Kendrick Lamar has polarized many with his Super Bowl Halftime Show performance. Overall, the halftime show continues to break records over on YouTube and it's clear that people did enjoy it. Had Kendrick played it safe and gone with his biggest hits from the last decade, then perhaps the reactions would have been different. However, Lamar chose to keep things hip-hop, and more specifically, West Coast. The purists appreciated this, and the haters, well, this wasn't for them anyway.
Following a bit of a hiatus due to his vacation, DJ Akademiks returned to streaming last night where he offered up his take on the Super Bowl. Overall, Ak had a lot to say about the state of hip-hop, especially as it pertains to the new Drake and PartyNextDoor record. That said, he still had quite a bit to say about Kendrick Lamar and the Super Bowl. Particularly, Akademiks believes hip-hop may just be dead in the water in the eyes of NFL. For Ak, Kendrick's performance was not suited for a global audience, and therefore, the NFL will avoid hip-hop in the immediate future.
Who is Performing the Super Bowl Halftime Show in 2026?
At this time, the NFL has not made a decision on who will perform at the Super Bowl Halftime Show in 2026. However, Jay-Z remains under contract with the NFL. What does this mean? Well, it means Akademiks may actually be wrong about Kendrick's perceived negative impact. Jay is going to vouch for hip-hop moving forward, and with Lamar breaking records, the NFL may just continue down this path.
DJ Akademiks has been quite critical of Kendrick Lamar lately. Ak's love for Drake probably has at least a little something to do with that. Although Ak has praised Lamar for his win in the battle, there has been a noticeable shift in his rhetoric over the past few weeks. One has to wonder how much longer he can keep that up for.
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