By Heather Halperin
Correspondent
Big as the what? Big as the Super Bowl.
Kendrick Lamar was announced as the headliner for the Super Bowl 2025 halftime show on Sept. 9. The performance will occur on Feb. 9, 2025, in New Orleans at the Caesars Superdome.
Lamar released a video on his Instagram account announcing himself as the Super Bowl halftime headliner. In the video, Lamar states, “You know there is only one opportunity to win the championship, no round two.”
Being a fan of rap or music in general means you are most likely aware of the recent feud that sparked up between Lamar and rapper Drake. This past year, they have been throwing songs back and forth at each other, waiting to see who would come out on top. Lamar’s song “Not Like Us,” effectively put an end to their feud as it grew in popularity hitting No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The fight appeared to be over, but Lamar’s Super Bowl announcement has reignited it all. Lamar’s announcement has fans speculating that it was a diss toward a post Drake made on a second Instagram account, that NFR Podcast reposted on their Twitter account back in August, stating “We will win game 2.”
Lamar is done with this battle, announcing that he is the champion now. His announcement shut down the speculation of there being another round between Drake and Lamar, possibly putting an end to their feud.
Lamar headlining the halftime show lit the fuse for another disagreement within the rap industry: Does Lamar deserve to be the Super Bowl halftime act over rapper Lil Wayne? Some fans on Twitter have started to argue that Wayne is more deserving of this opportunity, sharing their support for the rapper.
Rap music fans, and even Wayne himself, were expecting him to finally take the stage at this year's Super Bowl. Lil Wayne announced on his Instagram Live, “It hurt a lot,” but he also said, “I blame myself for not being mentally prepared for a letdown, and for just automatically mentally putting myself in that position.”
On the other hand, Lamar's announcement still came with overwhelming support from fans. Fans have commented on Twitter saying things like “We are so unbelievably back,” and that Lamar is “on the sweetest victory lap of all time.” Lamar will soon be able to add a Super Bowl headliner to his list of achievements.
Lamar is the first Black American rapper to headline the Super Bowl making this even more of a momentous achievement. A handful of his songs promote the message of several kinds of injustices that exist in our world. Having this opportunity gives Lamar the platform to promote his music and the message behind it.
If you don’t want to miss Lamar’s legendary halftime performance, it can be watched during halftime of the Super Bowl on Feb. 9 on Fox or streaming on Fubo.
