More on Kendrick's sixth track: 'Man at the Garden'

New York Times

11-02-2025

Follow live reaction to Lamar's Super Bowl LIX halftime show, which featured SZA, Serena Williams and Samuel L Jackson.
Kendrick Lamar, a 22-time Grammy Award-winning artist, took center stage for this year's Super Bowl halftime show.
Lamar, who was joined by frequent collaborator SZA, performed his hit diss track 'Not Like Us' amongst other songs.
His set included appearances from Samuel L Jackson — who portrayed Uncle Sam — and Serena Williams.
The Philadelphia Eagles won Super Bowl LIX, defeating the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22. Follow postgame coverage here.
An altered version of "Man at the Garden" was the sixth track, with some new raps and a funk-infused acapella backing rhythm. In perhaps a reference to another iconic hip-hop silhouette, Kendrick is under a lamp post with his hands closed. His set bops along with him on the corner.
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After her appearance in the halftime show, Serena Williams posted on X.
"Super Bowl halftime show babyyyyyyyyy," Williams said.
She also made another post on X, celebrating sharing the stage with Kendrick Lamar.
"Let's go Super Bowl halftime??! I died a little!
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Kendrick Lamar's halftime set was frenetic, tense and visceral. He summoned a star-spangled Samuel L. Jackson to play Uncle Sam. He twice teased the intro to "Not Like Us," only to deliver at the end with a smirk and a wink to the camera. He rapped atop a Buick Grand National and under a street lamp, with hues of blue and red flooding past him.
He went monocultural with "All the Stars" and "Humble," yet dropped two unreleased verses to the biggest audience of his career. The unannounced guests, Mustard and Serena Williams, sprouted from the same soil. Throughout it all, Lamar's delivery was elastic and his presence was enormous. And yes, that was an "a Minor" diamond pendant dancing around his neck. Now back to the syrup sandwiches.
The first song that I didn't recognize immediately was Bodies (GNX Snippet Extended). That's the only song I didn't have on any of my predictions.
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Below is the full set list from Kendrick Lamar's halftime show: wacced out morals Bodies (unreleased GNX track) Squabble Up HUMBLE. DNA Euphoria Man at the garden peekaboo luther (Ft SZA) All the Stars (Ft SZA) Not Like Us tv off (finale)
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Actor Samuel L. Jackson made an appearance throughout Kendrick Lamar's halftime performance. Dressed as Uncle Sam in red, white, and blue — a personification of America — he narrated each segment of the 11-track set.
Bringing out Serena Williams to literally dance in celebrations Drake's defeat in his rap beef with Lamar marks the second time he's used an athlete from Compton in the visuals to "Not Like Us." NBA star DeMar DeRozan is in the video for the song and mentioned in the lyrics. So is Williams, who Lamar Drake "better not speak on Serena" in the song. Drake and Williams were linked romantically around 2011 and Drake admitted the song "Too Good" was written about her.
Kendrick Lamar teased Caesars Superdome with "Not Like Us" twice. And when he finally performed it, he didn't hold back.
He even looked into the camera when he name-dropped. Wow.
Kendrick looking into the camera and saying "Say, Drake" with a smirk while performing 'Not Like Us' was a true flex. After many wondered how far K-Dot would push the envelope during his Super Bowl performance, he stayed true to himself every step of the way.
Kendrick Lamar specifies that he comes from Compton. Though often conflated with Los Angeles, Compton is its own city with its own historic traditions, from the radicalism of N.W.A to the championship swagger of Serena Williams. Yes, that was the 73-time title winner hitting the C-Walk.
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Kendrick Lamar with a(nother) bar to close out one of the biggest rap beefs in history.
Looks like Kendrick Lamar's surprise guest was none other than Compton's finest Serena Williams. During the ESPYS Serena Williams praised Kendrick Lamar's song "Not Like Us" and danced to it. Williams also called the song the "hit of the summer"
Williams crip walked dressed in a blue and white tennis fit. GOAT!
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The song 'tv off' quickly became one of the most popular songs off GNX so it's no shock Lamar performed it with Mustard on stage with him. With the 'Walk in New Orleans with the etiquette of L.A.' line in the song, it was the perfect way to close the set.
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Kendrick ends his Super Bowl Halftime performance with a crowd message, "Game Over."
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After teasing the famous diss in the beginning, Kendrick jumped into his iconic Not Like Us diss song. He made sure to look into the camera as he name dropped Drake. The crowd made sure to do its part loudly yelling "a minorrrrrrr."
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Twitter is afire with speculation that SZA's red outfit is good news for or a wink at the Chiefs' second half.
Kendrick states Drake's name in "Not Like Us"
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SZA joins Kendrick on stage after peekaboo as they perform luther. The chemistry is evident on stage in the short glimpses they shared.