play_arrow
Channel X94 6.3k Listeners
Kendrick Lamar has teased what fans can expect from his upcoming Super Bowl Halftime Show.
The ‘GNX’ rapper will headline the Super Bow LIX Halftime Show at the Caesars Superdome stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana this Sunday (February 9). His previous collaborator SZA is due to appear as a special guest, it was revealed last month.
During a new interview on Apple Music 1, Lamar looked ahead to becoming the first solo rap artist to headline the huge sports event. “A lot of people don’t see the story before the glory, man,” he explained.
Later, the artist talked about the “wild” experience of having to condense his large catalogue into a 13-minute setlist for the Super Bowl Halftime Show.
“‘Mr. Morale’ is like an hour and 30-minute tour, so you gotta smack this shit down all the way to 13 minutes! It’s kind of wild and it’s interesting because it lets you know kind of how you think about your catalogue and music,” Lamar said.
“For me, I love being present. I love being present, man. It’s very hard for me to live in the past. It’s very hard. I respect the past, wholehearted, locked into how I feel and the energy I have now, that’s the LA energy for me.”
He continued: “That’s something that I wanted to carry over to New Orleans and for the world to see. This is me, this is Ke feel like I’m elevating, I’m still on the journey, though, you know? I want that energy to ooze out into the televisions and to the people that’s in that building.”
Lamar went on to say that he had “always been very open about storytelling, through all my catalogue and my history of music”, and explained that he was keen to bring this to the Super Bowl.
“I’ve always had a passion about bringing that on whatever stage I’m on, whether it’s 500 people at Key Club,” he said. “I’ve always had a form of that, so [it’ll be] that sense of ‘make people listen’, but also see and think a little.”
The rapper then revealed that he and SZA hadn’t “really had a chat personally” about their collaboration at the Halftime Show, “because everything has been moving fast as far as production and rehearsals and stuff”.
Elsewhere in the conversation, Lamar discussed the connection between Black culture and New Orleans, and talked about always putting culture at the forefront of his brand.
“That’s the bar. That’s the bar,” he said. “It’s crazy bro, all my friends. LA, us growing up, all our grandparents either from Louisiana, Texas [or] Chicago. Like, period. So our dialect and how we talk, it’s the Bay Area. So like going to the store, we say Finna. I’m Finna going to the store. That’s some South shit, that’s not no LA.
“So that energy right there, making that correlation, it means that. The culture and just being Black, I can’t help that, man. It’s not something that I think about or even try to like go, ‘I’m Black!’ Shit, it’s goin’ to come out every time. I can’t sugarcoat my life, I can’t necessarily fake the funk for nothing.
“I’ve always had the essence of that, but you have kids and shit, that shit’s like, ‘I have to be who I am authentically’ […] I’m gonna put it all the way out there. Whether it’s in private or whether it’s on the main stage.”
As for how he prepares for big performances, Lamar said: “I do some laps where they’re some sprints… maybe it’s a two-mile warm-up or a mile warm-up. Maybe some push-ups. Just to get the body movement.
“[…] So physically, I’m just exercising the body, a little bit of stretching, a little bit of all that. On a mental level, I’m usually playing some Isley Brothers, calm my excitement, give it a balance, you know? That’s my prep right before I go out.”
Lamar has previously played the Halftime show, as a guest during Dr. Dre’s all-star set in 2022 – which also included appearances from Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem and 50 Cent.
Last year’s Super Bowl Halftime Show was headlined by Usher, who was joined on stage by Alicia Keys, H.E.R. and Will.i.am. In 2023, Rihanna played a career-spanning set at the major event. Her slot would go on to become the most-watched Halftime Show in history.
In other news, last week saw Lamar win five awards at the Grammys 2025, including Record Of The Year and Song Of The Year for his Drake diss song ‘Not Like Us’. Drake’s dad has since responded, saying: “I don’t care enough about that shit.”
Kendrick Lamar surprise-released his sixth and latest album, ‘GNX’, last November. SZA features on the songs ‘Luther’ and ‘Gloria’.
The post Kendrick Lamar on what to expect from his “storytelling” Super Bowl Halftime Show appeared first on NME.
Thousands of tickets to this year’s Oasis reunion shows are being cancelled by Ticketmaster in a crackdown on bots, but many fans are claiming they have been targeted wrongfully. READ MORE: You gotta roll with it: the rocky road to Oasis’ supersonic return When UK tickets for the return of Liam […]
