Image
Image Credit
CBS Photo Archive / Contributor via Getty Images
Image Alt
Kendrick Lamar poses at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards
Image Size
landscape-medium
Key Takeaways:
- Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl LIX halftime show earned a Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Direction.
- The performance featured “Not Like Us” despite an ongoing lawsuit from Drake.
- The Emmy win adds to Lamar’s growing list of accolades and cultural milestones.
Kendrick Lamar is still winning awards for his Super Bowl LIX halftime show from February 2025. At the Creative Arts Emmy Awards on Sunday (Sept. 7), the Compton rapper’s performance — which famously featured a rendition of “Not Like Us” — took home an Emmy for Outstanding Music Direction.
The timing of Lamar’s Super Bowl show, which was announced in September 2024, could not have been any better. A couple of months prior, in November 2024, the “Money Trees” hitmaker released his sixth solo album, GNX, to critical acclaim. Despite the new music, fans were still debating whether or not he would perform his famed Drake diss, “Not Like Us,” for a national TV audience.
Then in January 2025, Drake sued Universal Music Group, claiming his own record label defamed him by promoting K Dot’s song, which calls him a “certified pedophile.” The circumstances only heightened anticipation for the halftime show to a fever pitch.
On Super Bowl Sunday, Lamar delivered. He ran through some choice songs from his catalog — including “All the Stars” and “tv off” — brought along Samuel L. Jackson, SZA, DJ Mustard and Serena Williams as special guests, and despite the pending lawsuit, unapologetically performed “Not Like Us.” The concert received critical acclaim and was trending for days on social media.
According to Pitchfork, the “squabble up” rapper actually received seven Emmy nominations for “The Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show Starring Kendrick Lamar.” The Creative Emmy for Outstanding Music Direction, which was picked up by co-music director Tony Russell, marks Lamar’s second Emmy. He won his first in 2022 for Outstanding Variety Special (Live) after participating in the Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show as a special guest of Dr. Dre.
The Compton native’s trophy shelf is getting crowded. He currently has 22 Grammy Awards, including the five he picked up at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards about a week before his Super Bowl performance.
