Kendrick Lamar won’t ‘fake the funk’ for SB LIX halftime performance

Super Bowl LIX is around the corner and Kendrick Lamar is ready to pop out and show up as the headliner for the big game’s halftime show.

On Thursday morning he sat down with Apple Music’s Ebro Darden and Nadeska Alexis to talk about taking to the world’s stage once again. In 2022, he performed alongside Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and 50 Cent for the Super Bowl LVI halftime show at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.

However, performing at the big game was something he could’ve never predicted.

“I wasn’t thinking about no Super Bowl, we were thinking about the best verse, how we’re going to split this $5 at Church’s Chicken, something like that,” he laughed. “The passion I have now is the passion I had then, and I think that carried on to the Super Bowl.”

Being present, whether it’s in the studio, on certain hooks or in a chorus, is what Lamar credits to his success over the past 15 years.

This year will mark Lamar’s first time as the headliner. He is also the first solo hip-hop artist to headline the halftime show, which shows the progression of the genre in this space.

When asked about it, the “TV Off” rapper said it reminded him “of the grind” of the rap game.

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“A lot of people don’t see the story before the glory,” he explained. “(It’s) shuffling out your mixtapes and going to neighborhoods and parties and performing there, hole-in-the-wall spots. It reminds me of the essence and the core response of rap and hip-hop and how far it can go. For me, that s–t means everything. For me, it puts the culture at the forefront of where it needs to be and not minimized to just a catchy song or verse. It’s a true art form.”

Lamar doesn’t take that art form for granted and holds the hip-hop/rap culture near and dear to his heart.

The 22-time Grammy winner took home five during Sunday’s ceremony, which included wins for Song of the Year and Record of the Year for his popular diss track “Not Like Us,” but to him it was more than the award, it was about representing that culture.

“When people talk about rap, the conversations out here they think it’s just rapping, and not an actual art form. So, when you put records like that (‘Not Like Us’) at the forefront it reminds people that this is more than something that came 50 years ago. They even forget it’s been 50 years, right? (They) kind of like belittle it,” he explained. “So I love that it gets that kind of recognition for just straight raps from awards to Billboards, all of that because this is truly as big as an art form and genre as any other genre.”

The Song of the Year award touted Lamar’s songwriting prowess, which was inspired by the late Tupac Shakur.

“I just go through a breakdown, as if I’m reading a book, how I want people to hear this from a book sequence,” he revealed about his process. “My initial process is how can I open them up to the story and how can I drive them to the ending point to make them feel truly exactly what I’m trying to say. Whether they take their own perspective or they take mine. I just want them to feel it first. The writing’s there, now it’s up to me to perform it so you can feel it.”

Looking ahead to Sunday, Lamar is hands-on with the entire production alongside his creative communications team with pgLang, which includes longtime friend Dave Free.

“That is us sitting day in and out from the edits to production to stage design to the music, the sound tech. It’s everything across the board,” he revealed. “It takes a lot of work. It takes a lot of creative individuals, I can’t sit here and say ‘It’s all me’ because these are people who are just as passionate, who want to see us win, but also want to put out something that lives a long long time.”

Seeing as New Orleans is the home of Super Bowl LIX, the L.A. native acknowledged the Big Easy’s ties to Black culture.

“Out of all my friends (in) L.A., when I was growing up, all of our grandparents were either from Louisiana, Texas, (or) Chicago,” he said. “So our dialect and how we talk, it gauges from the South.”

For fans looking forward to Sunday you can bet one thing, Lamar will be himself.

“I’m at a place in my life, (where) I can’t fake the funk for nothing. I’ve always had the essence of that but you have kids and s–t… I have to be who I am authentically and if the world can’t accept it, so be it. But who rocking with it, I’m going to put it all the way out there, whether it’s in private or on the main stage.”

The Kansas City Chiefs take on the Philadelphia Eagles for Super Bowl LIX on Feb. 9 at Caesars Superdome at 3:30 p.m. PST.