To shut the rapid-fire set, DJ Mustard ran onstage and threw his arm round Lamar as GNX’s breakout tune “TV Off”—and its instantly memed second of Lamar screaming his identify—blasted over the audio system. In excellent sync, the Compton rapper repeated the road “Flip his TV off” proper because the stadium, and consequently viewers’ TV screens, went black. The digicam zoomed out to indicate the stage formed like a tic-tac-toe board with the phrases “Sport over” written with lights within the crowd.
Lamar’s firm with Dave Free, pgLang, dealt with the artistic course for the halftime present efficiency. Diversified Manufacturing Providers served as producers for the halftime present telecast with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation and Jesse Collins as govt producers, Hamish Hamilton as director, and Roc Nation performing “because the strategic leisure advisor of the stay efficiency.”
The halftime present efficiency arrived on the heels of Lamar’s shock November album, GNX, and a spate of victories on the 2025 Grammy Awards. Due to his smash hit “Not Like Us,” Lamar swept all 5 classes during which he was nominated: Music and Report of the Yr, Greatest Rap Music, Greatest Rap Efficiency, and Greatest Music Video. That implies that “Not Like Us” received as many Grammy Awards (5) because the diss observe’s goal, Drake, has received in his total profession (5). To rub it in much more, the gala sang alongside loudly to the tune, together with its most damning accusation.
The efficiency additionally got here on the heels of a federal lawsuit that Drake filed towards Common Music Group (UMG) over its promotion of “Not Like Us.” The litigation has led to hypothesis about whether or not Lamar would carry out the diss tune on an enormous nationwide stage. Just a few hours earlier than the halftime present, Drake’s authorized crew launched a brand new assertion about “Not Like Us,” writing: “UMG is masquerading as a champion of artist freedom by calling its actions merely ‘leisure,’ however there may be nothing entertaining about pedophilia or baby abuse in the actual world. We’re assured that the proof we are going to in the end current at trial, together with info we’ve already realized and proceed to obtain since submitting the lawsuit, will expose UMG’s gross prioritization of its personal company earnings and govt bonuses over its completely signed artists’ well-being and the reality.”
Lamar made his Tremendous Bowl halftime present debut, in 2022, in Inglewood, California. He was amongst a number of performers that night time, as Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, 50 Cent, Anderson .Paak, and Mary J. Blige additionally participated within the SoFi Stadium present.
