Nobody — not the Kansas City Chiefs nor the Philadelphia Eagles — had more momentum going into the 2025 Super Bowl than Kendrick Lamar.
Sure, the Chiefs are up for a historic three-peat tonight, but Lamar’s week has already been a winning one. He took home five big awards at the 2025 Grammys on Sunday, including Song and Record of the Year, for his ubiquitous anthem “Not Like Us,” setting up his halftime show performance to be the ultimate victory lap. It was one thing to see the entire Crypto.com Arena shouting “It was probably A MINOOOR;” The whole Superdome doing it would be the cherry on top.
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But even the cultural and institutional recognition of “Not Like Us” doesn’t quite sum up how cool it is to have Lamar headline one of the biggest shows on the planet. For over a decade, King Kendrick has straddled the worlds of pop stardom, critical adoration, and underground respect. “Not Like Us,” with its pop-laced poise and thorough, downright-scholarly character assassination, epitomizes this unique position. Lamar’s unwillingness to compromise his artistic ambitions while also making joyous, unforgettable hit songs proves he’s more than deserving of a stage this big.
Kendrick Lamar’s Full Super Bowl Halftime Show performance #SuperBowl pic.twitter.com/OxZED0YXDn
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The big question before Lamar took the stage, however, was which of those hit songs he’d bust out. Back in his 2022 performance, where he appeared alongside Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, and several more, Lamar gave a rousing renditions of “M.A.A.D City” and “Alright” to pay tribute to his hometown. With New Orleans as the backdrop this time around, it felt like Lamar would keep his setlist less focused on his past and upbringing and more on his recent catalogue. Maybe some O.G. fans would have preferred a nod to Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, To Pimp a Butterfly, or even a short reference to Section. 80 (The beat drop in “A.D.H.D” would have killed!), but alas; Kendrick was more intent on celebrating his work from DAMN. onwards for his halftime show performance.
He took the stage right next to the same Buick shown on the album cover for GNX, which became a literal clown car as dozens of background dancers poured out. His proper opener was an electrifying rendition of “squabble up,” proving our predictions correct. Meanwhile, he was introduced (and consistently motivated) by Samuel L. Jackson dressed as Uncle Sam, who functioned as a bit of an emcee and spiritual guide through the performance.
Almost like another big-budget NFL halftime show recently, he definitely imbued his performance with some strong undertones of an Americana-style aesthetic while also bending those images into a more personalized, shapeshifting presentation. The dancers immediately assembled into an American flag formation on “HUMBLE.” before devolving into the blue-and-red masses we saw in the “Not Like Us” video. The way the crew of background dancers huddled around a streetlight for “man at the garden” made it feel like Kendrick was headlining a West Side Story revival, the tense pulsations behind him evoking the nervy energy of a battle rally.