Rapper Kendrick Lamar has said his Super Bowl half-time show on Sunday will be about “storytelling” and will “make people listen”.
The 37-year-old will take to the stage at the American football game, between Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs, alongside singer SZA, after winning five awards including song of the year and record of the year at the Grammy Awards last weekend.
Urged to give a hint at his performance, the 22-time Grammy winner said: “(People should expect) storytelling, I think I’ve always been very open about storytelling through all my catalogue and my history of music, and I’ve always had a passion about bringing that on whatever stage I’m on.
“Whether it’s a world tour or whether it was 500 people at Key Club, I’ve always had a formula there, so a sense of making people listen, but also see and think a little.”
He added: “Being in the now and being just locked into how I feel, and the energy I have now, that’s the LA energy for me, that’s something that I wanted to carry over to New Orleans and for the world to see.
“This is me, this is Kendrick Lamar at 37 years old, and I still feel like I’m elevating, I’m still on the journey though, I want that energy to ooze out to the televisions, and to the people that’s in the building.”
Lamar also paid tribute to SZA, real name Solana Rowe, saying the pair had not had a chance to take in the moment due to rehearsals and production work.
The Squabble Up rapper said: “For me, personally, watching her career, and where she’s come from, it’s amazing to see.
“I get to finally see how certain individuals, see me come up in the process, because I seen her day one, coming in the studio and writing songs, throwing away songs, writing another song, throwing away songs, and songs is hard.
“I understood that process though, wanting to be great, even when she was saying, ‘this is a classic record’, she was like, ‘no, I’m going to write another one’, and I understood that, and I’ve seen it.
“So, to see now magnified, it’s like, she always had it, man, she always had it, and I’m just honoured to be next to a talent.”
The rapper went on to say that when he began performing he had never thought about performing at the Super Bowl.
Lamar said: “I wasn’t thinking about no Super Bowl, we was thinking about the best verse and how we going to split this five dollars at Church’s Chicken or something like that.
“It wasn’t no Super Bowl, (it was) going to the studio and getting a meal.
“But what I know is the passion I have now, is still the passion I had then, and I think that carried on to the Super Bowl.”
The half-time show has become a staple at the NFL’s final game of the season, with stars such as Prince, the Rolling Stones, Beyonce, Michael Jackson and Lady Gaga, all performing well-remembered sets.
Sunday’s show will be Lamar’s second performance on the Super Bowl stage, having previously performed with Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J Blige, 50 Cent and Anderson Paak, in 2022 as part of a tribute to hip hop.
Lamar released his sixth studio album, GLX, last year, having achieved 11 UK top 10 singles and two UK number one albums; the rapper won a Pulitzer Prize for his record Damn in 2018.
