Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Halftime Show Breaks Records & Sends ‘GNX’ Back to No. 1
Kendrick Lamar just turned the Super Bowl into his own victory lap. After his electrifying halftime performance at Super Bowl LIX, his latest album GNX is skyrocketing back to No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Early projections from Hits Daily Double estimate the project will move another 230,000 units this week—thanks in part to the release of physical copies just before the big game. With total sales now surpassing one million, another platinum plaque is on the way.
It wasn’t just GNX that got a boost. Kendrick’s classics are back in demand, with Good Kid, M.A.A.D City expected to land at No. 11 (34K units) and DAMN. close behind at No. 12 (just under 34K).
And the numbers don’t stop there—Kendrick now officially holds the title for the most-watched Super Bowl Halftime Show in history. His Apple Music-backed performance drew a record-breaking 133.5 million viewers, surpassing Michael Jackson’s legendary 1993 show (133M viewers). Even the game itself made history, with an average of 126 million fans watching as the Eagles took down the Chiefs, peaking at 135.7 million viewers in the second quarter.
pgLang co-founder Dave Free, who helped craft Kendrick’s cinematic halftime set, opened up about their creative vision in a recent Wall Street Journal interview. He revealed that they studied every past Super Bowl performance—especially those by Beyoncé, Prince, and Michael Jackson—while shaping their own unique take on the moment.
“The feel of it is Black America,” Free explained. “What does Black America look like, and how do we control that narrative?”
Notably, Kendrick’s setlist leaned heavily on tracks from GNX and his recent Drake diss records, rather than his usual chart-toppers. According to Free, “It wasn’t about playing the hits.”
The entire moment was set into motion by a call from JAY-Z, who has overseen the halftime show since 2020. While Kendrick previously performed as part of Dr. Dre’s all-star lineup in 2022, Free said, “It felt like the right time for us.”
With history made and the charts conquered once again, Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl takeover is just another reminder—he moves the culture like no one else.