From Samuel L Jackson’s showmanship to Serena William’s special appearance; Super Bowl LIX Halftime packs more punches than the whole show

Groundbreaking? That must be it for the Halftime show at Super Bowl LIX, as the fresh-off Grammy’s rapper Kendrick Lamar made his way to the Superdome while the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles took a break!
When the ‘Not Like Us’ star hit the center stage for the SBLIX Halftime show, the crowd went berserk – and for all the right reasons! Not only was it his second time performing at the event, but it also marked him as the first solo hip-hop artist to headline a Super Bowl halftime show. While the rapper’s career boasts multiple Grammy wins, including sweeping all five categories he was nominated for, he will not get paid in line with his accolades.
A couple of minutes into the performance, Lamar went on to say, “I want to play their favorite song… but you know they love to sue!”
Everyone knew what he was referring to. Not Like Us, his brutal takedown of rap rival Drake, was one of last year’s breakout hits, earning one billion streams on Spotify and five Grammy Awards, including song of the year. But there were questions over whether Lamar would play it – or even could play it – at the Super Bowl after Drake filed a defamation lawsuit for lyrics that branded him a sexual predator, which he denies to date.
Lamar leaned into the dilemma, teasing the song over and over during his set, before finally giving the audience what they wanted. However, During Lamar’s halftime performance, he noticeably did not say the word “pedophile” where it appears in the song’s original lyrics.

The beginning:

Samuel L. Jackson, dressed as Uncle Sam, introduced Lamar when the performance began and appeared a handful of other times during the show.
Lamar then went on to perform several of his biggest hits, including “HUMBLE.” and “Squabble Up” before going into the Drake diss track. SZA, as previously announced, came out to perform two songs she’s in, “Luther” after the rapper performed his song “Peekaboo” from the field.
While the cast of Lamar’s halftime show were dressed in red, white, and blue, the humble rapper chose a blue jacket as his outfit, featuring the word ‘Gloria’ which is believed to be a reference to his music. Lamar accessorized it with a cap and a chain with a lowercase ‘a’ locket. While not officially confirmed, fans linked the piece of jewelry to his viral diss track ‘Not Like Us’ and its infamous line — “Trying to strike a chord and it’s probably A minor” — a possible jab at his longtime rival, Drake. On the other hand, SZA stunned in a red leather look during her appearance complimenting her red mane!

The surprising guest!

In January, it was confirmed that frequent collaborator SZA would be joining Lamar onstage as a guest performer. SZA previously appeared on “Gloria” and “Luther” on Lamar’s most recent album GNX. Ahead of the performance in a press conference with Apple Music, Lamar teased that fans can expect “storytelling” with his show, saying, “I think I’ve always been very open about storytelling through, through all my catalog and my history of music, and I’ve always had a passion about bringing that on whatever stage I’m on.”
Days before the Super Bowl, the rapper teased “something very special” with a cryptic Instagram Stories post.
However, during the halftime show, Lamar finally brought out fellow Compton-native Serena Williams, when the rapper was performing the Drake diss track ‘Not Like Us’. Lamar already had referenced Williams in the lyrics of the song, rapping, “From Alondra down to Central, better not speak on Serena.” But what’s more interesting, is that Serena had dated briefly Drake around 2015. In August 2015, Drake had been attending Williams’s matches regularly, and TMZ ran photos of them making out at a dinner in Cincinnati. Serena was dressed in white and blue and was seen swaying to the beat of the Grammy-winning track!
However, Williams said nothing about Drake after the performance, but she did post on X, formerly known as Twitter, about her cameo, writing “Let’s go Super Bowl halftime??! I died a little!”
She also made a second post, saying, “man, I did not crip walk like that at Wimbledon. Oooh, I would’ve been fined! It was all love.”