Kendrick Lamar Deserves To Headline The 2025 Super Bowl Halftime Show

Kendrick Lamar will headline the Super Bowl LIX halftime show in New Orleans next February, placing another prestigious feather in the Putlizer Prize-winner’s cap. And yet much of the discourse surrounding the decision has focused on another artist entirely: Lil Wayne.

The biggest rapper to ever come out of New Orleans, the Hollygrove native had openly coveted the opportunity to perform on the biggest stage in front of a hometown crowd. And while he’s yet to react to the NFL’s selection, many of his peers have spoken up for him, letting their frustration be felt.

Much of this anger has been directed at JAY-Z, who along with Roc Nation has helped organize the halftime show since 2020. Cam’ron has implied that the snub was Hov getting “payback” on his former rival Weezy, while Nicki Minaj has accused him of harboring “hatred” against herself, Birdman and Drake — Wayne’s longest and closest allies.

While there’s certainly an argument for Lil Wayne to perform at a New Orleans-hosted Super Bowl, what’s being lost in all of this fussing and finger-pointing is that, by all objective metrics, Kendrick Lamar absolutely, one hundred percent deserves to headline next year’s Super Bowl halftime show.

Here’s why.

No Rapper Has Had a Better 2024 Than Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick Lamar is the perfect man for the moment given how inescapable he’s been in 2024. He began the year by delivering a blistering verse on Future and Metro Boomin‘s number one hit “Like That,” in which he let his “big three” contemporaries Drake and J. Cole know that it’s “just big me.”

While Cole returned fire only to quickly wave the white flag, Drizzy was lured into a lyrical battle that, in hindsight, he was woefully unprepared for. The blitzkreig of “Euphoria,” “6:16 in LA,” “Meet the Grahams” and “Not Like Us” — released in the space of five days — dispatched the world’s most popular rapper with surprising ease.

Kendrick even beat Drake at his own game as “Not Like Us” topped the Billboard Hot 100 (twice), became the highest-selling song in the U.S. this year and, adding insult to injury, broke several of the 6 God’s streaming records. “Not Like Us” not only dominated the summer of 2024, but it might just go down in history as the most bruising diss song of all time — yes, dethroning even “Hit ‘Em Up” and “Ether.”

K. Dot’s victory lap came in the form of his Pop Out concert in June, where he essentially danced on Drake’s grave alongside the likes of Dr. Dre, YG and his Black Hippy brethren while uniting the red and blue factions of Los Angeles, proving he’s still the good kid in the m.A.A.d city.

Come February, Kendrick is likely to step onto the Super Bowl stage with more silverware to his name, with “Not Like Us” tipped for success at the 2025 Grammy Awards, which take place exactly a week before the Big Game.

Who Better to Make Hip Hop History?

Kendrick Lamar will become the first rapper to headline the Super Bowl halftime show by himself when he steps out into the Caesars Superdome on February 9. Who better to make Hip Hop history than arguably the best rapper of his generation?

While Dr. Dre was technically the first rapper to headline the annual event in 2022, he was joined by an all-star supporting cast that included Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick, Mary J. Blige and special guest 50 Cent.

Before that, rappers were relegated to minor cameos for major pop acts (see: Queen Latifah in 1998; Nelly in 2001; Diddy and Nelly again in 2004; Nicki Minaj and CeeLo Green in 2012; Missy Elliott in 2015; and Travis Scott and Big Boi in 2019).

As the most culturally influential genre of the last however many decades with the commercial prowess to match, Hip Hop should no longer be confined to the fringes or forced to cobble together some of its biggest stars to justify a spot at the Super Bowl.

While other legends in the game may claim to also be worthy of headlining the halftime show on their own — not least Lil Wayne — Kendrick has separated himself as the most important rapper alive in many respects this year. Plus, breaking new ground is already in his DNA, as proven by his historic Pulitzer Prize win in 2018 for DAMN.

A Championship-Worthy Catalog

Kendrick has a strong catalog of hits that could easily fill a 15-minute setlist worthy of the Super Bowl. “Swimming Pools (Drank),” “Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe,” “Money Trees,” “m.A.A.d city,” “Alright,” “HUMBLE.,” “DNA.,” “Family Ties,” “Not Like Us” — take your pick.

He has no shortage of high-profile collaborations, either, opening the door for A-list guests like Eminem, Beyoncé, Rihanna, Travis Scott, J. Cole, SZA, Future, Metro Boomin, Dr. Dre and U2. The options are tantalizing. Who knows, maybe he’ll even recreate his Pop Out show and bring out half of L.A. on stage in NOLA?

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Whether Kendrick will even perform “Not Like Us” is an interesting conundrum. The song’s enormous success no doubt contributed to him securing the haltime show, but the prospect of watching him call Drake a “certified pedophile” in front of hundreds of millions of viewers (including children) is enough to make any corporate sponsor squirm in their box seat.

Maybe letting Mustard‘s horn-laced hyphy beat ring out for several moments would be enough. Or perhaps performing “Like That” instead of “Not Like Us” would be a safer way for Kendrick to stamp his authority over Drake at the Super Bowl without running afoul of the NFL.

Rap’s Most Valuable Performer

The Compton kingpin is widely considered one of Hip Hop’s — if not music’s — most electrifying performers who has graced some of the biggest stages in the world, including the Super Bowl. While renowned ragers Travis Scott and Playboi Carti tend to fire up crowds with pure atomic bomb energy, Kendrick feels more like a heat-seeking missile — controlled firepower than can explode at precisely the right moment.

Just revisit his powerful, prison- and tribal-themed performance at the 2016 Grammys that visibly spooked some of the white attendees in the audience. Or his theatrical, cleverly-choreographed medley at the same awards show two years later. And who can forget the Biblical image of blood pouring down his face from a crown of diamond-encrusted thorns at Glastonbury in 2022?

Kendrick’s high production value and carefully-curated sets have also translated into big bucks. His Big Steppers Tour, which toured the globe between 2022 and 2024 in support of Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, was at one point the highest-grossing Hip Hop tour ever, generating over $110 million.

As one of the most breathtaking and bankable performers around, the NFL know what they’re getting from Kendrick Lamar.

A Safer Bet

As Charlamagne Tha God argued on The Breakfast Club this week, Kendrick Lamar is better for business than Lil Wayne, especially when you consider the Super Bowl has billions of dollars on the line from some of the biggest brands in the world.

“If I’m making a business decision in 2024 and I look at the monster year Kendrick just had and I’m looking forward to February 2025 — maybe Kendrick got an album coming out — who’s gonna garner us the most eyeballs, the most streams, the most social media engagement?” the radio personality asked rhetorically.

Coming off of his high-profile victory over Drake in what has been deemed by many as the greatest rap battle of all time, Kendrick is more likely to attract viewers than Lil Wayne, a certified rap legend with an array of hits but whose commercial (and arguably creative) peak is behind him and who hasn’t been especially prolific in recent years, outside of show-stealing feature runs.

While Tunechi has scored some major deals himself over the years, the pgLang MC has also proven himself to be a versatile branding vehicle outside of rap, partnering with everyone from Louis Vuitton and Chanel to Converse and CashApp, some of whom may well end up buying airtime during the Super Bowl.

A New Album on the Horizon?

Between the song snippet at the beginning of his “Not Like Us” music video, hints from close collaborators like Terrace Martin, the fact that it’s been over two years since his last full-length release and the obvious opportunity to capitalize on his beef with Drake, all signs point to Kendrick Lamar dropping a new album in the coming months.

This would tie in perfectly with his Super Bowl halftime show, à la Beyoncé in 2013 or Usher in 2023.

Super Bowl Performers Aren’t Determined By Location

Although Super Bowl halftime shows of past were informed by location, such as the Motown celebration in Pontiac, Michigan in 1982 or the “Salute to Hollywood’s 100th Anniversary” performance in Pasadena, California in ’87, this has rarely been the case since Michael Jackson headlined the show in 1993, establishing the current format of popular musicians performing at the Big Game.

The 2004 Super Bowl halftime show in Houston was headlined not by Beyoncé or Destiny’s Child but by Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake and others; the 2006 iteration in Detroit featured top billing not from Eminem, Stevie Wonder or Diana Ross but by the Rolling Stones; and the same applied to the 2019 show in Atlanta, which was led not by OutKast, T.I. or any of the countless acts birthed in the Black Mecca but California-bred blue-eyed rockers Maroon 5.

In recent decades, Dr. Dre’s halftime show in Los Angeles two years ago has been the rare exception to this rule. And while JAY-Z has bore the brunt of the criticism from other rappers and fans of Lil Wayne for supposedly snubbing him in his hometown, the decision isn’t entirely his to make.

According to the Charlotte Observer, “the process begins with a panel that includes the NFL’s director of entertainment, members NFL’s production company, and the halftime show’s director and producer. A shortlist is then handed over to the Super Bowl’s hosting city for a final decision.” So if Wayne fans should have a problem with anyone, it’s his home city.