After the biggest year of his professional career, which resulted in five Grammy Awards for his iconic Drake Diss “No Like Us”, rapper Kendrick Lamar will take the largest stage in the United States when he acts at the Super Bowl on Sunday.
Lamar’s performance, which will also include singer SZA, is highly anticipated after dominating culture and music lists for much of 2024. And people who helped put it on stage are not moving away from exaggeration.
“Everyone will agree that this is a part -time show like another in the half -time history of the Super Bowl,” said Jesse Collins, the executive producer of the program, A NBC News. “The creative concept is really something brilliant, spectacular and special. In all our years of doing this, and I think that every program we have done has been incredible, but I have never seen an artist to adopt this creative approach. “
Roc Nation, the NFL entertainment company and partner that produces the part -time show, first tabulated Lamar to head the Super Bowl last summer. He was already a rapper acclaimed by the criticism, and his stardom reached another level after the launch of May 4 of “Not Like Us”, the knockout coup in his dispute with Drake, the Canadian rapper.
The song broke multiple transmission albums and obtained Lamar Five Grammy Awards, making it the most decorated rap song in the history of the awards program.
Not long after the song was released, Lamar received a phone call from the founder of Roc Nation, Jay-Z, asking him if he would act in the Super Bowl.
“It’s almost like the stars aligning,” said Roc Nation executive director Desiree Pérez, NBC News. “We hope that every year someone will achieve what Kendrick has achieved this particular year. You can’t really plan that something aligns so perfectly. “
Lamar’s part -time performance will also be the first one from the NFL and Roc Nation extended its association, which covers live music and social justice efforts in October. Roc Nation’s part -time shows have been well received, with show 2022 with Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem and Mary J. Blige, becoming the first half of the Super Bowl to win an Emmy.
Pérez said the NFL has been very reliable as a partner, who never questioned a decision about the selection of artists.
“What we bring to the table is not just reserve the show; It is also to understand the environment in which we are going and understanding what is happening now, ”says Pérez. “Understanding the pulse of culture at the time the program will happen and doing with precision is what I think we have been able to dominate.”
Super Bowl’s part -time planning usually begins immediately after the previous one, which means that Roc Nation has been in meetings for Sunday’s show since last February. During the game week, the preparation will reach a high point.
Lamar will have at least three days in the field to rehearse before Sunday, and in those days the artists will run all the set several times. The part -time show is unique in terms of time and staging: Lamar has exactly eight minutes to reach the field and six minutes to go down, without damaging the surface where the game is supposed to take place. (Simply put the stage inside and outside the field leads more than 100 people, said Collins).
As for what to expect during the program itself, all are predictably with tight lips. Pérez said that if other artists will be involved or does not depend completely on Lamar, although he said that there will be “some surprises that we have not seen in the past.”
“Kendrick is one of the most creative and incredible artists of our life, and … he will not disappoint,” he said when asked directly why fans should be excited.
Collins said: “Roc Nation, Jay, Kendrick and all his team, we have all broken our butt to discover something different. And I think people will be impressed. “
