Kendrick Lamar Super Bowl Halftime Show Was the Pop Peak of Rapper’s Most Mainstream Year Yet

Even though Kendrick Lamar has five No. 1s on the Billboard Hot 100 among 88 hits on the chart, there were still viewers who tuned in to the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show seemingly unaware of the depth of the rapper’s decade-plus catalog. So Lamar was smart to lean into his releases of 2024 — arguably the most mainstream year of his career — to seize the pop moment that he had built up to at New Orleans’ Caesars Superdome on Sunday.

On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, Katie & Keith are breaking down the Super Bowl halftime show, including guest appearances from SZA and Serena Williams, and chatting about some other moments at the Big Game, including the stadium crowd seemingly booing Taylor Swift on the big screen. Listen to the latest episode below:

Also on the show, we’ve chart news on The Weeknd landing his fifth No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with Hurry Up Tomorrow, how a bevy of acts gain in the wake of the Grammys on both the Billboard 200 albums chart and Hot 100 songs chart, and how Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars return to No. 1 on the Hot 100 with “Die With a Smile,” as Gaga’s new single “Abracadabra” makes its Hot 100 debut.

The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s managing director, charts and data operations, Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)