Kendrick Lamar is set to headline the 2025 Apple Music Super Bowl LIX halftime show.
Roc Nation, NFL and Apple Music made the announcement on Sunday, and the big game will take place on Feb. 9, 2025, at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. It will air on Fox.
Lamar previously performed at the hip-hop heavy 2022 halftime show starring Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and 50 Cent. All of the performers, along with executive producers Jay-Z and Jesse Collins, won the outstanding live variety special Emmy for the epic performance. Creative direction for Lamar’s upcoming performance will be provided by pgLang, the creative company founded by the rap star and his close collaborator Dave Free, the filmmaker and producer who has directed or co-directed the majority of Lamar’s music videos.
“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,” Lamar, 37, says in a statement.
Jay-Z and his Roc Nation company are returning to produce the halftime show for the sixth year. The rap icon and mogul won his second Emmy for co-directing Rihanna’s 2023 halftime show performance alongside Hamish Hamilton, becoming one of the rare Black directors to win in the outstanding directing for a variety special category. This year’s halftime show, featuring Usher, was nominated for three Emmys and became the most-watched halftime performance of all-time.
“Kendrick Lamar is truly a once-in-a-generation artist and performer. 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,” Jay-Z says in a statement.
Lamar has been a critical and commercial success since he released his 2011 mixtape Section.80 and major-label debut, 2012’s good kid, m.A.A.d city. He has won 17 Grammys and his 2017 effort, DAMN., won the Pulitzer Prize for music, making him the first non-classical or jazz artist to win the prestigious honor. He also earned a best original song Oscar nomination for 2018’s “All the Stars” from Black Panther.
This year he emerged at the top of the Billboard charts with the anthemic “Not Like Us” and “Like That,” with Future and Metro Boomin.
“Few artists have impacted music and culture as profoundly as Kendrick Lamar. Time and time again, Kendrick has proven his unique ability to craft moments that resonate, redefine and ultimately shake the very foundation of hip-hop,” Seth Dudowsky, NFL’s head of music, says in a statement. “We’re excited to collaborate with Kendrick, Roc Nation and Apple Music to deliver another unforgettable Halftime Show.”
Adds Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vice president of Apple Music, Apple TV+, Sports and Beats: “The Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show is a celebration of the music we love and the incredible artists who make it, all on the world’s biggest stage. Apple is thrilled to bring this show, starring the absolutely incomparable Kendrick Lamar, to fans worldwide with Apple Music’s industry leading Spatial Audio quality along with tons of exclusive videos, interviews, playlists and so much more across Apple Music.”
The Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show telecast will be produced by DPS with Roc Nation and Jesse Collins serving as executive producers, and Hamish Hamilton serving as director. Roc Nation will also serve as the strategic entertainment advisor of the live performance.
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