Still on the heels of his wildly successful album, GNX (2024), and a whopping five wins at this year’s Grammys, Kendrick Lamar continued his winning streak during Super Bowl LIX’s Halftime Show.
Rising to prominence with his second album Good Kid, M.A.A.D City (2012) the Compton, California native has since become one of the most influential rappers in hip hop history.
After a brief introduction by Samuel L. Jackson dressed as Uncle Sam, Kendrick soon appeared sitting atop of a 1987 Buick GNX, while delivering his song “GNX“.
Clad in blue bell bottom jeans and a blue sports jacket, Kendrick soon glided into his mega hit “Squabble Up“. This smoothly transitioned into his 2017 hit “Humble“, as he delivered his powerful lyrics, while flanked by dancers dressed as the American flag. He soon transitioned into his other hit “DNA“. Both of which were extracted from his 2017 commercially successful release, Damn.
Kendrick then transitioned back to his GNX album, with an energetic fusion of the songs, “Euphoria“, “Man at the Garden“, and “Peekaboo“.
After Kendrick jokingly skipped over his hit “Not Like Us“, Samuel L. Jackson delivered another brief interlude. Shortly after, SZA appeared clad in a red ensemble, for an impromptu performance of thier duet “Luther“, before transitioning into thier top-ten hit, “All the Stars”. Featured in the 2018 blockbuster film Black Panther, the song also earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song.
For the finale, Kendrick delighted the crowd with his 2024 smash hit and Drake diss track, “Not Like Us“. The anticipated performance featured a special appearance from tennis legend Serena Williams. The rousing 13 minute set concluded with “Turn the TV Off“, which featured a surprise appearance from DJ Mustard.
Adding to Kendrick’s lengthy list of achievements, “Not Like Us”, extracted from his album GNX (2024), swept all five of its nominations at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards. These included Record of the Year and Song of the Year. He also became the second rap artist to win both awards, after Donald “Childish Gambino” Glover in 2019.
Tonight’s performance marked Kendrick’s second appearance in the halftime show, with his first appearance being at Super Bowl LVI alongside Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and Dr. Dre.
