While the Super Bowl is always the highest-rated and most anticipated sports matchup in America each year, some non-football fans tune in simply to watch the halftime show.
The Super Bowl halftime show has become a showcase for the nation’s most talented musicians and entertainers for the past few decades, and this season, hip hop artist Kendrick Lamar will be the headliner.
According to ESPN pundit Stephen A. Smith, Lil Wayne was a candidate for the halftime show before Lamar was selected.
“I happen to know he was on the list. I happen to know he was given consideration. But Kendrick Lamar is arguably the hottest thing out right now,” Smith said, via JPAFootball.
𝗥𝗘𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧: Lil Wayne was a candidate to headline the Super Bowl halftime show before the #NFL decided on Kendrick Lamar, according to @stephenasmith
“I happen to know he was on the list. I happen to know he was given consideration. But Kendrick Lamar is arguably the hottest… pic.twitter.com/oGp32O6X3V
— JPAFootball (@jasrifootball) September 12, 2024
Lamar, a native of the Los Angeles area, is a 17-time Grammy winner, and he has been hotter than ever lately thanks to his hit single “Not Like Us,” a diss track directed at rapper Drake that dropped in May.
This season’s Super Bowl will be held in New Orleans for the first time since the 2012 campaign. That year, Beyonce performed during the halftime show, along with her former Destiny’s Child bandmates.
Many people expect the Kansas City Chiefs to play in their third straight Super Bowl and their fifth in six years, but there are a few AFC teams that could prevent them from getting there.
The Baltimore Ravens, who had the NFL’s best record in 2023, are the biggest candidates to knock off Patrick Mahomes and crew, and if healthy, the Cincinnati Bengals could have a shot.
Should Kansas City get back to the big game, the San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles, the teams they defeated to win their three Vince Lombardi Trophies in recent years, will be hoping to meet them again and finally hand them a defeat.
