Three years in the past on the Super Bowl in LA, Kendrick Lamar was the house turf beginner on the halftime present hip-hop dream staff of Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J Blige, Eminem and 50 Cent. Today in New Orleans, the highest of his sport Compton-born Pulitzer Prizer winner didn’t must share the glory with anybody as he additional solidified his dominance of the style and the tradition.
“This is the great American game” bellowed an Uncle Sam clad Samuel L. Jackson as a tic-tac-toe board lite up the stadium and a dancer surrounded Lamar appeared.
Much extra a successor to Lamar’s gorgeous Juneteenth efficiency in entrance of a jubilant Kia Forum in LA final summer time than that Super Bowl LVI celebration of West Coast rap and the 50th anniversary of the worldwide style, right this moment’s efficiency by Lamar was precisely the virtuoso show of catching the second, the highlight and the America 2025 that followers, the NFL and Jay-Z’s Roc Nation wished.
Let’s be sincere, pretty much as good as Lamar is (and he’s so superb) for everybody however Philadelphia Eagles followers, the halftime was assured to be an enchancment over the sport to this point. The Brotherly Love staff have been kicking three peat searching for and present champs Kansas City Chiefs all around the area 24-0 within the wipeout first and second quarters. A not unimaginable however very tough deficit to climb out of for any staff, even the Partick Mahomes-led Chiefs.
“The revolution is about to televised, but you picked the wrong guy,” Lamar proclaimed, planting his flag with hits like’ Humble,’ ‘tv off’ and extra. Having mentioned that, similar to final 12 months with Usher and Alicia Keys, Lamar was stricken by sound points that left his vocals buried underneath the music. Also much like 2024, the NFL manufacturing staff went too tight on the headliner and his performers at the beginning. A multi-tiered spectacle within the stadium typically was diminished to awards present scale. Thankfully by the point SZA confirmed up and the duo did ‘Luther’, the audio glitches and perspective angles have been resolved
To that, with an viewers that features a few notables like that Chiefs fan Taylor Swift, Philly lady and former First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, Eagles fanatic Bradley Cooper, Adam Sandler, Kevin Costner and the highlight addicted Donald Trump, Lamar’s halftime present got here with extra anticipation and maybe nervousness than any Super Bowl efficiency in almost 20 years. Even the newly minted and sharp elbowed head of the FCC weighed in with a throwback to Janet Jackson scandalous stint on the Super Bowl XXXVII stage again in 2004.
Given 13 minutes to navigate a extensively assorted 15-year profession in entrance of the largest TV viewers of the 12 months and with Jay-Z, previous collaborator Taylor Swift, Megan Thee Stallion, and Paul McCartney amongst these watching within the 70,000 full Superdome, the GNX artist seized the elephant within the stadium at one level about midway by way of the halftime present
Hot off his large Grammy wins every week in the past and his beatdown of Drake prior to now collaborators’ multi-track diss struggle, the massive wager was would KDot let free his Not Like Us lyrics accusing the previous Degrassi High star of getting intercourse with minors. “I want to perform their favorite song, but you know they love to sue,” KDot smirked – after which went for it.
As Public Enemy’s Flavor Flav famous:
In truth, attempting to getting in entrance of issues, the Australia touring Drake had his legal professionals drop a pre-response forward of the halftime present Sunday. Weak in opposition to the power of the halftime present, the dis defeated Drake hoped to place the authorized stakes of the award profitable and chart topping Not Like Us in context with the defamation go well with he’s filed in opposition to Universal Music Group.
“UMG is masquerading as a champion of artistic freedom by calling its actions merely ‘entertainment’, but there is nothing entertaining about pedophilia or child abuse in the real world,” the Rich Baby Daddy performers attorneys exclaimed of the continued battle with Drake and Lamar’s mutual file firm. “We are confident that the evidence we will ultimately present at trial, including information we’ve already learned and continue to receive since filing the lawsuit, will expose UMG’s gross prioritization of its own corporate profits and executive bonuses over its exclusively signed artists’ well-being and the truth.”
Song sturdy as one would anticipate out of the Big Easy and with Beatle Paul McCartney is the stands, Super Bowl 59 had already seen performances earlier from previous halftime star Lady Gaga, Terrance Blanchard, brass bands, Harry Connick Jr, the nationwide anthem from Jon Batiste, and a rousing and poignant rendition of Black America’s unofficial anthem Lift Every Voice & Sing by Ledisi.
Or as the good Sam Jackson mentioned right this moment: “That’s what I’m talking about!”