Students excited to watch Kendrick Lamar take the stage at Super Bowl

Although the Super Bowl will not be held in Pittsburgh this year, students around campus nevertheless have opinions on the famously anticipated halftime show, which features the biggest music stars in the world every year.

Compton-based rapper Kendrick Lamar has been named as the headliner for the Super Bowl LIX halftime show in New Orleans. Lamar announced his performance on the morning of Sep 8. on his social media pages, where he performed a skit with a football jug machine. 

The announcement comes on the heels of a historic year for Lamar, whose extensive career consists of 17 Grammy Awards, three of which are for “Best Rap Album of the Year” for his albums “To Pimp a Butterfly,” “DAMN.” and “Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers.” Lamar also received a Pulitzer Prize for “DAMN.,” becoming the first non-jazz or classical musician to receive such an honor. 

Given Lamar’s prominence within music and pop culture as a whole, Pitt students had a variety of reactions and opinions on the big announcement. 

“I was super excited,” junior communications major Conor McCollick said. “I had a big smile on my face, and I can’t wait to see him perform.” 

Alex Pacheco, a sophomore mechanical engineering major, said of the announcement, “I was surprised and excited for the announcement … I might watch the Super Bowl just for Kendrick.” 

Olivia Pettiford, a first-year law, criminal justice and society major from New Orleans and a diehard Lamar fan, had a different reaction, mostly stemming from the choice of musician over some other New Orleans-based musicians. 

“I’m excited but also a little confused,” Pettiford said “I am from New Orleans, and Lil Wayne is definitely someone that New Orleans wanted to see.” 

Lil Wayne is a rapper who grew up in and started his career in New Orleans and seemed the obvious choice for the upcoming Super Bowl. However, Lamar’s recent prominence and line of commercially and critically successful music won out in the end. 

Pettiford did share some positive sentiments about Lamar’s performance, highlighting his contributions to music and the Black community as a whole. 

“I think what Kendrick Lamar has done this year for music, community engagement, teaching historical lessons through art made him the obvious choice,” Pettiford said. 

Pettiford also hopes that Lamar incorporates New Orleans music and culture within his performance and pays homage to or features some other New Orleans artists in his show. 

“I think it would be good to incorporate not only Lil Wayne but also artists like Big Freedia who are there and have done so much in the music scene,” Pettiford said.

When asked about the Lamar-Wayne debate, McCollick gave some of his opinions about Lil Wayne’s music and why he believes Wayne was passed up in favor of Lamar

“From what I’ve seen his most recent live performances haven’t been great,” McColick said “He’s been forgetting the words to his songs, not really carrying the energy. I also think he’s kinda past his prime.” 

That being said, both thought it would be nice for Lil Wayne to perform with Lamar during the Super Bowl, most notably “Mona Lisa” a song from Lil Wayne’s “Tha Carter V.”

With excitement around the halftime show abuzz, and the normal hype around the Super Bowl building as the season ramps up, students and community members are ready for this year’s game on Feb. 11, 2024.