Kendrick Lamar says it means everything to be first hip-hop act to headline a Super Bowl halftime show

All eyes will be on Kendrick Lamar when he takes the field for his Super Bowl halftime show Sunday, but in an interview with Apple Music, he admits the Super Bowl stage was not something he had his sights set on.

“I wasn’t thinking about no Super Bowl … we was thinking the best verse, how we gonna split this $5 at Church’s Chicken,” he tells Ebro Darden and Nadeska Alexis. “What I know is the passion I have now is the passion I had then and I think it carried on to the Super Bowl. Being present and not foreseeing everything kept me in a grounded state of mind in order to be on big stages like [the Super Bowl].”

As for what fans can expect from his performance, K. Dot says there will be some storytelling. “I think I’ve always been very open about storytelling through all my catalog and my history of music, and I’ve always had a passion about bringing it on whatever stage I’m on. … I like to always carry on that sense of, you know, make people listen, but also see and think a little,” he says.

He also notes he’s honored to be sharing the stage with SZA, whose success he says has been “amazing to see.” 

Kendrick performed as part of the halftime show for Super Bowl 56, which was headlined by Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, 50 Cent and Mary J. Blige. His performance Sunday, however, will make him the first solo hip-hop artist to headline a Super Bowl halftime show.

“For me, it mean everything because it puts the culture on the forefront where it needs to be, and not minimized to just a catchy song or verse,” he says of the feat. “This is a true art form, so to represent it on this type of stage, it’s like everything that I’ve worked for and everything that I believe in as far as the culture, like, I live and die by.”

Super Bowl 59 kicks off Sunday at 6:30 p.m. ET at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. 

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