17-time Grammy winner and Pulitzer Prize recipient Kendrick Lamar was announced as the headliner for the upcoming Super Bowl LIX halftime show. The NFL, Roc Nation, and Apple Music broke the news during the first Sunday of the 2024-2025 regular season.
The announcement was followed shortly by a video posted to Lamar’s Instagram. While sitting on a football field, he says, “My name is Kendrick Lamar, and I’ll be performing at Super Bowl 59.” In a later statement, he continued, “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, founder of Roc Nation, expressed his support in a statement that read: “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.”
Additionally, the NFL’s head of music, Seth Dudowsky, shared that “Few artists have impacted music and culture as profoundly as Kendrick Lamar. Time and time again, Kendrick has proven his unique ability to craft moments that resonate, redefine, and ultimately shake the very foundation of hip-hop.”
This will be the second time that Lamar performs at a Super Bowl halftime show. In 2022, he was one of the headliners for Super Bowl LVI, sharing the spotlight with Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem, and 50 Cent. It’s currently the second most-watched halftime show on YouTube, sitting at over 294 million views, only behind Jennifer Lopez and Shakira’s performance at Super Bowl LIV.
The announcement comes after several months of back-and-forth between Kendrick Lamar and Drake. It started with the release of Drake and J. Cole’s collab on the song “First Person Shooter,” released Oct. 6, 2023, when Cole rapped, “Love when they argue the hardest MC / Is it K-Dot? Is it Aubrey? Or me? / We the big three like we started a league, but right now, I feel like Muhammad Ali.”
Kendrick Lamar hit back on March 22 while collaborating with Future and Metro Boomin’ on the song “Like That.” He rapped, “F—k sneak dissin’, first-person shooter, I hope they came with three switches.” He followed this up a few lines later with the now-infamous denouncement of the “Big 3” comprising of him, Drake, and J. Cole by passionately exclaiming “It’s just big me.”
The drama between the two continued in the following months with Drake’s releases of “Push Ups,” “Taylor Made Freestyle,” “Family Matters,” and “THE HEART PART 6” and Lamar’s releases of “Euphoria,” “6:16 in LA,” “Meet the Grahams,” and “Not Like Us,” respectively.
“Not Like Us” has been one of the biggest songs of 2024, topping the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for two non-consecutive weeks, breaking numerous streaming records, and cementing Lamar’s legacy as one of the greatest artists of all time. His performance at New Orleans’ Caesars Superdome is sure to go down in history as one of the greatest halftime shows ever.
Catch Kendrick Lamar’s performance during Super Bowl LIX on Feb. 9, 2025.
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