NEW ORLEANS — NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Kendrick Lamar aims to infuse his Los Angeles hip-hop flavor into New Orleans while staying true to his storytelling roots during Sunday’s Super Bowl halftime performance.“Being in the now and being just locked-in to how I feel and the energy I have now, that’s the L.A. energy for me,” he said Thursday at a press conference hosted by Apple Music. “That’s something I wanted to carry over to New Orleans and for the world to see. This is me. This is Kendrick Lamar, 37 years old, and I still feel like I’m elevating, I’m still on a journey.”The rap megastar will take the Super Bowl stage fresh off a Grammy triumph, where he claimed two of the night’s biggest awards — song and record of the year — for his diss track “Not Like Us.”When asked what viewers can expect, Lamar answered: “Storytelling. I think I’ve always been very open about storytelling through all my catalog and my history of music. And I’ve always had a passion about bringing that on whatever stage I’m on.”Lamar will be bringing hip-hop back to the NFL’s championship game, where he performed as a guest artist with Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, 50 Cent and Eminem in 2022. On Sunday, he becomes the first solo hip-hop artist to headline the halftime show.“It reminds me of the essence and the core response of rap and hip-hop and how far it can go,” he said. “It puts the culture at the forefront, where …
