Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show Odds: What to Expect From Kendrick Lamar

Where’s Jay-Z?

Ah, good one. Let’s cut right to the chase: Jay-Z and his Roc Nation firm have been running the Halftime Show since August 2019, and they’ve been sponsored by Apple Music since Kansas City and Philadelphia met at Super Bowl LVII. If you’ve been following this space for a while, you’ll know I’m more of a Public Enemy Guy. I used to do college radio. I get salty about these things.

Anyway, these guys live their lives and operate their companies in a certain way, and as the alpha dogs in the room, they’re incredibly consistent about it. Speaking of which, Hamish Hamilton has been kept on as the director for the Halftime Show, which he started doing in 2010. And since the end of the pandemic, the performers – and guest stars – have all been from the hip hop/R&B space surrounding Jay-Z:

• Super Bowl LVI: Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar, w/ 50 Cent and Anderson .Paak
• Super Bowl LVII: Rihanna
• Super Bowl LVIII: Usher w/ Alicia Keys, Jermaine Dupri, H.E.R., will.i.am, Lil Jon, Ludacris, Sonic Boom of the South

That’s right: Kendrick Lamar will be a two-time Super Bowl Halftime Show headline act, after drawing rave reviews for his performance at Super Bowl LVI. Lamar could have commanded the stage all to himself as Rihanna did two years ago, but nope – SZA has already been confirmed as a guest performer. I hear she and Drake used to be a thing.

With SZA at the head of what could be another packed peloton of guest performers, our featured Halftime Show prop is looking instead for a repeat of last year’s Big Game, when it was a virtual lock that Lil Jon and Ludacris would join Usher as guest performers.

Who Is Baby Keem?

Baby Keem (born Hykeem Jamaal Carter Jr. in 2000) is Lamar’s cousin, and a hitmaker in his own right with the 2019 single “Orange Soda,” which went platinum. Keem appears on Lamar’s 2018 soundtrack contributions to Black Panther: The Album. And he did some production work for Beyonce in 2019. I assume you know something about the ties between Jay-Z and Beyonce.

Keem is also a –125 favorite on the Super Bowl props board, heading the long list of candidates for “To Appear In Kendrick’s Set” at Bovada (visit our Bovada Review). As long as they appear on stage with a microphone, the fine print for this bet says that’ll do.

There can be more than one winner; Lil Wayne (–110) is also considered more likely than not to make an appearance, although he’d be there more as a consolation prize for missing out on this year’s headline gig.

For Keem, this is all about family – which is how these guys operate in general. The NFL has turned the business model on its head so the performers either work for virtually nothing, or pay themselves to have the privilege of “getting their brand out there.” If Lamar doesn’t share some of that extremely valuable airtime with his cousin, I’ll eat a bug. No, those are delicious – I’ll go back and actually watch the Halftime Show after the game’s done. With the sound turned up.

To Appear In Kendrick’s Set

*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.