Whether you’re a long-time hip hop head or simply one of the 127 million people who tuned into Super Bowl LIX, you’re surely familiar with Compton rapper Kendrick Lamar. The “Not Like Us” vocalist has been electrifying audiences around the globe for years, though it is inarguable that his prolific run of tracks in 2024 has catapulted his career into the stratosphere. Now, after seeing extreme success on the Apple Music Super Bowl halftime stage, Lamar is rumored to headline another massive cultural event – the 2028 Olympic Games.
Though K-Dot is not 100 percent confirmed for the event, his presence would make perfect sense, especially since the international show will go down in Los Angeles, California. To get a full understanding of the rapper’s alleged involvement, let’s take a look at what event organizers and other prominent figures in the entertainment industry are saying.
Will Kendrick Lamar Perform at the 2028 Summer Olympics?
Though we can’t officially confirm Kendrick’s involvement in the Olympic Games, we do have some key insight to suggest that he’ll be there. Casey Wasserman, who serves as both the chairman of the Olympics organizing committee and the head of the Wasserman talent agency, recently discussed his relationship with Kendrick Lamar during an interview with the Associated Press. When asked about the pgLang co-founder’s connection to the 2028 event, Wasserman explained, “Fortunately in my day job I represent Kendrick Lamar. He is truly an LA icon so I think it would be a pretty fair bet that Kendrick will be involved in the Olympics in Los Angeles in some way.” Of course, this doesn’t necessarily mean that the father of two will be performing live music at the venue, but it does confirm some level of behind the scenes involvement at the very least.
Wasserman’s words ring especially true in the wake of Lamar’s recent album GNX, which leaned heavily on a traditional West Coast sound, and primarily platformed lesser known Los Angeles natives through feature placements. The rapper’s Super Bowl halftime show also highlighted tons of patriotic iconography, from American flags, to Samuel L. Jackson‘s “Uncle Sam” character. Kendrick’s position as a Southern California icon was all but cemented during his 2024 feud with Drake, which saw the former hosting his Pop Out concert on Juneteenth in Inglewood, before releasing his acclaimed “Not Like Us” music video on July 4. While there’s still years to go before the 2028 Olympics, Kendrick Lamar is widely considered to be his generation’s most significant Los Angeles superstar, so it wouldn’t be a major surprise to see him in a role as a cultural ambassador for the Games, even if he doesn’t take the stage himself.
When Is Kendrick Lamar Going on Tour?
If you’re a major Kendrick Lamar fan, and simply can’t bear a prolonged wait to see him live, you’re in luck. The “TV Off” rapper is currently slated to kick off his Grand National Tour in April, 2025, alongside co-headliner SZA. The first leg will see the duo performing in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Apr. 19, before taking their show all across the United States, Canada and portions of Europe, for a total of 36 performances. Tickets are on sale now via grandnationaltour.com, though they can run quite pricey. Floor tickets at the May 21 Los Angeles show, for example, start at over $800 before factoring in taxes and fees, with nosebleed seats hovering around the $300 mark. Even with these somewhat exorbitant prices, tickets are going fast and many shows are expected to fully sell out. If you’re interested in catching the “All the Stars” collaborators in your hometown, be sure to consult the full list of tour dates and venues below.
North America Dates:
- Apr. 19 – Minneapolis, Minnesota – U.S. Bank Stadium
- Apr. 23 – Houston, Texas – NRG Stadium
- Apr. 26 – Arlington, Texas – AT&T Stadium
- Apr. 29 – Atlanta, Georgia – Mercedes Benz Stadium
- May 3 – Charlotte, North Carolina – Bank of America Stadium
- May 5 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania- Lincoln Financial Field
- May 8 – East Rutherford, New Jersey – MetLife Stadium
- May 9 – East Rutherford, New Jersey – MetLife Stadium
- May 12 – Foxboro, Massachusetts – Gillete Stadium
- May 17 – Seattle, Washington – Lumen Field
- May 21 – Los Angeles, California – Sofi Stadium
- May 23 – Los Angeles, California – Sofi Stadium
- May 24 – Los Angeles, California – Sofi Stadium
- May 27 – Glendale, Arizona – State Farm Stadium
- May 29 – San Francisco, California – Oracle Park
- May 31 – Las Vegas, Nevada – Allegiant Stadium
- June 4 – St. Louis, Missouri – The Dome at America’s Center
- June 6 – Chicago, Illinois – Soldier Field
- June 10 – Detroit, Michigan – Ford Field
- June 12 – Toronto, Ontario – Rogers Centre
- June 13 – Toronto, Ontario – Rogers Centre
- June 16 – Hershey, Pennsylvania- Hersheypark Stadium
- June 18 – Wahington D.C. – Northwest Stadium
Europe Dates:
- July 2 – Cologne, Germany – RheinEnergieStadion
- July 4 – Frankfurt, Germany – Deutsche Bank Park
- July 5 – Frankfurt, Germany – Deutsche Bank Park
- July 8 – Glasgow, Scotland – Hampden Park
- July 10 – Birmingham, England – Villa Park
- July 13 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Johan Cruyff Arena
- July 15 – Paris, France – Paris La Défense Arena
- July 16 – Paris, France – Paris La Défense Arena
- July 19 – Cardiff, Wales – Principality Stadium
- July 22 – London, England – Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
- July 23 – London, England – Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
- July 27 – Lisbon, Portugal – Estádio do Restelo
- July 30 – Barcelona, Spain – Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys
- Aug. 2 – Rome, Italy – Stadio Olimpico
- Aug. 6 – Warsaw, Poland – PGE Narodowy
- Aug. 9 – Stockholm, Sweden – 3Arena
What Was Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Setlist?
Since the Grand National Tour will allow a lot more stage time for Kendrick Lamar to run through his catalogue of record-shattering hits, we can surmise that his setlist will be quite different than the one he showcased at Caesar’s Superdome. Still, his halftime setlist could serve as a solid blueprint for what we can expect from his joint venture with SZA, especially since she also made an appearance during Super Bowl LIX as Lamar’s special guest. His full Super Bowl setlist can be seen below.
- “GNX (Teaser)” [Unreleased]
- “Squabble Up”
- “Humble”
- “DNA”
- “Euphoria”
- “Man At The Garden” [Super Bowl exclusive Doo-wop version]
- “Peekaboo”
- “Not Like Us (Teaser)”
- “Luther” (Featuring SZA)
- “All The Stars” (Featuring SZA)
- “Not Like Us“
- “TV Off”
Unpacking the Compton Native’s FCC Complaints
Though hundreds of millions of fans around the globe tuned in to watch Kendrick Lamar’s halftime performance, not every viewer was pleased with his show. According to a newly obtained report, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) received a staggering 125 formal complaints, alleging that the performance promoted racism, gang affiliation and vulgarity. Per a report in The Hill, one of these complaints articulated, “The halftime show was terrible with the language and gestures. My younger kids did not need to see and hear this!” Another viewer wrote in to say, “That was the worst halftime show that I have ever seen… I am appalled. It was divisive, downgrading and filled with profanity. It is absolutely not appropriate entertainment for all ages.” While K-Dot does employ the use of profanity in his music, it’s unclear what these specific viewers took issue with, as the show was heavily censored and given the green light from executives at the NFL, Fox Sports and Apple Music.
Others complained of a so-called “DEI” presence within the halftime performance, taking issue with the fact that Kendrick Lamar had not hired any white backup dancers. “If the Super Bowl halftime show isn’t racist then I don’t know what is,” said one home viewer from Ocean City, Maryland. “There wasn’t one white person in the whole show. They get away with it but if it was all white it would be a different story… This was a disgrace and it gets worse every year.” Another audience member from Daytona Beach, Florida shared similar sentiments, arguing, “I want to know why is it that there was not one white person involved???? I felt discriminated against and why was Uncle Sam Black when Uncle Sam is white?”
Clearly, Kendrick Lamar’s music contains some heady themes that a certain subset of Americans simply were not prepared to face during the biggest sporting event of the year. But, while these hundred or so viewers may have felt violated by Lamar’s choice to uplift Black artists on a national stage, hundreds of millions more were inspired. This is further evidenced by the fact that the Grammy Award-winner’s performance rapidly became the most watched Super Bowl halftime Show in history, touting over 113 million views on YouTube at the time of this writing, in addition to the 127 million viewers who tuned in live. If Kendrick Lamar does wind up making an appearance at the 2028 Olympic Games, fans can surely expect more nuanced political themes, powerful imagery and motifs of Black excellence to shine on the world stage.
