Kendrick Lamar confirms Super Bowl halftime show [Video]

Kendrick Lamar has confirmed that he will be the halftime performer at the Super Bowl LIX, set to take place in February 2025 in New Orleans.

The Super Bowl halftime performance is a collaboration between the National Football League (NFL), Roc Nation and Apple Music.

Roc Nation is a full-service management, music publishing, and entertainment company founded by US rapper Jay-Z.

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A post shared by Kendrick Lamar (@kendricklamar)

Describing Lamar in an interview with The New York Times, Jay-Z said:   “His deep love for hip-hop and culture informs his artistic vision,” Jay-Z said.

“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.”

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Super Bowl’s millions

The 17-time Grammy Award-winner joins an illustrious line of global stars that have performed at the Super Bowl.

Recent Super Bowl halftime performers include The Rolling Stones, Prince and Coldplay.

The Super Bowl is one of the biggest television events in the US every year. Over the years, a number of stars have passed the 100 million viewership mark, stretching all the way back to Black Eyed Peas’ 2011 performance.

Justin Timberlake’s 2018 Super Bowl LII performance garnered 106.6 million viewers.  Performing hits like Gotta Feeling and Boom Boom Pow, the Blacked Eyed Peas ranked in 110.2 million viewers.

In 2013, Beyoncé performed at Super Bowl  XLVII and had 110.8 million recorded viewers glued to their screens.

A year before Queen Bee’s performance, Madonna stole the show with a performance that had 114 million viewers watching.

Lady Gaga’s 2017 Super Bowl show remains one of the biggest viewed halftime shows with  117.5 million onlookers.

Katy Perry and Rihanna’s Super Bowl performances which respectively took place in 2015 and 2023 are tied for second as the most watched Super Bowl performances with 121 million viewers that watched.

Usher’s performance at this year’s Super Bowl show is the most watched of all time with 123.4 million viewers.

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Drake beef

Considering his recent spat with fellow rapper Drake, Lamar is expected to break the viewership record set by Usher.

Just after the beef with Drake where they exchanged diss songs targeted at each other, Lamar hosted The Pop Out: Ken & Friends concert in his neighbourhood at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, CA.

History in the making. They not like us @kendricklamar pic.twitter.com/tMhNw94UVI

— Amazon Music (@amazonmusic) June 20, 2024

The concert was live for just over four hours on Amazon, and had an average viewership of 108.5,000 concurrent viewers

“Rap music is still the most impactful genre to date,” Lamar said in a statement. “And I’ll be there to remind the world why. They got the right one.”

A crazy turn of events pic.twitter.com/qq82gn8abl

— Complex Music (@ComplexMusic) September 8, 2024

Following the announcement, some on social media have begun dragging Drake, suggesting that Lamar was taking a hit at the Canadian rapper when he said “Only one opportunity to win a championship, no round twos.”

A few weeks ago, Drake appeared to suggest he’s going to come back and win Game 2 with a cryptic post on his social media.

Pusha T speaks on Kendrick Lamar declaring “No Round 2s” 👀

“This is true…🤷‍♂️” pic.twitter.com/7dEi2hElkx

— NFR Podcast (@nfr_podcast) September 8, 2024

Drake’s nemesis, US rapper Pusha T reposted Lamar’s quote to further push the narrative that Drake can’t get a rematch in his beef with Lamar who came out victorious in their recent spat.

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