Jadakiss On Why Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Performance Equals Big Win For Hip-Hop

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Jadakiss has revealed his feelings about Kendrick Lamar’s recent performance during halftime of Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans.

During his recent interview with Carmelo Anthony and Kid Mero on the 7PM in Brooklyn podcast, Jadakiss laid out his thoughts on the current state of Hip-Hop music while offering his thoughts on Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl performance—and the evolving nature of rap beef. The LOX rapper, known for his sharp lyricism and storied battle history, reflected on how the genre has changed, both in its mainstream success and the way rivalries are handled in the streaming era.

“Music is in a weird space,” Jadakiss said. “As far as how it’s being delivered and being distributed, this whole streaming s### is just something totally different. But it doesn’t discourage me from wanting to make music. Music probably have more politics than politics.”

In doing so, Jadakiss made it clear that he viewed Kendrick’s performance as a massive win for the culture.

“For Hip-Hop to get Super Bowl anything is a win for me,” he said. “Maybe I feel different because I’m an elder statesman, but I don’t care about the other stuff. Seeing him up there rocking, the message, the aesthetics—that was beautiful. It was good for Hip-Hop.”

He contrasted this with his own experience coming up in the game, recalling a time when the Super Bowl halftime show wasn’t even on his radar in years past.

“I remember being young, watching the Super Bowl with my dad and my uncles, and everybody would go get a plate—nobody even cared who was on the halftime show,” he explained.

Jadakiss then shifted the conversation toward Kendrick and Drake’s rap battle, drawing comparisons between their approach and his own past beefs. He acknowledged that both artists have mastered the ability to turn diss tracks into commercially successful songs.

“That’s another thing that’s genius with Kendrick,” he said. “He made a single. Drake did it with Meek [Meek Mill]. The one with Meek was like a Billboard-charting thing.

Reflecting on how rap beef has evolved, he admitted that he came from a different era—one where battle bars were even more raw and unfiltered than what Drake and Kendrick displayed across tracks such as “Family Matters” and “Not Like Us” among others.

“Me coming up battling, I’m saying the most craziest s### that would never be the same,” he said. “But now they switched it, which I think is fire. Drake did it a few times. Kendrick did it. I think that’s ill.”

He even brought up his own past success with diss tracks, pointing out that his infamous “Checkmate” diss managed to chart, something he never expected.

“I think Checkmate actually reached the Billboard, which I thought was crazy and weird,” he said. “I don’t know how the hell that even charted, but things are different now.”

When asked whether rap was becoming a safer space for MCs to express themselves, Jadakiss emphasized the importance of of artists occupying different lanes that work best for them in Hip-Hop.

“It’s all about balance,” he said. “Some dudes can rap and sing. Some dudes should just rap. Some dudes should do some other stuff. Rap is for rapping. Start doing a bunch of everything else, and it’s getting away from the elements. It’s diminishing the culture.”

Finally, Jadakiss concluded his remarks by expressing concern over the homogenization of Hip-Hop, where artists rush to imitate successful formulas instead of crafting their own unique sounds.

“We don’t need to hear 53 more, ‘They Not Like Us,” he said in part, adding, “Just because that got him five Grammys, his Super Bowl and this and that—when you go to create, don’t try to make that.”