Kendrick Lamar plays hit songs at Super Bowl LIX halftime show
Kendrick Lamar rocked the Caesars Superdome during the Apple Music Super Bowl LIX halftime show.
The "GNX" singer electrified the crowd with a rendition of some of his most popular songs at halftime, where he was joined by special guests SZA and Samuel L. Jackson, who wore a red, white, and blue-themed outfit.
Lamar played some of his most popular songs, including "Not Like Us," "euphoria," and "squabble up."
Lamar also broke into renditions of his older 2017 hits "HUMBLE." and "DNA."
Lamar wore a blue leather jacket and was joined by a large group of dancers on stage. Mid-way through SZA joined Lamar to sing hits "luther" and "All the Stars."
Among other hits Lamar performed were "man at the garden," "gnx," "peekaboo" and "tv off."
Mustard, frequent collaborator with Lamar, also joined the star on stage.
Tennis icon Serena Williams also made a cameo during the performance where she was seen dancing.
At a press conference before the Super Bowl on Thursday, Lamar spoke about the show, saying the performance meant "everything" to him as a rap artist.
"It puts the culture on the forefront where it needs to be, and not minimized to just a catchy song or verse," he told Apple Music at the press conference. "This is a true art form. So to represent it on this type of stage is everything that I've worked for and everything that I believe in as for the culture."
The rapper was announced as the Super Bowl halftime performer in September in a video message. In the short clip, he was seen standing on a football field in front of a giant American flag, saying, "Meet me in New Orleans. Feb. 9, 2025. Wear your best dressed, even if you're watching from home."
Last month the "good kid, m.A.A.d city" rapper teased his Super Bowl performance while announcing SZA as a special guest at the event.
In the video, Lamar paces on a football field. "I've been thinking about a guest performer," he's heard saying, before SZA runs up behind him and spills a cooler of blue drink onto him in slow motion.
In November, Lamar dropped a surprise album, "GNX" featuring two songs with SZA, "luther" and "gloria." The two also teamed on "30 for 30" from SZA's album "SOS Deluxe: Lana." After his album release, Kendrick Lamar and SZA announced they would be joining forces for the Grand National Tour, heading 19 stadiums across North America in spring 2025.
Lamar is coming off a massively successful night at the Grammys on Feb. 2, taking home five awards for his song "Not Like Us." Among the recognitions Lamar earned for the song were record of the year, song of the year and best rap performance.
The singer has now accrued 22 wins and 57 nominations at the award show.
