Kid Rock has shared his thoughts on Kendrick Lamar‘s Super Bowl Halftime Show performance last week – see what he had to say below.
Last week (February 10), Kendrick Lamar made history by becoming the first solo rapper to headline the coveted Halftime Show. Shortly after, it was reported that Lamar’s slot went on to pull 133.5million live viewers, as well as over 38million views on YouTube –making it the most-watched Super Bowl performance in history.
Kendrick Lamar performs at the 2025 Super Bowl Halftime Show. Credit: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
Despite the record-setting viewership, reception towards the performance has been split down the middle, with some calling it “a masterpiece”, while others are hailing it as the “worst Super Bowl performance in the last decade”.
Now, rapper and Donald Trump associate Kid Rock has shared his thoughts on Lamar’s performance. Appearing on the latest episode of Real Time with Bill Maher, Kid Rock said of Lamar’s Halftime Show: “To put it nicely, it wasn’t my cup of tea, but I got to respect it. And here’s why. You know, I grew up loving, emulating hip-hop, all things hip-hop — break dancing, deejaying, graffiti, rapping, and so I understand the culture a little bit more than most. And when I say most, of course, I mean white people.”
Kid Rock – who also performed at the 2004 Super Bowl – continued: “So when you’re watching it, after, there’s a lot of things going through your head. You know, everyone’s like, ‘That sucked,’ this, that and the other. I’m like, ‘Man, this kid pretty much came out figuratively with both middle fingers in the air, doing what he does for the people who love what he does, unapologetically’. And I don’t think he gives a frog’s fat ass what anyone thinks about it. So I go, ‘Huh, it’s pretty much how I built my whole career. I gotta respect it.’”
The rapper then questioned how Kendrick Lamar was able to perform the show, suggesting that it was Colin Kaepernick kneeling in protest during the American national anthem in 2016: “I’ve heard nobody answer this question. How did he get that gig? Jay-Z. What happened there? I think Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar should both send Colin Kaepernick a Bundt cake and a six-pack of beer and a ‘thank you’ note with a bunch of money in it because without him kneeling and getting everyone’s panties in a bunch over the anthem, self-included, I don’t think that happens.”
Kendrick Lamar performs at the 2025 Super Bowl Halftime Show. Credit: Bob Kupbens/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Kid Rock then went on to say that the performance was a sign that diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) regulations in the United States were going away: “This was the epitome of DEI blowing up. Because the NFL was all this DEI, end racism, all this stuff. They got Jay-Z in there booking this. Kendrick Lamar goes out there and basically turns DEI into an IED. It’s all Black people, or all people of color, speaking to his crowd, in the hood, Black people. It was like the most exclusive thing ever and I’m like, ‘Fuck yeah, that’s awesome.’ I’m laughing my ass off.”
Lamar’s Super Bowl performance came shortly after the rapper won five awards at the Grammys 2025, including Record Of The Year and Song Of The Year for his Drake diss song ‘Not Like Us’. Then, after he broke out the song during the set, it was confirmed that streams on the track rose by 430 per cent.
Following the performance, Kendrick Lamar and SZA – who joined him at the Super Bowl – have added two extra dates to their ‘Grand National’ 2025 stadium tour: one in London and one in Paris – you can check out the full list of dates and get tickets here.
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