Kendrick Lamar to headline Tremendous Bowl LIX halftime present 

Rap star Kendrick Lamar will headline the Apple Music Tremendous Bowl LIX halftime present in New Orleans this February.

Lamar will carry out from The Caesars Superdome in Louisiana on Feb. 9, the Nationwide Soccer League (NFL), Apple Music and Roc Nation announced Sunday. The information got here simply hours earlier than the league kicked off its first full slate of Sunday video games for the 2024 season.

The rapper, who has received 17 Grammys, stated he’s wanting ahead to bringing rap music to the NFL championship recreation.

“Rap music continues to be probably the most impactful style so far. And I’ll be there to remind the world why. They acquired the proper one,” he stated in a press release.

Lamar shared the news Sunday in a YouTube video that includes the rapper on a soccer discipline with a big American flag behind him.

“What’s the deal, all people? My title’s Kendrick Lamar, and I’ll be acting at Tremendous Bowl 59,” he stated. “Will you be pulling up? I hope so. You already know there’s just one alternative to win a championship, no spherical twos. … I wouldn’t need you to overlook it. Meet me in New Orleans, February 9, 2025. Put on your greatest costume too, even in case you’re watching from dwelling.”

Roc Nation, the leisure firm based by Jay-Z, will function the strategic leisure advisor of the dwell efficiency, the corporate stated.

Jay-Z referred to as Lamar a “once-in-a-generation” artist and performer.

“His deep love for hip-hop and tradition informs his inventive imaginative and prescient,” Jay-Z stated. “He has an unparalleled skill to outline and affect tradition globally. Kendrick’s work transcends music, and his affect can be felt for years to come back.”

Lamar, 37, is a extremely adorned performer, after rapidly gaining recognition from his debut album, “good child, m.A.A.d metropolis,” in 2012. He has received 17 Grammy Awards and became the first non-classical, non-jazz musician to win a Pulitzer Prize for his 2017, “DAMN,” per The Associated Press.

Lamar made headlines earlier this yr amid a rap battle with Drake that consumed hip-hop for weeks and even was discussed among lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

One in all Lamar’s hottest diss tracks earned the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Sizzling 100 and was featured on the Democratic Nationwide Conference throughout California’s state roll name. Lamar is from Compton, Calif.

Whereas Tremendous Bowl LIX can be his first time headlining a NFL championship, it will not be his first time on the Tremendous Bowl stage. Lamar appeared as a visitor artist in 2022, when he carried out with Eminem, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige and 50 Cent.

His newest album, “Mr. Morale & The Steppers” was launched in 2022. He was featured within the monitor “Like That” with Future and Metro Boomin earlier this yr, which remained at No. 1 for 3 weeks on the Billboard Sizzling 100, the AP reported.

“Few artists have impacted music and tradition as profoundly as Kendrick Lamar. Time and time once more, Kendrick has confirmed his distinctive skill to craft moments that resonate, redefine, and finally shake the very basis of hip-hop,” Seth Dudowsky, head of music on the NFL, wrote in a press release.

Eight-time Grammy Award-winning artist Usher headlined the Super Bowl LVIII halftime show at Allegiant Stadium earlier this yr. He was joined unexpectedly visitor Alicia Keys, together with H.E.R., Ludacris, Jermaine Dupri and Lil Jon.

The Related Press contributed.