Kendrick Lamar’s “a” Necklace at the Super Bowl Was Actually a Major Diss Toward Drake
Jason Pham
Kendrick Lamar shut down the Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show with performances of hits like “Humble” and “Euphoria” and guests including SZA and Samuel L. Jackson. But beyond the music, all viewers could pay attention to was Lamar’s silver “a” necklace.
What did Kendrick Lamar‘s “a” necklace mean at the Super Bowl?
For the Super Bowl Halftime Show, Lamar wore a custom leather Martin Rose varsity jacket that spelled out “Gloria” on the front, according to Vogue. The rapper, who was styled by Taylor McNeill, completed his look with light blue bootcut jeans, a black backwards cap, black gloves, and white sneakers. The final piece of his look was a thick chain necklace with a lowercase “a” pendant. So what did Lamar’s “a” necklace mean?
Well, the necklace is a reference to Lamar’s 2024 song, “Not Like Us,” in which he raps: “Say, Drale, I hear you like ’em young. Tryna strike a chord and it’s probably A-minorrrrrr.” The lyric—and song—is a diss toward Drake, who has since denied that he likes underage girls.
After the release of “Not Like Us,” Drake responded to the allegations in his own song, “The Heart Part 6,” in which he claimed that Lamar’s allegations about him were fake bait from his team. “The ones that you’re getting your stories from, they’re all clowns,” Drake rapped. “We plotted for a week and then we fed you the information/A daughter that’s 11 years old, I bet he takes it.”
He continued in the song: “Drake is not a name that you gonn’ see on no sex offender list, easy does it / You mentioning A minor … B sharp and tell the fans: Who was it?” He added: “I never been with no-one underage … Just for clarity, I feel disgusted, I’m too respected.” He also rapped that, if the allegations were true, “I promise I’d have been arrested.”
Lamar’s jacket, for its part, is a reference to his pen name, Gloria,” which is also the last song on his 2024 album, GNX. “The woman Kendrick speaks of serves as a conceit, becoming an extended metaphor for the discussion of his craft,” reads an explanation from Sports Illustrated. “Gloria, which means ‘glory’ in Spanish, becomes a personification of rap glory—his ‘pen’ and the artistic journey it represents.”
Lamar and Drake’s working relationship started in 2011 when Lamar was featured on the song “Buried Alive Interlude” off Drake’s second album, Take Care. He went on to open for Drake on his Club Paradise tour in 2012 before collaborating on two more songs: “Poetic Justice” from Lamar’s second album, “Good Kid, MAAD City” and “Fuckin’ Problems” from A$AP Rocky’s debut album, Long. Live. ASAP.
Lamar first dissed Drake in his verse on Big Sean’s 2013 “Control,” in which he listed Drake as one of the rappers he was trying to replace. “I’m usually homeboys with the same n—-s I’m rhymin’ with / But this is hip-hop, and them n—-s should know what time it is,” Lamar raps, before continuing: “And that goes for Jermaine Cole, Big K.R.I.T., Wale / Pusha T, Meek Millz, ASAP Rocky, Drake / Big Sean, Jay Electron’, Tyler, Mac Miller / I got love for you all, but I’m tryna murder you n—-s.”
Their feud, however, reached a boiling point in 2024 when Lamar released “Not Like Us.” In his 2024 song “Wacced Out Murals,” Lamar hinted that he will never reconcile his friendship with Drake. “I never peaced it up, that sh-t don’t sit well with me / Before I take a truce, I’ll take ’em to hell with me,” he raps.
