Kendrick Lamar’s 2025 Super Bowl Halftime Show

Expectations for this year’s halftime performance sky rocketed. With the announcement to the Kendrick Lamar headlining slot to the backlash that New Orleans own Lil Wayne, should’ve been offered the slot, to the first ever Christmas halftime performance headlined by Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar had a lot riding on this performance. Fresh off the win of a rap feud with Drake and the success of ‘Not Like Us,’ everyone continued to speculate what moves Kendrick would make and what he wouldn’t be allowed to make on such a stage.

Of course, Kendrick had other plans. With his Super Bowl LIX halftime performance, Kendrick showed everyone that even after over 50 years of hip-hop history, rap still doesn’t get the respect it deserves as a real art form. And competition is a big part of the genre. His halftime show showed that America, football, the Super Bowl, and himself are all part of a bigger picture. The first person on screen was Samuel L. Jackson as Uncle Sam, the show’s narrator and scorekeeper, who said, “This is the great American game.” Hip-hop is just as American as football, if not more so.

Kendrick opened his performance on top the car that inspired the title of his 2024 album. He wore flare jeans and began his storytelling through an unreleased verse into GNX’s “Squabble Up.” The setlist featured “HUMBLE.” “DNA.” “euphoria” “man at the garden” “peekaboo” before Kendrick was joined by SZA for “luther” and “All The Stars” before getting to the main part that everyone was wondering if he’d perform, as he teased the instrumental halfway into his set. Kendrick with Samuel L Jackson, narration led into a performance of “Not Like Us” followed by “tv off” Serena Williams appeared during Not Like Us, Crip Walking during the song. 

While there seemed to be deeper meaning by Kendrick Lamar’s choices, The symbolism of the set design, in addition to performers, forming an American flag and then the flag divided, definitely added to the nuances of Kendrick’ halftime set. As the first solo rap headliner, following his five Grammys wins, just a week before, the feedback seemed to all land on mixed reviews, with some deeming this the worst halftime show. The Drake diss aside, Kendrick Lamar is the first to curate a set off newer music and not off the nostalgia of his entire catalog. While fans address the show, stating songs he should have performed, Kendrick proved he can carry the storytelling and overall show without touching on what was expected but to highlight the message that everyone needs to wake up to, in these current moments. Kendrick’s reference to Gil Scott-Heron’s “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” at the start; to Jackson’s taunt, “Mr. Lamar, do you really know how to play the game?” and the imagery displayed by dancers forming an American flag with their bodies was far more important than to showcase a more commercialized set.

Kendrick highlighted the political strife and inequity, and while an unplanned protest happened on the field that wasn’t televised—one waving a flag in support of Sudan and Palestine; Kendrick ended his set as the camera panned out to the crowd as lights formed “Game Over,” — touching on a victory, but also the game being played as represented by the set design and also the game of football that would also end. In the end, Kendrick’s performance will open a conversation, whether or not people enjoyed the show or understood. It is in these moments that we let the music and story speak for itself.

Full Performance is Available now on Youtube and Apple music.

The Weeknd ‘Hurry Up Tomorrow’ [Album Review]

The Weeknd’s latest album, seemingly a farewell, is an interesting body of work, through the ears of a listener who taps in and out on most of The Weeknd’s catalog. Often reminded of songs when heard randomly, diving into ‘Hurry Up Tomorrow’ without the crowd of noise, screaming out how great the music is, offers a great listening experience, when seeing the early begins from ‘House of Balloons’ (repackaged as Trilogy) to the latest offering.

Immediately drawn in with the album’s opening “Wake Me Up” which contains an interpolation of “Thriller” performed by Michael Jackson and a sample of “Main Title” (From The Motion Picture Scarface) performed by Giorgio Moroder. The overall theme and tone of the album gave a feeling of a score. With a 22-track album, that has a runtime of about the length of a movie, coming in about 90 minutes, the story being told is one of intrigue. Digested in parts, the first 11 songs flowed so well that pausing and returning left the ending 11 songs to feel like a second act or the second disc of a double album. Upon further research, finding out that a musical psychological  thriller film is expected to release May 2025, is icing on the cake with listening to the album.

Hurry Up Tomorrow showcases The Weeknd’s versatility, seamlessly a reminder of the somewhat nostalgic memories of the experience of hearing House of Balloons for the first time, which extended into Thursday and Echoes of Silence. Lost to the commercialization and the shift in sounds and expectations. This album returns The Weeknd to that place and makes revisiting the journey that brought us here more worthwhile. Having missed a lot of the complete body of works, Hurry Up Tomorrow revitalizes the feeling of wanting to experience the story in full, and filling in the missing pieces of albums in between the Trilogy and this body of work. 

Resonating with the feeling of reaching an end or slipping away, or leaving a moment that exceeded expectation and letting it—as a work of art, be, without repainting, or making subtle changes or added anything more. The Weeknd delivers on his final act. The closing track seamlessly transitions into the opening seconds of “High for This,” the first track from House of Balloons, closing this chapter but making a brilliant ending credit that leaves you wanting to go back and replay the first film—album, in this case.