Kendrick Lamar will perform the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show

Kendrick Lamar is about to pop out at the Super Bowl

Kendrick Lamar is having quite the year after a high-profile rap feud, and it just got even bigger after he announced Sunday he’ll be doing the halftime show for Super Bowl 59 in February.

Set to take place on Feb. 9, 2025, this season’s Super Bowl will happen at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. K. Dot will follow Usher as the halftime performer, though it won’t be his first halftime appearance.

Lamar was also a part of Dr. Dre’s halftime set in 2022.

Here was how Lamar announced his second halftime appearance:

If Lamar’s recent Ken and Friends show was a preview of what to expect, it’s going to be a great show. And if this line from Lamar’s announcement video — “there’s only one opportunity to win a championship. There’s no round twos” — sounded like a another petty jab at Drake, it probably was.

The victory lap continues.

Kendrick Lamar’s The Pop Out: Ken & Friends concert was an epic victory lap full of nostalgia and the best kind of pettiness

The best moments from Kendrick Lamar’s The Pop Out: Ken & Friends concert.

There shouldn’t have been any doubt about who won this generation’s greatest rap beef after Kendrick Lamar dropped Not Like Us to unofficially bring his war of words with Drake to an emphatic end with a chart-topping song that continues to dominate the summer airwaves.

However, if there was any remaining sliver of belief Drake made out OK, Lamar extinguished it with one incredible night of performances Wednesday at the Kia Forum for The Pop Out: Ken & Friends concert. It was a show so good I wouldn’t have believed the hype this morning had I not stayed up to watch it myself on the surprisingly crispy Amazon Prime Video stream.

The four-hour concert was more than a victory lap, though. Sure, Lamar used his set to hammer home the point he won, performing Not Like Us five (FIVE!) straight times to close the show, in addition to doing Euphoria and Like That. But it was also a night of nostalgia, unity and just all around good vibes.

It opened with performances from other West Coast artists before transitioning into a set by DJ Mustard, with performances from Tyler the Creator, YG and Dom Kennedy, among so many more. Then K. Dot finally did his thing and a good night got even better.

These were the best moments from Kendrick Lamar’s finale.

Opened with Euphoria (with new lyrics)

It didn’t take long for us to learn what type of time Lamar was on, because he opened his set with what is still in my opinion the best song to come from his beef with Drake. To my knowledge this was the first time Lamar ever performed Euphoria, or any of the disses for that matter.

The energy in the arena was palpable through the screen. And not only did Lamar do the whole six-plus minute hookless song in its entirety, he added new lyrics: “Give me Tupac’s ring back and I might give you a little respect.”

Black Hippy reunion and a Money Trees performance

After taking us on a journey backwards through his catalog, from DAMN. to To Pimp a Butterfly to good kid, m.A.A.d city, Lamar landed on his 2012 hit Money Trees, which set the stage for Jay Rock to perform his popular verse before diving into some of his other hits.

But that was just the start of what turned into a nostalgic reunion of TDE’s Black Hippy, with Ab-Soul and Schoolboy Q eventually joining Lamar and Rock. And of course Q had to do some of his hits too.

This meant something to some of us!

The Like That verse

This was the song that kicked off the “big three” beef, so it was a big moment to see Lamar perform his verse. And it hit just as hard in concert as it did the first time we all pressed play on the Future and Metro Boomin smash.

Unfortunately, Future was one of the few artists not in attendance to do his part of a collab. That’s the only thing that could have made this better.

A Dr. Dre set with a twist at the end

It wouldn’t have been a legendary show without having one of the West’s living legends come out, and Lamar checked that box by having Dr. Dre do a couple songs in the middle of his own set: Still D.R.E. and California Love.

But Dre wasn’t done after that. Before he left the stage, Lamar asked him if he had anything else to say. That’s when Dre broke into a whisper that’s become synonymous with the metaphorical death of Drake’s career:

“Psst. I see dead people.”

And right on cue, Lamar jumped into Not Like Us.

He did Not Like Us (x5!)

This is when the grave dancing really begun, because Lamar didn’t do Not Like Us once, twice or even three times to bring his show to a close. He did it FIVE times.

And the first two times, he dropped the beat right as packed arena was singing “A minorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.” And if you know the reference, you know the message he was trying to send to you know who. This was a victory lap unlike any seen before it.

He had the entire crowd singing it and everybody at home. There ain’t no coming back from this for Drake.

A moment of unity, including some NBA stars

There were some celebrities in attendance besides the artists performing, including Lakers star LeBron James. But when Lamar invited his L.A. family on stage at the end, Russell Westbrook and DeMar DeRozan were among the locals to come up and vibe out to Not Like Us with Lamar.

And yes, that’s DeRozan who spent nine years as a Toronto Raptor, which had to be another shot to Drake’s ego. Look at how much fun Westbrook is having.

In the end, though, it turned into a beautiful moment, as Lamar had all these people from different backgrounds, hoods and cliques come together for a good time and a beautiful photo to cap it all off.

This was really a special moment in hip hop.

Snoop Dogg (yes, really) is sponsoring the Arizona Bowl in coolest partnership we’ve ever seen

You read that correctly. The “Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl presented by Gin & Juice By Dre and Snoop” is now a thing.

We’ve seen our fair share of wacky college football bowl sponsorships over the years, some worse than others — I’m looking at you, Bad Boy Mowers.

Rarely do these sponsors evoke anything more than a reminder of the corporate interests that control this sport, particularly when it comes to bowl season, but the Arizona Bowl unveiled its new sponsor on Monday, and it may be the coolest one we’ve ever seen.

Snoop Dogg himself will be sponsoring the game, which will now be known as the “Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl presented by Gin & Juice By Dre and Snoop,” according to Action Network’s Brett McMurphy.

Gin & Juice is the premium alcoholic beverage line started by Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, named after the latter’s 1994 hit song.

The Arizona Bowl has existed since 2015 and currently pits opponents from the Mountain West and MAC against each other. It’s not typically a premier bowl game, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see some more eyes on the game this year.

Everyone’s making the same, hilarious meme out of Dr. Dre’s piano playing at the Super Bowl halftime show

Cue the Vanessa Carlton.

The Super Bowl 56 halftime show had so many awesome, memorable moments, including the 50 Cent and Anderson .Paak guest appearances and the set that had so much good music.

That included Dr. Dre sitting down at a big piano and playing the tune sampled on 2Pac’s I Ain’t Mad at Cha, a homage to the all-time great, before he went into the hook we all love for Still D.R.E.

But Twitter can’t stop making memes out of the performance — sorry, 50 Cent, but you seem to be laughing too — and the same went for this moment, with people editing it with … a different song entirely.

Wow. I have no words.

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Watch: Full Super Bowl 56 halftime show starring rap, hip-hop legends

Enjoy the legends of rap and hip-hop as they stunned at halftime of Super Bowl 56

The halftime show of Super Bowl 56 provided tons of entertainment for those at SoFi Stadium and the viewing audience at home.

The stage was amazing. The choreography was stunning. Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar, 50 Cent and Eminem lit it up.

You can check the performance out on the video below.

Bengals kicker Evan McPherson stayed on the field to watch the Super Bowl 56 halftime show

McPherson watched Dr. Dre live while the rest of his team was in the locker room.

Most of the Cincinnati Bengals retreated to the locker room at halftime to discuss their second half strategy for Super Bowl 56. Not kicker Evan McPherson.

The rookie, who’d been responsible for four of his team’s points as it trailed the Los Angeles Rams 13-10 at the half, remained on the field to take in the dulcet tones of Dr. Dre, Eminem, 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar. In the process, he soaked up one of the best Super Bowl halftime shows in history.

It’s not unusual to see special teamers leave the locker room early to return to the field for warm-ups — especially at the Super Bowl, whose extra large halftime show leaves room for a bigger break than usual. This postseason alone we’ve seen 49ers veteran Robbie Gould sequester himself from his team to take some extra kicks during pregame activities.

But the specialists in those situations were actually kicking. McPherson, on the other hand, was mostly invested in enjoying the hottest beats of the late 1990s (he was -7 years old when Dr. Dre’s The Chronic came out).

McPherson’s been able to rise to the moment all year. He kicked more 50+ yard field goals than anyone in 2021. He’s connected on all 14 of his field goal attempts in the playoffs, including one in the first five minutes of the third quarter Sunday. He’s been a vital piece of Cincinnati’s run to Super Bowl 56.

So if anyone deserved to see Dre and Snoop live — and who probably didn’t need too much strategic advice at halftime besides “keep kicking it straight” — it was the rookie kicker in tiger stripes.

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Super Bowl 56 Halftime Show a powerhouse production and performance

The Super Bowl LVI halftime show hit all the right notes.

The Super Bowl 56 halftime show brought together the legends of rap and hip-hop on Sunday at SoFi Stadium.

Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar and Eminem delivered a huge performance on the biggest sports stage.

Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg kicked off the halftime show.

They were followed by 50 Cent.

Then Mary J. Blige took the stage and dazzled. Kendrick Lamar appeared in a series of boxes that read Dre Day.

Dancers had sashes that also read Dre Day in green lettering.

And then, Eminem made an explosive entrance.

Eminem performed and Dr. Dre headed over to the piano, as the show brought Snoop Dogg pack into the performance.

Dr. Dre and Snoop then performed together.

All the performers joined together on the stunning stage.

How impressive was the lineup? Bengals rookie kicker remained on the sideline during the performance to take in all the highlights.

 

 

Super Bowl halftime show review: Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar had a show-stopping homecoming

That was one of my favorite Super Bowl halftime shows ever.

For a Super Bowl halftime performance in Los Angeles, it was only fitting for Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, and Kendrick Lamar to dominate the stage.

This was a show designed for television, and it told an incredibly compelling story for those who were tuning in.

With this performance, Dr. Dre flexed his influence on not only the city of Los Angeles but also on music as a whole. He played an instrumental role in bringing many of these artists into our life, helping to not only discover their talent but to popularize them as well.

It was such a nice reminder that after all these years, Andre Young is Still D.R.E. and we never should have forgotten about Dre. It’s Dre’s world and we are just living in it.

50 Cent paid homage to an old MTV video with his surprise performance for the Super Bowl Halftime Show

What. A. Halftime show.

This was one of the most fun Super Bowl halftime performances I can remember.

First of all, anytime you get Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar on the same stage it’s going to be an incredible show. Oh, and Eminem, too.

But the show immediately took a left turn when 50 Cent seemingly popped up out of nowhere to perform “In Da Club” as part of the Super Bowl’s first-ever hip-hop halftime show.

And it wasn’t even that he just appeared, y’all. This man appeared on the ceiling of a room like he was in the original video. It was absolutely bonkers. What an entrance.

In the OG G-Unit tank top, too?!? Nah, take me back to 2003 fam. This was excellent. Fans were so hype. They said my guy came in like Spider-Man.