Rihanna is staying loyal to Kendrick Lamar and hyping him up before he headlines the Super Bowl halftime show next year.
Entertainment Tonight‘s Kevin Frazier asked the Fenty mogul in an interview published Thursday (Oct. 24) her thoughts about the “Not Like Us” hitmaker taking over the stage during the big game.
“It’s a diamond on a ring finger, honey. It’s meant to be!” the “Diamonds” singer explained. “It’s Kendrick Lamar! Kendrick Lamar is the one that’s supposed to do it right now. He’s gonna crush it. We should never doubt him. He’s an amazing artist, top-tier. He had an incredible year. He actually brought so many people together. It’s to be celebrated. That’s what culture is. He deserves it. I cannot wait to see it. Kendrick, thank you.”
RiRi did the honors at the 2023 Super Bowl halftime show, where she revealed she was expecting baby No. 2 with A$AP Rocky — their now-1-year-old son, Riot. At the time, her performance was the most-watched halftime show of all time, with 121 million viewers, according to a Nielsen report. Usher‘s performance earlier this year surpassed RiRi’s record, attracting 123 million viewers.
Rihanna was included on Billboard‘s dream halftime show guest list for Lamar’s set, considering they teamed up on “Loyalty” from Dot’s 2017 Pulitzer Prize-winning album Damn. Their collaboration reached No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won the Grammy for best rap/sung performance at the 2018 awards show. They performed the song together at Lamar’s former label TDE’s annual Christmas concert and toy drive in 2017.