Kendrick Lamar announced he’ll be headlining the 2025 Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show live from New Orleans on February 9. This marks the second time he’ll have the honor of taking the Halftime Show stage, following his 2022 appearance alongside Dr. Dre, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, 50 Cent and Anderson .Paak.
The pgLang/Interscope Records artist made the reveal via Instagram on Sunday (September 8) with a video of him on the football field. The caption read simply: “Super Bowl LIX. New Orleans. February 2025. #AppleMusicHalftime.” A flurry of press releases followed and explained the show will be produced by Roc Nation and Jesse Collins Entertainment. Naturally, JAY-Z had a hand in Lamar’s selection.
“Kendrick Lamar is truly a once-in-a-generation artist and performer,” JAY-Z said in a statement. “His deep love for Hip-Hop and culture informs his artistic vision. He has an unparalleled ability to define and influence culture globally. Kendrick’s work transcends music, and his impact will be felt for years to come.”
Lamar offered, “Rap music is still the most impactful genre to date. And I’ll be there to remind the world why. They got the right one.”
The announcement arrives in the wake of Kendrick Lamar’s highly publicized lyrical joust with Drake, which included the Pulitzer Prize-winning MC’s No. 1 single “Not Like Us.”
While their differences date back to the early 2010s, when Kendrick called out Drake and other rappers in his iconic verse on Big Sean’s track “Control,” the conflict escalated over the years, with both artists dropping subtle disses in their lyrics and interviews. Despite their occasional collaborations, there’s been an underlying competitive dynamic between them as two of rap’s most influential figures.
Their beef exploded in March, when Kendrick dissed Drake on Future & Metro Boomin’s single “Like That.” Drake fired back with “Push Ups” and “Taylor Made Freestyle” before the situation went nuclear. In April, Lamar returned with “euphoria,” a six-minute verbal assault that dismantled everything about Drake.
“It’s always been about love and hate, now let me say I’m the biggest hater/I hate the way that you walk, the way that you talk, I hate the way that you dress/I hate the way that you sneak diss, if I catch flight, it’s gon’ be direct/We hate the b###### you f### ’cause they confuse themself with real women/And notice, I said “we,” it’s not just me, I’m what the culture feelin’.”
A few days later, Lamar dropped the surprise track “6:16 in LA” via Instagram. The single art included a photo of a Maybach glove laying on a table, as if to say “the gloves are off.” The song title was a play on Drake’s history of naming his songs things like “5AM in Toronto” or “8AM in Charlotte.” The biggest takeaway was the notion Kendrick was being fed inside information from Drake’s OVO camp.
“Are you finally ready to play have-you-ever? Let’s see,” he rapped. “Have you ever thought that OVO is workin’ for me?/Fake bully, I hate bullies, you must be a terrible person/Everyone inside your team is whispering that you deserve it.”
Hours later, Drake uploaded a video for “Family Matters,” in which he admitted Kendrick crossed the line when he brought up his son, Adonis. So in retaliation, Drake inserted Kendrick’s partner, Whitney, into the mix.
“Always rappin’ like you ’bout to get the slaves freed,” he rapped. “You just actin’ like an activist, it’s make-believe/Don’t even go back to your hood and plant no money trees/Say you hate the girls I f###, but what you really mean?/I been with Black and white and everything that’s in between/You the Black messiah wifin’ up a mixed queen/And hit vanilla cream to help out with your self-esteem.”
In an unprecedented and clearly calculated move, Lamar dropped “meet the grahams,” taking aim at Drake’s entire family, including Adonis, his father Dennis Graham and mother Sandra Graham. At one point, he said Drake should “die.”
“Sandra, sit down, what I’m about to say is heavy, now listen,” he said. “Mm-mm, your son’s a sick man with sick thoughts, I think n####s like him should die/Him and Weinstein should get f##### up in a cell for the rest they life/He hates Black women, hypersexualizes ’em with kinks of a nympho fetish/Grew facial hair because he understood bein’ a beard just fit him better/He got sex offenders on ho-VO that he keep on a monthly allowance/A child should never be compromised and he keepin’ his child around them/And we gotta raise our daughters knowin’ there’s predators like him lurkin’.”
Kendrick Lamar wasn’t done yet and popped up again with “Not Like Us” the following day. Produced by Mustard, the track begins with Kendrick whispering “I see dead people.” The accompanying video includes a Google Earth image of Drake’s Toronto mansion.
A bit more conservative than the “euphoria,” “6:16 in LA” and “Meet The Grahams,” the song ran about four minutes and found Kendrick rehashing some of his previous points. He doubled down on the rumor Drake is a pedophile.
While many considered “Not Like Us” the final nail in the coffin, Drake returned with “The Heart Part 6,” a reference to Kendrick’s long-running “The Heart” series. In this one, Drake accused Kendrick of “spiraling.” He then went on to question where he’s getting the alleged “proof” he has a secret daughter. He then claimed the information Kendrick was being fed was actually all a ruse.
“We plotted for a week and then we fed you the information,” Drake rapped. “A daughter that’s 11 years old, I bet he takes it/We thought about giving a fake name or a destination/But you so thirsty, you not concerned with investigation.”
Drake has been relatively quiet since then, with the exception of dropping the 100 GIGS tracks on DSPs.
