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Kendrick Lamar Will Perform the Super Bowl Halftime Show; Tyreek Hill Handcuffed and Detained for Traffic Violation

By Brian Richards | Celebrity | September 9, 2024 |

By Brian Richards | Celebrity | September 9, 2024 |

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Yesterday afternoon, which marked the return of NFL football to Sundays now that another season has just begun, it was announced that Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar was chosen to perform at the Halftime Show for next year’s Super Bowl LIX, which will be held in New Orleans, Louisiana at the Caesars Superdome on February 9, 2025.

“Rap music is still the most impactful genre to date. And I’ll be there to remind the world why,” Lamar said in a statement. “They got the right one.”

“Few artists have impacted music and culture as profoundly as Kendrick Lamar,” NFL head of music Seth Dudowsky added. “Time and time again, Kendrick has proven his unique ability to craft moments that resonate, redefine, and ultimately shake the very foundation of hip-hop.

“We’re excited to collaborate with Kendrick, Roc Nation, and Apple Music to deliver another unforgettable Halftime Show.”

Some fans were incredibly happy about this news of Kendrick at the Halftime Show and are already doing the Birdman Handrub at the thought of him performing “Not Like Us” once again, and dissing his archnemesis Drake (who claimed in “First Person Shooter” that he’s as big as the Super Bowl), this time in front of millions of people watching worldwide. Others expressed disappointment that an artist who is actually from New Orleans like Juvenile (who put on a damn great show with his NPR Tiny Desk concert last year) or Lil Wayne wasn’t selected to represent the Big Easy at the Super Bowl, much like how Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg (along with Kendrick) were able to represent the West Coast at Super Bowl 58 in Inglewood, California. And rapper Pusha T (who had his own beef with Drake, which is how the world discovered that Drake was a parent) shared his opinion about the announcement.

Drake’s response to the news of Kendrick performing at the Super Bowl? Well, he didn’t say anything publicly, but I wouldn’t be surprised if his reaction looked anything like this:

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For those of you who quickly grew tired of hearing “Not Like Us” even before the music video dropped, as if some of you didn’t grow up listening to regular terrestrial radio, which subjected listeners to songs like “Macarena,” “My Heart Will Go On,” “Livin’ La Vida Loca,” and the LeAnn Rimes cover of “How Do I Live” on constant rotation for months? Well, it’s safe to say that this news will probably not make you any happier, so there’s always the SpongeBob Squarepants version of the Super Bowl Halftime Show to watch on Nickelodeon instead.

Oh, and if anyone on social media is already questioning if Kendrick has enough popular tracks in his catalog to perform at the Super Bowl? Please don’t. It looked and sounded foolish when you pulled that sh-t with Usher when he was announced as the headliner for last year’s Super Bowl, and it will look and sound just as foolish if you pull that with Kendrick f-cking Lamar!

FYI (and a trigger warning that the rest of the article briefly mentions domestic violence inflicted on women): It would feel weird if I didn’t make any reference to this, but Kendrick Lamar being announced as the headliner for Super Bowl LIX wasn’t the only major NFL-related news to come out yesterday. Tyreek Hill of the Miami Dolphins was pulled over by police yesterday for speeding and reckless driving before the start of the game between the Dolphins and the Jacksonville Jaguars. He was handcuffed and placed facedown on the street outside of Hard Rock Stadium (the home base of the Miami Dolphins) by officers. The entire incident went viral on social media, largely due to civilians heading to the Dolphins-Jaguars game using their cell phones to record Hill’s arrest, which soon resulted in the arresting officer being placed on administrative leave.

From The Associated Press:

Told after the game that the officer was placed on leave pending the outcome of the investigation, Hill said: “That should tell you everything you need to know.” Added defensive tackle Calais Campbell, who was also briefly handcuffed after coming to his teammate’s aid: “That makes sense based on the situation.”

Hill, who said he respects police officers and wants to be one when he retires from football, said he “had no idea” why police placed him in handcuffs.

“I wasn’t disrespectful because my mom didn’t raise me that way,” Hill said. “Didn’t cuss. Didn’t do none of that. Like I said, I’m still trying to figure it out, man.”

Hill starred on the field for the Dolphins, catching seven passes for 130 yards — including an 80-yard touchdown that helped Miami rally for a 20-17 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Hill celebrated the score by mimicking being handcuffed. Hill, who is Black, said he didn’t want to use his celebrity to get out of the situation but wondered what would’ve happened if he weren’t an NFL star.

“I don’t want to bring race into it, but sometimes it gets kind of iffy when you do,” he said. “What if I wasn’t Tyreek Hill? Lord knows what that guy or guys would have done. I was just making sure that I was doing what my uncle always told me to do whenever you’re in a situation like that: ‘Just listen, put your hands on the steering wheel and just listen.’”

I’m obviously never happy whenever I hear or read about the seemingly neverending bullsh-t that is Black folk being abused, harassed, and/or straight-up murdered by police. But any sympathies I may have had for Tyreek Hill, and for what was done to him yesterday, quickly vanished when I was reminded that this is the same Tyreek Hill who punched and strangled his then-pregnant girlfriend, Crystal Espinal (which also seems to explain why Hill wants to be a cop when he retires from the NFL), and who physically assaulted an employee of the Haulover Marina after he boarded a boat without permission. So while I’m somewhat glad that this didn’t end with gunfire and bloodshed, the strongest reaction I have to Tyreek Hill being reminded that the police do not like Black people (or anyone else who isn’t an able-bodied, middle-class white man who licks police-issued footwear like it’s part of a nutritious breakfast, but especially Black people), is this:

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Source(s): NFL.com, The Hollywood Reporter