So, your sister is killed by a Crip, but you do the walk during the big game?
Isn’t that like walking on her grave.
Serena Williams
Sister: Yetunde Price
On September 14, 2003, Yetunde Price, Serena and Venus Williams’ older sister, was fatally shot in Compton while sitting in an SUV with her boyfriend outside a known crack house. Gang members from the South Side Compton Crips mistakenly opened fire, believing they were defending the location from rivals. Price, an innocent bystander, died from a head wound.
Robert Edward Maxfield, a gang member, was charged and after two mistrials, pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter in 2006. He was sentenced to 15 years but was released on parole in 2018, only to be re-arrested for violating parole.
In memory of Price, Compton rapper The Game dedicated his 2005 song Dreams to her, and in 2016, the Williams sisters opened the Yetunde Price Resource Center to support victims of violence. Serena Williams learned of Maxfield’s release minutes before a match in 2018, which she lost in a stunning defeat.
Serena Williams surprised Super Bowl viewers by stepping onto the halftime stage with Kendrick Lamar, seamlessly hitting the crip walk during his performance. The moment set social media ablaze, with fans calling it iconic while others recalled the controversy she faced for the same move in 2012.
Back then, after winning Olympic gold at Wimbledon, Williams celebrated with the crip walk, sparking backlash from critics who called it inappropriate. The dance, which originated with Los Angeles’ Crips gang in the 1970s, has long been intertwined with hip-hop culture. Williams defended herself at the time, insisting it was just a dance, but the debate lingered.
At the Super Bowl, Williams playfully addressed the past. Posting a backstage video, she laughed, “Man, I did not crip walk like that at Wimbledon. Oh, I would’ve been fined.” She reassured fans, “It was all love.”
The moment also carried an added layer of intrigue—Lamar’s performance included Not Like Us, his scathing diss track aimed at Drake, whom Williams reportedly dated in the past. Lamar even name-dropped her in the song, warning Drake “better not speak on Serena.”