They Not Like Us? Heck, We Are Not Like Us!

By Betty Jean Grant

Betty Jean Grant

For many fans of the 2025 LIX (59th) NFL Super Bowl, the most exciting and talked-about event wasn’t the Philadelphia Eagles’ blowout victory. Instead, it was Kendrick Lamar’s halftime production that took center stage—bold, electrifying, and impossible to ignore. His performance had the entire country talking, watching, and dissecting the Drake-inspired diss for weeks.

Fans, critics, and even those who had never heard of Kendrick Lamar or Drake before the Super Bowl were suddenly choosing sides in the infamous feud between these two mega-rich, global superstars. Personally, I don’t know when or why their rift began, but one thing is certain—Lamar’s halftime show was nothing short of spectacular. It sparked a viral sensation, with people across the globe uploading some of the most creative and outlandish parodies of the performance to TikTok and other social media platforms.

I watched—oh yes, I did—hundreds of videos featuring children in Africa, elderly white grandmothers in America, and even incarcerated men in prison garb all doing the "Lamar Shuffle" to Not Like Us.

When a reporter from Harper’s Bazaar asked Kendrick Lamar what Not Like Us truly meant, he responded: "I am thinking of a man who is not perfect; a man who can recognize his mistakes and is not too afraid to admit or share them without feeling less of a man." Lamar went on to say that Not Like Us represents that kind of man—the type of man he aspires to be.

What a powerful message to push into our communities, especially for the young men—and young women—who may be making life difficult for those of us who simply want to visit the downtown library, ride the metro bus, or shop at the Galleria Mall without witnessing chaos and mayhem.

Not Like Us isn’t about race, class, education, or socioeconomic status. According to Lamar, it’s a call to recognize that we are all imperfect, and at some point, we will all make mistakes.

This senior citizen, young-at-heart, and newly minted Kendrick Lamar fan believes that what truly sets us apart is how we acknowledge, accept, and grow from those mistakes. In the end, that’s what makes us Exactly Like Us.