Kendrick Lamar Super Bowl halftime show 2025: All the surprise guests and setlist in full
Dressed in a leather sports jacket, jeans and a backward cap, the 37-year-old Grammy-winning rapper took the field on Sunday to deliver a high-energy concert.
Before he took the stage, though, he was introduced by Oscar-nominated actor Samuel L. Jackson dressed as Uncle Sam. The Pulp Fiction actor stayed throughout the show to introduce each segment.
Lamar was later joined by his longtime collaborator and R&B singer SZA to deliver renditions of their songs 'luther' and 'All the Stars.'
Toward the end of the rapper's performance, the cameras panned to his backup dancers, which featured an unexpected cameo from tennis superstar Serena Williams. Williams and Lamar's rap nemesis Drake were rumored to have been romantically linked after they were seen kissing in 2015.
His setlist included a number of the newest hits from his latest GNX album, as well as a couple of his past bops, such as his 2017 track 'HUMBLE.'
Still, he couldn't close out his set without finally giving fans what they wanted: a taste of his chart-topping Drake diss track, 'Not Like Us.'
After teasing it a few times, saying: 'I want to perform their favorite song, but you know they love to sue,' Lamar finally gave in and performed it as his penultimate song; but not without a few changes.
In the original recording, Lamar references Drake's 2021 album, rapping: 'Certified Lover Boy? Certified pedophile.' But during the halftime performance, Lamar omitted the word pedophile as well as the n-word throughout.
Lamar was also joined onstage by his "Not Like Us" producer, DJ Mustard. Fans of the performance included Ben Stiller who shared on X: 'Best Halftime show ever..'
You can find Lamar's set list in full below:
- 'wacced out morals'
- 'Bodies (GNX snippet)'
- 'Squabble Up'
- 'HUMBLE.'
- 'DNA.'
- 'Euphoria'
- 'Man at the Garden'
- 'peekaboo (feat. azchike)'
- 'luther (with SZA)'
- 'All the Stars (with SZA)'
- 'Not Like Us'
- 'tv off (feat. lefty gunplay)'
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The work we do can make you jaded, and I've kind of just stopped caring — in a helpful way. The act of caring for me is very specific; I'm very intentional with what I spend my time caring about. What are you spending your time on now? A lot of different things that I'm passionate about. I'm always making more music, but there are new things that are making me feel a different sense of excitement. I'm writing some film scripts, which has been fun. The other night, when I was falling asleep, I remembered this quote that's been informing everything I create. I forget if someone said it to me or if I made it up, but it goes: 'I feel like I'm everything because I already was by the time they said I couldn't be,' and that has been ringing true to not only my music and my outlook, but the fluidity of me as a person. By the time someone tells me I can't be something, I've already done it. What are your current thoughts on genre and people trying to box in your sound? If I had to give my music a genre, I'd call it ghetto pop. But I've never belonged to any 'genre' in music. I've never belonged to the punks. I've never belonged to the rock kids. I've never belonged to the hip-hop kids. I've never belonged to the jazz kids. I've never been in a clique of things. Because I can migrate from thing to thing, by the time someone tries to box me in like, 'You make rock music,' I'm already onto the next thing like, 'Oh really? Cool!' Whenever someone asks me what genre of music I make, I say, 'You tell me,' because whatever they decide it is, is what it is. One day I want to do Janis Joplin, then the next I want to do The Temptations, and then the next I want to do Jodeci. My music changes because I change. I respect artists who find a sound and can keep pounding at that. I think that's noble and strong. I'm not strong in that way. I get bored. I can't just color with orange. I need black in there. 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That album is my ode to truth. And my truth was realizing that I'd been mean to myself for a long time, and that project is me letting that go and starting to be kind and sweet to myself. The deluxe version, Rockabye Baby: Glimmer of God , is the end of the story. It's different, but it's informed by everything I've done. What is it that ties all of your projects together? They're all connected by the same throughline. Little secret: pretty much every song on each album connects to a song on the next album. Every album is a more mature version of its predecessor. On Pixel Bath , I had 'Pegasus' and on CHAOS NOW*, I had 'SICK OF IT*'. Those are the same song; one is just better. What was the guiding principle behind Glimmer of God ? The album is about me embracing my duality. I want to embody beauty and grace in music. It's something I think Prince has done best. It's subversive and it's sweet, but it's also strong and masculine. The things I'm learning about myself have been very informed by my ability to bend like that. There's this anime you should watch called Berserk . One of the male protagonists is named Griffith, and he's gorgeous. His hair is always flowing, and he speaks very calmly. Conversely, the other main character is named Guts, and he's the total opposite. He's a warrior. But both characters are essentially the same person, just two sides of the same coin. That's what I wanted the album cover to feel like: glamorous but don't fuck around. Don't play with me. Where does your innate adaptability come from? It all comes from my mom. She let me be everything I was supposed to be. I was very fortunate to have that. One of my biggest life goals is to open an institution where kids can learn instruments. If they attend enough classes, they can keep their instrument and return whenever they want to refresh their skills. Once they graduate from the program, they can come back and volunteer to teach the kids. You don't know where the next Freddie Mercury might come from. He, she, or they might come from Milwaukee. Or East LA. But when they don't have the opportunity to explore their talents, they'll never know. What are some things you feel privileged to experience today? My favorite thing that I get to do is wake up when I'm not tired. That's my marker of success. Also, being able to travel the world with my brother, Nico. I still remember sitting in the hood on his doorstep smoking Newports in the middle of winter, telling him, 'One day we're gonna see the world.' Now, we're sitting in front of the Eiffel Tower. Yesterday we saw Swan Lake . We're just two colored boys with face tattoos from the hood going to see Swan Lake . People were looking at us like, 'What are they doing here?' Don't get it fucked up. I know more about classical music than you do. Judge me. Perceive me. That thought lives and dies with you. But we can watch Swan Lake together. You designed some of the pieces you're wearing today, like the bedazzled hats and the studded Rick Owens Ramones. Has fashion always been something you've tapped into? I've been making clothes since I was a kid. My mom would take me shopping at the thrift store for clothes. I'd always find skinny jeans in crazy colors, but they wouldn't fit, so we'd bring them down to my aunt in Mexico to tailor them. For every pair I gave her, she charged me a dollar, just to keep me responsible. She'd always try and take me to Foot Locker, and I knew we couldn't afford it and would be like, 'Mom, we can go to Walmart.' I'd get these Starter sneakers and would ask her for colored shoelaces. Then we'd go to Joann Fabrics to get gemstones and glue, and I would spend hours designing my shoes. To this day, I'll buy some Balenciaga and fuck it up. Those hand-studded Ramones took me so long to do. Making music doesn't always calm me down, but fashion is something that calms me down. What does making music feel like today? Making music feels like a long kiss. There's something romantic about being lost in it, and there's something romantic about stepping back and observing it.
