Kendrick Lamar is peaking commercially. The rapper's feud with Drake has made him bigger than ever. Regardless of which side one supports in the Dot vs. Drake battle, that much is inarguable. Everybody wanted to know what Kendrick Lamar would do when he took the stage during the Halftime Show, and the rapper delivered. He put together a cohesive and narratively rich set that seamlessly weaved in his former TDE labelmate, SZA. And fans responded with a record-breaking Super Bowl turnout in terms of viewership.
Hip Hop All Day reported that the 2025 Super Bowl was the most watched in the event's history. The NFL event pulled a staggering 126 million viewers on Sunday. The account credited Kendrick Lamar's revered performance as a big reason why. "The half-time show with Kendrick Lamar," they proclaimed. "Was a major draw to the telecast." It certainly didn't hurt that Lamar's set drummed up the most pre-show drama of any Halftime Show in recent memory. There's always been some post-show drama but the debate as to whether the rapper would play "Not Like Us," despite the legal issues it has brought upon UMG.
Who Leaked Kendrick Lamar's Halftime Show Setlist?
Then there was the leaked setlist. Kendrick Lamar's rehearsal setlist was leaked online, which was a first for a Halftime Show performer. The rapper hunkered down, though, and refused to change the setlist for his actual performance. Shockingly, DJ Akademiks came forward and claimed that he was the one who uploaded the setlist online. "Sorry Kendrick that I leaked ur performance," Ak wrote on Instagram Stories. Bizarrely, DJ Akademiks apologized to Lamar for the leak, and explained his reasoning for doing it.
"I apologize," Ak wrote to Kendrick Lamar. "I leaked Kendrick Super Bowl performance hoping he would change it. He ain't do it. He doubled down. I'm wat the culture was feeling… I tried to save y'all from that." Obviously, the leak did little to dampen the reaction to the performance. While debate raged in various circles as to whether Lamar's set was boring, many claimed it was one of the best in Halftime history. Kanye West, a notoriously fickle and unpredictable artist, likened the set to Michael Jackson's iconic performance from 1993.
