2025 is already off to a wild start in the hip-hop world, and Billboard Unfiltered is back to break it all down with a new episode on Friday (Feb. 14), tackling all things Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl performance and Ye’s (formerly Kanye West) crashout.
Billboard‘s Damien Scott gave his stamp of approval to Lamar’s performance, as he loved to see Kendrick bring an “unadulterated rap show” to the biggest stage in America.
“We’ve had rappers before, but we’ve never had a rapper headline, and I’m glad it was Kendrick because what we got was a real rap show. He didn’t lean into his pop bag,” Scott said. “He kept his setlist outside of the SZA collabs it was super rap. You know how hard it is to rap ‘DNA’? I can’t imagine doing that in a leather jacket.”
Staff writer Kyle Denis enjoyed Kendrick remaining in his “imperial phase” and performing his new album rather than “mining for hits,” as we’ve seen plenty of other artists turn their Super Bowl sets into a greatest hits medley of sorts to appease the wide-ranging audience.
“You’re at the top of your game right now. As much as I wanted to hear the old stuff, I really respect what he did up there,” Denis said.
Unfiltered newcomer and hip-hop editor Angel Diaz admitted he was initially “underwhelmed” by the show, but after leaving the chaotic environment he was watching the game at and ran it back, he developed more of an appreciation for what Lamar delivered.
“It was impressive,” he said. “His wind, voice control — I kinda wanted some of the features to pop out like the mariachi singer, AzChike — I wanted to see him do ‘Peekaboo.’ When he announced SZA and people were trashing him, I thought she was gonna do more.”
Scott wonders how Kendrick’s set will translate to stadiums across the country on the Grand National Tour because of how “tightly wound” the songs are he performs. He even compared the tracks to “Swiss watches.”
Scott declared the Kendrick-Drake beef over and warned the 6 God to never say Kendrick’s name again going forward. “Don’t ever mention his name again. Just leave this alone, it’s over, bro,” he said.
Where does Ye go from here? West delivered a series of antisemitic, homophobic and hate-filled rants on X over the weekend ,which saw him praise Hitler and call for Diddy’s freedom.
“I don’t know how Ye gets back if you don’t have a built-in base to bolster you when you need it,” Scott adds. “Because we’re done. We should be the ones, ‘Get some help and we’re here for you.’ We’re like, ‘It’s over, peace.’”
Denis thinks we’ve hit a point where we have to ask ourselves if it’s worth covering Ye to this extent if he’s looking for attention.
Watch the full episode above.
