Kendrick Lamar Takes a Victory Lap with Tremendous Bowl Halftime Present: Evaluate

No person — not the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs nor the Philadelphia Eagles — had extra momentum going into the 2025 Tremendous Bowl than Kendrick Lamar.

Positive, the Chiefs have been up for a historic three-peat tonight, however Lamar’s week has already been a profitable one. He took house 5 huge awards on the 2025 Grammys on Sunday, together with Track and Document of the 12 months, for his ubiquitous anthem “Not Like Us,” organising his halftime present efficiency to be the final word victory lap. It was one factor to see all the Crypto.com Enviornment shouting “It was most likely A MINOOOR;” The entire Superdome doing it could be the cherry on prime.

However even the cultural and institutional recognition of “Not Like Us” doesn’t fairly sum up how cool it’s to have Lamar headline one of many greatest exhibits on the planet. For over a decade, King Kendrick has straddled the worlds of pop stardom, important adoration, and underground respect. “Not Like Us,” with its pop-laced poise and thorough, downright-scholarly character assassination, epitomizes this distinctive place. Lamar’s unwillingness to compromise his inventive ambitions whereas additionally making joyous, unforgettable hit songs proves he’s greater than deserving of a stage this huge.

The massive query earlier than Lamar took the stage, nonetheless, was which of these hit songs he’d bust out. Throughout his 2022 visitor efficiency, the place he appeared alongside Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, and several other extra, Lamar gave rousing renditions of “M.A.A.D Metropolis” and “Alright” to pay tribute to his hometown. With New Orleans because the backdrop this time round, it felt like Lamar would maintain his setlist much less centered on his previous and upbringing and extra on his current catalogue. Perhaps some O.G. followers would have most popular a nod to Good Child, M.A.A.D Metropolis, To Pimp a Butterfly, or perhaps a brief reference to Part. 80 (The beat drop in “A.D.H.D” would have killed!), however alas; Kendrick was extra intent on celebrating his work from DAMN. onwards for his halftime present efficiency.

He took the stage proper subsequent to the identical Buick proven on the album cowl for GNX, which turned a literal clown automobile as dozens of background dancers poured out. His correct opener was an electrifying rendition of “squabble up,” proving our predictions right. In the meantime, he was launched (and persistently motivated) by Samuel L. Jackson dressed as Uncle Sam, who functioned as a little bit of an emcee and religious information via the efficiency.

Nearly like one other big-budget NFL halftime present just lately, he undoubtedly imbued his efficiency with some sturdy undertones of an Americana-style aesthetic whereas additionally bending these photographs right into a extra customized, shapeshifting presentation. The dancers instantly assembled into an American flag formation on “HUMBLE.” earlier than devolving into the blue-and-red plenty we noticed within the “Not Like Us” video. The way in which the crew of background dancers huddled round a streetlight for “man on the backyard” made it really feel like Kendrick was headlining a West Aspect Story revival, the tense pulsations behind him evoking the nervy power of a battle rally.