(Image courtesy of Variety and pgLang.) “Kendrick Lamar will set the stage amongst others at this year’s Super Bowl.
Ryan Valin
Connector Staff
The Super Bowl is often referred to as “The Biggest Stage”, not only for an athlete but also for a musician. It is considered one of the highest honors as an artist to design a halftime show and perform for the countless viewers. For Super Bowl LIX, it has been announced that the honor will be given to legendary rapper Kendrick Lamar, along with R&B superstar SZA. The two sensations have certainly been well known for quite some time now, but the timing of this performance is very interesting and important for both artists, especially with all of the anticipation behind it.
Kendrick Lamar has had his share of commercial attention, but has always been best known for his top tier, well-crafted rapping skills. So in 2024, when Kendrick started a string of high stakes diss exchanges with hit-maker, Drake, it got all of the media attention. People wanted to see if Kendrick, an amazing lyricist, could take down one of the most commercially successful rappers ever. The public’s general consensus has been that Kendrick’s hit song “Not Like Us”, was the killshot that defeated Drake, with many egregious accusations against him on the track. Now entering the biggest stage, all eyes are on Kendrick Lamar to capitalize on all of his success and attention from last year, and put on a spectacle for the world to see.
In 2017, SZA released her debut album Ctrl, and saw her first major commercial success.
The project contained hits like “Love Galore (feat. Travis Scott)”, “Broken Clocks”, and “The Weekend”. After that, she then released a series of singles and made appearances on songs from other major artists. Five years after Ctrl, SZA released her long-awaited sophomore album SOS, which has drastically exceeded the commercial success of all her prior work. She has become
extremely popular and has collaborated with Kendrick Lamar on a handful of songs, most recently on tracks like “30 For 30 (with Kendrick Lamar)” and “luther (with sza)”. This performance will solidify her status of having one of the most successful music careers of all time, and she only has two full-length albums.
With all of the build up for the Super Bowl halftime show, what can the audience expect?
Well, it is not Kendrick Lamar’s first time performing at the Super Bowl. Kendrick played a small part in Dr. Dre’s Halftime performance three years ago. Although the production was likely not much in his hands, Kendrick’s presentation was very dramatic for the two songs he played.
This is very fitting for his act, however, considering his strengths in story telling. It is likely that the same can be expected for his performance this year, especially alongside SZA’s stellar vocals. It is also a given that Kendrick and SZA will perform at least some of their songs together. “All the Stars (with SZA)” would be an appropriate song relating to the event, and may even be their opening song for the act. Also, many are speculating that Kendrick will play “Not Like Us” to send more insults Drake’s way. Everyone always hopes for an elaborate, and stunning production, but many people have seemed to be underwhelmed by some of the more recent halftime shows. However, if one is going to impress, it can be expected that this is the one!