After 30 minutes of Super Bowl LIX football, the Philadelphia Eagles are up 24-0 over the Kansas City Chiefs. It’s been all Eagles so far, with the Chiefs offense unable to keep up with a dominant Philly defense.
Between the action to decide who will hoist the Lombardi Trophy to conclude the 2024 season, we got some top-notch entertainment from some of the biggest stars in the industry.
Samuel L. Jackson, dressed as Uncle Sam, introduced the show and was a recurring character. Rapper and 22-time Grammy winner Kendrick Lamar was the headliner, joined by R&B singer and songwriter SZA, as well as some other special guests.
Ahead of the performance, there were rumors floating that the halftime show would feature a major surprise and Jackson was certainly not previously expected to be part of the show.
Lamar begin the performance standing on a car reminiscent of the car from the album cover of his newest project GNX. His dancers, dressed in red white and blue made a pattern looking like the American flag during his performance of one of his hit songs “HUMBLE.”
Lamar’s performance brought the crowd into the performance as well, with the stands lit up saying “Warning: Wrong Way,” while the rapper was on stage.
SZA eventually joined Lamar during their song “luther,” followed by their Oscar nominated hit “All the Stars.” One surprise of the night was there not being any songs where SZA was the main artist. Many were expecting her song “Kill Bill” to be featured.
As expected, Lamar included “Not Like Us” in his performance, the diss track that landed him five Grammys this time last week. He played his most recent hit after performing two songs with SZA.
Tennis star Serena Williams was spotted dancing along on stage. Like Lamar, Williams is from Compton, California. After the performance, Williams said in a video posted to social media, “Man I did not crip walk like that at Wimbledon, I would’ve been fined!”
Producer and DJ Mustard was another special guest for the performance.
The halftime show ended with “tv off.”
Here’s a look at the setlist from the performance:
- GNX teaser
- Squabble Up
- Reincarnated
- HUMBLE.
- Loyalty
- DNA.
- Euphoria
- man at the garden
- peekaboo
- Teasing Not Like Us
- luther with SZA
- All the Stars with SZA
- Not Like Us
- tv off
The majority of the songs performed were released in 2024, which is rare. Typically artists pull more songs from deep in their discography, but Lamar went with his more recent releases. With so many hits across his career, there were some major ones left off, including “Alright.”
Lamar used a lot of the field for his performance, roaming around and bringing his dancers, who were a highlight of the show, with him.
The rapper celebrated the successful performance with people who made the show possible.
This is the second time Lamar took the Super Bowl stage, with his first coming in 2022 alongside Eminem, Dr. Dre. Snoop Dogg and Mary J. Blige. This was SZA’s first halftime show experience.
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Author: Shanna McCarriston
February 9, 2025 | 10:25 pm
