female dancers halfway through the performance, while the main instrumental motif of his No. 1 'Not Like Us' played in the back.

This was a clear allusion to the lawsuit filed by Drake against their common label, Universal Music Group, accusing 'Not Like Us' of being defamatory. There had been a lot of buzz, prior to the half-time show, about whether or not Lamar would perform the song.

The rapper was merely merely teasing at this time of the performance, however. He proceeded to interpret 'luther,' and 'All the Stars,' some of his tracks with five-time Grammy-winner SZA, who joined him onstage with powerful and soulful vocals.

This part of the show included a cameo from Serena Williams, Drake's ex-gilfriend, who appeared on stage to crib-walk for a few seconds.

 

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Lamar then proceeded to actually perform 'Not Like Us.' There was some self-censoring involved (like omitting the word 'paedophile' in his line "Certified Lover Boy? Certified paedophiles"), but also a pleased, almost fiend-like smile when he looked to the camera to say "Hey Drake, I hear you like 'em young."

Another jab at the Canadian consisted in the soundtrack being cut at a specific time of the song so that the whole arena could be heard shouting 'Tryna strike a chord and it's probably A-Minor" (take into account Lamar wore a big, lowercase 'a' chain during the whole performance).

Lamar finished the show with a pumped-up rendition of 'tv off,' which saw his long-time producer DJ Mustard joining him onstage.

The rapper's performance comes after a stellar night at the Grammys, where he scooped a total of five awards for 'Not Like Us,' winning in every single category for which he was nominated. He won, among others, the 'Song of the Year' and 'Record of the Year' categories.

You can watch the Apple Music Half-time Show at the 59th Super Bowl by clicking here.