Kendrick Lamar is entering the week with a lot to celebrate beyond his upcoming Super Bowl halftime show.
The hip-hop artist brought home five trophies from Sunday’s Grammy Awards, including the Grammys for Song of the Year and Record of the Year.
All five of his awards centered on his song “Not Like Us,” which he released in May.
‘Not Like Us’ lawsuit
“Not Like Us” stands out among Grammy winners for Song of the Year for a couple of reasons, but perhaps most notably because it’s a diss track.
Lamar released it during a very public feud with the rapper Drake, and it’s widely believed to be the best song that came out of that battle.
“Not Like Us” is also unique because it’s at the center of an ongoing federal lawsuit.
In January, Drake sued Universal Music Group — which represents both artists — for defamation and harassment.
“The suit, brought in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, accuses Universal of having ‘approved, published, and launched a campaign to create a viral hit out of a rap track’ that was ‘intended to convey the specific, unmistakable, and false factual allegation that Drake is a criminal pedophile, and to suggest that the public should resort to vigilante justice in response,’” per The New York Times.
The lawsuit noted that the release of “Not Like Us” was followed by two trespassing incidents and a shooting at Drake’s home, per the Times.

Universal Musical Group has denied the defamation and harassment claims.
“Throughout his career, Drake has intentionally and successfully used UMG to distribute his music and poetry to engage in conventionally outrageous back-and-forth ‘rap battles’ to express his feelings about other artists. He now seeks to weaponize the legal process to silence an artist’s creative expression and to seek damages from UMG for distributing that artist’s music,” the label said in a statement to The New York Times.
Super Bowl halftime show controversy
Drake did not sue Lamar, but their ongoing beef still adds intrigue to Lamar’s upcoming Super Bowl halftime show.
Even before his big wins at the Grammys, music fans were wondering whether Lamar would perform “Not Like Us” or other diss tracks during Sunday’s game.
Lamar’s performance will also be closely watched for explicit content after a group of Louisiana lawmakers sent a letter to Super Bowl organizers about the importance of respecting the state’s community decency standards.
The officials argued that the Super Bowl halftime show on Sunday should be family friendly, as the Deseret News previously reported.
Kendrick Lamar Grammys
Here’s the full list of Grammy awards Lamar brought home on Sunday night, per USA Today.
- Record of the year: “Not Like Us”
- Song of the year: “Not Like Us”
- Best music video: “Not Like Us”
- Best rap song: “Not Like Us”
- Best rap performance: “Not Like Us”