Kendrick Lamar won four Emmy nominations for his Apple Music Super Bowl Lix midfield performance on Tuesday (July 15), bringing him to the campaign Variety Special, directing, musical director and choreography. The high-profile performance aired by Fox marks another milestone in the Pulitzer Prize winner’s career as he continues to bring business success together.
Lamar’s half-scene scene is praised for its keen visuals and tight executions, adding another layer to his already decorated resume. Emmy Awards are the core figure in the most popular hatred of the year in rap year.
His lyrical battle with Drake has dominated the headlines since last spring, with both artists pointing to the Diss track. Lamar’s “Don’t Like Us” became a cultural moment, with its beats and bars dissected on social media and radio.
The track is widely seen as being directly hit by Drake, fueling a wave of response tracks and comments. The people back and forth rekindled interest in the lyrical competition of hip-hop, comparing it with the competition from the past. This also sparked a lawsuit from Drake, whose record Universal Music Group, accused the lawsuit of being slandered and negligent in its release and active promotion of “not like us.”
The lawsuit filed in January 2025, claiming that Universal Pictures’ publicity (which implies Drake is a pedophile) directly endangered his life and career, by promoting public hostility and multiple security threats, including shootings of his Toronto residence and the circulation of flighters, labeling him as a predator. The complaint also claims that the cover art of the track shows aerial photos of the Drake home, further encouraging harassment and potentially inciting vigilance.
Drake’s legal team asserted that Universal Music Group leaned towards his business potential at the expense of his expenses and leveraged the high-profile Grammy and Super Bowl promotions to gain its viral success and cultural impact to gain negotiation power before renewing its contract with HE and Lamar.
Despite “Don’t Like Us” becoming a top hit single and cultural milestone, Drake’s lawsuit is still targeting Universal rather than Kendrick Lamar himself, allegedly prioritizing profits over artist security and spreading “false and malicious” narratives. Universal has filed a dismissal of the lawsuit, saying Drake’s claim is just an attempt to recover from what they described as self-launched and publicly lost rap wars, while Drake’s lawyers insist that the tag is responsible for amplifying dangerous misinformation that has already led to real-world consequences
Although Emmy nominations celebrate Lamar’s artistic achievements on stage, ongoing tensions with Drake have made his name increasingly popular in the award season.
Beyoncé also won four nods for her Netflix special Beyoncé Bowl, showing off her 2023 Renaissance world tour. Production is for the special, directing, production design and orchestration of production. Now both special competitions compete in Emmys and together with the 67th Grammy Awards, they have been nominated for production design, lighting design/orientation, sound mixing and orchestration.
Winners will be announced at the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony on September 14.
