– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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NEW ORLEANS — Somehow, after cleaning house on the biggest stage in music last Sunday, Kendrick Lamar will have an even bigger platform to continue his tour de force in just a few days’ time, Super Bowl Sunday. As the story of the game is in its intermission, Kendrick promises to bring music storytelling to the fore when he takes the field at the Caesars Superdome as the headline performer for the Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show.
“I think I’ve always been very open about storytelling. Through all my catalog and my history of music and I’ve always had passion about bringing that on whatever stage I’m on. … I like to always carry on that sense of make people listen but also see and think a little.”
Fresh off winning five Grammys, including song and record of the year for his ubiquitous diss track “Not Like Us” on Sunday, Lamar is at the peak of his powers, maybe more so than any other Super Bowl halftime performer at the time of their performances. While being interviewed during the Apple Music Super Bowl Press Conference on Thursday, Lamar vows that the genre that has earned him so much acclaim over the past few days will get the recognition he feels continues to be belittled in many corners of the music industry and the country writ large.
“What I will say about this year, it was more from a space where I think a lot of people were putting rap to the back. You didn’t see that bite anymore,” Lamar said. “So I always took that in consideration going into any type of my music.”
That bite in his award-winning album “GNX” was highlighted for many by his diss track “Not Like Us,” a takedown of fellow Grammy-winning rap artist Drake, yet the seeds were sown many years back while growing up in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Compton, the area that produced a number of artists who make up hip-hop’s golden age era.
“When people talk about rap, man, the conversations I hear, they think it’s just rap and not an actual art form,” he said. “When you put records like that at the forefront, it reminds people that this is more than just something that came 50 years ago, kinda like belittle it. So I love to see it get recognition for straight raps.”
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Thursday morning’s media availability, with photos taken by ALOST staff photographer Aaron J. Thornton. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page, Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 12 pictures in total.
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