On Sunday, November 9th, 2025, Super Bowl LIX started, and all the hype for the game and the storylines died with it. Going into halftime, the Chiefs were down 24-0, but the long-awaited halftime performance of Kendrick Lamar was about to begin. However, just like the game, it was a bore.
Kendrick Lamar’s setlist was composed of five songs from his newest album, GNX, two songs from his 2017 album “DAMN” and songs he performed with SZA, like all the stars and Luther.
However, this Super Bowl’s halftime performance wasn’t just unique because Lamar would be the first solo hip-hop artist to perform at the Super Bowl, it was unique because of how Lamar approached the performance through storytelling. However, it ended up being boring and confusing, especially when Jackson, Lamar or his dancers would cut him off when he was singing, ruining the flow of the song.
On top of the unique performance choices by Lamar, the stage and the choreography either felt familiar or dull. The car from Lamar’s newest album, GNX, was the focus of the stage and the rest were just random white shapes and sets designs, which gave the appearance that they were unpolished and rushed. The dancers also weren’t doing anything particularly memorable or interesting, which, combined with the boring stage, made the performance blend together. A positive note was that the dancer’s and Lamar’s outfits were very visually stunning and were meticulously thought out to have hidden meanings. For example, Kendrick Lamar was wearing a lowercase a to represent when he said “ and it’s probably a minor” in his hit song “Not Like Us.”
Not only did Lamar decide to cut off parts of his songs with random pieces of dialogue, but some of his songs appeared to have more effort given into their performance. Songs like “Squabble Up”, “Humble” and “peekaboo” all had unique choreography and staging. However, when it came to “ALL the Stars” with SZA, the same effort and creativity surrounding the prior songs disappeared.
The combination of slow-paced storytelling, boring staging, and interesting song selection resulted in a mediocre halftime performance.
