Just when you thought Kendrick Lamar’s victory lap couldn’t get any crazier, or run any longer, the start of the 2024-25 NFL season also came with the announcement that Kendrick will perform at the Super Bowl, to be held in New Orleans in February of next year. He did so in true Kendrick fashion: with no more comment than a mere YouTube link, which opened on a clip artfully directed by his pgLang co-founder Dave Free. The visual finds Kendrick on a football field, standing in front of an American flag that completely consumes the frame, running training practices with unseen players before addressing the camera and imploring viewers to pull up in February and watch him pop out.
Lamar was a little more verbose in a statement that accompanied the announcement, saying “Rap music is still the most impactful genre to date. And I’ll be there to remind the world why. They got the right one.” Jay-Z, whose Roc Nation produces the halftime show with Apple, added comments as well, stating that “Kendrick Lamar is truly a once-in-a-generation artist and performer. His deep love for hip-hop and culture informs his artistic vision. He has an unparalleled ability to define and influence culture globally. Kendrick’s work transcends music, and his impact will be felt for years to come.”
Since partnering up with the NFL in 2019, Jay-Z and Roc Nation have been instrumental in choosing halftime-show performers of genuine cultural relevance, in relation to current events and in some cases, to the setting of the corresponding Super Bowl game. Given that they tapped Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg to perform in Inglewood two years ago (a performance which also featured a mini-set by Lamar), some rap fans speculated that the 2025 New Orleans Caesars Superdome location meant Lil Wayne would be selected to put on his own hometown hero show and remind the world at large of his legendary status.
While that would’ve been sick, there’s no denying that after the year he’s had, Kendrick Lamar is simply an equally if not even more exciting and urgent choice. His culture-consuming beef with Drake ended in what’s been called the most decisive victory in any rap beef, ever; coming as it does on the heels of this past spring and summer’s events, the Super Bowl booking further underlines just how decisive this victory was in the court of public opinion. (Tinfoil-hat conspiracy theorists are also using this as proof of where Jay-Z’s sentiments lie, which isn’t unreasonable but he could just as easily be reacting, as Lamar put it earlier this year, to “what the culture’s feeling.”)
