Rapper Kendrick Lamar took the stage in New Orleans Sunday at Super Bowl LIX’s halftime show, becoming the first solo rapper to headline the NFL event. Joined by R&B artist SZA, Lamar captivated the audience with a setlist of fan favorites like his five-time Grammy winning track “Not Like Us” and song’s from his latest release titled “GNX.”
Introduced by actor Samuel L. Jackson wearing an Uncle Sam outfit, he started the performance with an unreleased track “Bodies” before transitioning into his song “squabble up,” that debuted No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in Dec. of 2024.
Background dancers dressed in patriotic colors of red, white and blue slowly joined the performance. As “squabble up” wrapped up, Jackson’s Uncle Sam commented that they were “too loud, too reckless, too ghetto,” asking Lamar “if he knew how to play the game.”
While performing “HUMBLE.,” the dancers formed into an American Flag with Lamar standing in the center, disconnecting the two sides of the flag. He went on to perform “DNA.,” “Euphoria” and “man at the garden.”
Jackson interrupted the performance again, saying “score keeper, deduct one life,” as Lamar jumped into “peekaboo.” Teasing the audience by playing the beat to “Not Like Us” Lamar said “I want to perform their favorite song, but you know they love to sue,” the “they” in reference to rapper Drake who the song acts as a diss track to.
SZA later joined Lamar on the Superdome stage to perform two of their collaboration songs, “luther,” another hit off the GNX album, and their song from the 2018 Black Panther Movie’s soundtrack “All the Stars.”
The most anticipated moment of the night was his performance of “Not Like Us” in a stadium of thousands, even featuring a cameo on stage from tennis legend Serena Williams. With its billions of streams on Spotify, the performance of the Grammy winning song for record of the year still shocked many who thought Lamar would not perform the song after Drake filed a defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group over it. With a smile to the camera, Lamar delivered the iconic line, “Say Drake, I hear you like ‘em young,” bringing the rapper feud all the way to the Super Bowl.
Besides the setlist, the performance itself presented imagery of cultural significance. In reference to the powerful image of Lamar and the dancers representing the American flag, sophomore forensics science student Amarah Malcolm said “black folk representing the American flag because modern America was built on our labor, Kendrick I see you.”
Others shared their thoughts on the performance online. On X, user @CaseyyMcGaw pointed out how “Uncle Sam” represented “those who tell the Black community how to behave.”
If you missed it live, the performance is now uploaded on the NFL YouTube account.
