Kendrick Lamar’s Halftime Show Overshadowed Yet Another Father John Misty Milestone

Last night’s Super Bowl LIX halftime show featured yet another escalation in one of the great music feuds of all time — no, not Kendrick Lamar vs. Drake. Kendrick Lamar vs. Father John Misty. 

The rap star and the indie darling have been cosmically tied over the years, dropping albums within a few weeks of each other multiple times. Then last year, Lamar surprise released his new album, GNX, on Nov. 22, the same day Father John Misty (a.k.a. Josh Tillman) released his latest LP, Mahashmashana. 

Tillman, always a reliably good poster, made a solid bit of being disgruntled about the repeated coincidences, and yesterday gave him another opportunity. On Feb. 9, as Lamar was delivering his Super Bowl halftime show, Tillman was celebrating the 10th anniversary of FJM’s 2015 album, I Love You, Honeybear. 

Responding to a tweet from Pitchfork about the anniversary, Tillman cracked, “had to do his super bowl performance today of all days nice.” (Tillman, ostensibly stewing in his own rage, didn’t even bother to watch the show, quipped later, “jokes on everyone I’m watching the matrix.”)

For those wondering, I Love You, Honeybear does have an equivalent, so to speak, in the Lamar catalog. Tillman dropped his album on Feb. 9, 2015, and a few weeks later, on March 15, Lamar released To Pimp a Butterfly. Additionally, in 2017, FJM released Pure Comedy on April 7, and Lamar released Damn on April 14; and in 2022, FJM released Chloë and the Next 20th Century on April 8, and Lamar released Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers on May 13. 

Both Father John Misty and Lamar are set to hit the road this year, too, though it doesn’t seem like the two will ever cross paths. FJM kicks off the North American leg of his run tonight, Feb. 10, in Lititz, Pennsylvania, with the run wrapping up March 1 in Washington, D.C. Meanwhile, Lamar and SZA’s Grand National Tour starts April 19 in Minneapolis and ends June 18 in Washington D.C.