Line up all of the ways in which Kendrick Lamar has racked up wins in the past twelve months. The feature on “Like That,” which was an earthquake in hip-hop. Then, weeks later, four songs in five days: Euphoria, 6:16 in LA, Meet the Grahams and the coup de grace, Not Like Us. Then the Pop Out concert on Juneteenth. The “Not Like Us” music video on Independence Day. The GNX album just before Thanksgiving. Booking the Super Bowl Halftime Show, the first for a solo rap artist. Winning five Grammys – including Song of the Year and Record of the Year – for “Not Like Us,” with the whole audience singing along to “A minnnnor.” And now this, the biggest stage in the world, an audience of tens of millions, the Super Bowl Halftime show.

Hilariously, people are still trying to make it sound like Kendrick should be “worried” that producers won’t “allow” him to perform “Not Like Us” at the Super Bowl. He plans to do the ROTY and SOTY-winning song. So now producers have to decide whether or not to shut it down or how much to censor for the broadcast.

Kendrick Lamar is about to find out if his smash hit “Not Like Us” is as popular with NFL and network lawyers and execs as it is with the public — and his Super Bowl Halftime Show hangs in the balance. This is a big day down in the Big Easy, as Kendrick’s set list is expected to be handed off to the NFL and FOX honchos gathered in New Orleans for the game. Wednesday is typically the day Halftime Show performers pull back the curtain for the league, and reveal the songs they’re going to perform.

But, this year there’s extra attention on Kendrick’s plans, because of “Not Like Us,” and the defamation lawsuit Drake filed against Universal Music Group over the diss track … which, as we all know, flat-out calls Drake a “certified pedophile.”

So, here’s what usually goes down … once the execs get the set list, they call in the lawyers, who pore over the lyrics to make sure there’s nothing that’ll get the league or the network in trouble with the FCC. Now, there’s no doubt Kendrick is doing the song — our sources connected to him, the network and the league all confirm that. What the lawyers have to decide is whether to broadcast the lyrics that allegedly defame Drake, and risk a potential lawsuit.

Fun fact: There are not one, but 2 censors on game day — the NFL has an official who can bleep out content, and then FOX has a backup. Remember, it’s all broadcast on a 5-second delay … just in case.

Worth noting is what happened Sunday night when K Dot won Record of the Year at the Grammys. CBS opted to play the “pedophile” portion of the song as he walked onstage, and the whole crowd at Crypto.com Arena loudly sang the iconic “A minor” line. Imagine that now with more than 80,000 people Sunday in the Superdome.

[From TMZ]

From what I’ve heard, Fox, the NFL and Roc Nation aren’t actually all that worried, but they know the speculation and drama will bring even more attention. I assume Kendrick will perform “Not Like Us” pretty much in its original form, and if the Pop Out was any indication, Kendrick will probably mix up the Atlanta section but the rest of it will stay the same. I predict that Fox’s censors will only block out some of the curses but not the PDFile references.

Meanwhile, Kendrick did his pre-Super Bowl press conference yesterday. There’s no breaking news here, but it was lovely to hear him speak about the Grammys and his mindset making GNX. They didn’t ask him anything about Drake, nor did Kendrick mention or reference Drake at all.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, screencaps from NFL and Grammys.