Rap takes center stage at Super Bowl

When Kendrick Lamar takes the stage at Sunday night’s halftime show, he will be making Super Bowl history.

Fresh off a sweeping Grammys victory, Lamar is poised to become the first solo rap artist to headline the show.

Lamar previously performed with Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem, and others in 2022 – the first year hip-hop took center stage at the show. Grammy-winning R&B artist SZA will join him in New Orleans as a guest performer for this year’s game.

Spectators will be watching to see if Lamar performs “Not Like Us,” the diss track at the center of his rap-turned-legal battle with Drake, a Canadian rapper and singer who filed a defamation lawsuit against his and Lamar’s record label in November. Lamar won five Grammys for the track, including record of the year, best rap performance, best rap song, best music video, and song of the year.

Craig Arthur, associate professor of practice in the Academy of Transdisciplinary Studies at Virginia Tech, and Frederick Paige, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, are co-founders of VTDITC: Hip Hop Studies at Virginia Tech, or Virginia Tech Digging in the Crates, at Virginia Tech. They spoke about the appeal of Lamar’s music and the significance of his performance.

They also discussed their inspirations for starting the hip-hop studies program at Virginia Tech. Founded in 2016, the program’s mission is to foster a sense of community among hip hop artists, fans, and scholars.

What makes Kendrick Lamar an iconic figure in rap and hip-hop?

Arthur: He’s arguably the most relevant current rapper out right now. A lot of hip-hop has been flattened as far as regional sounds, and I feel like Kendrick has really held on to his LA roots. He’s won a Pulitzer, Grammys, all the awards you can think of. In a world where a lot of people try to sound like somebody else or try to emulate other folks, he has a unique sound and a unique voice. I think that he’s allowed, because of his position, to explore concepts and topics that a lot of other artists shy away from.

Paige: As an MC [master of ceremonies] and a lyricist, I’ve loved his progression over time. His writing has gotten better by exploring different themes, but also different ways to rap and different ways to bend words to find different rhymes. You can really tell he put the work into the craft, just being focused on his own community and the stories.

Why did it take so long for rap to take center stage at the Super Bowl? What do you anticipate will be the cultural significance of Lamar's performance?

Arthur: Ultimately, the Super Bowl halftime show is a commercial endeavor for the NFL. As the target market for the Super Bowl’s advertisers changes, so do those consumers’ tastes and interests.

Kendrick Lamar is both in his late 30s and has cross-generational appeal. His work is undeniable, highly decorated, and is celebrated by those in the culture as well as those far outside it. What strikes me, however, is that Kung Fu Kenny [Lamar’s stage name] addresses topics that the NFL has refused to engage with in meaningful ways. Players have even lost their careers as a result of using their position to bring awareness to these same issues in recent years.

Lamar’s explosive rap battle with Drake took the music world by storm in 2024. Where does it fit into the genre’s history of “rap beefs?”

Paige: These are entertainers, and they are also very well-resourced and well-equipped entertainers who understand going at each other is going to generate a lot of revenue.

I really do love the competitive nature of it. One of my favorite points that came out of it for Kendrick is that it forced his hand to release music a little faster, because I’m a pretty big Kendrick fan and enjoyed getting more music. But then in some ways, some of this is just entertainment. It’s just puppetry. It’s not the Kendrick music I was looking for. It’s not stuff I play on repeat. I'm really interested to see what he does at the Super Bowl – if he plays it, if he doesn't.

I would love to see some more unity and see what the positive outcomes of that would be. Then again, some of the best rap beefs are from MC to MC when the mic and the cameras aren't there, and when it's really who's got the best skill set.

What inspired you to start hip-hop studies at Virginia Tech?

Arthur: There wasn’t really a space for the hip-hop arts community, including Virginia Tech students and community members, to come together and create like there were spaces for other sorts of art or artistic practices. It started off as a monthly seminar series, and morphed into workshops for the community beyond campus, free DJ lessons, and free studio recording sessions.

We think it’s important to make a space for Black art, and I think we’ve done it. We’ve done something like 1,200 events. So we’re getting there. There’s always room to improve, and who knows what the program is going to look like in a few years from now.

Paige: So many times, the conversation is like ‘it’s just youth culture,’ or ‘you can only do hip-hop until you’re 25 or 30,’ when in reality, it’s a culture. It’s a lifestyle. All my uncles are hip-hop until they die. It’s getting away from some of those commercial ideas and creating more space for it. So many times, it’s not considered as intellectual property or it’s not considered as high level thinking or critical thinking. The reason I’m a professor is because I wrote lyrics [when I was younger]. If I wasn't able to write really complex verses and deal with complex ideas in really short spaces, I wouldn't be able to write an abstract. So I really enjoyed learning that process as a youth from my cousins and uncles, and then how it helped me when I got into grad school and started writing other things for my profession.

Interviews have been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Follow Hip Hop Studies on Instagram to keep track of upcoming events, and check out the program’s recent EP.