Kendrick Lamar: Seven facts about the Super-Bowl half-time show star

According to Usher, he is given the special honor: Kendrick Lamar is the top act of this year’s Super Bowl half-time show. He follows many other music sizes that have already contested the mega show at the final of the US American football league National Football League (NFL). What do you have to know about the rapper?

The rapper, born in California, Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, stepped onto the stage as a K.dot in the beginning of his career and rapped under this name during the high school. In 2009, however, he took it off to emphasize his true identity. In addition to his first and second first name, he also appeared under his alter ego Kung Fu Kenny.

Kendrick Lamar is rather atypical for the hip-hop world than drug-free. It was already mentioned in 2013 that Lamar should not drink alcohol and that no grass should smoke. In his songs he also addresses his rejection of drugs – characterized by his past, in which his environment was strongly shaped by drugs.

His song “Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe” criticizes the glorification of MDMA, while “Swimming Pools (Drank)” addresses alcohol abuse. In other songs, he refers to his aversion to marijuana, which goes back to bad experience. “I used to smoke earlier,” said. “But it was never a dependency for me. Many need it every day, not me.”

Kendrick Lamar keeps his private life from the public. However, it is known that he has a longstanding relationship with Whitney Alford. , the two got to know each other in the high school and have been in a relationship since then. The couple has two children, a daughter and a son. The rapper apparently confirmed the birth of the son with the album cover for “Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers” (2022), on which he can be seen with Alford and the two children. In 2015, Lamar said in an interview that he made an application to his partner. In 2024 the family was four to “not like us”.

The fact that Kendrick Lamar is a big name in the music business can be seen in the awards he has already received for his music. He even wrote a piece of hip-hop history: in 2018 he was the first rapper to hand over the Pulitzer Prize for his album “Damn”. To date, the US media prize for outstanding journalistic, literary and musical achievements was mostly reserved for classical or jazz.

The rapper was already able to collect other awards for his music. He was able to take home a proud five prizes at this year’s Grammy Awards, so he has a total of 22 Grammy trophies. “Not Like Us” brought him awards in the categories “Song of the Year”, “Recording of the Year”, “Best Rap-Song”, “Best Rap performance” and “Best Musikvideo”. He had previously caused a sensation with the song …

… because the song turned out to be a diss track against the Canadian rapper Drake. In March 2024, a long-term argument was escalated between the two, which found his climax in Lamar’s song “Not Like Us” and was seen as a “Ko.-Schlag” against Drake. In the song, he throws Drake various sex crimes and lack of respect for black culture.

Drake even went against it. As the US promort “TMZ” reported, the rapper is said to have submitted a defamation against the Universal Music Group in mid-January 2025 in New York. Drake emphasizes that it is not about the artist who created “Not Like Us”. Instead, it is “exclusively the music company that has decided to publish the song, promote, use and market”. The Universal Music Group saw a financial gold mine in the Diss track despite the “rebellious and shocking accusation”.

The song broke rap streaming records and 2024 became a turbulent but musically extremely successful year for Lamar. Now another highlight of his career is waiting for him: On February 9th, he will appear on Caesar’s superdome in New Orleans as headliner of the Super Bowl Lix half-time show. The Super Bowl stage, albeit elsewhere, is not completely new for the rapper.

In February 2022, real hip-hop greats met at the half-time show at the Sofi Stadium in Inglewood, California, where Kendrick Lamar could not be missing. The musician stepped with Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, 50 cents and Anderson Paak. Now follows the solo appearance, in which he receives support from SZA, as it became known before the half-time show. The two have already done a thing for several songs (for example “Luther” and “Gloria”). “Rap music is still the most influential genre there is,” said Lamar when announcing his performance. “And I will be there to remind the world of why. You chose the right one.”

There is not much time for a relaxed rest after the Super Bowl: for Kendrick Lamar, after the half -time show, there is before the tour. His Grand National Tour, where SZA will also be part of the party, leads him through North America. He will celebrate the start in Minneapolis on April 19, followed by stops in Houston, Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Chicago and Toronto.

In November 2024, Lamar released his new album out of nowhere. He announced the record with a one -minute trailer just around 30 minutes before the official release. “Gnx” is his sixth studio album and the first since 2022. His debut album “Section.80” published in 2011, followed “Good Kid, Maad City” (2012), “To Pimp a Butterfly” (2015), “Damn” (2017) and the double album “Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers” (2022).