One of the happiest pairings since Chardonnay met lobster is going on the road in April for their Grand National Tour—but we can catch Kendrick Lamar and SZA at the Super Bowl 59 halftime show on February 9 on our very own home screens (or in New Orleans, if you attend in person). The former labelmates and current collaborators will set the stage on fire, metaphorically, with their awesome chemistry and music that includes (and blends) genres like rap, hip-hop, neo-soul, jazz, and funk. Here’s a little information ahead of time.
Has Kendrick Lamar ever performed at the Super Bowl?
Yes, those of you with short memories! He co-headlined Super Bowl 56 in 2022, which was held in Inglewood, California, and featured Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, 50 Cen,t and Mary J. Blige.
What will be Kendrick Lamar & Sza’s set list for the 2025 Super Bowl?
That’s going to be pure speculation, isn’t it? But Spotify lists a setlist for the Grand National Tour, and presumably, a few of the hardest hitters in the list will make it onto the Super Bowl stage. Reddit posters suggested “Luther” and “All the Stars” (beautiful video here) as strong contenders for the brief 15-minute set. They joked that “Doves in the Wind” wouldn’t do well with mainstream America with its ruminations on Forrest Gump and P---Y.
Who else’s voice might we hear?
People are excited about surprise guests who might join Kendrick and SZA on stage, but for sure, Jon Batiste will sing the national anthem, Trombone Shorty and Lauren Daigle will perform "America the Beautiful," and Ledisi will sing "Lift Every Voice and Sing."
If we couldn't care less about football, what time should we watch to catch this show?
Try around 8pm ET. The show is pretty short, so you might miss it if you space out your tries too long.