By Rory Carroll
NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) – Kendrick Lamar said fans can expect to hear the tale of his rise from humble beginnings to rap superstardom when he headlines the Super Bowl halftime show on Sunday.
Lamar, fresh off winning five Grammys including song and record of the year for his ubiquitous diss track “Not Like Us” on Sunday, is currently at the zenith of his powers but said he has never forgotten where he came from.
“I’ve always been very open about storytelling throughout my catalog and my history of music,” Lamar said during an on-stage interview on Thursday.
“I’ve always had a passion about bringing that to whatever stage I’m on whether that’s a world tour or whether it’s 500 people at Key Club.
“I’ve always had a form of that. So I like that sense of, make people listen, but also see and think a little.”
Lamar was raised in poverty in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Compton but found inspiration in the “hard raps” and “good beats” being produced by west coast artists like Tupac Shakur.
Performing at the Super Bowl halftime show, one of the most-watched music events of the year, never crossed his mind when he was making his way to the top.
“I wasn’t thinking about no Super Bowl, for sure,” he said with a laugh.
“We were thinking about the best verse and how we are going to split this $5 at Church’s Chicken or something like that.”
But some things have not changed for the artist, who has 22 Grammy Awards and took home a Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2018 for his narrative-rich album DAMN.
“What I know is the passion I have now is still the passion I had then,” he said.
Lamar was tight-lipped when asked by the interviewers from Apple Music about what songs he will select from his vast catalog to fill the 13-minute performance window, although he hinted that may lean more on his most recent material.
“Only 13 minutes. It’s kind of wild because it lets you know where you’re at, your perspective about how you think about the catalog and the music,” he said.
“For me, I love being present and it’s very hard for me to live in the past.
“I respect the past but being in the now and being locked in to how I feel now, that’s the LA energy for me. That’s something I want to carry over to New Orleans for the world to see.
“This is me, Kendrick Lamar, 37 years old and I still feel like I’m elevating, still on a journey, and I want that energy to ooze out of the television and to the people that are in that building.”
It was previously revealed that his collaborator, R&B singer SZA, would perform alongside him on the stage at the Superdome.
“For me personally, watching her career and where she’s come from, it’s amazing to see,” he said.
“I’m just honored to be next to her talent.”
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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