Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show at the Super Bowl shocked and entertained viewers around the world, featuring choreographed dances and lyrics with far-reaching symbolism.
The song features various inflammatory lines, including "Say, Drake, I hear you like 'em young", "Certified Lover Boy? Certified pedophiles" as well as, "Tryna strike a chord and it's probably A minor". The last of these lines saw the 65,000-strong crowd sing along.
As part of that song’s performance at the Super Bowl, Kendrick welcomed former world no.1 professional tennis player Serena Williams to the pitch.
Her appearance was a surprise but one with deep lore behind it. Here’s a closer look at Serena and Drake’s history.
A history of Serena and Drake
It’s believed that Serena and Drake dated back in 2011, although the pair never confirmed that they were a couple.
However, the rapper was often seen attending Serena’s tennis matches during this period, and they were later photographed cuddling and sharing a kiss in 2015.
Drake also made references to Serena in his songs, with lyrics like "I'm with my whole set, tennis matches at the crib. I swear I could beat Serena when she playin' with her left” in 2013’s ‘Worst Behavior’.
Whether they were together or not, the couple would eventually break up, with Serena marrying Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian in 2017. When Serena and Alexis were still dating in 2016, Drake came out with his song ‘Too Good’, featuring the lyrics: "I'm too good to you / I'm way too good to you / You take my love for granted / I just don't understand it."
Drake would later go on to confirm in an interview that the lyrics were about Williams, with the implication being that she rejected him.
In 2022, Drake once again referenced Serena in his music, singing “sidebar, Serena, your husband a groupie” in ‘Middle of the Ocean’.
Ohanian clapped back at Drake with a public post on Twitter, 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."
As the host of 2024’s ESPY Awards, she said on stage: "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 went on to dance to ‘Not Like Us’ and added: "He will make your hometown not like you. The next time Drake sits courtside at a Raptors game, they're going to Forrest Gump him. Seats taken."
Her appearance at the halftime show cements her stance on Kendrick’s side of the enmity, doing a crip walk during Kendrick’s performance.
The crip walk also calls back to Serena doing the celebratory dance when she beat Mario Sharapova to the gold medal at the 2012 Olympics, a move that drew what was largely considered racist criticism, with critics arguing that the dance was inappropriate and glorified gang violence.
The choice of performing the crip walk is perhaps even more shocking due to the fact that Williams’ half-sister, Yetunde Price, was killed in a drive-by shooting by a Crip gang member.
The dance move requires performers to quickly move their feet to spell out the word crip. In more sinister examples, it has been known to have been performed by Crip gang members after they killed a target.
Serena appeared to reference some elements the controversy in a post to X, saying she would have been fined for doing it at Wimbledon, before saying her use of the move at the Super Bowl was “all love”.
