Kendrick Lamar to headline 2025 Super Bowl halftime show

Kendrick Lamar to headline 2025 Super Bowl halftime show

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Kendrick Lamar is going to the Super Bowl.

The 37-year-old “Not Like Us” rapper will perform at the 2025 Apple Music Super Bowl halftime show. He shared the news in a YouTube video on Sunday, which shows Lamar standing in front of a giant American flag on a football field.

“My name is Kendrick Lamar and I’m going to be performing at Super Bowl LIX,” he says in the clip. “Are you coming? I hope so.”

Roc Nation, Apple Music and the NFL confirmed the news in a press release, and the NFL shared a promotional poster on X featuring Lamar sitting on a football field.

“Rap music continues to be the most impactful genre to date,” Lamar said in a statement Sunday. “And I’m going to be here to remind the world why. They did it right.”

NFL Music Director Seth Dudowsky noted that “few artists have had as profound an impact on music and culture as Kendrick Lamar.” He added, “Kendrick has proven time and time again that he can create singular moments that resonate, redefine and ultimately shake the foundation of hip-hop.”

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The performance comes amid a big year for Lamar, who has made headlines for a high-profile feud with Drake. The two rappers have taken aim at each other in a series of diss tracks, including Lamar’s “Not Like Us.” “Not Like Us,” released in May, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and is nominated for song of the year at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards on Wednesday. In June, Lamar performed the hit five times during a Juneteenth concert in California.

The feud between Lamar and Drake escalated in March when Lamar appeared on Future and Metro Boomin’s track “Like That” and dismissed the idea that there is a “big three” in rap consisting of himself, Drake and J. Cole. “It’s just big me,” he rapped. Drake has fired back with diss tracks of his own, including “Taylor Made Freestyle.”

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Lamar has won 17 Grammy Awards in his career. The Super Bowl halftime show was last headlined in 2024 by Usher, who was joined by Alicia Keys, HER, will.i.am, Lil Jon, Jermaine Dupri and Ludacris.

Super Bowl LIX is scheduled for February 9, 2025 at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.

Contributions: Taijuan Moorman and Melissa Ruggieri