Kendrick Lamar released his first song in four months, the follow-up to May 4’s Not Like Us, which cemented him as the victor in his rap feud with Drake.
The 37-year-old Compton native, who is set to headline Super Bowl LIX in February 2025, shared the untitled song via Instagram on Wednesday, and it is not available to stream.
Lamar’s latest effort doesn’t explicitly name the Toronto-born artist, also 37, but it does reference the musical feud, opening with the lines, “I think it’s time to let the party die / This shit got too wicked to apologize / It’s different, get him hit and disqualified.”
Elsewhere on the new music, Kendrick raps about themes of hedonism, spirituality and the perils of fame.
Earlier this week, the Loyalty hitmaker announced his upcoming NFL performance, writing in a caption on social media: “Super Bowl LIX. New Orleans. February 2025. #AppleMusicHalftime.”
Kendrick Lamar released his first song in four months, a follow-up to May 4’s Not Like Us, which cemented him as the victor in his rap feud with Drake; Lamar pictured in May 2023
Lamar’s latest effort doesn’t explicitly name-drop the Toronto-born artist, also 37, but it does reference the musical feud, opening with the lines, “I think it’s time to let the party die / This shit got too wicked to apologize / It’s different, get him hit and disqualified,” Drake pictured in March.
The post featured a single close-up photo of a well-worn pair of black Air Force 1 sneakers and has so far racked up more than two million likes from her 16.4 million followers.
Fans quickly took to the comments to dissect the cryptic post, with one top note reading: ‘Bro just confirmed the villain era and in the post-modern (world) that makes him the hero.’
Another commenter referenced Kendrick’s current tension with DJ Akademiks, who is a known Drake fan.
‘Academics are punching ghosts right now,’ commented one social media user with the username @thermalvision_.
Some have interpreted particular rap bars as being directed at the media personality: ‘Influencers talk down to me ’cause I ain’t with the basic shit / But they don’t hate me, they hate the man that I represent / The type of man that never rides me ’cause I want a favor.’
If there was any doubt about who the artist was referring to, he added another clue: ‘The radio personality who promotes propaganda for a paycheck / Let me know when they show up as victims.’
Someone else surmised that the new song is a reaction to the music industry as a whole.
“This isn’t even about Drake, it’s about the entire industry and its effects on the next generation. Sick of this all,” wrote @johnsdayoff.
And another person joked about Kendrick: “He wrote this with a sword.”
Fans were quick to take to the comments to discuss the cryptic post, with one top note reading: ‘Bro just confirmed the villains era.’
Another commenter referenced Kendrick’s current tension with DJ Akademiks, who is a known Drake fan.
Someone else surmised that the new song is a reaction to the music industry as a whole.
Another person joked about Kendrick: “He wrote this with a sword.”
Along with the announcement of his Super Bowl halftime performance, Kendrick shared a separate post containing a promotional video.
In the clip, he said, “Are you coming? I hope so. You know there’s only one chance to win a championship. There’s no playoff. Let’s go for it, boom! I don’t want you to miss it. See you in New Orleans on February 9, 2025.”
He added: “Dress up in your best clothes too, even if you’re watching from home. Come on, that’s what I’m talking about, man. Now we can really get started.”
In the clip, Kendrick operates a football passing machine on the field in front of a huge American flag.
The new song comes after Kendrick announced earlier this week that he will headline the Super Bowl LIX halftime show in February 2025.
Drake has quietly put his rap feud with Kendrick behind him, which many have taken as a concession.
In early August, he surprised his fans by releasing 100 gigabytes of previously unseen material from his personal archives.
The material included behind-the-scenes content from the studio sessions of some of their biggest hits.
Among the outtakes was a revealing moment that confirmed that her 2016 Rihanna-assisted song Too Good was written about tennis icon Serena Williams.
