Kendrick Lamar introduced his Compton hometown to New Orleans because the halftime performer at Sunday’s Tremendous Bowl LIX — the crowning achievement of a yearlong stretch through which hip-hop’s most proudly cerebral star ascended to new heights of pop renown.
The primary rapper to headline pop music’s largest stage as a solo act, Lamar, 37, spent a lot of his 13-minute set on the sector on the Caesars Superdome flirting with whether or not or not he’d play “Not Like Us,” the knockout blow from his epic feud with Drake.
“I wanna perform their favorite song,” he stated at one level of “Not Like Us,” through which he describes Drake as a pedophile, “but you know they love to sue.”
Kendrick Lamar and SZA carry out onstage throughout Apple Music Tremendous Bowl LIX Halftime Present at Caesars Superdome on February 09, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
(Cindy Ord / Getty Photos)
Final 12 months, “Not Like Us” spent two weeks atop Billboard’s Scorching 100 on its solution to racking up greater than a billion streams on Spotify; final week, the track received Grammy Awards for report and track of the 12 months — simply the second rap monitor to take these awards within the ceremony’s six-and-a-half-decade historical past. But “Not Like Us” additionally spawned a federal lawsuit from Drake through which he accuses Common Music Group, the report label each males report for, of defamation.
In the long run, Lamar did carry out “Not Like Us” on Sunday — and with a fellow Compton native in Serena Williams dancing to the track on the sector — although he let the group take the phrase “pedophiles” in one of many track’s best-known strains.
Launched by the actor Samuel L. Jackson in a red-white-and-blue Uncle Sam get-up, Lamar started the present crouched on a Buick Grand Nationwide, the automotive after which he titled his newest album. He carried out his songs “Squabble Up,” “Humble,” “DNA,” “Euphoria,” “Man at the Garden” and “Peekaboo,” then welcomed the singer SZA, with whom he did “Luther” and “All the Stars” and with whom he’ll embark on a stadium tour this 12 months.
Samuel Jackson and Kendrick Lamar are seen onstage throughout Apple Music Tremendous Bowl LIX Halftime Present.
(Chris Graythen / Getty Photos)
After “Not Like Us,” Lamar ended the present with “TV Off,” for which he was joined by the producer Mustard.
Sunday’s halftime present wasn’t Lamar’s first look on the Tremendous Bowl. In 2022 the rapper was a part of the all-star hip-hop extravaganza that Dr. Dre delivered to Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium and which additionally featured Snoop Dogg, Eminem and Mary J. Blige. Each performances had been produced as a part of a long-term deal between the NFL and Jay-Z’s Roc Nation firm — a partnership that raised eyebrows when it was introduced in 2019 given Jay-Z’s earlier criticism of the way in which the league handled former San Francisco 49ers quarter Colin Kaepernick after Kaepernick started kneeling throughout the nationwide anthem in protest of police violence towards Black individuals.
“I said no the Super Bowl / You need me, I don’t need you,” Jay-Z famously rapped in 2018 after declining an invite to play the halftime present.
Mustard and Kendrick Lamar carry out onstage throughout Apple Music Tremendous Bowl LIX Halftime Present.
(Cindy Ord / Getty Photos)
But Roc Nation’s dealing with of the NFL’s high-profile musical choices has been broadly praised for each the exhibits’ manufacturing worth and for the variety that Roc Nation has delivered to the expertise showcased at halftime. Lamar’s present was the sixth in a row to be headlined by an artist of coloration, after Usher in 2024, Rihanna in 2023, Dr. Dre in 2022, the Weeknd in 2021 and the duo of Shakira and Jennifer Lopez in 2020.
Earlier than kickoff Sunday, Jon Batiste sang a jazzy rendition of the nationwide anthem for which he accompanied himself on piano, and the duo of Trombone Shorty and Lauren Daigle carried out a cheerful “America the Beautiful.” Girl Gaga additionally appeared in a pre-recorded phase that had her taking part in her track “Hold My Hand” on New Orleans’ Bourbon Road — the positioning of a terrorist assault on New Yr’s Day that killed 14 individuals — whereas surrounded by cops, firefighters, troopers and different first responders.
