Inside Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Halftime Show Rehearsals: Watch
Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show went down on Sunday (Feb. 9) and fans have been dutifully reacting and dissecting its layers for the past week. PgLang, the creative production company co-founded by the rapper and Dave Free, is providing a peek into the rehearsals for the performance and showing viewers how everything came together.
The newly revealed black and white footage sees Kendrick, his dancers, the production staff, and Samuel L. Jackson in a large warehouse ready to put in work. The practices took place not too far from where the big game went down, as the caption in the video intro read: “Rehearsal Day 20 – New Orleans, LA – February 5th, 2025 – Samuel L. Jackson – Final Camera Blocking Rehearsal.”
The main highlight of the clip was centered around the iconic Pulp Fiction actor, who joined Lamar as “Uncle Sam” during the show and “narrated” during transitions and helped move the storyline forward. Jackson is shown being mic’ed up before delivering his lines with his signature booming voice. “Salutations! It’s your uncle… Sam! And this is the great American game,” he said.
Many users praised the 76-year-old film star for his execution and dubbed him as the perfect selection for the role. “I’d be terrified if Samuel was my grandad, on me his voice powerful [laughing emoji],” one IG user commented as another added, “Samuel L Jackson was the perfect person for this role!”
More fans reacted on TikTok, as they pointed out how people are still catching onto details they might have missed during the live broadcast. “It’s been days and everyone is still just as geeked about this performance that we want to dissect and digest every detail,” someone typed. “Unc had way too much fun playing this role,” another person joined in.
Later on in the clip, the “Poetic Justice” emcee appears behind Jackson and raps his lines quietly.
PgLang also shared some BTS photos, which included candid shots of the hair and wardrobe team, the “game controller” stage being drawn up, dancers getting in their zones, and much more. Take a look above.
Overall, the halftime performance honored K. Dot’s most recent album, GNX, as the setlist included “wacced out murals,” “squabble up,” “man at the garden,” and “tv off.” Midway through, he delivered more widely known mainstream records like “DNA” and “Humble,” and shocked many viewers by doing his scathing diss record toward Drake, “Not Like Us.” In addition to Jackson, the Compton rapper was joined by SZA and DJ Mustard.
Revisit Kendrick’s Super Bowl performance below.
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