Kendrick Lamar promises 'storytelling' at Super Bowl show

Rapper Kendrick Lamar, one of the big success stories of the Grammys last weeks, said Thursday his fans should expect "storytelling" at the Super Bowl halftime show this weekend.

Lamar will headline the halftime show at Sunday's showdown between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, and has announced SZA will join him as a featured guest.

He had a clean sweep at last Sunday's Grammys, winning in all five categories for which he received nominations -- Record of the Year, Song of the Year, best rap song, best rap performance and best music video.

"I think I've always been very open about storytelling through my catalogue and history of music ... I like to always carry on that sense of people listening but also thinking," he said in an interview ahead of the NFL's season finale.

Lamar said had never imagined he would perform at the Super Bowl when he was starting out. In 2022, he appeared as a featured performer in a hip-hop showcase but this will be his first headline show.

"I wasn't thinking about no Super Bowl -- I was thinking about the best verse... It wasn't no Super Bowl," he said.

"What I know is the passion I have now is still the passion I had then."

The big question on everyone's mind is whether Lamar will perform his Grammy-winning scathing diss track "Not Like Us," which is part of a feud with fellow rapper Drake that has landed in court.

He did not address that issue directly but said he was "just thinking about the culture, really."

"When people talk about rap, man, the conversations out there they think it's just rapping -- (like) it's not an actual art form," Lamar said.

"So when you put records like that at the forefront, it reminds people that this is more than just something that came 50 years ago."

Lamar released "Not Like Us" in May 2024, the fifth of a collection of songs skewering the Canadian rapper that dropped less than a day after his previous single, "Meet the Grahams."

A record-breaking streaming giant, "Not Like Us" catapulted to the top of the charts and quickly became a West Coast rap anthem, beloved for its pounding bass line, rhythmic strings and exaggerated enunciation.

Drake has filed a defamation suit against their shared label, saying Universal Music Group's release and promotion of "Not Like Us" amounted to defamation and harassment.

UMG has called the accusations "illogical."

© Agence France-Presse